BepiColombo (MPO+MMO) - Ariane 5 ECA (VA245) - Kourou ELA-3 - 20.10.2018 - 04:45:35 ДМВ

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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/va245-bepicolombo-testing/

Ariane 5 | August 1, 2018

BepiColombo "spreads its wings" in preparation for Arianespace's October launch


One of two solar arrays on BepiColombo's Mercury Transfer Module is opened during testing in the Spaceport's S5C clean room high bay (at left) and is inspected after full deployment (photo at right).

BepiColombo's Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) – which is part of a multi-part spacecraft composite to be launched by Ariane 5 in October for exploration of the solar system's smallest and least-explored terrestrial planet – has undergone tests at the Spaceport in French Guiana to validate the deployment process for its two solar arrays.

These two arrays – one installed on each side of the module – were opened with the use of an overhead rig that helped support the solar panels as they extended to their full length, simulating the low gravity conditions in space. The activity took place in the SC5 clean room high bay, which is the largest hall in the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility.

Спойлер

To be launched on Arianespace Flight VA245 on October 18, BepiColombo consists of four elements: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), a three-axis stabilized spacecraft tasked to study the planet's surface and internal composition; the spin-stabilized Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which will provide data on Mercury's magnetosphere; the Mercury Transfer Module, providing solar-electric propulsion on the trajectory to Mercury; and the MMO Sunshield and Interface Structure (MOSIF).

Bringing together Europe and Japan

The European Space Agency is responsible for the overall BepiColombo mission design and integration of the various spacecraft elements, and it provides three of the components: the MPO, MTM and MOSIF.

Japan supplies the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which is provided by the country's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The composite spacecraft "stack" will make its first flyby of Mercury three years after launch, followed by separation of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to circle the planet – providing data that will provide new insights of the planet as well as the solar system's formation.


The three additional elements for BepiColombo's multi-part spacecraft composite also are being readied for launch in the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility. Shown at left is the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), followed by the MMO Sunshield and Interface Structure (MOSIF) (center photo), and the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), at right.

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 7 авг.

Last week at the #Spaceport: with the three #bepicolombo spacecraft modules @ESA_MTM @ESA_Bepi & @JAXA_MMO connected electrically and linked to teams at @esaoperations, we completed a system validation test : http://ow.ly/qF6Z30lirgl 

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 23 ч. назад

Testing of @ESA_Bepi's solar array has also begun at the #Spaceport. @ESA_MTM's arrays were tested earlier in the launch campaign and already installed on the spacecraft module. Your turn soon, Bepi!

Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 23 ч. назад

Watching as my solar array is being deployed and inspected in a special rig needed to support the array from above, to help simulate the weightlessness of space. I'm looking forward to having a go at it myself soon Latest photos: http://ow.ly/tMNp30liKJ5 

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 4 ч. назад

5 satellites at Spaceport for upcoming #Arianespace flights w/ #Vega, #Ariane5 & #Soyuz: #Aeolus (@ESA_EO); #BepiColombo (@esascience); #MetOpC (@ESA_EO); #AZERSPACE2 (@AzercosmosOJSCo); #Horizons3e (@INTELSAT #SkyPerfectJSAT). We're proud to deliver for cutting-edge missions!

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 21 ч. назад

Some careful finishing touches to the sewing of the multi-layered insulation around my high-gain antenna and mechanisms, currently in stowed configuration...



21 ч. назад

...Once in #space I'll unfold the antenna and use it to communicate with you all back on #Earth while I'm travelling to #Mercury with @ESA_MTM & @JAXA_MMO


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BepiColombo ретвитнул(а)

Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 15 авг.

В ответ @ESA_MTM @JAXA_MMO

LOOK! My solar array is attached! Can you see it?!? It's got some help hanging from the 'zero-g' rig, and it's going to get folded up again soon, and then I can practise deploying it, and then it will be stowed for launch...like yours @ESA_MTM! #Excited!

