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Mercury Transfer Module thrusters detail

Mercury Transfer Module thrusters detail


Date: 13 June 2017
Satellite: BepiColombo
Depicts: Mercury Transfer Module thusters
Location: European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Copyright: ESA–C. Carreau, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Close-up of a set of thrusters on the BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) that will carry the two science orbiters – the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – to the innermost planet.

The image focuses on an upper set of 10 N bipropellant thrusters located on the side of the spacecraft that will usually point away from the Sun. They are part of the chemical propulsion system used for general attitude control. The MTM has 24 bipropellant thrusters in total (12 pairs, with one redundant in each set).

The gold-coloured material, while not actually gold, is a low-mass heat-resistant film known as Upilex-S/VDA. The metallic appearance is due to 'vacuum-deposited aluminium' on its inner surface.

The radiator panel of the MPO is visible above the thrusters.

 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO License. Creative Commons License

Last Update: 1 September 2019
29-Mar-2024 13:29 UT

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