A NASA spacecraft gliding over the battered surface of Mercury for the second time this year has revealed more previously unseen real estate on the innermost planet.
ESA’s Venus Express and NASA’s MESSENGER studied the oddities of the mysterious planet, Venus, in tandem in early June.
Messenger was able to take some sensational images of Venus as it made its flyby on June 6 and 7, 2007.
Getting MESSENGER from Earth to Mercury isn't as easy as you think.
MESSENGER plans to get personal with our mysterious terrestrial neighbor.
01.07.08 - NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 10, to preview the historic Jan. 14 spacecraft flight past Mercury that will explore some of the last major never-seen-before terrain in the inner solar system.
05.31.05 - NASA’s Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft – less than three months from an Earth flyby that will slingshot it toward the inner solar system – successfully tested its main camera by snapping distant approach shots of Earth and the Moon.
08.03.04 - NASA's MESSENGER -- set to become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury -- launched today at 2:15:56 a.m. EDT aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Mission Elapsed Time:
Orbit Insertion, March 18, 2011:
MESSENGER is successfully launched on its journey to Mercury.
› View This VideoJoin James Leary and other Mission specialists for this exciting webcast.
› View This VideoDr. Ralph McNutt answers your questions about the MESSENGER Mission.
› View This VideoThis probe's science payload will get personal with Mercury.
› View This VideoPlanet Mercury's curious features leave scientists wanting more.
› View This Video