BepiColombo is a space probe that is to explore Mercury. ESA prepared it in cooperation with the Japanese agency JAXA. The spacecraft was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in 2018. The mission plan assumed that the goal would be achieved by the end of 2025. However, this will not happen.
The probe has been experiencing technical issues for some time now. In April of this year, the European Space Agency reported that the ship’s engine is struggling with a fault that manifests itself in reduced power. A special team was tasked with finding the cause and solution.
Engineers investigating the problem identified unexpected electrical charges being transferred between the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) solar module and a unit responsible for collecting power and distributing it to the rest of the ship.
Fortunately, a solution was found, but it required BepiColombo’s flyby of Mercury to be reduced by 35 km from the previous plan. The changes in maneuvers mean that the spacecraft will reach its destination later than December 2025. ESA says that will happen only in November 2026.
It is worth adding that the probe has already achieved its own goal, as it has already completed four of the six planned passes over Mercury. The last one took place on Wednesday, September 4, when the spacecraft approached the planet at only 165 km. We know that it will never be closer. Images were taken during the maneuver, which ESA will release later today.
Source: geekweek.interia.pl
