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BepiColombo, the instruments and the technical aspects of an extraordinary mission
The BepiColombo mission consists primarily of two orbiters: the European MPO and the Japanese MMO. Their objectives are different but they share a common goal: to help us learn more about the planet closest to the Sun, Mercury. This mission has diverse objectives across various themes: Planet formation and evolution: Determine how Mercury formed to…
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BepiColombo: The Story of a Highly Ambitious Mission
Mercury. The planet closest to the Sun. It remains highly mysterious to us. Only two space probes have explored it: Mariner 10, which flew by three times in 1974-75, and then MESSENGER, which orbited the planet’s poles from 2011 to 2015. Both missions were highly innovative and represented pioneers in space exploration. Unfortunately, neither fully…
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HTV, a 7th Cargo to the ISS
Did you know that Japan also sends spacecraft to the International Space Station? Yes, the H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV, is a Japanese cargo spacecraft, and the seventh in the family was launched on September 22, 2018 (at 19:52 CEST)! In addition to being the largest current spacecraft to dock with the ISS, it is…