Kind of stripped off a lot of the planet and now what we were seeing is just the remnants of a once bigger planet. Many questions about Mercury remain unanswered, questions a new mission will hopefully solve/.

 

Five, four, three, main engine start, 

 

two, one and zero and liftoff of Messager on NASA's mission to Mercury. 

 

NASA's Messenger Spacecraft will become the first probe to orbit / Mercury. Getting a spacecraft into orbit around Mercury is difficult for two reasons, the sun and the size, the sun as the source of heat and the sun as the source of gravity. To slip past the sun, Messenger/ taking a convoluted route, flying past the earth once, Venus twice and Mercury itself three times to arrive in full- time orbit by 2011. 

 

When you get into orbit, you can end up mapping the whole planet at fairly high resolution. So we will start having a mature and fundamental understanding of Mercury not only its surface, but its whole chemistry throughout the all planet. From that we can unravel to some degree how it formed. What other secrets are edged into Mercury's ancient surface. Already Messenger has sent back some curious clues. Arriving in Mercury, there's a list of natural wonders to see, and even a dazzling light show.