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Space Science Reviews (2021) 217:70
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-021-00839-2
Pre-flight Calibration and Near-Earth Commissioning Results
of the Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment (MPPE) Onboard
MMO (Mio)
Yoshifumi Saito ·Dominique Delcourt·Masafumi Hirahara·Stas Barabash·
Nicolas André·Takeshi Takashimaet al. [full author details at the end of the article]
Received: 17 June 2020 / Accepted: 19 June 2021 / Published online: 29 July 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021
Abstract
BepiColombo Mio (previously called MMO: Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) was suc-
cessfully launched by Ariane 5 from Kourou, French Guiana on October 20, 2018. The
Mercury Plasma/Particle Experiment (MPPE) is a comprehensive instrument package on-
board Mio spacecraft used for plasma, high-energy particle and energetic neutral atom mea-
surements. It consists of seven sensors including two Mercury Electron Analyzers (MEA1
and MEA2), Mercury Ion Analyzer (MIA), Mass Spectrum Analyzer (MSA), High Energy
Particle instrument for electron (HEP-ele), High Energy Particle instrument for ion (HEP-
ion), and Energetic Neutrals Analyzer (ENA). Significant efforts were made pre-flight to
calibrate all of the MPPE sensors at the appropriate facilities on the ground. High voltage
commissioning of MPPE analyzers was successfully performed between June and August
2019 and in February 2020 following the completion of the low voltage commissioning in
November 2018. Although all of the MPPE analyzers are now ready to begin observation,
the full service performance has been delayed until Mio’s arrival at Mercury. Most of the
fields of view (FOVs) of the MPPE analyzers are blocked by the thermal shield surround-
ing the Mio spacecraft during the cruising phase. Together with other instruments on Mio
including Magnetic Field Investigation (MGF) and Plasma Wave Investigation (PWI) that
measure plasma field parameters, MPPE will contribute to the comprehensive understand-
The BepiColombo mission to Mercury
Edited by Johannes Benkhoff, Go Murakami and Ayako Matsuoka
BepiColombo Mio/MPPE Team: Y. Saito, M. Hirahara, S. Barabash, D. Delcourt, A. Coates, N. André,
T. Takashima, K. Asamura, C. Aoustin, J.-A. Sauvaud, P. Louarn, M. Blanc, C. Jacquey, C. Mazelle,
I. Dandouras, V. Genot, D. Toublanc, C. Peymirat, A. Fedorov, E. Amata, R. Bruno, M.B. Cattaneo,
G. Consolini, M.F. Marcucci, Z. N˘
eme˘
cek, B. Lavraud, L. Griton, S. Aizawa, H.-C. Seran, J. Rouzaud,
Q.M. Lee, E. Le Comte, E. Penou, M. Petiot, D. Moirin, S. Machida, I. Shinohara, W. Miyake,
T. Terasawa, C. Owen, A. Fazakerley, T. Nagatsuma, K. Seki, T. Nagai, A. Ieda, H. Hasegawa,
J.-M. Illiano, J.-J. Berthelier, D. Fontaine, N. Krupp, J. Woch, S. Yokota, M. Fraenz, H. Krueger,
H. Michalik, L. Hadid, R. Modolo, B. Fiethe, B. Katra, F. Leblanc, C. Verdeil, H. Fischer, J.-D. Techer,
D. Reisenfeld, R. Elphic, H. Funsten, D. McComas, M. Grande, H. Matsumoto, T. Yanagimachi,
T. Obara, Y. Miyoshi, Y. Ebihara, M. Nose, F. Tsuchiya, T.A. Fritz, Q. Zong, T. Mitani, S. Kasahara,
M. Shimoyama, Y. Kazama, M. Yamauchi, M. Holmström, Y. Futaana, R. Lundin, P. Wurz, M. Wieser,
H. Andersson, S. Karlsson, W. Benz, W.-H. Ip, L.-N. Hau, M. Hoshino, M. Fujimoto, K. Maezawa,
N. Terada, P. Trávni˘
cek, R. Smets, R. Modolo, F. Leblanc, R. Lallement, L. Zelenyi, H. Malova,
M.N. Nishino, Y.-C. Wang, M. Oka, M. Yagi, Y. Harada, L. Xie, J. Zhong, J. Vaverka, K. Keika,
W. Sun, L. Wang
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