Recordeddatespace
MESSENGER enters orbit around Mercury — the first craft to do so
Orbited for four years, mapping the whole planet and finding water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters. Encounter class: orbit insertion.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
MESSENGER mission record
Launch, Mercury flybys, orbit insertion and the 2015 surface impact.
NASA / JHUAPL · Partly verified
NASA MESSENGER mission pages
Recorded on MESSENGER
- Mariner 10 passes Mercury — the first spacecraft to reach it
- Mariner 10’s third and final Mercury pass
- MESSENGER’s first Mercury pass — the first visit since 1975
- MESSENGER enters orbit around Mercury — the first craft to do so
- MESSENGER strikes Mercury at the end of its mission
- BepiColombo’s first Mercury flyby
- BepiColombo’s sixth and final Mercury flyby
- BepiColombo Mercury orbit insertion — declared target
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- BepiColombo’s sixth and final Mercury flyby · 2025-01-08
- BepiColombo Mercury orbit insertion — declared target · 2026-11
- BepiColombo’s first Mercury flyby · 2021-10-01
- MESSENGER strikes Mercury at the end of its mission · 2015-04-30
- MESSENGER’s first Mercury pass — the first visit since 1975 · 2008-01-14
- Mariner 10’s third and final Mercury pass · 1975-03-16
- Mariner 10 passes Mercury — the first spacecraft to reach it · 1974-03-29