Author Topic: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates  (Read 116305 times)

Offline bolun

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #60 on: 05/23/2017 10:04 am »

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #61 on: 06/12/2017 09:27 am »
Quote
Mercury Transfer Module solar wing deployment

Released 12/06/2017 9:25 am
Copyright ESA–C. Carreau, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Description

Spanning 14 m from the spacecraft body, this impressive solar wing is one of two attached to ESA’s BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module.

The solar wing deployment mechanisms were tested last month at ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands as part of final checks ahead of the mission’s October 2018 launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

During testing, the five panels were supported from above to simulate the weightlessness of space.

The wings will be folded against the spacecraft’s body inside the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and will only open once in space. Mechanisms lock each panel segment in place. They can be rotated with the solar array drive mechanism attached to the main body.

Despite travelling towards the Sun, the transfer module requires a large solar array. Temperature constraints mean they cannot directly face the Sun for long periods without degrading, so they have to be angled and thus require a greater area to meet BepiColombo’s power demands.

The module will use a combination of electric propulsion and multiple gravity-assists at Earth, Venus and Mercury to carry two scientific orbiters to the innermost planet in our Solar System.

After the 7.2 year journey, ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will separate from the transfer module and enter to their own orbits. They will make complementary measurements of Mercury’s interior, surface, exosphere and magnetosphere.

The data will tell us more about the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star, providing a better understanding of the overall evolution of our own Solar System as well as exoplanet systems.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/06/Mercury_Transfer_Module_solar_wing_deployment

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #62 on: 06/14/2017 02:17 pm »
Press Release
N°16-2017

Paris, 14 June 2017

Call for media: Last chance to view ESA’s Mercury Explorer BepiColombo

Media representatives are invited to a briefing on BepiColombo, ESA and JAXA’s joint mission to Mercury, and to view the spacecraft before it leaves for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, for launch next year.   

Mercury is the least explored planet of the inner Solar System. BepiColombo is set to follow up on many of the intriguing results of NASA’s Messenger mission, probing deeper into Mercury’s mysteries than ever before. 

It will examine the peculiarities of its internal structure and magnetic field generation, and how it interacts with the Sun and solar wind. It will investigate surface features and chemistry, such as the ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. The mission’s science will help revolutionise our understanding of the formation of our Solar System, and in the evolution of planets close to their parent stars.

To achieve these goals, ESA and JAXA will deliver two spacecraft into complementary orbits around the planet. The spacecraft will make the seven-year journey to Mercury together, carried by a transfer module. 

The complete spacecraft stack is currently undergoing final testing in its launch configuration, and will be available for viewing on 6 July as part of a dedicated briefing organised by ESA, JAXA, Airbus and Thales Alenia at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

The spacecraft will leave Europe in March next year ahead of its scheduled October 2018 launch from Kourou. 

The media briefing will provide an overview of the project and will highlight the scientific gain that will ultimately come from this mission. 

There will be ample opportunities for interviews with space experts and for taking photos and videos of the spacecraft in the cleanroom.
 

Programme outline

10:00
Doors open

11:00–11:10 
Alvaro Gimenez, Director of Science, ESA:
Welcome;
BepiColombo’s role for ESA in exploring in our Solar System

11:10–11:20 
Hitoshi Kuninaka, Vice Director General, ISAS: 
BepiColombo’s role for JAXA and ISAS

11:20–11:25
Mathilde Royer, Head of Earth observation, Navigation and Science, Airbus DS: BepiColombo built by an European consortium

11:25–11:35
Ulrich Reininghaus, ESA BepiColombo Project Manager:
Challenges of the mission and the development and project status quo 

11:35–11:45
Markus Schelkle, BepiColombo Project Manager, Airbus DS:
Technologies for power generation 

11:45–11:55
Mauro Patroncini, BepiColombo Project Manager, Thales Alenia Space:
Thermal protection to survive at Mercury

11:55–12:10
Hajime Hayakawa, JAXA BepiColombo Project Manager; 
Masaki Fujimoto, JAXA BepiColombo Project Scientist:
JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter and its science
 
12:10-12:25
Johannes Benkhoff, ESA BepiColombo Project Scientist:
ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and its science

12:25-13:20 
Question and answer session and opportunity for individual interviews

13:20–15:00 
Photo and video opportunity in the ESTEC clean room to see the BepiColombo spacecraft



Follow online

Webstreaming

https://livestream.com/ESA

Social media

Twitter: @BepiColombo. Ask questions via #AskESA.
Jacques :-)

Offline SMS

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #63 on: 07/05/2017 10:26 pm »
BepiColombo’s journey to Mercury

Animation visualising BepiColombo’s 7.2 year journey to Mercury.

This animation is based on a launch date of 5 October, marking the start of the launch window in October 2018. It illustrates the gravity assist flybys that the spacecraft will make at Earth, Venus and Mercury before arriving at Mercury in December 2025.

More about the journey:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Journey_to_Mercury

---
SMS ;-).

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #64 on: 07/06/2017 08:47 am »
Media briefing about to start.
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #65 on: 07/06/2017 09:02 am »
Japan following also
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #66 on: 07/06/2017 09:05 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #67 on: 07/06/2017 09:15 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #68 on: 07/06/2017 09:21 am »
Future JAXA missions
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #69 on: 07/06/2017 09:24 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #70 on: 07/06/2017 09:29 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #71 on: 07/06/2017 09:34 am »
Launch: October 05, 2018. 8 week launch window.
« Last Edit: 07/06/2017 09:35 am by jacqmans »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #72 on: 07/06/2017 09:39 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #73 on: 07/06/2017 09:40 am »
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DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 6m6 minutes ago

Quick @BepiColombo visit this morning as they are our neighbors at #ESTEC impressive to see almost the full stack

https://twitter.com/DutchSpace/status/882895230428729345

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #74 on: 07/06/2017 09:44 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #75 on: 07/06/2017 09:49 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #76 on: 07/06/2017 09:51 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #77 on: 07/06/2017 10:00 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #78 on: 07/06/2017 10:02 am »
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: ESA/JAXA - BepiColombo updates
« Reply #79 on: 07/06/2017 10:07 am »
Jacques :-)

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