Mercury Radiometer & Thermal Infrared Spectrometer, Phase D/C2 (MERTIS)

Basic data for this project

Description

Selected by ESA to be one of the eleven instruments aboard the MPO spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission, MERTIS will map the surface mineralogy of planet Mercury with a spatial resolution of at least 500 meters. It is an imaging spectrometer covering the thermal infrared, or IR, range and also contains a radiometer for thermal inertia measurements. The goals of Phase C2/D are to define the instrument in detail and to manufacture a qualification model and a flight unit. Launch of the BepiColombo mission atop ESA's Ariane V launcher is planned for 2014. The journey to Mercury will take six years to complete.