Three spacecraft have explored Mercury: Mariner 10, MESSENGER and BepiColombo. The first two completed their missions; BepiColombo has flown past Mercury and, as of October 4, 2026, is scheduled to enter orbit on November 21, 2026.
What missions have gone to Mercury?
Mariner 10 and MESSENGER were NASA missions. BepiColombo is a joint mission involving the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Their designs mark three different stages of exploration: flybys, a dedicated orbiter, and a pair of orbiters intended to study the planet from complementary vantage points.
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| Mission | Journey and design | Status and role |
|---|---|---|
| Mariner 10 | Launched November 3, 1973; used a Venus gravity assist and made three Mercury flybys in 1974–75. | Completed its mission; first spacecraft to study Mercury. |
| MESSENGER | Launched in 2004; entered Mercury orbit in March 2011. | Completed its science mission; first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. |
| BepiColombo | Launched October 20, 2018; carries two orbiters supplied by ESA and JAXA. | Had made Mercury flybys by October 4, 2026; NASA listed November 21, 2026, as its scheduled orbital-insertion date. |
Top 10 facts about the missions to Mercury
1. Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to study Mercury
NASA launched Mariner 10 on November 3, 1973. The mission also studied Venus, making it the first spacecraft to explore Mercury and Venus during the same mission.
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Rather than travel directly to Mercury, Mariner 10 passed Venus and used the planet’s gravity to alter its trajectory toward Mercury. This gravity assist helped shape the route and made the Venus encounter part of the mission’s journey to its main target.
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3. It made three Mercury flybys
Mariner 10 encountered Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975. NASA describes it as the first spacecraft to return to its target after an initial encounter. The repeated passes provided multiple views, but they did not amount to an orbital survey: Mariner 10 flew past Mercury rather than remaining in orbit.
4. Its images showed a heavily cratered planet
Mariner 10’s photographs revealed a surface marked by many craters, while its magnetometer detected a weak magnetic field. Those early observations offered the first close-up evidence of Mercury’s surface and magnetic environment.
5. Mariner 10 saw less than half of Mercury
NASA’s historical account estimates that Mariner 10 imaged about 40–45% of the planet. The spacecraft’s viewing geometry and Mercury’s rotation left much of the surface unseen. That gap is one reason later missions needed to study Mercury more comprehensively.
6. MESSENGER became the first Mercury orbiter
NASA launched MESSENGER in 2004. After a long cruise using gravity assists, it entered orbit around Mercury in March 2011. Unlike Mariner 10, it could repeatedly observe the planet while circling it.
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7. MESSENGER built a broader map of the planet
From orbit, MESSENGER mapped Mercury in monochrome and color, extending the partial picture left by Mariner 10. NASA reported that the spacecraft had taken more than 200,000 orbital images by February 2014; that figure is a mission-era tally, not a final count.
8. MESSENGER found evidence of water ice in polar shadows
MESSENGER’s observations supported the presence of water ice in permanently shadowed locations near Mercury’s poles, where sunlight does not reach the surface. This is evidence for ice in specific cold, dark regions—not a claim that water ice covers Mercury generally.
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9. MESSENGER revealed a more complex Mercury
NASA reports that the mission found evidence of past volcanic activity, measured an internal magnetic field offset from the planet’s center, and investigated Mercury’s surface composition and geological history. Together, these results expanded understanding of how the planet formed and changed.
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10. BepiColombo carries two orbiters, but had not yet entered orbit
Launched on October 20, 2018, BepiColombo is a joint ESA–JAXA mission with two orbiters designed to examine Mercury from complementary vantage points. It has made Mercury flybys, but a flyby is not orbital insertion. As of October 4, 2026, NASA’s mission page listed November 21, 2026, as the scheduled date for entering Mercury orbit; a planned date can change.
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What did MESSENGER discover?
Among its reported findings were evidence of water ice in permanently shadowed polar locations, past volcanic activity, and an offset internal magnetic field. Its orbital observations also enabled broad mapping and study of the planet’s surface composition and geological history. The polar ice result applies to shadowed regions, not the planet’s entire surface.
Has BepiColombo reached Mercury yet?
It had reached Mercury for flybys, but had not entered orbit as of October 4, 2026. NASA listed November 21, 2026, as the scheduled orbital-insertion date. Because that date is a schedule rather than a completed event, check the current NASA or ESA mission update for the latest status.
Quick Recap
Sources
- NASA Science, Mariner 10 and “45 Years Ago: Mariner 10 First to Explore Mercury.”
- NASA Science, MESSENGER, and NASA’s MESSENGER completion release.
- NASA Science, Mercury: Exploration.
- NASA Science, BepiColombo.
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