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ESA gets ready for double Venus flyby
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:25 Watch the closest flyby of a planet ever, as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024.
This flyby marked BepiColombo’s closest approach to Mercury yet, and for the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole.
This timelapse is made up of 128 different images captured by all three of BepiColombo’s monitoring cameras, M-CAM 1, 2 and 3. We see the planet move in and out of the fields of view of M-CAM 2 and 3, before M-CAM 1 sees the planet receding into the distance at the end of the video.
The first few images are taken in the days and weeks before the flyby. Mercury first appears in an image taken at 23:50 CEST (21:50 UTC) on 4 September, at a distance of 191 km. Closest approach was at 23:48 CEST at a distance of 165 km.
The sequence ends around 24 hours later, on 5 September 2024, when BepiColombo was about 243 000 km from Mercury.
During the flyby it was possible to identify various geological features that BepiColombo will study in more detail once in orbit around the planet. Four minutes after closest approach, a large ‘peak ring basin’ called Vivaldi came into view.
This crater was named after the famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). The flyover of Vivaldi crater was the inspiration for using Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ as the soundtrack for this timelapse.
Peak ring basins are mysterious craters created by powerful asteroid or comet impacts, so-called because of the inner ring of peaks on an otherwise flattish floor.
A couple of minutes later, another peak ring basin came into view: newly named Stoddart. The name was recently assigned following a request from the M-CAM team, who realised that this crater would be visible in these images and decided it would be worth naming considering its potential interest for scientists in the future.
BepiColombo’s three monitoring cameras provided 1024 x 1024 pixel snapshots. Their main purpose is to monitor the spacecraft’s various booms and antennas, hence why we see parts of the spacecraft in the foreground. The photos that they capture of Mercury during the flybys are a bonus.
The 4 September gravity assist flyby was the fourth at Mercury and the seventh of nine planetary flybys overall. During its eight-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury, to help steer itself on course for entering orbit around Mercury in 2026.
BepiColombo is an international collaboration between ESA and JAXA.
BepiColombo’s best images yet highlight fourth Mercury flyby
BepiColombo images in ESA’s Planetary Science Archive
Processing notes: The BepiColombo monitoring cameras provide black-and-white, 1024 x 1024 pixel images. These raw images have been processed to remove electronic banding in the cameras. The M-CAM 1 images have been cropped to 995 x 995 pixels
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By European Space Agency
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has successfully completed its fourth of six gravity assist flybys at Mercury, capturing images of two special impact craters as it uses the little planet’s gravity to steer itself on course to enter orbit around Mercury in November 2026.
The closest approach took place at 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC) on 4 September 2024, with BepiColombo coming down to around 165 km above the planet’s surface. For the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole.
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Data from one of the two CubeSats that comprise NASA’s PREFIRE mission was used to make this data visualization showing brightness temperature — the intensity of infrared emissions — over Greenland. Red represents more intense emissions; blue indicates lower intensities. The data was captured in July.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio The PREFIRE mission will help develop a more detailed understanding of how much heat the Arctic and Antarctica radiate into space and how this influences global climate.
NASA’s newest climate mission has started collecting data on the amount of heat in the form of far-infrared radiation that the Arctic and Antarctic environments emit to space. These measurements by the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) are key to better predicting how climate change will affect Earth’s ice, seas, and weather — information that will help humanity better prepare for a changing world.
One of PREFIRE’s two shoebox-size cube satellites, or CubeSats, launched on May 25 from New Zealand, followed by its twin on June 5. The first CubeSat started sending back science data on July 1. The second CubeSat began collecting science data on July 25, and the mission will release the data after an issue with the GPS system on this CubeSat is resolved.
The PREFIRE mission will help researchers gain a clearer understanding of when and where the Arctic and Antarctica emit far-infrared radiation (wavelengths greater than 15 micrometers) to space. This includes how atmospheric water vapor and clouds influence the amount of heat that escapes Earth. Since clouds and water vapor can trap far-infrared radiation near Earth’s surface, they can increase global temperatures as part of a process known as the greenhouse effect. This is where gases in Earth’s atmosphere — such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor — act as insulators, preventing heat emitted by the planet from escaping to space.
“We are constantly looking for new ways to observe the planet and fill in critical gaps in our knowledge. With CubeSats like PREFIRE, we are doing both,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The mission, part of our competitively-selected Earth Venture program, is a great example of the innovative science we can achieve through collaboration with university and industry partners.”
Earth absorbs much of the Sun’s energy in the tropics; weather and ocean currents transport that heat toward the Arctic and Antarctica, which receive much less sunlight. The polar environment — including ice, snow, and clouds — emits a lot of that heat into space, much of which is in the form of far-infrared radiation. But those emissions have never been systematically measured, which is where PREFIRE comes in.
“It’s so exciting to see the data coming in,” said Tristan L’Ecuyer, PREFIRE’s principal investigator and a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “With the addition of the far-infrared measurements from PREFIRE, we’re seeing for the first time the full energy spectrum that Earth radiates into space, which is critical to understanding climate change.”
This visualization of PREFIRE data (above) shows brightness temperatures — or the intensity of radiation emitted from Earth at several wavelengths, including the far-infrared. Yellow and red indicate more intense emissions originating from Earth’s surface, while blue and green represent lower emission intensities coinciding with colder areas on the surface or in the atmosphere.
