May 15 (the-japan-news.com) - Two probes in a joint Mercury exploration mission between Japan and Europe, named BepiColombo, will be launched from French Guiana in South America aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in October.
Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, is 4,880 kilometers in diameter and two-fifths the size of Earth. It is still shrouded in mystery because of difficulty observing it and sending a probe from Earth.
Scientists are excited about the mission, in which the probes are slated to arrive at the planet at the end of 2025. They say that the mission will bring discoveries that will make it necessary to rewrite textbooks.
In the mission, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, developed by Japan, and the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, by the European Space Agency, will enter the orbit of the planet.
The MMO will observe Mercury’s magnetic field in detail and study the internal structure, including a molten metallic core creating the magnetic field that is believed to exist in the planet. Meanwhile, the MPO will examine the planet’s terrain, the composition of its minerals and other features.
