BepiColombo spacecraft completes close flyby of Mercury.

The European/Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft will make its third flyby of Mercury, passing the planet at a distance of just 147 miles to slow down and enter its orbit in 2025. The spacecraft will use Mercury's gravity to reduce its velocity magnitude and change its direction. BepiColombo carries three low-resolution monitoring cameras that will capture black-and-white images of the planet during the flyby. The spacecraft consists of two orbiters, and some of its instruments will collect data for the first time during the flyby. Mercury is notoriously difficult to study, and BepiColombo is only the third spacecraft to visit the planet.