Journey to Mercury with Involvement from Bern

On Saturday 20 October 2018, at 03:45 a.m. CET, the BepiColombo space probe is to set off on its journey to Mercury from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. On board the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s joint space probe are instruments which were designed and built at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern: the laser altimeter BELA-the largest and most sensitive instrument of the mission-and the innovative mass spectrometer STROFIO. The BepiColombo space probe, which is 6.40 meters tall and weighs 4.1 tonnes, will begin its journey to Mercury with an Ariane 5 launcher. The probe itself consists of two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), which was constructed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which was constructed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Both spacecraft will fly to Mercury together as a coupled system, but will be put onto separate orbits upon arrival. The MMO will investigate the magnetospheric interaction between the planet and the solar wind, while the MPO will be put onto a lower orbit which is optimal for carrying out remote sensing of the planet's surface. 3D image of Mercury and analysis of the atmosphere thanks to instruments from Bern.