BepiColombo’s third Mercury flyby

Key moments during BepiColombo’s third Mercury flyby on 19 June 2023.

The ESA/JAXA spacecraft will pass the surface of the planet at a distance of about 236 km +/- 5 km.

The illuminated part of the planet will only enter the spacecraft’s field of view around 13 minutes after close approach, when BepiColombo is at a distance of about 1840 km. That means there will be no illuminated images from closest approach itself. The most visually appealing images showing the details of Mercury’s surface will be captured soon after, most likely starting from 13–23 minutes after closest approach.

Many of the in situ instruments will be switched on and collecting data as usual, and two of BepiColombo’s three monitoring cameras will be activated. The images will be released over the following days.

Not to scale: the relative sizes of planets and spacecraft, and the attitude of the spacecraft is not representative.