NASA has announced it is to launch a spacecraft to Mercury on 2 August, its first visit to the planet in 30 years.
The Messenger spacecraft will loop around Earth and Venus to get to Mercury during its seven-year journey.
The plan is to map the planet's entire surface, study its geology and look for frozen water. Messenger - short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging - will carry seven scientific instruments.
It will also collect information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geological history, the nature of its thin atmosphere and magnetic field, and the make-up of its core and polar materials.
Messenger will make its first fly-by of the planet closest to the Sun in 2008 and will begin its main mission in 2011.
Source: Flight Daily News