由欧洲太空总署（ESA）与日本宇宙航空研究开发机构（JAXA）联合执行的贝皮可伦坡号（BepiColombo）水星探测任务，在历经推进系统故障延误后，顺利完成了推进模组分离，进入前往水星低轨道的最终飞行阶段。前往水星的旅程极具挑战，探测器必须在朝太阳引力陷阱坠落时大幅减速，贝皮可伦坡号为此经历了九次复杂的行星重力助推，航行近百亿公里，同时还必须承受水星剧烈的极端温差考验。

抵达预定位置后，探测器将分离为两个独立探测器：水星行星轨道器（MPO）与水星磁层轨道器（Mio）。两者将分别进入互补的不同轨道，展开水星探索史上首次多探测器同时绕轨观测。在完成各项仪器整备程序（包括展开关键的遮阳罩）之后，MPO预计于2027年3月抵达最终轨道，而全面的科学观测预计于2027年4月正式启动。

这项任务旨在解答诸多水星的核心谜题，包含其异常巨大的铁核、极地永久阴影坑洞中的冰层、独特磁场的成因，以及地表神秘洼地凹坑的本质。解开这些谜团将有助于科学家深入了解包含地球在内的类地行星演化史，天文物理学家同时也计划利用水星紧邻太阳的强大重力场，精确检验爱因斯坦的广义相对论。

The joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission has successfully separated from its propulsion module and commenced its descent into low Mercury orbit, despite earlier propulsion anomalies that delayed its arrival. Navigating toward Mercury presents severe difficulties as spacecraft must continuously brake against the sun's gravitational pull; BepiColombo accomplished this through nine complex planetary gravity-assist flybys over roughly ten billion kilometers, while being engineered to endure brutal shifts between daytime heat and nighttime freezes.

Upon reaching Mercury, the spacecraft will separate into two individual orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio), marking the first time multiple probes will simultaneously circle the planet from complementary orbits. After completing technical deployment preparations, including Mio's critical sun shield, MPO will enter its final science orbit in March 2027, with comprehensive scientific operations slated to begin in April 2027.

The orbiters aim to resolve critical scientific mysteries, such as Mercury's oversized iron core, polar water ice preserved inside permanently shadowed craters, its unexpected global magnetic field, and the nature of surface depressions known as hollows. Resolving these unknowns will provide key insights into the formation and evolution of rocky terrestrial planets, while precise orbital tracking will allow physicists to test Einstein's general theory of relativity near the intense solar gravity well.