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Space
Space
Science
Andrew Jones

BepiColombo probe captures stunning Mercury images in closest flyby yet

A grey, cratered plnaet is cast in partial shadow. In the foreground, an arm from a spacecraft hangs from the top right.

The BepiColombo Mercury probe made a flyby of its ultimate destination on Wednesday, capturing superb images of the planet's crater-covered crust.

The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft, which launched in 2018, swooped in for its fourth Mercury flyby at 5:48 p.m. EDT (2148 GMT) Sept. 4, passing just 103 miles (165 kilometers) above the surface of the solar system's innermost planet.

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