NASA spacecraft to visit Mercury

LAUREL, Md., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. space officials said a NASA spacecraft will visit Mercury for the first time since 1975, skimming as close as 124 miles above the planet.

On Monday, the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, called MESSENGER, will make the first of three flights past the planet, NASA said Thursday in a release.

MESSENGER's cameras and other instruments will collect more than 1,200 images and make other observations during the mission. It will make the first up-close measurements since Mariner 10 spacecraft's third flyby on March 16, 1975.

"This is raw scientific exploration and the suspense is building by the day," Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate said in a statement. "What will MESSENGER see? Monday will tell the tale."

NASA said the visit will provide a "critical gravity assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its March 2011 orbit insertion, beginning an unprecedented yearlong study of Mercury." The flyby also will gather essential data for mission planning.

MESSENGER, launched in 2004, is slightly more than halfway through its 4.9 billion-mile journey.