MESSENGER was a NASA space probe that explored Mercury, launched in August 2004. It made flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury itself, using gravity to slow down for its journey, and in March 2011 it became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. Over four years it photographed the whole surface, measured the magnetic field and the composition of the crust, and found water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. The mission also showed that Mercury's surface has more volatile elements than expected. After its fuel ran out, MESSENGER was deliberately crashed into the planet in April 2015.
Before and after
- 21 June 2004Discovery of S/2004 S 3
- 1 July 2004Death of Marlon Brando
- 1 July 2004Cassini enters orbit around Saturn and Huygens lands on Titan
- 29 July 2004Founding of Meta Platforms
- 3 August 2004Launch of MESSENGER
- 5 August 2004Construction of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
- 9 August 2004Release of OpenStreetMap
- 25 August 2004Discovery of Mu Arae c
- 31 August 2004Beersheba bus bombings
More in Universe & space
- 16 February 1948Discovery of Miranda
- 4 March 1979Discovery of Metis
- 24 April 1990Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
- 25 December 2021Launch of James Webb Space Telescope
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.