Европын сансрын агентлаг (ESA) болон Японы сансрын судалгааны агентлагийн (JAXA) хамтарсан BepiColombo хөлөг Буд гарагийн тойрог замд хүрснээр судалгааны шинэ шат эхэлж байна.
Найман жилийн турш нэгдмэл байдлаар аялсан BepiColombo сансрын хөлөг Буд гарагт хүрэх аяллаа амжилттай дуусгаж, одоо хоёр тусдаа тойрог замын төхөөрөмж болон салж байна. Уг хөлөг нь 2018 оны аравдугаар сард хөөргөгдсөн бөгөөд Буд гарагийн гадаргуу, дотоод бүтэц болон соронзон орныг судлах зорилготой юм. Хөлгийн хөдөлгүүрт гарсан доголдлын улмаас анх төлөвлөснөөс өөр замаар аялах шаардлага гарсан нь хүрэх хугацааг хойшлуулжээ.
Пүрэв гарагт ESA-гийн Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) хөлөг нь хоёр шинжлэх ухааны төхөөрөмжөөс салах эхний алхмыг хийнэ. Үүний дараа Европын Mercury Planet Orbiter (MPO) болон Японы Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter (MMO) төхөөрөмжүүд нэгдсэн байдлаар Буд гарагийн туйлын тойрог замд орох юм.
Арванхоёрдугаар сард MPO төхөөрөмж өөрийн жижиг хөдөлгүүрүүдийг ашиглан тойрог замдаа орж, хослон аялж байсан нөгөө төхөөрөмжөө салгах болно. Ингэснээр MPO нь нарны хамгаалалтын бүрхүүлээ хаяж, бие даасан тойрог замдаа шилжинэ. BepiColombo нь Буд гарагт зочилж буй гурав дахь сансрын хөлөг бөгөөд нарны хүчтэй таталцлын нөлөөнд оршдог тус гарагийн нууцыг тайлахад чухал ач холбогдолтой юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
After traveling together as a conjoined spacecraft for eight years, the BepiColombo twin orbiters will finally be forced to separate as they arrive at their destination.
BepiColombo, a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is gearing up for a challenging separation sequence that will take it from one spacecraft to two. The spacecraft’s arrival at the closest planet to the Sun will be broadcast live on ESA’s YouTube Channel on September 3 at 6:45 a.m. ET, and you can also tune in through the feed below.
BepiColombo was originally scheduled to reach Mercury in December 2025, but the twin probes suffered a glitch that prevented it from operating at full power. The spacecraft was forced to follow a different trajectory to the planet, delaying its arrival.
Separation anxiety
BepiColombo launched in October 2018 on a mission to explore Mercury’s surface and interior, along with the planet’s magnetic field. The twin probes, ESA’s Mercury Planet Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter (MMO), launched together on a single spacecraft but each is designed to enter its respective orbit around Mercury later this year.
Following an arduous journey through space, the mission is about to initiate its arrival phase at the closest planet to the Sun. On Thursday, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate from BepiColombo’s two science orbiters. The transfer module carried the two science orbiters on their trek to Mercury. Once at the planet, however, the two orbiters are set to go off on their own as a single stack moving via free-fall.
MTM’s separation is the first major step to a meticulous sequence of events designed to initiate the dual mission. After MTM separates from the twin probes, they will both lock into a polar orbit around Mercury as a single stack using MPO’s chemical thrusters.
In December, the small thrusters on MPO will be used to deliver the probe to its orbit. There, the probe will eject its once-conjoined twin and spin up. MPO will then discard its sunshield and continue its own orbit around Mercury.
BepiColombo is only the third spacecraft to visit Mercury, as the Sun’s powerful gravitational pull makes it difficult to reach the elusive planet.
The mission carried out its first flyby of the planet in October 2021 and has been returning gorgeousclose-up images of the solar system’s smallest planet, as well as valuable data about the mysterious orb.
Yes, it was a glitchy journey to Mercury, but hopefully, it’ll be smooth sailing from here on in.
