BepiColombo enroute to the Mercuri(o)us Planet

BepiColombo is en-route to Mercury and the two-satellite mission carries along a suite of magnetometers. At Mercury, we will map the planetary magnetic field with the instruments on-board the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and determine the dynamo generated field and constrain the secular variation. Furthermore, the study of induced magnetic fields and field-aligned currents will help to constrain the interior structure in concert with other geophysical instruments. The orbit is also well-suited to study dynamical phenomena at the Hermean magnetopause and magnetospheric cusps. Together with its sister instrument Mio-MGF on board the second satellite of the Bepi-Colombo mission, the magnetometers at Mercury will study the reaction of the highly dynamic magnetosphere to changes in the solar wind. In the extreme case, the solar wind might even collapse the entire dayside magnetosphere. In this talk, I will present more details to these science goals and how we strive to deepen our knowledge about this enigmatic terrestrial planet.