NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington|

Historic Rendezvous
An artist's impression of the MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit at Mercury. MESSENGER launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on August 3, 2004. The probe's first flyby of the planet on Monday should reveal many mysteries left unanswered by the 1970s-era Mariner 10 -- the only other spacecraft to visit Mercury.

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