Not Yet in Orbit, Messenger Returns Important Mercury Data

摘要

A NASA spacecraft aimed at Mercury has already returned valuable observations despite still being months away from entering orbit around the small, rocky world, the mission's lead scientist said.rnSean Solomon, principal investigator for NASA's Messenger mission, said the spacecraft is poised to enter orbit around Mercury next March to build the most detailed maps ever made of the planet.rn"Mercury is not what we thought it was even two-and-a-half years ago," Solomon said during a public lecture in late July at the American Museum of Natural History here as part of the 73rd annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society.