Tootfinder

Today at 7 pm, MPS scientist Christian Renggli is a guest in the online public lecture series “Astro & Co” of #HausderAstronomie. Enjoy news from #Mercury and an update on ESA’s mission #BepiColombo

Want some wild #BepiColombo action? Then watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJqWGdWERqk at double speed and see all the M-CAM images ever taken in a few minutes!

Now on #BepiColombo at Mercury - see https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Watch_live_BepiColombo_begins_its_arrival_at_Mercury for what's going to happen.

Surprise! The Mercury Planetary Orbiter of #BepiColombo phoned home 5 minutes early: the Bochum dish (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKTeaeXVSS8 their live stream) saw a strong signal growing from 13:48:45 UTC - which, of course, was also seen by ESA where everyone is elated.

So far so good: as seen in the clip #BepiColombo was at 12:11 UTC, just at the time of the planned MTM separation plus signal time.

Planetary shielding and surface precipitation of solar energetic particles during BepiColombo’s close Mercury flyby: #BepiColombo measured Mercury's particle bombardment up close: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/mathematics-and-science/bepicolombo-measured-mercurys-particle-bombardment-close - the results help assess the impact of space storms on Mercury's surface and on Earth's atmosphere.