The MESSENGER Mission (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) was a NASA robotic spacecraft that orbited Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun. Launched on August 3, 2004, MESSENGER embarked on a complex trajectory over six and a half years, involving several flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury itself before it entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011. This mission marked the first time a spacecraft orbited Mercury, enabling comprehensive mapping and analysis of the planet’s surface, magnetic field, and exosphere. MESSENGER provided critical data that led to significant discoveries such as the presence of water ice in Mercury’s shadowed craters, despite the extreme temperatures elsewhere on the planet. The mission concluded successfully on April 30, 2015, when the spacecraft crashed into Mercury’s surface after exhausting its fuel.
Researchers used NASA MESSENGER mission data to map chromium abundance on Mercury, discovering a significant amount in the planet’s large metallic core. This study, combining…
Scientists received new information about the conditions on the planet closest to the Sun. An international group of planetary scientists from the United States, Russia,…
Mercury is special. As the closest planet to the Sun, it occupies a region where the Sun’s influence is changing dramatically. The Sun’s magnetic field,…
Scientists have found a way of measuring neutron lifetime from space for the first time — a discovery that could teach us more about the…
Like the waistband of a couch potato in midlife, the orbits of planets in our solar system are expanding. It happens because the Sun’s gravitational…
New research sheds light on how certain types of comets influence the lopsided bombardment of Mercury’s surface by tiny dust particles called micrometeoroids. Mercury, our…
A newly discovered “great valley” in the southern hemisphere of Mercury provides more evidence that the small planet closest to the sun is shrinking. Scientists…
New research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet. Images obtained by NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry,…
Using data from NASA’s MESSENGER mission, astronomers created the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the…
Using data from the MESSENGER spacecraft, scientists reveal new insights about Mercury. The first measurements of Mercury’s movements from a spacecraft orbiting the planet reveal…
NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft collected low-altitude magnetic field measurements during its orbital decay, revealing that magnetism generated by the Mercury’s core dates to the very early…
Since entering Mercury orbit on March 17, 2011, NASA’s MESSENGER Spacecraft has provided astronomers with over 250,000 images and extensive other data sets. The Mercury…
Using data from the MESSENGER spacecraft, scientists reveal previously unrecognized geochemical terranes of Mercury. Two new papers from members of the MESSENGER Science Team provide…
New data from NASA’s MESSENGER has revealed seasonal surges of calcium in the exosphere of Mercury, suggesting that a periodic meteor shower from the debris…
Scientists used data from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft to reveal how Mercury’s core is different from Earth’s, explaining why the planet has such a bizarre magnetic…
Using data from NASA’s MESSENGER mission, scientists have identified hot flow anomalies in Mercury’s bow shock over the course of two planetary years. The solar…
A newly published study from the Carnegie Institute resolves a decades-old paradox between thermal history models and estimates of Mercury’s contraction, showing that Mercury contracted…
NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft captures a color image of the Hovnatanian crater, an elliptical crater on Mercury. This color image, taken on May 1, 2013 by…