An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A NASA robotic spacecraft that orbited the planet → Mercury for more than four years, between 2011 and 2015. Among its accomplishments, the mission determined Mercury's surface composition, revealed its geological history, discovered details about its internal magnetic field, and verified its polar deposits are dominantly water-ice. → Mercury's tail.

Messenger, short for "MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging", a reference to the → messenger god Mercury from Roman mythology; → spacecraft.