The BepiColombo mission set off from Earth in 2018 on a winding path to study the smallest and least understood planet in our Solar System with the aim of releasing the two probes into its orbit.
On Thursday, it began its arrival phase, described by the European Space Agency (ESA) as its “most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted”.
Mercury’s relatively tiny mass – it is only slightly bigger than the Moon – means its gravitational pull is extremely weak compared to the Sun, making it complex for spacecraft to approach the planet without ending up incinerated or lost in space.
“It’s a very ambitious mission,” Santa…
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