PARIS, Jan. 10 (QNA) – The European Space Agency says the joint European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo collected important images and data during its recent flight around Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. announced that it was successful.
European Space Agency project scientist Geraint Jones said the team will begin analyzing the data collected in the coming weeks to learn more about Mercury. He added that after completing a series of gravity-assisted operations, the mission will enter the next stage and scientific data collection is scheduled to begin in 2027.
The spacecraft conducted its sixth flyby of Mercury last Wednesday, passing just 295 kilometers above the planet’s dark, cold surface, the agency said. Seven minutes later, it flew over Mercury’s north pole, capturing images of major craters including Prokofiev, Kandinsky, Tolkien, and Gordimer. All of these are characterized by dark shadows due to their depth.
The spacecraft also captured images of a vast region of the Borealis Planum, formed by volcanic eruptions 3.7 billion years ago. These images reveal the Mendelssohn crater, surrounded by volcanic plains, and the Caloris Basin, one of the largest and most remarkable impact structures in the solar system.
The images also include craters covered with volcanic lava from past eruptions, as well as Nasir Facula, the site of the largest known volcanic eruption on Mercury (the central crater is about 40 kilometers across). was.
Mercury orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 58 million kilometers, and is exposed to extreme daytime temperatures of up to 430 degrees Celsius. The planet’s atmosphere is continually renewed by meteorites and plasma bombarding its surface, leaving it vulnerable to strong radiation and erosion from the solar wind. (QNA)
