Press Release
NASA Sending a MESSENGER to Mercury
NASA's first trip to Mercury in 30 years — and the closest look ever at the innermost planet — starts in August with the predawn launch of the MESSENGER spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
MESSENGER will conduct an in-depth study of the Sun's closest neighbor, the least explored of the terrestrial ("rocky") planets that also include Venus, Earth and Mars. After a scheduled 2:16 a.m. (EDT) liftoff aboard a Delta II launch vehicle on Aug. 2 — the first day of a 13-day launch period — MESSENGER's voyage includes three flybys of Mercury in 2008 and 2009 and a yearlong orbit of the planet starting in March 2011.
"Our missions to Mars and Venus have produced exciting data and new theories about the processes that formed the inner planets," says Orlando Figueroa, director of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "Yet Mercury still stands out as a planet with a fascinating story to tell. MESSENGER should complete the detailed exploration of the inner solar system — our planetary backyard — and help us to understand the forces that shaped planets like our own."
MESSENGER (short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is only the second spacecraft to set sights on Mercury; Mariner 10 sailed past it three times in 1974 and 1975 and gathered detailed data on less than half the surface. Carrying seven scientific instruments on its compact and durable composite frame, MESSENGER will provide the first images of the entire planet. The mission will also collect detailed information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geologic history, the nature of its thin atmosphere and active magnetosphere, and the makeup of its core and polar materials.