SpaceRef: Mercury Today

Shortly before 5:55 p.m. EDT, MESSENGER skimmed 228 kilometers (141 miles) above the surface of Mercury in its third and final flyby of the planet.

Scientists Set for Final Spacecraft Flyby of Mercury

"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.

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.

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to preview the third and final flyby of Mercury by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER.

United Launch Alliance Atlas V Successfully Launches PAN Satellite

On September 29, the MESSENGER spacecraft will pass by Mercury for the third time, flying 141.7 miles above the planet's rocky surface.

It's been five years since MESSENGER was launched atop a Delta II rocket on August 3, 2004, and they have been busy years

The IAU recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER Science Team to confer names on 16 impact craters on Mercury. The newly named craters were imaged during the mission's first two flybys of Mercury in January and October last year.

Magnetic Tornadoes Could Liberate Mercury's Tenuous Atmosphere

Three New Co-Investigators Added to MESSENGER Team