Mercury

Space Missions

BepiColombo Mission Makes Third Mercury Flyby

The Mercury-bound BepiColombo Mission made its third flyby past the solar system’s innermost world on June 19th.

Illustration of BepiColumbo in front of Mercury

Solar System

BepiColombo First Picture of Mercury (Updated)

BepiColombo is set to make the first of several flybys past Mercury on Friday, October 1st.

Venus flybys

Solar System

Two Space Probes to Pass by Venus (Update)

Two spacecraft are heading for a close Venus encounter: Solar Orbiter passes by on August 9th and BepiColombo on August 10th.

BepiColombo Flyby

Celestial News & Events

BepiColombo's Flyby Past Earth

BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA Mercury-bound mission, will swing by the Earth on Friday.

Image of BepiColumbo launch

Space Missions

Mission to Mercury Launches

The BepiColombo spacecraft, Europe's first mission to Mercury, rocketed away from Earth to begin its seven-year trek to the innermost planet.

Exoplanet-hunting TESS spacecraft

Space Missions

Looking Ahead: Space Exploration in 2017

An exciting year lies ahead for spaceflight involving astronomy and planetary science — by NASA and by other spacefaring nations.