The solar system’s innermost planet is not a pleasant place. Solar storms constantly bombard its surface, and intense daytime heat sizzles everything except its permanently shaded polar craters. NASA’s Mariner 10 flew by Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975, but it has taken NASA 33 years to launch a return trip.
Archive for the ‘Mercury’ Category
WHAT’S ON MERCURY?
Saturday, August 21st, 2010MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals New Information About Mercury
Monday, July 19th, 2010The first spacecraft designed by NASA to orbit Mercury is giving scientists a new perspective on the planet’s atmosphere and evolution.
Messenger One Year From Entering Mercury’s Orbit
Sunday, March 21st, 2010A NASA spacecraft launched in 2004 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is on track to enter orbit around Mercury in one year.
Mercury mission clears key hurdle
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Science delegations to the European Space Agency (Esa) have approved a much more expensive mission to Mercury.
BepiColombo, due for launch in 2014, was supposed to have cost Esa about 665m euros (£595m; $995m).
Mercury’s Mysterious Bright Spot Photographed Up Close
Monday, October 5th, 2009During its most recent flyby of Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft caught another glimpse of the innermost planet’s mysterious bright spot.
MESSENGER Gains Critical Gravity Assist for Mercury Orbital Observations
Monday, October 5th, 2009MESSENGER successfully flew by Mercury yesterday, gaining a critical gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011 and capturing images of five percent of the planet never before seen.
Messenger Spacecraft to Photograph Mercury
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009Scientists working on the NASA mission to Mercury will get a bit of holiday cheer on Monday, as the agency’s Messenger spacecraft speeds toward its third encounter with the planet and snaps about 1,500 pictures.
Mercury ready for a rare close-up
Monday, September 28th, 2009Mercury gets a close look Monday, when NASA’s Messenger spacecraft slings 142 miles over the puny planet closest to the sun. For mission scientists, it’s a festive occasion.
MESSENGER Spacecraft Prepares for Final Pass by Mercury
Friday, September 25th, 2009NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER will fly by Mercury for the third and final time on Sept. 29. The spacecraft will pass less than 142 miles above the planet’s rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter Mercury’s orbit in 2011.
More of Mercury Revealed
Friday, May 8th, 2009Scientists crunching data from the January and October 2008 Messenger flybys of Mercury have just announced a flurry of new results.
These findings, announced in a NASA press briefing last week and in four papers in the May 1st Science, show a planet racked by magnetic flux, bombarded by the solar wind, and covered in ancient lava
MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals a Very Dynamic Planet Mercury
Thursday, April 30th, 2009A NASA spacecraft gliding over the surface of Mercury has revealed that the planet’s atmosphere, the interaction of its surrounding magnetic field with the solar wind, and its geological past display greater levels of activity than scientists first suspected.
Mercury Flyby To Aid Mapping
Saturday, November 8th, 2008The second Mercury flyby of NASA’s Messenger probe has filled in more blanks that will help scientists understand the closest planet to the sun, and other rocky planets as well.
NASA Probe Returns Stunning Views Of Mercury
Saturday, November 1st, 2008The MESSENGER probe captured images of never-before-seen aspects of the closest planet to the Sun during a recent flyby. Researcher Sean Soloman discusses the MESSENGER mission, which aims to be the first man-made object to orbit Mercury.
Mercury Flyby Reveals New Oddities
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Scientists are tackling new oddities at the planet Mercury via images beamed home by a NASA spacecraft that zoomed past the small, rocky world earlier this month.
Second look at first rock from the sun
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Stunning craters, vast volcanic plains, and a narrow stretch of landscape that the Mariner 10 flybys missed in the mid 1970s are among long-hidden facets of Mercury that are finally coming into view.
Doorstep Astronomy: Mercury in the Morning
Saturday, October 18th, 2008If there ever was a planet that has gotten a bad rap for its inability to be readily observed, it would have to be Mercury, known in some circles as the “elusive planet.”
adies for the World Series, NASA’s Cassini team
Saturday, October 11th, 2008MESSENGER is the first mission sent to orbit the planet closest to the sun. On Oct. 6, 2008, at roughly 4:40 a.m. ET, MESSENGER flew by Mercury for the second time this year.
A Closeup View of Hell
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008“>Every new picture from Mercury reminds one why Earth is a good place to live. NASA’s robotic MESSENGER spacecraft made a close flyby early Monday morning (around 4:40 a.m. EDT), coming within about 125 miles of Mercury’s cratered surface.
MESSENGER Flyby of Mercury
Monday, October 6th, 2008At a little after 4:40 a.m. EDT, MESSENGER skimmed 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface of Mercury in the second of three flybys of the planet. Initial indications from the radio signals indicate that the spacecraft continues to operate nominally. The spacecraft is now collecting images and other scientific measurements from the planet as it departs Mercury from the illuminated side, filling in the details of much of Mercury’s surface not previously viewed by spacecraft.
NASA spacecraft closes in on Mercury, looking for ice
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Armed with an array of six instruments for analysis, NASA’s Messenger spacecraft is closing in on Mercury where it will take more than 1,200 pictures and hopefully help scientists figure out whether there is ice on the planet closest to the sun.