NASA Spacecraft Achieves Unprecedented Success Studying Mercury

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Source:  NASA

Excerpt: After extraordinary science findings and technological innovations,  ...NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft launched in 2004 to study Mercury will impact the planet’s surface, most likely on April 30, after it runs out of propellant. ...Although Mercury is one of Earth’s nearest planetary neighbors, little was known about the planet prior to the MESSENGER mission. “For the first time in history we now have real knowledge about the planet Mercury that shows it to be a fascinating world as part of our diverse solar system,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.  ...One key science finding in 2012 provided compelling support for the hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant frozen water and other volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters. Data indicated the ice in Mercury's polar regions, if spread over an area the size of Washington, would be more than two miles thick.  ...For a complete listing of science findings and technological achievements of the mission visit: http://www.nasa.gov/messenger

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/april/nasa-spacecraft-achieves-unprecedented-success-studying-mercury/

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