Messenger

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Artist's impression of the Messenger spacecraft at the planet Mercury.

Messenger: Mercury

View of Earth from the Messenger captured by the Mercury Dual Imaging System's wide-angle camera

Messenger: Mercury

Mercury: Caloris Basin

Mercury: double-ringed crater

Mercury: Vivaldi Crater

Messenger: Mercury

Messenger: Mercury

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US Marines firing at Fallujah, Iraq, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq War.

Timeline of the 2000s

Planet Mercury photographed by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Colors produced by images from color base map imaging. Colors are not what Mercury looks to human eye. See NOTES:

7 Important Dates in Mercury History

Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64

Gravity: From Apples to the Universe

Voskhod. The first human in space. Three stills from an external movie camera on the Soviet Voskhod 2 records pilot Aleksey Leonov historic 10 min. spacewalk, March 18, 1965. Leonov extravehicular activities (EVA) was the first human to ever walk in space

The First Space Walk

After a perfect launch, spectators try to catch a last glimpse of Space Shuttle Columbia, barely visible at the top end of the twisted column of smoke.

7 Accidents and Disasters in Spaceflight History

Discover

Statue of Nostradamus

Nostradamus and His Prophecies

Computer mapping, woman at early 1990s computer

Timeline of the 1990s

Space race (1957-1969) infographic between United States (U.S.) and Russia. America, Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., space exploration

Timeline of the Space Race, 1957–69

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

Ahura Mazda - relief of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda at the ancient ruins of Persepolis in Iran. Also known as Ormazd Zoroastrianism,

Which Religion Is the Oldest?

Adolf Hitler (Nazi, nazism, German leader).

9 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Messenger: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging

Photos and Videos

Artist's impression of the Messenger spacecraft at the planet Mercury.

Messenger: Mercury

Messenger: Mercury

Mercury: Caloris Basin

Mercury: double-ringed crater

Mercury: Vivaldi Crater

Messenger: Mercury

Messenger: Mercury

View of Earth from the Messenger captured by the Mercury Dual Imaging System's wide-angle camera

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

Mercury space probe Viking Chang’e Chandrayaan Voyager Venera Pioneer Lunar Prospector Surveyor Luna Mariner

Quiz

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

All About Astronomy

List

Planet Mercury photographed by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Colors produced by images from color base map imaging. Colors are not what Mercury looks to human eye. See NOTES:

7 Important Dates in Mercury History