European Space Agency Stops 4 Space Programs Due To Coronavirus

Due to the coronavirus epidemic that is spreading day by day, many sectors experience difficulties.The European Space Agency (ESA) has also decided to pause on various scientific missions.

ESA's decisionaffected 4out of21 active missions theagency is currently carrying out.With the decision, resources willbe transferred to theMercury space probeBepiColombo, developed by the European Space Agency and the Japan Space Research Agency.

BepiColombo, the first spacecraft sent fromEurope toMercury, was launched into orbit from French Guiana in 2018 with the Ariane 5 rocket.With the mentioned spacecraft,it is aimed to better understand Mercury, the smallest planet of theSolar system.ESA's move put 4 selected missions into a temporary pause.

Coronavirus obstacle to 4 space programs:

"Our priority is the health of our workforce and therefore we will reduce the activity in some scientific missions, especially interplanetary spacecraft, which currently require the largest number of staff on the field,"said Tolf Densing,Director of Operations at ESA.Stating that spacecraft has fixed orbit and long duty periods, Densing stated that the decision will have a negligible effect on general mission performances.  

The Cluster program of the European Space Agency, launched in 2000, has been discontinued due to the coronavirus outbreak;ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter conducted with Roscosmos; Mars Express and Solar Orbiter.Thomas Zurbuchen, Deputy Director of NASA Science Task Division, stated that they supported this decision by considering the current conditions.

With the postponement of these tasks,support for the BepiColombo mission will increase.BepiColombo will maneuver after a few weeks using the Earth's gravitational force.Thus, the spacecraftwill directits orbittowards Mercury.The personnel responsible for this task will continue to work while maintaining social distance and taking health measures.