The ‘BepiColombo’ probe photographs the north pole of Mercury

As the ESA reports on its website, the most recent and sixth fly-by took place on January 8. During the maneuver, “BepiColombo” flew just 180 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury’s surface on the cold, dark night side of the planet at 6:59 a.m. CET. About seven minutes later, the probe passed directly over Mercury’s north pole before gaining a clear view of Mercury’s north illuminated by the Sun.

Is there water ice on Mercury?
The resulting close-ups show, among other things, icy, always dark craters on Mercury’s night side, whose floors are permanently in shadow. These craters are among the coldest places in the solar system. There is evidence that they contain frozen water. Whether there is actually water on Mercury is one of the central mysteries that the BepiColombo mission will investigate once the probe is in orbit around the planet.

Probe was launched in October 2018
“BepiColombo” was launched on October 20, 2018 on a seven-year journey to the smallest and least explored planet in our solar system. The mission to the planet closest to the sun, named after Italian mathematician and engineer Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo and led by ESA, is considered Europe’s most complicated space project to date.

Scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury in 2026
To adjust its speed, the probe had to complete a total of nine planetary flybys – so-called fly-bys. It has already flown close to our Earth once and past Venus twice. After the sixth flyby of Mercury, the spacecraft is expected to enter orbit around its target planet in November 2026.