Mercury's surface and composition to be studied by BepiColombo

Rothery D, Marinangeli L, Anand M, Carpenter J, Christensend U, Crawford IA, De Sanctis MC, Epifani EM, Erard S, Frigeri A, Fraser G, Hauber E, Helbert J, Hiesinger H, Joy K, Langevin Y, Massironi M, Milillo A, Mitrofanov I, Muinonen K, Naranen J, Pauselli C, Potts P, Warell J, Wurz P

Abstract

We describe the contributions that we expect the BepiColombo mission to make towards increased knowledge and understanding of Mercury's surface and composition. BepiColornbo will have a larger and more capable Suite of instruments relevant for determination of the topographic, physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of the surface than carried by NASA's MESSENGER mission. We anticipate that the insights gained into the planet's geological history and its current space weathering environment will enable us to understand the relationships between surface composition and the composition of different types of crust. This will enable estimation of the composition of the mantle from which the crust was derived, and lead to better constraints on models for Mercury's origin and the nature of the material from which it formed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Projects the publication originates from