Hi friends, it’s your favourite alien space explorer Paxi here!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel all the way to Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun? What would you see along the way? And what mysteries might be waiting for you when you arrive?
This month, something very exciting is happening! After an incredible eight-year journey through space, the ESA/JAXA mission BepiColombo will arrive at Mercury. On 21 November, the spacecraft will enter orbit around the planet, ready to begin the next chapter of its amazing adventure. To celebrate this next milestone, ‘Bepi’s Journey to Mercury’ is the theme of this month’s Cosmic Art Contest!
Mercury might be small, but it has some BIG mysteries! How did it form? What is interesting about its magnetic field? And how can there be ice hiding in deep craters on a planet so close to the Sun? These are some of the questions BepiColombo will help scientists investigate.
Getting there has been quite an adventure too. BepiColombo left Earth in 2018 and has travelled past Earth, Venus and Mercury, using planetary flybys to help it along its journey. Once at Mercury, two spacecrafts, ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mio, will explore the planet and its surroundings. It will be the first time two spacecraft orbit Mercury at the same time! Find out more information BepiColombos mission in the video below.
Topic: Bepi’s Journey to Mercury
Deadline: November 30, 2026
What part of Bepi’s adventure will inspire you? Draw its journey through space, imagine the mysteries of Mercury up close, or show us what you think Bepi might discover. Let your imagination blast off!
I will select the best entries, which will go into the Space Gallery and will receive a special prize from the European Space Agency. The maximum age limit for competition entries is 12.
