anybody has a detailed timeline of BepiColombo (flybys etc.) after the latest delay?
anybody has a detailed timeline of BepiColombo (flybys etc.) after the latest delay?the ESA mission site http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=48871 only has the launch and arrival dates (15 August 2015 and 27 January 2022).I have made a quick google search, but I have not found anything useful. most of the links date back to when BC was supposed to fly in 2014.
Key mission datesDate Mission event 15 August 2015 Launch 14 August 2016 Earth flyby 25 November 2017 First Venus flyby 18 July 2018 Second Venus flyby 15 February 2019 First Mercury flyby 07 November 2019 Second Mercury flyby 26 January 2021 Third Mercury flyby 08 March 2021 Fourth Mercury flyby 27 January 2022 Arrival at Mercury 27 April 2023 End of nominal mission 27 April 2024 End of extended mission
Currently at ESTEC doing bake out (almost done)http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=51335
And we got some snow in return of all those thermal tests..
TURIN, Italy — Managers of Europe’s ambitious BepiColombo mission to Mercury, which began development with cost overruns and schedule delays, said the program has now stabilized and is on track to meet its mid-2016 launch date.The mission, which includes a European orbiter, a Japanese orbiter and a transfer module to carry them to Mercury orbit, is now expected to cost the European Space Agency about 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion). That sum includes 170 million euros for launch aboard a European Ariane 5 ECA rocket, a 7.5-year voyage to Mercury orbit and at least two years of operations.