Mercury, the solar system’s smallest planet and the one closest to the sun, hasn’t received as much love as its celestial neighbors. It’s the least explored of the inner solar system planets, which also include Venus, Earth and Mars.
But the BepiColombo mission, by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will help change that. It’s finally in the homestretch of an eight-year-long voyage to the tiny planet.
