DPS 35th Meeting, 1-6 September 2003 Session 41. Future Missions
and Instruments  [Previous] | [Session 41] | [Next]  [41.05] The
BepiColombo Mission to Mercury  P. Falkner, R. Schulz (ESA),
BepiColombo Team  BepiColombo will visit Mercury to provide the
detailed information necessary to understand this planet and its
magnetospheric environment. The spacecraft is envisaged to
consist of three modules, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter
(MMO), the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury
Surface Element (MSE). The MMO studies the wave and particle
environment of the planet from an eccentric orbit. The MPO and
MSE are dedicated to the characterization of Mercury itself. The
MPO is a three-axis-stabilized and nadir-pointing module, which
is dedicated to remote sensing investigations. Its low-
eccentricity polar orbit will provide excellent spatial
resolution over the entire planet surface. The MSE is a Lander
performing in-situ investigations of the planet to characterize
the physical, chemical, and minera