The ISA Accelerometer for BepiColombo: Data Processing and Operations

The BepiColombo Italian Spring Accelerometer (ISA) is a component of the dedicated suite of instruments which will perform the so-called Radio Science Experiments (RSE) in order to study gravitational field, internal structure and rotational state of the planet Mercury, and to verify important predictions of the General Theory of Relativity. Its main role is the measurement of non-gravitational accelerations acting on the surface of a spacecraft, thereby enabling to work on a virtually drag-free satellite. Being the instrument already integrated onboard the spacecraft, the focus of ISA Team activities shifted to the development and testing of the data processing procedures, as well as to the definition of the instrument operations for the various mission phases. All these activities are detailed in the present work.