ESA launches probe to investigate Mercury

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a rocket carrying a probe that will orbit Mercury. However, it will take until 2025 for the probe, named BepiColombo, to reach the planet.

The Ariane 5 rocket carrying the BepiColombo took off from a launch site in French Guiana on Friday night. Some time later, the spacecraft gave the signal that everything had gone well, allowing it to set course for Mercury. The intention is that BepiColombo will find its final orbit around the planet closest to the sun in 2025.

BepiColombo is a partnership between the European and Japanese space agencies. Where the ESA built the module to carry the probe, it actually consists of two different parts; a European and a Japanese part. The European part of the probe will mainly investigate the planet itself, while the Japanese part will focus on the solar wind. During the journey to Mercury, both probes will already be able to use some of their instruments. As a result, data collection can be started relatively quickly.

Mercury is not only closest to the sun, but it is also the smallest of all the planets in our solar system. During the journey, the probe must survive temperatures between -180 degrees and 450 degrees.