University of Leicester

As the BepiColombo spacecraft sets off on its 7 year journey to explore the strange world of Mercury, it will be carrying a piece of cutting-edge technology developed and built by Leicester scientists – and will represent a first for planetary science.

The BepiColombo mission is a two spacecraft mission, and a partnership between the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency.

Researchers from the University of Leicester have led the design, development and build of the Mercury Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (MIXS), an innovative space instrument that will fly on the European spacecraft.

The instrument represents a lasting legacy to Professor George Fraser, who was the original Principal Investigator before his untimely death in March 2014 and mastermind behind the novel optic design. This ground-breaking optic is the key piece of equipment that allows MIXS to work, for the first time offering an X-ray optic that is light enough for inclusion in an interplanetary mission.

www.le.ac.uk/bepicolombo

This film was produced by External Relations, University of Leicester.

Filmed & Edited by Carl Vivian
Produced by Taylor Crosby Show less