BepiColombo is the next European planetary exploration project, and will be implemented in collaboration with Japan. A satellite 'duo' - consisting of an orbiter for planetary investigation and one for magnetospheric studies - will reach Mercury after a six-year journey towards the inner Solar System, to eventually perform the most extensive and detailed study of the planet ever performed so far.

The 'Mercury Planetary Orbiter' (MPO) will be under ESA responsibility, while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will be under the responsibility of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), also under ESA responsibility, will provide the electrical and chemical propulsion required to perform the cruise to Mercury. These three modules assembled together for the launch and cruise phase make up a single composite spacecraft.

The MPO will carry a highly sophisticated suite of eleven scientific instruments, ten of which will be provided by Principal Investigators through national funding by ESA Member States and one from Russia.

The MMO will carry five advanced scientific experiments that will also be provided by nationally funded Principal investigators, one European and four from Japan. Significant European contributions are also provided to the Japanese instruments.

After a competitive definition phase started in 2001, ESA is now ready to award Astrium GmbH (Friedrichshafen, Germany) with the prime contract for the BepiColombo implementation phase, consisting of the mission design and of the design, development and integration of the 'cruise-composite' spacecraft.

Astrium GmbH will also provide engineering support to the launch campaign and the in-orbit commissioning phase.

Reaching Mercury and placing a spacecraft in a stable orbit around it is a difficult task due to the gravity of the Sun. BepiColombo will reach the planet - visited only by NASA's Mariner 10 in the mid seventies - in a truly novel way.

During the cruise, the mission will make clever use of the gravity of the Moon, Earth, Venus and Mercury itself in combination with the thrust provided by solar-electric propulsion. This innovative combination of low thrust space propulsion and gravity assist has been demonstrated by ESA's technology mission, SMART-1.

When approaching Mercury, the transfer module will be separated and the two-spacecraft composite will use conventional rocket engines and the so-called 'weak stability boundary capture technique' to bring it into polar orbit around the planet.

When the MMO orbit is reached, the MPO will separate and lower its altitude by means of chemical propulsion to its operational orbit. Observations from orbit will go on for at least one Earth year.

Operating a spacecraft in the harsh environment of Mercury represents a true technological challenge. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and the direct solar radiation hitting the spacecraft is about ten times more intense than in Earth's proximity.

Furthermore Mercury's surface, whose temperature can reach up to 470C, not only reflects solar radiation but also emits thermal infrared radiation. Therefore, the probe will have to withstand extreme thermal conditions.

This will be one of the driving factors in the probe's design - for instance, it will drive the design of the multi-layer blanket to insulate the spacecraft and of its heat radiators.

On ESA's behalf, Astrium GmbH (Germany) is prime contractor for the procurement of the entire 'cruise- composite' spacecraft. Furthermore it provides the design and development of the attitude and orbit control subsystem, and the integration of the engineering model.

Alcatel Alenia Space Italy (AAS-I) will be the co-prime contractor for the development of the MPO electrical power, thermal control and communications systems and for the integration and test activities.

In the UK, EADS Astrium Ltd is co-prime contractor for the electrical and chemical propulsion system as well as the complete MPO spacecraft structure. EADS Astrium in France will develop the on-board software on the basis of the in-orbit spacecraft Rosetta, Mars Express and Venus Express.

Further to the MPO, ESA is also responsible for the whole mission design, for the launch with a Soyuz Fregat vehicle from Kourou, French Guyana, and for the cruise operations up to the insertion of the MPO and MMO into their dedicated orbits planned in 2019. Finally, ESA is responsible for the mission and scientific operations of the MPO in its orbit around Mercury.

earlier related report
Astrium To Build Mercury Probe - BepiColombo
Friedrichshafen, Germany (SPX) Feb 27 - Astrium is set to build the Mercury probe BepiColombo on behalf of the European Space Agency, ESA. ESA's scientific programme decision-making body, the "Science Programme Committee" (SPC) agreed to award this order to Astrium, Europe's largest space company, following the decision of ESA's Industrial Policy Committee in January this year.

The industrial contract is worth approximately 330 million euros. BepiColombo is scheduled to begin its journey to Mercury in 2013.

BepiColombo will consist of three modules: a European orbiter, a Japanese orbiter and a transfer module carrying the two spacecraft to Mercury. The complete unit will have a height of approximately five meters and a mass of about three tonnes, of which about 50% is propellant.

The European "Mercury Planetary Orbiter"(MPO) will be equipped with eleven sophisticated scientific instruments. Flying in a polar orbit, it will study Mercury for at least a year, imaging the planet's surface, generating height profiles, and collecting data on Mercury's composition and atmosphere. The Japanese "Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter" (MMO) will investigate the planet's magnetic field with its five on-board instruments.

Astrium in Germany as prime contractor is responsible for the entire "three-section" spacecraft, leading an industrial core-team including Astrium Ltd in the UK and Alcatel Alenia Space in Italy.

Attitude and orbit control design and development is also under German responsibility and the integration of the engineering model will also take place in Friedrichshafen, Germany. In the U.K., Astrium is responsible for the electrical and chemical propulsion system as well as the complete MPO spacecraft structure.

Alcatel Alenia Space will develop the MPO electrical power, thermal control and communications systems and is responsible for the integration and test activities. Astrium in France will develop the on-board software building on experienced gained on Rosetta, Mars Express and Venus Express.

One of the greatest challenges facing Astrium engineers is preparing BepiColombo for the extreme temperatures it will encounter - close to Mercury, solar radiation is up to ten times stronger than on Earth, with temperatures of up to 470 degrees Celsius on the planet's surface.

Experts at Astrium and at Alcatel Alenia Space will use a variety of techniques to protect the electronics and scientific instruments from the extreme heat including a newly designed insulating multi-layer blanket whose top layer is likely to be made using ceramic-fibres, and a radiator to release the heat from the probe's interior into space, whose design makes it less sensitive to the thermal infared radiation emitted by the planet's surface. In addition the spacecraft will use special solar arrays capable of supplying power even when temperatures reach 250 degrees Celsius.

The combination of a conventional chemical propulsion system with an innovative ion propulsion system will provide the required thrust on BepiColombo's long journey. Several swing-by manoeuvres are planned to reach Mercury. During these manoeuvres, BepiColombo will be accelerated using the gravity fields of the Moon, Earth and Venus. BepiColombo is scheduled to reach its destination in 2019 and enter into a polar orbit after two further swing-by manoeuvres at Mercury.

Schedule to explore Mercury for at least 12 months, the spacecraft's mission may be extended by a further year. To date, planetary researchers know very little about the hottest planet in our solar system. Most of the detailed data comes from NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft which performed three flybys in the seventies and was able to image part of the planet.

Email This Article

Related Links
The MPO will circle the planet along an orbit ranging between 400 and 1500 kilometres distance from the surface. The MMO orbit ranges between 400 and 12000 kilometres from the surface. The inclination and the eccentricity of these orbits are optimised for the study of the planet and of its magnetosphere in the very-high-temperature environment around Mercury. Credits: ESA - C.Carreau

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News