MESSENGER (Mercury Mission)

The MESSENGER probe (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) was a probe that studied Mercury for four years.


It was launched in 2004, performing flybys in January of 2008, October of 2008, and September of 2009 before entering orbit in March of 2011. From MESSENGER, we learned a lot about the surface of Mercury, taking a lot of images of the surface. The mission ended on April 30, 2015 when it crashed onto the surface of Mercury.

First Image (left) and Final Image (right)

The first image is from March 29, 2011 and is the first image taken after orbital insertion

The final image was taken just before it crash landed on the surface of Mercury.

Both photos are courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.

For more information about the MESSENGER mission, check out the mission sites:

• JPL: MESSENGER: John Hopkins University
• NASA: MESSENGER: NASA