Verkkothe encounter with mercury was the first time bepicolombo visited its ultimate destination, but scientists will have to wait four more years for a full. The first probe to visit mercury was mariner 10. View of mercury from mariner 10 in march 1975. The exploration of mercury has a minor role. Verkkoeurope's bepicolombo mission has returned its first pictures of mercury, the solar system's innermost planet. The probe took the images shortly after it zipped over. Verkkothe bepicolombo spacecraft just flew past mercury — its ultimate destination — for the first time. Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft sent to the planet mercury; The first mission to explore two planets (mercury and venus) during a single mission;. Verkkobepicolombo, a joint endeavour between the european space agency (esa) and the japan aerospace exploration agency (jaxa), was successfully launched on 20 october 2018, and will bring the number of mercury missions to. Verkkoeurope's bepicolombo mission has returned its first pictures of mercury, the solar system's innermost planet. The probe took the images shortly. Because mercury is so close to the sun, it is hard to directly observe from earth except during dawn or twilight when the sun's brightness.
