Mercury spacecraft set for epic mission

A BRITISH-BUILT spacecraft was today due to begin an epic five billion-mile journey to the planet Mercury.

BepiColombo was due to be launched from the European space port at Kourou, French Guiana, early today. The European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft will take seven years to reach the planet closest to the sun.

In 2025 it will place two probes, one European and the other Japanese, in orbit around Mercury, the least explored world in the solar system.

The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), carrying the orbiters, was built in Stevenage by the Defence and Space division of aerospace company Airbus.

Key elements of ESAs Mercury Planet Orbiter we’re also assembled by Airbus in the UK. Scientists hope the £1.4bn mission will unravel some of Mercury’s mysteries, such as the reason for its oversized iron core, its spectacular volcanic vents, and tantalising hints of water ice in shadowy parts of the scorching hot planet.

The answers they get will shed new light on the origins and evolution of the solar system. A key feature of BepiColombo is that it is the first interplanetary mission to employ advanced electric ion propulsion technology.

Four Star Trek-style “impulse engines”, two firing at a time, will emit beams of electrically charged, or “ionised”, xenon gas. Justin Byrne, head of science at Airbus, said: “Mercury is extremely hot and it’s an extremely difficult place to get to because of the gravity of the sun.”

One of BepiColombo’s main instruments, the Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (Mixs), was built at the University of Leicester. The university’s Professor Emma Bunce, who is in charge of the Mixs instrument, said: “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous but I’m confident the launch will all go well.”