Messenger Probe Achieves Orbit Around Mercury

For the first time ever, a man-made probe has entered into orbit  around the Sun’s closest neighbor.

The probe has made a pair of flybys, but will now orbit the heat-blasted planet and map it in it’s entirety. The Mariner Probes from the 70’s mapped only one hemisphere.

One of the questions the probe will hopefully answer is why the planet is so incredibly dense.