Why Does It Take So Long to Get to Mercury?

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On a cosmic scale, Mercury isn’t very far away, but it's incredibly hard to get there. Getting into orbit around it takes years of flybys in the solar system, but we're going to do it again!

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Sources:

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/bepicolombo/in-depth/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/
https://www.space.com/42205-why-its-hard-to-get-to-mercury-for-bepicolombo.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/science/bepicolombo-mercury-launch.html
https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/612330/two-new-probes-could-help-us-solve-mercurys-mysteries/
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/19/17994206/esa-jaxa-bepicolombo-mercury-orbiter-mission-spacecraft-launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yp-q1wqgig
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45838991
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html
http://sci.esa.int/bepicolombo/33022-summary/?fbodylongid=1102
https://www.space.com/2791-pluto-demoted-longer-planet-highly-controversial-definition.html
http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/missions-to-venus-mercury.html
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Resources/Publications/Yen.2001.pdf

Images:

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/532/mercury-false-color-rotation-movie/?category=planets_mercury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Planets2013.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Size_planets_comparison.jpg
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4461
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12268
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mariner10.gif
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PIA03101_Mercury%27s_Southern_Hemisphere.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mariner_10_gravitational_slingshot.jpg
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10865
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mariner-10-Trajectory-first_half.PNG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MESSENGER_trajectory.svg
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/multimedia/orbit_concept.html
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11544
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BepiColombo_spacecraft_model.png
http://m.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/07/MPO_s_science_instruments3
https://m.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2017/07/Animation_visualising_BepiColombo_s_journey_to_Mercury CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20249
https://www.videoblocks.com/video/9-in-1-spaceship-ufo-pack-or-bundle-green-screen-clips-with-red-cropping-markers-featuring-realistic-alien-spacecraft-rendered-from-multiple-angles-4k-ultra-hd-full-hd-high-quality-hiuylv-aitee1zsq
https://www.videoblocks.com/video/space-1147-hghxm9llinal4ids

Thumbnail: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/multimedia/orbit_concept.html