JAXA participates in ESA’s Hera mission and in joint ESA-JAXA missions such as EarthCARE and BepiColombo.
ESA and JAXA have existing collaborations that include EarthCARE and BepiColombo.
BepiColombo reached Mercury orbit after seven years of travel.
SIMBIO SYS, an integrated imaging and spectroscopic system led by the INAF principal investigator in Padua, will deliver high-resolution images and stereo data of Mercury's surface on BepiColombo.
The research team intends to image key regions again with BepiColombo to determine whether new slope lineae have formed or existing ones have changed since the MESSENGER era.
The research team plans to use the current MESSENGER-based inventory of slope streaks as a baseline for future comparisons once BepiColombo begins returning data.
The joint ESA and JAXA BepiColombo mission is en route to Mercury carrying an advanced payload that includes contributions from the University of Bern.
The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA), designed and built in part at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern, will operate from an orbit roughly 1,000 kilometers above Mercury's surface to measure elevations with about 10 centimeter precision.
The University of Bern contributed the ion optical system for STROFIO, a NASA mass spectrometer on BepiColombo that will measure the composition of Mercury's extremely thin atmosphere.
The SIMBIO-SYS instrument onboard BepiColombo will begin providing spectra, high-resolution images, and 3D surface imagery starting in March 2027.
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is currently en route to Mercury with orbital insertion planned for the end of 2026.
Several lineae from the new catalog created by the researchers are designated as specific high-resolution spatial and spectral observation targets for BepiColombo.
The new BepiColombo observations enable systematic comparative studies of auroral and radiation processes at multiple planets, including Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
The Plasma Wave Investigation instrument aboard BepiColombo's Mio spacecraft recorded natural plasma waves in the audible range during multiple close Mercury encounters.
The BepiColombo team calibrated a system-monitoring detector to register Forbush decreases associated with CMEs.
In March 2022, ESA's Solar Orbiter, ESA and JAXA's BepiColombo mission, and a NASA near-Earth spacecraft were aligned to observe a solar eruption.
BepiColombo is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury in 2026.
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will conduct an extensive investigation of Mercury.
BepiColombo measured planetary magnetic environments and monitored the Sun's influence on radio signals during its cruise.
BepiColombo's magnetic measurements were compared with data from its Earth flyby in 2020 and Venus in 2021.