How These Glowing Blue Thrusters Will Get BepiColombo to Mercury

Glowing Blue
In December, two discs on the bottom of a minibus-sized spacecraft headed for Mercury will start to glow blue. These blue, glowing discs are the solar-powered electric thrusters that will get the BepiColombo mission to Mercury.BepiColombo, a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on October 20, 2018, and is slated to arrive at Mercury in December of 2025