The joint European-Japanese mission is only the second survey of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner solar system.

On Jan. 9, 1959, NASA selected the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to develop the Mercury spacecraft, which would later carry the first American astronauts into space, Alan Shepard and Virgil “Gus” ...

"BepiColombo's main mission phase may only start two years from now, but all six of its flybys of Mercury have given us invaluable new information about the little-explored planet." The ...

BepiColombo, consisting of two conjoined spacecraft, flew past Mercury for the sixth and final time on Wednesday, using the planet’s gravitational pull to adjust its trajectory for an eventual ...

The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the planet's north pole. The European Space Agency ...

Mercury is coming into better focus through the BepiColombo mission. The spacecraft flew by the planet on Jan. 8, snapping a stunning set of closeups as it went. The images show the planet’s ...

This image provided by European Space Agency shows close-up photos of Mercury's north pole taken by the European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo. (European Space Agency via AP) ...

A spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury's north pole. The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's ...

Ice, ice, baby — too cold, too cold. A recent spacecraft flyby over Mercury has experts believing that the planet closest to the sun has “frozen water” on its surface — and they’re ...