NASA To Hold Briefing To Discuss New Findings About Planet Mercury

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference on Thursday, April 30, at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss new data and findings revealed by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER.

The spacecraft is the first mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the sun. The probe flew past Mercury on Jan. 14, 2008, and Oct. 6, 2008, conducting the first up-close measurements of the planet since Mariner 10's final flyby on March 16, 1975.

The briefing participants are:

- Marilyn Lindstrom, program scientist, NASA Headquarters in Washington

- William McClintock, co-investigator, University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo.

- James Slavin, co-investigator and chief, Laboratory for Solar and Space Physics, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

- Thomas Watters, participating scientist, Smithsonian Institution in Washington

- Brett Denevi, imaging team member and postdoctoral researcher, Arizona State University in Phoenix

Reporters who would like to participate in the call should submit requests for dial-in instructions to Sonja Alexander at sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov. A replay of the teleconference will be available until May 7 by dialing 800-846-6758.

Supporting visuals will be available online April 30 at the start of the teleconference at:

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio