First visit to Mercury for 30 years
18 July 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
|
The planet closest to the sun, Mercury, hasn't been visited for close to 30 years but this is about to change with a mission due to be launched on the 2nd of August this year. The probe to be sent is cleverly named MErcury Surface, Space, ENvironment, Geochemistry and Ranging, which all adds up to MESSENGER. Mercury is named after the Roman messenger of the gods. This mission developed with NASA and Johns Hopkins University, is designed to find out some key answers to the geology of Mercury. One of the critical questions is why mercury is so dense (it has more mass per cubic metre than other planets). Discovering more details about this planet will utlimately help in understanding the formation of the other terrestrial like planets include Venus, Mars and Earth. |
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington |
Related Links
Facts about Mercury from Nineplanets.org
The raw facts about the planets from NASA
Nature & Science
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ClearlyExplained.com