Russian space № 18 (2012)

The smallest planet in the Solar System is relatively little studied by spacecraft.

The first complete map of the surface of Mercury was made only in 2009. In 2015, the European Space Agency's BepiColombo expedition will launch to the planet closest to the Sun, one of the tasks of which will be to search for water ice at the poles of Mercury.

To solve this problem, the Institute for Space Research (ICI RAS) has developed a device MGNS (Mercury neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer), which will be installed on board the BepiKolombo.

What else attracts Mercury scientists, Maxim Litvak tells on the air of the "Russian Cosmos".