European-Japanese space mission gets 1st glimpse of Mercury

BERLIN (AP) — A joint European-Japanese spacecraft got its first glimpse of Mercury as it swung by the solar system’s innermost planet while on a mission to deliver two probes into orbit in 2025.The BepiColombo mission made the first of six flybys of Mercury on Friday night, using the planet’s gravity to slow the spacecraft down. After swooping past Mercury at altitudes of under 200 kilometers (125 miles), the spacecraft took a low resolution black-and-white photo before zipping off again. The European Space Agency said the image shows the Northern Hemisphere and Mercury’s pock-marked features. The joint mission by the European agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the solar system’s smallest planet was launched in 2018.