Giuseppe Colombo (October 2, 1920 – February 20, 1984), better known by his nickname Bepi Colombo, was an Italian scientist, mathematician and engineer at the University of Padua, Italy. October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The physicist Albert Einstein is probably the most famous scientist of our time. ... Leonhard Euler is considered by many to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is the person whose primary area of study and research is the field of mathematics. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Gymnasivm Patavinum: The Universitys main Bo palace shown in a 1654 woodcut The University of Padua (Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is one of the most well-renowned universities in Italy. ...

Mercury

He is best known for his work on the planet Mercury, and it was his calculations on how to get a spacecraft into a resonant orbit with Mercury with multiple fly-bys that led to the success of the Mariner 10 mission. Note: This article contains special characters. ... The Mariner 10 probe. ...

Colombo also explained the spin-orbit resonance in Mercury's orbit, showing that it rotates twice for every three orbits around the sun. Tidal locking makes one side of an astronomical body always face another, like the Moon facing the Earth. ... In celestial mechanics, an orbital resonance occurs when two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other. ...

Saturn's Rings

Colombo also made significant contributions to the study of Saturn's Rings, mostly using ground-based observations in the era before space exploration reached the outer solar system. The full set of rings The rings of Saturn are a series of planetary rings that orbit the planet Saturn. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Unmanned space mission. ...

Other Contributions

Colombo invented tethers for tying satellites together. He also participated in the planning of Giotto, the European Space Agency's mission to Halley's Comet, but died before the spacecraft was launched. In this artists concept, Giotto points its white high-gain antenna dish towards earth with the ring of solar cells facing the sun. ... ESA redirects here. ... Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, more generally known as Halleys Comet after Edmond Halley, is a comet that can be seen every 75-76 years. ...

Legacy

The planned ESA mission to Mercury is named BepiColombo in his honor. The Colombo Gap in Saturn's rings is also named for him. BepiColombo BepiColombo is a European Space Agency (ESA) Cornerstone mission to Mercury. ... The full set of rings The rings of Saturn are a series of planetary rings that orbit the planet Saturn. ... The full set of rings The rings of Saturn are a series of planetary rings that orbit the planet Saturn. ...

External links

• Biography from the University of Padua

References

• ESA Press Release: ESA's Mercury mission named BepiColombo in honour of a space pioneer