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Mercury Killed The MESSENGER Probe

From The Daily Beast:

Pour one out for MESSENGER space probe. Today, at around 3:30 PM EST, MESSENGER crashed into the planet Mercury, no doubt shouting “SCIENCE!” as it went. That final crash marks the end of an amazingly successful scientific mission, extended to four times beyond its original plan, that brought us a new understanding of the smallest planet in the Solar System.

Since entering Mercury’s orbit in March 2011, MESSENGER (which, awkwardly, is the acronym MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) has studied the planet’s gravitational field, the structure of its craters, and the chemistry of its surface. The probe discovered water in the form of ice hiding in craters near the poles and organic molecules on Mercury’s exterior, and signs of a complicated past in the interior. [read the rest at The Daily Beast…]