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みお (MIO)‏ @JAXA_MMO 11 ч. назад

6000人を超える仲間たちの名前やメッセージがメモリーカードに入って、わたしの中に搭載されているよ！みんなからの熱い想いを、必ず灼熱の水星に届けるね！

Names and messages from public in a memory card is installed in my heart! I take the hot messages to the hot planet, Mercury!

Спойлер

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 7 ч. назад

For my 101st tweet it seems fitting to tell you that our ride to #space is planned on the 101st launch of an #Ariane5! Leaving planet Earth for #Mercury in 2 months time: 01:45 GMT/03:45 CEST on 19 Oct, or 22:45GFT on 18 Oct for us here at the #Spaceport @ESA_MTM @JAXA_MMO


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Inside the cleanroom with BepiColombo

European Space Agency, ESA

Опубликовано: 21 авг. 2018 г.

ESA Web TV talks to BepiColombo project manager Ulrich Reininghaus inside the cleanroom at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, where the mission is undergoing final preparations for its launch to Mercury.

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 17 ч. назад

Look what I can do with my solar array @ESA_MTM @JAXA_MMO! Now I just have to keep it folded up until we're in #space [Photo: ESA–B.Guillaume]

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 7 ч. назад

Hey Mio @JAXA_MMO, ready to sit up top? Just like we practiced back home at #ESTEC...



みお (MIO)‏ @JAXA_MMO 6 ч. назад

В ответ @ESA_Bepi

うん、大丈夫だよ！準備はオッケー！ Yes please! I'm ready! Coming up!



Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 6 ч.6 часов назад

Left a bit

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 6 ч. назад

Good to have you back Mio! Just please watch out for my antennas sticking out there! Ready to stay like that for a few years?!



MTM‏ @ESA_MTM 6 ч. назад

В ответ @ESA_Bepi @JAXA_MMO





Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 6 ч. назад

В ответ @ESA_MTM @JAXA_MMO

Don't worry @ESA_MTM, we didn't forget you! You and I still have some work to finish before we can be attached. But... shall we come over there to see you anyway, and check our connections work?



MTM‏ @ESA_MTM 6 ч. назад





Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 6 ч. назад

Just a quick visit though @ESA_MTM, we'll get properly attached closer to launch



MTM‏ @ESA_MTM 6 ч.

В ответ @ESA_Bepi @JAXA_MMO

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 7 ч. назад

Our @ESA_Bepi & @JAXA_MMO modules are attached! It is so great to see our #spacecraft 'stack' building up again! @ESA_MTM will be added once the modules have been filled with propellants – that milestone coming soon.

Read latest status report: http://ow.ly/2uOT30lDahy 

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_science_orbiters_stacked_together

BEPICOLOMBO SCIENCE ORBITERS STACKED TOGETHER


MMO and MPO mini-stack

31 August 2018
The two science orbiters of the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission are connected in their launch configuration and the European science orbiter and transport module have been given the go-ahead to be loaded with propellants.

The mission completed its Qualification Acceptance Review in the last week, which confirms it is on track for its 19 October launch. The three-spacecraft mission is currently scheduled to launch on an Ariane 5 at 03:45 CEST (01:45 GMT) on 19 October, or 22:45 local time in Kourou on 18 October, with the launch window remaining open until 29 November.

Following the successful fuelling readiness review on 30 August, the chemical propellants – such as hydrazine – can be added to the European Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) and Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO).

"These important reviews represent further key milestone in our launch campaign, bringing us to the final stages of our launch preparations, while in the longer term enabling the journey and operations at Mercury," says Ulrich Reininghaus, ESA's BepiColombo project manager.

"With the fueling activities planned for 5–12 September, a technical point of no return will be reached. After mechanical stacking, final electrical health check and transfer to the final assembly building, the launch will be the next major event."

Спойлер

BepiColombo stack 'fit check'

The transfer module will use both ion propulsion and chemical propulsion, in combination with gravity assist flybys at Earth, Venus and Mercury to bring the two science orbiters close enough to Mercury to be gravitationally captured into its orbit.

