NASA mission set to orbit Mercury

The planet's shadowy craters, tenuous atmosphere and iron core are targets of the MESSENGER probe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Authors

Adam Mann
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

To read more about NASA's plans for planetary exploration over the coming decade, see US Mars mission takes pole position.

Mann, A. NASA mission set to orbit Mercury. Nature (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.142