The BepiColombo spacecraft has sent back three images of Mercury after a brief flyby of the planet on Jan. 8, 2025.

This was the spacecraft’s sixth Mercury flyby, part of a series of “gravity assist maneuvers” designed to place it into orbit around the planet by late 2026. ESA picked out the top three ...

The mission launched in October 2018 as a joint venture between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), each providing an orbiter to explore Mercury.

The joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission made its latest passage of Mercury on Wednesday (Jan. 8) at 00: 59 EDT (0259 GMT). During the flyby ...

The joint European-Japanese mission is only the second survey of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner solar system ...

Stunning detailed images of Mercury have been clicked by BepiColombo as it made its sixth and final flyby over the closest planet to Sun. Barely larger than our own Moon, Mercury orbits ...

This makes these unlit craters some of the coldest places in the Solar System, despite Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun," said ESA, adding: "Excitingly, there is existing evidence that ...

ESA/BepiColombo/MTM The European Space Agency (ESA)’s BepiColombo mission has made another flyby of Mercury, capturing fascinating images of this lesser-studied inner planet. On January 8 ...

It also snapped photos of Borealis Planitia, where massive lava flows 3.7 billion years ago created a smooth plain, according to ESA. The pictures show Mercury's biggest impact crater, as well as ...

Pristine samples of the asteroid Bennu transported to Earth contain the "basic building blocks" for life, shedding new light ...

Yes, but there's a catch. "This makes these unlit craters some of the coldest places in the Solar System, despite Mercury being the closest planet to the Sun!" the ESA marveled. What's more ...

ESA Standard Licence The BepiColombo spacecraft—a joint endeavor between the European and Japanese space agencies—has just snapped stunning photographs of Mercury’s north pole during its ...