The visualization starts by showing data on mid-infrared emissions (wavelengths between 4 to 15 micrometers) taken in early July during several polar orbits by the first CubeSat to launch. It then zooms in on two passes over Greenland. The orbital tracks expand vertically to show how far-infrared emissions vary through the atmosphere. The visualization ends by focusing on an area where the two passes intersect, showing how the intensity of far-infrared emissions changed over the nine hours between these two orbits.
The two PREFIRE CubeSats are in asynchronous, near-polar orbits, which means they pass over the same spots in the Arctic and Antarctic within hours of each other, collecting the same kind of data. This gives researchers a time series of measurements that they can use to study relatively short-lived phenomena like ice sheet melting or cloud formation and how they affect far-infrared emissions over time.
More About PREFIRE
The PREFIRE mission was jointly developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and provided the spectrometers. Blue Canyon Technologies built and now operates the CubeSats, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison is processing and analyzing the data collected by the instruments.
To learn more about PREFIRE, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/prefire/
5 Things to Know About NASA’s Tiny Twin Polar Satellites Twin NASA Satellites Ready to Help Gauge Earth’s Energy Balance News Media Contacts
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-116
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Last Updated Sep 03, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Lunar geologist Zachary Morse scrabbles over Earth’s rocky landscapes to test equipment for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
Name: Zachary Morse
Title: Assistant Research Scientist in Planetary Geology
Organization: The Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory, Science Directorate (Code 698)
Zachary Morse is an assistant research scientist in planetary geology at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo courtesy of Zachary Morse What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
I work with teams that integrate field instrumentation into future lunar and Mars exploration missions. We go to analog field sites, places on Earth that are geologically similar to the Moon or Mars, to test field instruments. I also support the development of science operations for crewed exploration of the lunar surface.
Why did you become a geologist? What is your educational background?
I always knew that I wanted to study space. In college I started in engineering, but switched to geology because much of the science NASA does on the Moon or Mars involves studying the rocks.
In 2013, I got a B.S. in geology from West Virginia University. In 2018, I got a Ph.D. in planetary science from Western University in London, Ontario.
“I work with teams that integrate field instrumentation into future lunar and Mars exploration missions,” said Zachary. “We go to analog field sites, places on Earth that are geologically similar to the Moon or Mars, to test field instruments.”Photo courtesy of Zachary Morse What brought you to Goddard?
In January 2020, I came to Goddard to do a post-doctoral fellowship because I wanted to work on the Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration 2 (Rise2) project. We go into the field to test handheld geologic instruments that could later be incorporated into missions.
What have been some of your favorite trips into the field?
Iceland, Hawaii, and the New Mexico desert, which is our primary field site for Rise2. These were organized as part of the Goddard Instrument Field Team, a group that hosts trips each year to different analog field sites.
The Iceland trip was my favorite because the place we got to explore looked almost exactly like pictures of the Moon’s surface. It was beautiful and the right setting to learn about the Earth and the Moon. Our team was about 40 people. We were there for two weeks. We mostly camped.
It was definitely a unique experience, one hard to put in words. On Earth, you would normally go camping in a lush forest. But there were no trees, just rock and dust. It was absolutely beautiful in its own way.
The Hawaii trip was also unique. Our team of about 30 people spent almost the entire 10 days in the lava tubes. Not many people get to go into lava tubes. It was very exciting. The biggest part of the lava tube was about 20 feet high and about 10 feet wide. The smallest was so small we had to crawl through.
How do you document field work?
In addition to scientific data, we always take pictures of the rocks and outcrops. It is important to document what a site is like before people interact with it. Sometimes we collect rock samples to bring back to the lab, but we leave the place as we found it.
“I always knew that I wanted to study space,” said Zachary. “In college I started in engineering, but switched to geology because much of the science NASA does on the Moon or Mars involves studying the rocks.”Photo courtesy of Zachary Morse Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to remain at Goddard; I love it. The team is great and the science is fascinating and important. I want to keep pursuing opportunities for field work. My main goal is to get involved in a lunar mission and support Artemis lunar exploration.
What do you do for fun?
I love the outdoors. I love kayaking on lakes, rivers, and streams. My favorite place is in the Adirondacks. I also love hiking, which I do all over, especially in West Virginia.
Who is your mentor and what did your mentor teach you?
Kelsey Young is my supervisor and mentor. She has taught me so many things including how missions will function and how we can best test equipment in the field for future missions. She taught me how to be organized and focused.
Kelsey Young Dives Into Fieldwork With Aplomb Who inspires you?
Jack Schmitt is an Apollo 17 astronaut who inspired me because he is a geologist. He was the first and only professional geologist who walked on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo missions. I have heard him speak many times and have personally met him.
I would jump at the chance to be the next geologist-astronaut!
What rock formations in the world would you like to explore?
Top of my list would be to explore Acadia National Park in Maine. There is a ton of diverse geology in a small area and the pictures all look stunning. I would also love to visit Glacier National Park to experience the glacier before it melts.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Exploring Earth to prepare lunar missions.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Sep 03, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
Teams from across ESA and industry have worked continuously over the past four months to overcome a glitch that prevented BepiColombo’s thrusters from operating at full power. The ESA/JAXA mission is still on track, with a new trajectory that will take it just 165 km from Mercury’s surface on Wednesday.
Taking BepiColombo closer to Mercury than it’s ever been before, this flyby will reduce the spacecraft’s speed and change its direction. It also gives us the opportunity to snap images and fine-tune science instrument operations at Mercury before the main mission begins. Closest approach is scheduled for 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC) on 4 September.
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