Understanding the formation, evolution, composition, the interior structure and the environment of Mercury is a primary goal of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission and of many theoretical, observational, and experimental studies. NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft provided many new insights and surprising results regarding these goals. However, the mission also raised many new questions that will be addressed by ESA/JAXA BepiColombo and stimulated multiple studies. This session welcomes contributions addressing the planet’s geology, surface composition, geodesy, interior structure, laboratory measurements, ground-based observations, exosphere, magnetosphere, gravity and magnetic fields and all those work related to the investigation of this terrestrial planet.

BepiColombo is going to be launched soon after the EPSC, followed by a nearly seven year cruise of the spacecraft, with gravity-assist maneuvers at Earth, Venus, and Mercury.
This session will address launch related activities including public outreach activities. For the cruise phase, check-out and scientific activities are planned. A second focus of the session is on the spacecraft and payload cruise activities, with main emphasis on radio science, Venus fly-by activities, and solar wind observations.