The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This greyscale part of this image shows the first-ever measurement by a spacecraft of how Mercury radiates in mid-infrared light. It was measured by the MERTIS instrument on the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission on 1 December 2024, as the spacecraft flew past the planet for the fifth time. The MERTIS data is overlaid on the global mosaic of a topography map based on data from NASA's Messenger mission.
MERTIS, short for Mercury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer, will be a key tool for BepiColombo to uncover what Mercury's surface is made of. The brightness in this image indicates how much Mercury's surface radiates with a wavelength of 8.45 micrometres. This radiance depends on what minerals the cratered surface is made of, the surface roughness and the temperature. The regularly appearing gaps on the map are due to the calibration cycle on the instrument.