BepiColombo stack

Two out of three modules of the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury, due to launch in 2015. The Mercury Transfer Module, bottom, will transport the mission to Mercury orbit using chemical and electric propulsion. The Mercury Planetary Orbiter, above it, will image the planet with a variety of cameras and spectrometers. In addition an additional module, Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, not seen here, will study Mercury's mysteriously strong magnetic field.