BepiColombo spacecraft near Mercury after decade-long journey

Two Mercury-bound spacecraft separated from their mother ship on Thursday, entering the final stage of their nearly decade-long voyage to the solar system's smallest planet. Controllers confirmed the operation via radio signals after two anxious hours. The linked European and Japanese spacecraft, known as BepiColombo, will enter Mercury's orbit in November and split in December to map the planet from different altitudes. They still have 2 million miles to travel, having launched in 2018. Only NASA's Messenger has previously explored Mercury, which has extreme temperatures and icy polar craters. Science observations begin next spring, with the European Space Agency covering most of the mission's $2 billion cost.