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 BepiColombo |
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CHARACTERISTICS
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| BEPICOLOMBO mission will study Mercury |
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BEPICOLOMBO is a set of two spacecrafts:
MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter) and MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) |
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MPO's Instruments:
BELA, ISA, MERMAG-P, MERTIS, MGNS, MIXS, MORE, PHEBUS, SERENA, SIMBIO-SYS, SIXS |
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MMO's Instruments:
MDM, MERMAG-M/MGF, MPPE, MSASI, PWI |
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| The two spacecrafts will cruise for 6 years before studying Mercury during 1 Earth year |
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The project main steps
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BEPICOLOMBO mission is the fith corner stone of the Cosmic Vision program of the ESA. It will study Mercury thanks to two spacecrafts in orbit around the planet. One of the two orbiter, MPO developed by ESA, will be dedicated to the study of the surface and internal composition of the planet. The other orbiter, MMO developed by JAXA, will be dedicated to the study of the magnetic field and magnetosphere.
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This mission has two main scientific objectives:
 To understand the interior structure of the planet by comparison of Mercury magnetic field and magnetosphere to the Earth ones,
To Contribute to the understanding of the formation and the evolution of planets similar to the Earth by measurements realized on the hermian magnetic field.
The two probes are:
the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), three-axis stabilised probe in low orbit, dedicated to study the surface the interior of the planet,
the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), spin-stabilised probe, on an elliptic orbit, dedicated to study the magnetic field and the magnetosphere.
The two probes will be launched together by an Ariane 5 launcher and will be separated near Mercury and then will realize their missions in coordination.
The french instrumental contributions concern the two probes.
For the MPO probe (ESA), it is:
an UV spectrometer (PHEBUS) developed by SA.
high-tension converters and detectors developed by CESR and CETP for the neutral and ionised particle analyser SERENA (IFSI Italy).
an electronic management module, infrared detectors and the proximity electronics developed by IAS and LESIA for the imagers suite SIMBIO-SYS (ASI Italy).
engineering activities (thermoelastic studies and rejection filter study) realized by IPGP and LAM for the laser altimeter BELA (Switzerland and Germany).
For the MMO probe (JAXA), it is:
a contribution to the plasma wave instrumental suite (PWI of the Kyoto university) by supplying:
 an axial fluxmeter developed by CETP
an active plasma measurement instrument: AM²P developed by LPCE
an instrument to measure radio emissions, plasma density and temperature: SORBET developed by LESIA
a contribution to the charged particle measurements instrumental suite (MPPE of the ISAS-JAXA) by supplying:
an electron spectra analyser instrument (MEA) developed by CESR
a Top-Hat electrostatic analyser for the ion mass spectra analyser instrument (MSA) developed by CETP.
CNES ensure, for all the national partners (CNRS and University labortories), the prime contractorship of the french instrumental contribution to BEPICOLOMBO.
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Latest update 01/03/2012
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Schedule |
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 Flash Presentation of BepiColombo mission and the others missions toward Mercury.
PC and Mac Version (363 Mb)
 Movie (Quicktime 271 Mb)
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Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920-1984),
mathematician at the University of Padova, made fundamental contributions to the theory of resonances, notably with regard to the Kirkwood gaps and the rotation of Mercury. He also pioneered the use of planetary encounters for gravity assists in arranging space missions.
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SCIENCE
