Exploringmercury July 26, 2010

Discover one of the least explored terrestrial planets in our solar system:Mercury.JoinSeanSolomon, director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism atthe Carnegie Institution and principal investigator of the MESSENGERmission, as he discusses the spacecraft and its mission to become thefirst spacecraft to orbit Mercury in 2011. See new images of the planetfrom last year—including photographs of Mercury’s previously unseen “darkside”—and learn about its unusual geological history and how scientistsare using the latest robotic technology for thismission.