SP3
The Exploration of Mercury

Main Organiser
Yoshifumi Saito, ISAS
saito@stp.isas.ac.jp

Co-Organiser(s)
Manabu Kato, ISAS
kato@planeta.sci.isas.ac.jp

Seon Solomon, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington
scs@dtm.ciw.edu

Rejean Grard, estec/ESA
Rejean.Grard@esa.int

Brief Description
Two missions to explore Mercury, the innermost planet of the Solar System, are currently planned. MESSENGER will be launched in May 2004, and BepiColombo is entering the payload selection phase.
Reports on the in-flight performance of MESSENGER are invited, as well as updates on the spacecraft design, mission analysis and scientific payload of BepiColombo. This session will also cover magnetospheric and planetary physics at Mercury, and related interdisciplinary sciences. Papers on progresses in Mercury observation, theory and modeling and new findings from Mariner 10 data evaluation are also welcomed.