BEPICOLONBO’S spacecraft took in the sights during its space road trip. The European-Japanese Mercury mission BepiColombi captured a stunning and beautiful view of Earth, during its gravity-assist flyby maneuver on April 9th, 2020.
Bepicolombo was about 12,000 to 173,000 miles (278,416.51 km) away when it snapped the picture zooming by us at speeds over about 62,000 mph (99,779.25 km/h). The European Space Agency says it’ll take the spacecraft seven years to reach Mercury. To get there, BepiColombo will make a total of nine gravity-assist flybys, using Mercury’s gravity six times, Venus twice, and Earth’s only once.
The flyby will help BepiColombo brake against the sun’s powerful gravitational pull, allowing it to start gathering the science data on Mercury in early 2026.
The joint European-Japanese mission to Mercury reaches a key milestone this month when it swings past the Earth. The two-in-one BepiColombo space probe is using the gravity of its homeworld to bend a path towards the inner Solar System. It also bleeds off some speed. The mission needs to make sure it isn’t traveling too fast when it arrives at Mercury in 2025 or it won’t be able to go into orbit around the diminutive world.
“It would be so nice if we could take an express transfer, and then we’d be there in a few months, but that doesn’t work for the mission,” said Elsa Montagnon, the flight controller in charge of BepiColombo at the European Space Agency (ESA).
The €3bn BepiColombo mission was launched in October 2018. It comprises two scientific satellites- the European Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter, and the Japanese Mercury Planetary Orbiter, that is joined to a propulsion module for the long cruise. The success of this mission will be another stepping stone for mankind.