BepiColombo flies by Venus en route to Mercury

Paris (ESA) Oct 16, 2020

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission has completed the first of two Venus flybys needed to set it on course with the Solar System's innermost planet, Mercury. The closest approach of the flyby took place at 03:58 GMT (05:58 CEST) this morning at a distance of about 10 720 km from the planet's surface. Launched 20 October 2018, the spacecraft needs nine gravity assist flybys - one at Earth, two