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A spacecraft called Messenger is scheduled to swoop past the planet Mercury on Monday and begin two days of picture-taking and data-collecting. The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years, is part of a NASA mission aimed at placing Messenger into orbit around the planet closest to the sun in 2011.
1,100 degrees: Mercury’s hot point at equator
16,000 m.p.h.: Messenger’s speed as it passes within 124 miles of the surface
4.9 billion miles: Messenger’s roundabout trip before it starts orbiting Mercury
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Page compiled from Tribune news services.
