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\nOn 14 March, the BepiColombo flight control team at ESA\u2019s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, was joined by experts from the mission team at the Agency\u2019s technical centre in the Netherlands as well as industry to conduct a \u2018system validation test\u2019.\n<\/p>\n
\nSuch tests are critical milestones in getting a spacecraft, its onboard software, the ground systems and the mission control team ready to handle the real flight.\n<\/p>\n
\nThis week, engineers connected their mission control systems to the actual spacecraft, which is now located at ESA\u2019s technical centre, via telecom links, allowing them to \u2018talk\u2019 to BepiColombo just as they will after launch when it is in space en route to mercury.\n<\/p>\n
\nA modern spacecraft has 42 000 telemetry parameters and 2650 control parameters in its software \u2013 comparable to a mid-size jet aircraft \u2013 and hundreds of thousands of lines of code on board.\n<\/p>\n
\nBepiColombo, ESA\u2019s first mission to Mercury, has two science craft: ESA\u2019s Mercury Planetary Orbiter, with 11 experiments and instruments, and Japan\u2019s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, with five experiments and instruments.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe spacecraft, along with ground equipment and mission experts, are set to start the move from the Netherlands to Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at the end of next month. The launch window is open from 5 October until 29 November.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn the photo, in the foreground: Spacecraft Operations Engineer Emanuela Bordoni; centre, Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager Christoph Steiger; at rear, Susanne Fugger, responsible for BepiColombo operations at Airbus Defence and Space, Germany.\n<\/p>\n
\nMore information<\/b>\n<\/p>\n
\nHow we fly BepiColombo<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \nhttp:\/\/www.esa.int\/bepicolombo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nOn 14 March, the BepiColombo flight control team at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, was joined by experts from the mission team at the Agency’s technical centre in the Netherlands as well as industry to conduct a ‘system validation test’.\n<\/p>\n \nSuch tests are critical milestones in getting a spacecraft, its onboard software, the ground systems and the mission control team ready to handle the real flight.\n<\/p>\n \nThis week, engineers connected their mission control systems to the actual spacecraft, which is now located at ESA’s technical centre, via telecom links, allowing them to ‘talk’ to BepiColombo just as they will after launch when it is in space en route to mercury.\n<\/p>\n \nA modern spacecraft has 42 000 telemetry parameters and 2650 control parameters in its software – comparable to a mid-size jet aircraft – and hundreds of thousands of lines of code on board.\n<\/p>\n \nBepiColombo, ESA’s first mission to Mercury, has two science craft: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter, with 11 experiments and instruments, and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, with five experiments and instruments.\n<\/p>\n \nThe spacecraft, along with ground equipment and mission experts, are set to start the move from the Netherlands to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at the end of next month. The launch window is open from 5 October until 29 November.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the photo, in the foreground: Spacecraft Operations Engineer Emanuela Bordoni; centre, Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager Christoph Steiger; at rear, Susanne Fugger, responsible for BepiColombo operations at Airbus Defence and Space, Germany.\n<\/p>\n \nMore information<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n