Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo’s double Venus flyby
Key moments during Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo’s flyby of Venus within 33 hours of each other on 9 and 10 August 2021, respectively.
Times are given in UTC (BST=UTC +1 hours; CEST=UTC +2 hours; JST=UTC +9 hours; EST=UTC -4 hours).
While many of the in situ instruments will be on and collecting data as usual, of particular note is the activation of two of BepiColombo’s three monitoring cameras, which will aim to capture Venus during the flyby and in the days after. The images are not downloaded immediately; it is expected that the first images will be available at the end of the day on 10 August and into 11 August. There is also a potential imaging opportunity for the SoloHI instrument on Solar Orbiter in the week leading up to the flyby.
Follow on Twitter via @ESASolarOrbiter and @bepicolombo together with @ESA_Bepi, @ESA_MTM and @JAXA_MMO, as well as @Esaoperations for real-time updates during the flybys and news of when the first images and data are in!
