Why it’s so hard to get to Mercury (ft. Scott Manley!)

AD | Go to https://snhu.edu/drbecky to explore over 200 degree programs and find your path forward. | It takes longer to get to Mercury, than it does to get out to Jupiter. The Juno mission took 5 years to cruise to Jupiter, whereas the Bepi Colombo mission has only just made it to Mercury after 8 LONG years in space. But why has it taken so long to get there? Mercury is practically in our back garden of the solar system, but Bepi Colombo’s complicated 8 year journey has seen it make a fly-by of Earth, two fly-bys of Venus, and 6 Mercury fly-bys before it will finally start to orbit Mercury very soon, in late 2026. So, who better to talk through the incredible feat of BepiColombo's journey with me than YouTube’s very own rocket scientist, Scott Manley. Papers mentioned: Einstein (1915) - https://etienneklein.fr/wp-content/up... Previous videos:    • HUGE blow for alternate theory of gravity ...      • MORE evidence AGAINST dark matter? | What ...      • New evidence AGAINST dark matter?!   Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: martino.freelance@gmail.com Video produced by Marina Hui & Dr Becky Smethurst --- 📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): http://lnk.to/DrBecky --- 👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): https://dr-becky.teemill.com/ --- 🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive --- 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video! --- 👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars. http://drbecky.uk.com