| Session Details | |
| Section | PS - Planetary Sciences |
| Session Title | The evolving picture of Mercury |
| Main Convener | Dr. Jorn Helbert (DLR, Germany) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Sho Sasaki (National Astronomical Observatory, Japan) Mr. Fabrizio Capaccioni (IASF-INAF, Italy) Prof. Yasumasa Kasaba (Tohoku University, Japan) |
| Session Description | Mercury is still one of the least known planets in the solar system. After the Mariner 10 flybys in 1974/1975 only the significant advances in ground based observations in recent years have changed our views of Mercury. With the first two flybys of the NASA mission MESSENGER these views have been challenged and in many respects our knowledge Mercury has been hugely advanced. 34 years after Mariner 10 we have a very different picture of this intriguing planet. All we have so far, however, is only a brief preview of things to come. MESSENGER will perform one more flyby before going in orbit. It will be followed by the ESA-JAXA mission BepiColombo placing two spacecrafts in orbit around Mercury. So it is safe to assume that our perception of Mercury will change even more in the years to come. This session will focus on our evolving view of Mercury and provide an outlook on the future of Mercury exploration. |