Mercury

The boom carrying the magnetometer sensors onboard ESA's BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) has been deployed. The spacecraft can now measure the magnetic field on the way to Mercury.

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury blasted off on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou at 01:45:28 GMT on its exciting mission to study the mysteries of the Solar System's innermost planet.

Whether you're doing it for the nerd cred or the pie, this week on #10Things, we've got all the ways you can celebrate #PiDay with NASA.

At sunset, catch elusive Mercury, bright Venus, the Zodiacal Light, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter between midnight and dawn.

Like the waistband of a couch potato in midlife, the orbits of planets in our solar system are expanding. It happens because the Sun’s gravitational grip gradually weakens as our star ages and loses mass.

The exploration of the solar system is uniquely poised to bring planetary scientists, worldwide, together under the common theme of understanding the origin, evolution and bodies of our solar neighborhood.

Astrophysics Division assets have been used in the past to support planetary science research activities and planetary missions.

Dr. Jim Green, director of NASA Planetary Science, speaks to attendees of the 2013 IAA Planetary Defense Conference in April 2013.

Juno, the second mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, launched flawlessly on Friday, August 5th, on a journey to Jupiter.

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The first mission to orbit the planet Mercury took a big step toward its scheduled March 2004 launch when NASA's MESSENGER project received approval to start building its spacecraft and scientific instruments.

Astronomers have known for many years that stars form when the cores of giant clouds of cold molecular material fragment and collapse.

When the three main engines of the Space Shuttle thunder to life during the launch of Discovery, their roar not only marks astronauts once again venturing into space but also trumpets a salute to the man whose vision made such a journey possible.

Astronomers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Naval Observatory have solved the ancient mystery of the origin of the Chinese calendar, it was reported to the 182nd meeting of the American Astronomical Society today in Berkeley, Calif.