BepiColombo News 2011
31/08/2011 BepiColombo MPO STM moves into Large Space Simulator facility at ESTEC
The BepiColombo MPO STM spacecraft has been installed in the Large Space Simulator (LSS). Closing of the LSS main chamber after MPO installation and connection of all the test harnesses is currently scheduled for mid September, followed by pumping and outgassing to achieve the required vacuum of around 10-9 bar. Thermal-vacuum testing is expected to last until the first week of October, with the MPO scheduled to leave the LSS chamber by mid-October.
06/05/2011 Putting A Face On The BepiColombo Community
With the size of the BepiColombo Community ever increasing, we've added to the Portal Main Menu (to the left) a number of links to help the community get to know itself.
Under the heading "Who's Who..", the first link Bepi Faces shows, as you might guess, photos of the members of the BepiColombo community registered with a user account for the RSSD BepiColombo Portal. Of course, not everyone is there... yet! Only those with a photo attached to their profile will appear. But don't worry, once you're logged in click on the third link, Edit Personal Info and you can attach a photo to your profile, as well as changing or updating any of the specific information of your account. The middle link People Finder will allow you to search the directory of BepiColombo Portal users for addresses, phone numbers, email and photos... if you've forgotten what they look like.
So help us put a face or faces to BepiColombo and keep our contact information for you up to date by visiting the links to the left and updating your profile.
05/05/2011 BepiColombo Web Portal Goes Wiki
In a move to make the BepiColombo Web Portal more accessible to the BepiColombo science community, much of the site's content has been reformatted to make use of the quick-edit functionality of wikis. A key update is the "wikification" of the Working Group webpages. These pages, accessible from the links in the updated main menu on the left, can be used for WG-related data exchange and dissemination. Anyone with a portal login can see these pages, however, for now, only the WG chairs have edit access.
We've also created a Public wiki that can be seen by all and edited by any user with a portal login. This can be used to share information with people outside of the BepiColombo community and the general public.
Each wiki includes links to guides; to help you get started, but if problems arise please contact Jonathan McAuliffe or Fernando Perez Lopez at the SGS.
05/05/2011 Mercury Publications List
The list of BepiColombo and Mercury related publications has been updated, mainly with papers related to the Hermean Environment working group. This page is in wiki format and as such edit access can be granted to members of the web portal. Please help us keep this list full and up-to-date. For edit access please contact Jonathan McAuliffe or Fernando Perez Lopez at the SGS.
18/01/2011 ESA's Mercury Mapper Feeld the Heat
Key components of the ESA-led Mercury mapper BepiColombo have been tested in a specially upgraded European space simulator. ESA's Large Space Simulator is now the most powerful in the world and the only facility capable of reproducing Mercury's hellish environment for a full-scale spacecraft.
