Misson to Mercury: Bepi Colombo

Michael Grubb Studio provided lighting design services for Bepi Colombo, the European Space Agency’s first ever spacecraft to explore Mercury.

The exhibition is located within the Tomorrow’s World gallery of London’s Science Museum.

The Bepi Colombo STM has been loaned to the Science Museum by the European Space Agency (ESA) and was developed and build for ESA by Airbus, the mission’s prime industrial contractor.

Standing over six metres tall, this Structural Thermal Model (STM) of the spacecraft was used to test Bepi Colombo’s resilience during its seven-year journey to Mercury – one of the most challenging planetary missions ever launched.

In the course of testing, the model was subjected to extremes of temperatures ranging from -190°C to 400°C, recreating the conditions the spacecraft will face when in shade and when in the illuminated face of Mercury.