MESSENGER began its 2,000th orbit around Mercury earlier this week, on May 22. The spacecraft completed its primary mission on March 17, 2012, and its first extended mission on March 17, 2013. The ...

But, in fact, it’s actually really difficult to reach the innermost planet of our solar system—which makes it that much more impressive that the ESA and JAXA’s BepiColombo mission has almost reached ...

BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese mission, completed its latest flyby of Mercury, sending back a sneak peek of the cratered planet it will begin to orbit in 2026. By Katrina Miller On Thursday, a ...

On March 25, the MESSENGER spacecraft completed its 4,000th orbit of Mercury, and the lowest point in its orbit continues to move closer to the planet than ever before. The orbital phase of the ...

Taken with MESSENGER's wide-angle camera on Tuesday, this image is actually a composite of eight pictures, each taken through a different color filter (MESSENGER has 11 filters in total). Debussy, the ...

Europe's BepiColombo mission will enter orbit of the solar system's first planet in about two years, but it's been whizzing past Mercury regularly as it lines up its approach. The ESA reports that ...

Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, announced today that NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft has successfully achieved the first-ever orbit ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The only spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury ended its four-year tour with a crash landing Thursday. NASA’s Messenger plunged from orbit as planned and slammed into the sun’s ...

NASA has sent the very first spacecraft into an orbit around Mercury, the closest planet on our solar system to the Sun. Now that it is there, NASA’s satellite MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It seems like it should be pretty easy to get to Mercury. The little ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- MESSENGER scientists will highlight the latest results on Mercury from MESSENGER observations obtained during the first six months (the first Mercury solar day) in orbit. These ...