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Nature Geoscience 1, 155 (1 March 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo139

Planetary science: Message from Mercury

Alicia Newton

On 14 January 2008, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft made its closest approach yet to Mercury. After a three and a half year, two billion mile journey to the planet closest to the sun, the spacecraft beamed back high-resolution images that call into question the assumption that Mercury is geologically similar to the Earth's moon.