The European Space Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft recently performed its fifth flyby of Mercury on Dec. 1, becoming the first spacecraft ever to observe the planet in mid-infrared light. BepiColombo’s observations from the flyby have revealed interesting new details on the Mercury’s surface, including temperature and composition variations.
BepiColombo is only the third mission to visit the smallest planet in our solar system, making Mercury the least-explored rocky planet in the solar system. In 2026, BepiColombo will enter orbit around Mercury and begin its primary mission, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury since NASA’s Messenger from 2011 to 2015.