Most meteorites that have reached Earth come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But we have 1,000 or so ...

The BepiColombo spacecraft will start orbiting Mercury in 2026. Right now, it's conducting a series of flybys of the planet to get into position for that orbit.

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.

The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft, which has been studying Mercury since its launch in 2018, flew just 183 miles above the planet's night side during its final flyby of the planet.

Mercury also contains an expansive volcanic plain known as Borealis Planitia, which BepiColombo spied on its flyby. Researchers think these plains were formed from vast lava flows more than 3 ...

BepiColombo made its first Earth and Venus flybys in 2020, and first swung past Mercury on Oct. 1, 2021. After one flyby in 2022 and 2023 each, the probe then made close approaches to Mercury on ...

The BepiColombo spacecraft may have only made rapid flybys of Mercury, but it is already helping to unravel mysteries surrounding the closest planet to the sun. In 2026, a European Space Agency ...

After this, BepiColombo will make its final two flybys of Mercury on Dec. 1 and Jan. 8, 2025, respectively. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more!

ESA/BepiColombo/MTM “The main aim of the flyby was to reduce BepiColombo’s speed relative to the Sun, so that the spacecraft has an orbital period around the Sun of 88 days, very close to the ...

BepiColombo will make two more flybys of Mercury—one in December and another in January—before flying around the sun for two years. Then, if all goes to plan, it will maneuver into Mercury’s ...

BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese mission, completed its latest flyby of Mercury, sending back a sneak peek of the cratered planet it will begin to orbit in 2026.