Discovery News > Space News > Wide Angle: Mission to Mercury

Wide Angle: Mission to Mercury

On March 17, 2011, NASA put a spacecraft called MESSENGER into orbit around the solar system's innermost planet. This is mankind's first artificial satellite around the small, cratered world. This eventual goal was achieved after an epic six year, 4.9 billion mile journey, using multiple planetary gravitational fields to slow it down and three Mercury flybys. Here is MESSENGER's story so far.

History Made: MESSENGER Orbital Photograph of Mercury : Big Pic

The first photograph from the first spacecraft to ever orbit the solar system's innermost planet has been released.

NASA Spacecraft Enters Mercury Orbit

MESSENGER became the first satellite to orbit the innermost planet in an unprecedented study.

The Incredible Shrunken Mercury

What's it like on a planet where a year is three months long and the sun is 11 times brighter than on Earth? We're about to find out.

space messenger mercury flyby robotic shutdown

Mercury Probe Shuts Down During Key Flyby

The MESSENGER spacecraft en route to map the innermost planet in our solar system shut down unexpectedly during a key pass by Mercury on Sept. 29, missing out on half of its planned investigations.

Mercury Looms

As MESSENGER approached Mercury in the run-up to the Sept. 29 flyby, the robotic probe managed to catch some beautiful crescent images of the small planet. Ian O'Neill admires one photograph when the spacecraft was only hours away from its target...

messenger mercury mission nasa space science flyby

MESSENGER Busts Mercury's Mysteries With 'Drive-By' Science

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft swung by Mercury twice in 2008 to get a head start on solving some of its countless mysteries. Team leader Sean Solomon gives us a behind-the-scenes look into the science behind the mission.

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MESSENGER Approaches Mercury : Big Pic

On Sept. 25, NASA's MESSENGER probe took this snapshot of Mercury, a planet it will shortly be seeing up close. Hanging in the dark, sunlight forms a crescent, picking out its pockmarked surface.

mercury nasa messenger planet space exploration

Mercury Flyby Reveals Active Inner Planet

The space probe MESSENGER's second fly-by of Mercury in October 2008 revealed the solar system's smallest planet to be far more active than previously thought.