BepiColombo, a European mission to explore Mercury, snapped these images as it flew past the planet on June 19. The craft flew as close as 145 miles (236 km) above the surface of the Sun's closest planet. BepiColombo is staging several close flybys of Mercury and Venus, using the gravity of the planets to sculpt its own orbit around the Sun. It is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury in late 2025 and begin full science operations in 2026. [ESA/BepiColombo/MTM]