BepiColombo MMO Development Status

摘要

BepiColombo has been defined as the ESA-JAXA joint mission to Mercury. The baseline mission consists of two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The two orbiters and other modules are combined into one system (MCS: Mercury Cruise System) and will be launched by one Ariane5 in 2016 from Kourou. Electric Propulsion engine module (MTM) is used for orbital maneuver during Mercury transfer phase. The MPO will control MCS during cruise. The main objectives of the MMO are to study Mercury's magnetic field and plasma environment around Mercury. The MMO is designed as a spin-stabilized spacecraft and will be placed in a 400 km x 12,000 km polar orbit. While main objective of the MPO is to study planet Mercury and is designed as a trraxial attitude control spacecraft. The MPO will be placed in a 400 km × 1,500 km polar orbit. Both spacecraft will be placed into a same plane and the orbital periods of the two spacecraft is designed as 4:1 to enhance science outputs. Due to the severe thermal conditions, basic operation plan for the MMO is considered 3 orbits as a set.