BepiColombo’s closest view of Mercury

This image of a rugged part of Mercury’s surface was captured by the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission on 4 September 2024 as the spacecraft sped by for its fourth of six gravity assist manoeuvres at the planet. 

The image was taken at 23:49 CEST by the Mercury Transfer Module’s monitoring camera 2 (M-CAM 2), just seconds after closest approach, when the spacecraft was only 177 km from the planet’s surface. The spacecraft’s closest approach of 165 km took place at 23:48 CEST. This makes it the closest image of Mercury that BepiColombo has ever taken. 

Although BepiColombo was very close to Mercury when taking the image, the camera was pointed towards the planet’s horizon, so the surface that we see is much further away than 177 km. Even so, the detail and resolution are astounding. 

North is to the lower left. 

Read more about BepiColombo's fourth Mercury flyby

[Image description: Planet Mercury in the background with its grey, cratered, pock-marked surface. In the foreground are some spacecraft parts]