Mercury flyby
Posted by Richard Kryniski at Friday, October 02. 2009 
Categories: Science
Tags: Mercury;NASA;planetary flyby
Categories: Science
Tags: Mercury;NASA;planetary flyby
Mercury ready for a rare close-up
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
Mercury gets a close look Monday, when NASA's Messenger spacecraft slings 142 miles over the puny planet closest to the sun. For mission scientists, it's a festive occasion.
"A planetary flyby is very much like Christmas morning for the science team. We know there are presents under the tree," says Messenger principal investigator Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "We expect to be surprised and we expect to be delighted."
The fly-by, aimed at mapping...READ MORE...
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