To address key science questions about Mercury's formation and evolution, MESSENGER journeyed through the inner solar system and became the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury.
Why Mercury | Mission Timeline | Mission Design
Learn about the details of the spacecraft and find details about MESSENGER's science payload, which included seven scientific instruments and a radio science experiment.
The MESSENGER Team is composed of many different individuals with a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. Scientists and engineers from across the country are involved in all aspects of the mission.
View images and other data acquired by MESSENGER and learn about the science they taught us about Mercury.
Highlights Collection | Global Mosaics |
Featured Image Database
Watch videos, browse photos, and listen to podcasts!
Explore Mercury your way, using interactive tools to visualize the MESSENGER datasets.
Roll up your sleeves and find out why it was such a challenge to study the planet closest to the Sun. Then interact with real data and images from this historic mission.
Investigate the Data | Games and Simulations | MESSENGER Models
Foster the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills required for space exploration with these hands-on, minds-on learning modules.
Read fourteen years of MESSENGER news releases covering all mission phases—development, integration and testing, launch, the 6.6-year journey through the inner solar system, and ultimately exploration of Mercury from orbit.
Articles | Informational Materials | Questions and Answers | Flyby Information | Highlights of Mercury Science
View MESSENGER press conference presentations and learn about presentations made by MESSENGER team members at other venues.
See a bibliography of publications by project team members about the MESSENGER mission and related Mercury science, dating back to when NASA first selected the MESSENGER mission in 1999.