BepiColombo nabs its best views yet of Mercury

The European-Japanese spacecraft made its closest flyby of Mercury to date, buzzing the planet’s north pole and peering into shadowed craters.
By | Published: January 10, 2025

BepiColombo took this image as it made its final flyby of Mercury before it will settle into orbit around the planet. Credit: ESA/JAXA

BepiColombo, the current spacecraft studying Mercury, is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Launched October 20, 2018, it’s actually two satellites in one, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, and it will reach its destination in November 2026. To reach its final position, however, it needed some assistance from the gravity of the two inner planets, so it flew by Venus twice and Mercury six times.

That sixth flyby of Mercury occurred Jan. 8, 2025. On that date, BepiColombo flew just 183 miles (295 kilometers) above the planet’s surface, then shortly after over its north pole. As it did, the spacecraft’s monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) got some great close-up views. Unfortunately, these are also the M-CAMs’ final looks at Mercury because the spacecraft module they’re attached to will separate from the mission’s two orbiters.

To commemorate BepiColombo’s final flyby of Mercury, ESA released three great images from the M-CAMs. Enjoy!

BepiColombo’s M-CAM 1 acquired this image of the permanently shadowed craters near Mercury’s north pole. One of the spacecraft’s missions is to determine if, as some scientists think, these dark regions contain frozen water. Click here to view the image with labels. Credit: ESA/JAXA
This image, taken by M-CAM 2, captures examples of two events that bring lighter material up onto Mercury’s dark surface: volcanic activity and large impacts. Nathair Facula is the bright patch at the upper edge. It marks the site of the largest volcanic eruption on the planet. Also labeled is Fonteyn crater, the result of a large meteorite that struck Mercury 300 million years ago. Click here to view this image without labels. Credit: ESA/JAXA
This image, also taken by M-CAM 1, shows the Caloris basin, Mercury’s largest impact crater. This massive feature spans more than 930 miles (1,500 km). When the meteorite that created it hit the planet, it scarred most of its surface. Above the Caloris basin is a curved area, which is a bright lava flow. Hopefully, BepiColombo will determine if the lava flowed out of the basin or into it. Click here to view this image without labels. Credit: ESA/JAXA

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