NASA Probe Finally Reaches Mercury and Begin Unleashing the Planet

NASA scientists have finally acquired the new images of Mercury as their MESSENGER probe initiates a year-long mission for mapping the entire surface of the whole solar system's least-understood planet. It took an almost 7.9-billion-kilometer journey for the probe to reach its destination in around 6years and 6months as it finally entered the planet's orbit on March 17.

NASA Messenger Probe
Reaches Mercury

Mercury has a very unrealistic temperature range as it reaches 427 degrees Celsius in day-time with minus 150 degrees at night. Hence, Mercury is the least explored planet and also because it is the closest planet to the Sun which makes it a subject of enormous gravitational pulls and massively high levels of radiation.

The first ever image arrive released on Tuesday as the MESSENGER captured a total of 363 more images out which 224 have been successfully transmitted back to NASA scientists till Wednesday afternoon.

James Head, the geological sciences professor in the MESSENGER team said that "In the coming year, we will be making discoveries every day, answering old questions and revealing new mysteries that we can't even suspect today.

A probe which was sent previously 1974 and 1975, Mariner 10, made three passes of Mercury and was only successful in mapping the 45 percent of the surface of the planet. Now NASA has intentions to complete that left over task now. After the 4^th of April, MESSENGER will be continuously mapping the planet orbiting every 12 hours at a minimum altitude of 200 kilometers.

MESSENGER is a 485-kilogram robotic probe which was first launched in August 2004. It took off with 1 flyby of Earth, 2 of Venus and 3 of Mercury before entering its new orbit. Whereas the spokesman of the mission, Sean Solomon, boasted that "The entire MESSENGER team is thrilled that spacecraft and instrument checkout has been proceeding according to plan."

Moreover he explained the magnitude of information which will be revealed in these words: "The first images from orbit and the first measurements from MESSENGER's other payload instruments are only the opening trickle of the flood of new information that we can expect over the coming year. The orbital exploration of the solar system's innermost planet has begun."