Nasa Messenger Spacecraft Is Now In Orbit Around Mercury

"(Credit: NASA)"

This is the first time a spacecraft has achieved orbit around Mercury. Our knowledge of this hot planet is about to expand.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2011) - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's innermost planet.

"This mission will continue to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury during the coming year," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was at MESSENGER mission control at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., as engineers received telemetry data confirming orbit insertion. "NASA science is rewriting text books. MESSENGER is a great example of how our scientists are innovating to push the envelope of human knowledge."