MESSENGER
The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission is designed to study the characteristics and environment of Mercury from orbit. Specifically, the scientific objectives of the mission are to characterize the chemical composition of Mercury's surface, the geologic history, the nature of the magnetic field, the size and state of the core, the volatile inventory at the poles, and the nature of Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere over a nominal orbital mission of one Earth year.
The spacecraft is scheduled to launch during a 12-day window that opens May 11, 2004, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
External links
(original text from the description on the NASA website)
