BepiColombo Launch & Cruise Phase |
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BepiColombo Launch & Cruise Phase |
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#46
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 ![]() |
Astounding how precisely successful this maneuver appears! Question: how close did the actual flyby match the calculations in terms of effect on the spacecraft's speed and course? Or was there a ballpark/range predicted based on how precisely we know Mercury's mass and orbit?
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#47
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Solar System Cartographer ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 10197 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 ![]() |
JRehling: "At global resolution, Messenger has given us a complete map of Mercury that leaves little to improve upon. However, BepiColombo will nonetheless perform a great deal of original science"
Messenger certainly gave excellent results, but there is much that can be improved on. Messenger had an orbit which gave low passes over the north pole and high passes over the south, so imaging and all datasets were better in the north than in the south. As an example, the laser altimeter was unable to collect data over much of the southern hemisphere, so the global topo map is less accurate in the south where only stereoscopic imaging is available (stereo gives great detail but it needs altimetry to determine the location in space of the stereo model). BepiColombo will improve on many of Messenger;s datasets in the south. And the high resolution imager will greatly extend the limited high resolution mapping by Messenger. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PD: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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#48
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
JAXA's flyby webcast and ESA Operations tweets reminded me how cool it would have been if we had got, among others, real-time temperature readings through ESA's BepiColombo Quick-Look Analysis web interface during the flyby, but alas!
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#49
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 127 Joined: 15-April 21 Member No.: 9009 ![]() |
JRehling: "At global resolution, Messenger has given us a complete map of Mercury that leaves little to improve upon. However, BepiColombo will nonetheless perform a great deal of original science" Messenger certainly gave excellent results, but there is much that can be improved on. Messenger had an orbit which gave low passes over the north pole and high passes over the south, so imaging and all datasets were better in the north than in the south. As an example, the laser altimeter was unable to collect data over much of the southern hemisphere, so the global topo map is less accurate in the south where only stereoscopic imaging is available (stereo gives great detail but it needs altimetry to determine the location in space of the stereo model). BepiColombo will improve on many of Messenger;s datasets in the south. And the high resolution imager will greatly extend the limited high resolution mapping by Messenger. Phil did any of the images from the flyby image the south at all? |
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#50
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 ![]() |
did any of the images from the flyby image the south at all? Not better than this: https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Me...aic_Global_166m |
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#51
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2091 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 ![]() |
Video including some more distant departure views (overexposed, but still neat!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdOLeGeqAEI |
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#52
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
It seems BepiColombo experienced a Safe Mode event sometimes during Christmas holidays between 23.12.2021 and 05.01.2022 (no pass was scheduled during this period). So far all we know is that a "Safe Mode recovery extra pass" was requested on 05.01 and carried out on 07.01.2022.
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#53
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2091 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 ![]() |
Nothing new on their social media, either. Must have been very minor.
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#54
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
Nothing new on their social media... Not too surprising, ESA so far has shown no intention to provide the general public with timely updates on BepiColombo spacecraft operations and status, besides PR coverage of flybys. Having said that, in this article summing up the first 2.5 years (until May 2021) of flight operations we learn that up to this point, BepiColombo experienced only three unplanned safe modes, all in the first few months of the expedition, so at least in this regard a safe mode would be a notable event. ![]() |
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#55
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
BepiColombo is going to enter superior solar conjunction (SSC), and so starts the second observation session for the BepiColombo Solar Conjunction Experiment (SCE) to test General Relativity (GR).
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#56
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
A strange dark streak with greyish "halo" appeared on BepiColombo's High-Gain Antenna (HGA).
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#57
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 921 Joined: 15-June 09 From: Lisbon, Portugal Member No.: 4824 ![]() |
A strange dark streak with greyish "halo" ... This is an interesting information. Can you please check what is causing the error "https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/APP/connector/0/4291/url/cam_raw_sc_cam3_browse_20210809t223002_61_f__t0005.jpeg" cannot be displayed because it contains errors." in all but the third link? Thanks. Fernando |
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#58
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 28-October 12 Member No.: 6732 ![]() |
... cannot be displayed because it contains errors. OK, that's funny?!?! ![]() |
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#59
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 237 Joined: 14-January 22 Member No.: 9140 ![]() |
Perhaps a coincidence, but the streak has a similar size and shape (but not location) to the shadow that some of the antenna gear is casting in some of those photos.
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#60
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 921 Joined: 15-June 09 From: Lisbon, Portugal Member No.: 4824 ![]() |
Thanks for the tip.
I found it best to set the number of images per page to a high number(500?) and search for just this part of the image label "20210809t223002_61_f__t0005". Fernando |
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