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WASHINGTON – For the prototypal time, Earth has a regular orbiting eye-in-the-sky intelligence on the solar system's smallest and strangest planet, Mercury.

NASA's satellite titled Messenger successfully veered into a dapple itinerary Thursday period after a 6 1/2-year activate and 4.9 billion miles and hard maneuvering to fend off the attraction pull of the sun. It is the ordinal follower in our solar grouping that NASA has orbited, in addition to the Earth and the moon.

"It was right on the money," Messenger's honcho engineer, Eric Finnegan, said. Messenger is in itinerary that brings it as near as 120 miles above the planet's surface. "This is as near you can possibly intend to existence perfect."

"Everybody was whooping and hollering; we are elated," Finnegan said. "There's a aggregation of impact mitt to be done, but we are there."

Mercury is not exclusive arduous to intend to, but it's has whatever of the most extremes in the solar system. Temperatures there swing wildly by 1,100 degrees. While it gets up to 800 degrees on the follower closest to the sun, it also is so algid and Stygian in whatever craters that the temperatures don't intend above 300 degrees below zero. Radar modify shows that there is probable frozen cover in those craters, something Messenger will try to confirm.

In the 1970s, NASA dispatched a spacecraft, Mariner, whizzing by Mercury, but exclusive got pictures of less than half of the tiny rock. parliamentarian Strom of the University of Arizona was a individual on the Mariner and current Messenger missions and he said for a patch he thought he wouldn't intend a ordinal look at the eccentric Mercury.

"I am meet so thrilled it isn't funny," Strom said by ring transactions after NASA confirmed that Messenger was in orbit. "Thirty-six eld waiting for this day. It's meet unbelievable."

Strom said he and every his colleagues were troubled as the desk-sized satellite automatically shifted into an egg-shaped orbit, with controllers on Earth unable to modify commands because it took octad transactions for signals to movement the approximately 100 meg miles from Mercury to Earth.

"This was not easy. This was a very, rattling arduous move to intend into orbit," Strom told The Associated Press.

A NASA Twitter statement under Messenger's name gave play-by-play accounts as it arrived at the small planet. This "Messenger" "exchanged tweets" with Voyager 2, digit of NASA's oldest and most-distant spacecraft. Voyager 2, launched in 1977 and now at the bounds of the solar system, tweeted beatific phenomenon and Messenger "answered" with a tweet: "Many thanks! Cold discover there? Kinda hearty where I am."

Messenger, which cost NASA $446 million, was launched in 2004. Next period it should start transmitting pictures and analyse Mercury's mysterious attractable earth and unusual density.

"This is when the actual assignment begins," Messenger honcho individual Sean king said an distance after Messenger was safely in Mercury's orbit. "We are really primed to see about digit of Earth's close neighbors for the prototypal time."

For example, king said Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars formed at the aforementioned time, but Mercury "came discover rattling different."

"Mercury is a follower where there are many things feat on," king said.

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Messenger spacecraft: http://bit.ly/eqUYR8

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