There, MPO will use its small thrusters to deliver JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) into its elliptical orbit around Mercury, before separating and descending to its own orbit closer to the planet.
This month the two science modules were arranged in their launch configuration for the first time in over a year; the last occasion was at ESA's technical centre in the Netherlands during final testing before shipment to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The MTM will be integrated at the bottom of the stack once the propellant-loading activities have been completed. A test-run of the integration was already exercised last week with the unfueled modules. The sunshield that will protect the MMO from the Sun's radiation on the seven year journey will also be added much closer to launch.

"The long journey to Mercury has not yet started, but I feel the two science orbiters already have a strong bond between them, thanks to the long history of this mission," says Go Murakami, JAXA's BepiColombo project scientist. "I believe they will achieve a very successful mission with their joint science measurements."


BepiColombo orbits

MMO's main science goals are to provide a detailed study of the magnetic environment of Mercury, the interaction of the solar wind with the planet, and the diverse chemical species present in the exosphere – the planet's extremely tenuous 'atmosphere'.

The MPO will focus more on surface processes and composition, and together with MMO, will help piece together the full picture of the interaction of the solar wind on the planet's environment and surface. Together they will watch how this interaction at the surface feeds back into what is observed in the exosphere and how that varies both in time and location – something that can only be achieved with two spacecraft in such complementary orbits.

"Seeing the two BepiColombo science orbiters finally attached together and knowing that they will now stay in this configuration for the next seven years is quite emotional," says Johannes Benkhoff, ESA's BepiColombo project scientist. "It's another strong indication that we will start our mission soon and I'm really looking forward to all the science measurements we have planned with instruments on these two orbiters."


Bepi Colombo timeline

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みお (MIO)‏ @JAXA_MMO 5 ч.5 часов назад

В ответ @ESA_Bepi

わぁ！もう忘れかけてたけど、やっぱり@ESA_Bepi の上はサイコー！さぁ、待っててね、#水星 ！

WOW! I almost forgot how cool it was to be up here. Almost ready for you, #Mercury!!



Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 5 ч.5 часов назад

В ответ @JAXA_MMO

Don't forget we still need to collect your sunshield before we go!

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http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/topics/001847.html (англ.яз.)
(яп. оригинал - http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/topics/001846.html)

Sep 5, 2018
BepiColombo science orbiters stacked together

The two science orbiters of the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission are connected in their launch configuration and the European science orbiter and transport module have been given the go-ahead to be loaded with propellants.

The mission completed its Qualification Acceptance Review in the last week, which confirms it is on track for its 19 October launch. The three-spacecraft mission is currently scheduled to launch on an Ariane 5 at 03:45 CEST (01:45 GMT) on 19 October, or 22:45 local time in Kourou on 18 October, with the launch window remaining open until 29 November.

Please visit the ESA website for more details.


"MIO" (MMO) [top] and MPO [bottom] being arranged in their launch configuration at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou. 
Credit: ESA-B.Guillaume


"MIO" (MMO) [top] and MPO [middle] being arranged in their launch configuration together with the MTM [bottom] in a so-called 'fit-check'.
Credit: ESA-B.Guillaume

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Bepi‏ @ESA_Bepi 16 мин. назад

We're on the move! After our first months at the #Spaceport in the "processing area", we've transferred to a different room for our upcoming chemical propulsion fueling activities. Latest : http://ow.ly/vfqa30lIJws 

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 7 сент.

Last week at the #Spaceport: @ESA_Bepi radiator fins were attached, and the modules have transferred to a different building in the #Spaceport for chemical propulsion fuelling. Latest photos: http://ow.ly/uESt30lJ4ps 

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 3 ч. назад

A few pics of the preparations for the chemical propulsion fuelling activities last week http://ow.ly/OExW30lOFTZ 

MTM‏ @ESA_MTM 3 ч. назад

http://ow.ly/mdV630lOFPA 

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 7 ч. назад

Latest status: fuelling of @ESA_Bepi & @ESA_MTM complete! #EPSC2018

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BepiColombo‏Подлинная учетная запись @BepiColombo 7 ч. назад

Next: build complete spacecraft stack, integrate with launcher, final launch preps... then liftoff! Now targeting 19 Oct 22:45 (Kourou) / 20 Oct 03:45 CEST #EPSC2018


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