News About Mercury 20-NOV-09 en-us Washington (AFP) Nov 6, 2009 - The US space probe MESSENGER's third and final fly-by of the planet Mercury in September revealed an almost complete view of the solar system's smallest planet, leaving only the polar regions to be surveyed, NASA said.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 04, 2009 - The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.]]> MOffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 05, 2009 - A NASA spacecraft's third and final flyby of Mercury gives scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and provides new scientific findings about this relatively unknown world.]]> Baltimore MD (SPX) Oct 02, 2009 - MESSENGER successfully flew by Mercury yesterday, gaining a critical gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011 and capturing images of five percent of the planet never before seen.]]> by Staff Writers - Laurel MD (SPX) Oct 01, 2009 MESSENGER successfully flew by Mercury yesterday, gaining a critical gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011 and capturing images of five percent of the planet never before seen.]]> Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 29, 2009 - "You bet, I'm really excited about this flyby," said William C. Feldman, a Senior Scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute and Cognizant Co-Investigator for the Neutron Spectrometer flying aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft.]]> Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 24, 2009 - NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER will fly by Mercury for the third and final time on Sept. 29. The spacecraft will pass less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter Mercury's orbit in 2011.]]> Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 15, 2009 - On September 29, the MESSENGER spacecraft will pass by Mercury for the third time, flying 141.7 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011. This encounter will also provide new observational opportunities for MESSENGER's Magnetometer, designed to determine the structure and origin of Mercury's intrinsic magnetic field.]]> Greenebelt MD (SPX) Jun 04, 2009 - As the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is scorching hot, with daytime temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius). It is also the smallest rocky planet, so its gravity is weak, only about 38 percent of Earth's.]]> Baltimore MD (SPX) May 05, 2009 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft served up another curveball to a University of Colorado at Boulder team after a second flyby of the hot inner planet Oct. 6 detected magnesium - an element created inside exploding stars and which is found in many medicine cabinets on Earth - clumped in the tenuous atmosphere of the planet.]]>