TAG | Euro-Japanese mission to Mercury gets the nod |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Wednesday, 28 February 2007 | |
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The MPO and MMO will be delivered to the closest planet to the Sun under electrical and chemical propulsion. A route via the Moon, Earth and Venus will allow the craft to reach Mercury with the relatively weak thrust provided by its solar-electric motors. Conventional chemical rockets will take it into orbit around Mercury. The MPO will carry ten scientific instruments funded by ESA member states and one from Russia, while four of the five on the MMO will be paid for Japan and one by Europe. The whole package will be launched on a Soyuz Fregat rocket from French Guyana. The prime contractor for the construction phase of the mission will be Germany-based Astrium. The only previous mission to Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 in 1973-75.{moscomment}
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