Solar Orbiter Bepi Colombo Gravity Assisted Flying and Captured
[ESA/NASA/NRL/SoloHI/Phillip Hess 제공/ 재판매 및 DB 금지]
Images of Venus captured by the Solar Orbiter and the Mercury probe Bepicolombo were released on the 9th and 10th in succession near Venus.
Solar Orbiter, launched jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA Venus was photographed using the Solar Orbiter Heliosphere Imager (SoloHI).
In Venus, which passes from the left to the right, the nightside, where the sun does not reach, appears in the form of a black circle, and the face that reflects light in the shape of a crescent moon is captured around it. The sun was in the upper right corner of Venus, so it was not captured on the screen, but it showed its presence with the light reflected strongly from the face.
Behind Venus, two bright stars in the constellation Taurus twinkle and disappear, on the right is Omicron Tauri and on the left is the quadruple system Xi Tauri.
On the night of the 10th, 33 hours after the Solar Orbiter passed, Bepi Colombo, jointly produced by ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), passed Venus at a distance of 552 km and photographed Venus.
In 89 black-and-white images with 1024×1024 pixel resolution, Bepicolombo approaches from the night side of Venus, moves toward the new side, and moves further and further away from Venus. On one side of the image, the antenna and part of the fuselage of the ‘Mercury Planet Orbiter’ (MPO), one of the two major satellites constituting Bepicolombo, are captured.
[ESA/BepiColombo/MTM 제공/ 재판매 및 DB 금지]
Neither Solo Orbiter nor Bepicolombo had the purpose of exploring Venus, but using the gravity of Venus for gravity-assisted flight to enter a targeted orbit, so it was not possible to obtain a high-resolution image to look inside Venus.
However, it is expected that the two probes will be valuable for Venus research by collecting data on the magnetic field and plasma environment of Venus at different locations with a difference of 33 hours.
This is the second gravity-assisted flight of Solar Orbiter on Venus, and it will go on a gravity-assisted flight using Venus six more times from next year to 2030. Through this, it will come closer to the sun and increase the orbital inclination, making it the first human exploration of the North and South poles of the sun.
Bepicolombo makes nine gravity-assisted flights on Earth, Venus, and Mercury to land in Mercury’s orbit, and this is the third and second gravity-assisted flight made on Venus. From Mercury, it will make its first gravity-assisted flight at a distance of about 200 km from October 1 to 2, and then make five more gravity-assisted flights to enter Mercury’s orbit in 2025. They will be separated and begin a full-scale scientific exploration.
[ESA 제공/ 재판매 및 DB 금지]
yunhap news
.
