MESSENGER:
Goals: MESSENGER was designed to map the surface composition, study the magnetic field and interior structure of our solar system's smallest and innermost planet -- Mercury. It carries eight instruments to study Mercury's polar deposits, core and magnetic dynamo, crust and mantle, magnetosphere, crustal composition, geologic evolution and exosphere.

Accomplishments: During a series of flybys that edged it closer to orbit insertion, the spacecraft already has revealed more of Mercury than has ever been seen before. Images and data reveal Mercury as a unique, geologically diverse world with a magnetosphere far different than the one first discovered by Mariner 10 in 1975.

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3 Aug 2004:  Launch (06:15:56 UT) 24 Oct 2006:  1st Venus Flyby (08:34 UTC) 5 Jun 2007:  2nd Venus Flyby (11:08 UTC) 14 Jan 2008:  1st Mercury Flyby (19:05 UTC) 6 Oct 2008:  2nd Mercury Flyby 29 Sep 2009:  3rd Mercury Flyby 18 Mar 2011:  Mercury Orbit Insertion Status:  In Flight Show All Dates for MESSENGER		3 Nov 2009:  More Hidden Mercury 27 Oct 2009:  MESSENGER: Up Close with Solar Flare Neutrons 30 Sep 2009:  MESSENGER's 3rd Mercury Flyby More Headlines
To reach Mercury orbit, the spacecraft must travel 7.9 billion kilometers (4.9 billion miles). The spacecraft will have circled our Sun 15 times before it settles in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER was the second spacecraft to visit Mercury. The first was Mariner 10 in 1975.		Solar System Bodies: Mercury MESSENGER Multimedia Gallery