Speaker
Description
Space radiation has a large impact on planetary space weather and electronic instruments, both on the ground and in space. For this reason, comprehending the space radiation environment in our solar system, is fundamental for modern society and space exploration.
BepiColombo is the first European mission to Mercury, succeeding NASA’s Mariner 10 and MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging). It was designed to study the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of the planet. Being one of the least explored planets of our solar system, it still holds many unanswered questions. The main objetives of the mission are to characterize the radiation environment in a planet so close to the Sun, how radiation and the solar wind interacts with Mercury magnetosphere, better model the character- istics of such a unique magnetosphere, study solar events, among others.
The BepiColombo Environment Radiation Monitor (BERM) is one of the many instruments aboard BepiColombo. Its main objective is to characterize the radiation environment during the entire mis- sion. It is operated continuously, being responsible for monitoring the radiation levels during all phases of the mission, and ultimately, for sending warning signals to the spacecraft. Even though BERM is not a part of the scientific payload, it will provide valuable information regarding highly energetic particles in the innermost part of the Solar System.
