Official News page 4

REAL LIFE NEWS: MERCURY FLYBY

by Hazed

Last week, the Messenger spacecraft performed the second of its flybys of Mercury. The main purpose of this close encounter with the hot planet was to get a gravity boost, which will enable Messenger to become the first ever spacecraft to go into orbit around Mercury, in 2011.

Meanwhile, as it zoomed past, Messenger took the opportunity to take important measurements and to snap some pictures of parts of the planet never seen before.

Take a look at some of the amazing pictures here.

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