A spacecraft is about to swing by Earth to get a gravity assist on its way to Mercury

An artistic rendering of BepiColombo as it swings by Earth. | Image: ESA / ATG medialab On Friday, an interplanetary spacecraft will slingshot around Earth in the super early morning hours. The spacecraft, a joint European and Japanese creation, will use our planet’s gravity to brake its speed and change its course through the Solar System, putting itself on track to reach Mercury in the next five years.
The probe whipping by our planet is called BepiColombo, which is actually two spacecr