NASA to Release New Images and Findings from Third Mercury Flyby

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to announce scientific findings and release new images from the third and final flyby of Mercury by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER.

The probe's cameras and instruments collected high-resolution and color images of the planet on Sept. 29, unveiling another six percent of Mercury's surface never before seen by a spacecraft.

The briefing participants are:

• Sean Solomon, principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Ronald J. Vervack, Jr., participating scientist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md.
• David J. Lawrence, participating scientist, APL
• Brett Denevi, imaging team member and postdoctoral researcher, Arizona State University, Tempe

To participate in the teleconference, reporters should e-mail Sonja Alexander at:

sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

At the beginning of the briefing, related images will be available online at:

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room

And For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/oct/HQ_M09-208_Messenger_telecon.html