Why the hell are we going to Mercury?

Almost 1/2 billion dollars is being spent to send a spacecraft to observe a 700° planet. link. Why?

 

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Because we know hardly anything about it. Only 1 spaceprobe has been there before. Yes, 1. We need to know more.

 

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We know there's no life on Mercury. We're pretty sure it never has and ever will contain life. Will knowledge of Mercury help us understand how planets/solar systems are formed, which will help us in our search for other systems? I think Murcury is pretty insignificant and I would've preferred more probes sent to jupiter and its moons

 

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It may be insignificant, but that's not the point. We need to know more! We may find something we totally didn't expect there.

 

I doubt it. It's just an overheated rock. I'd vote for Jupiter's moons too.

 

A 700 degree rock with suspected ice caps

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It's a planet, it merits exploration.

The Dutch didn't bother exploring Australia because it appeared useless...

 

the study of mercury could help reveal how the solar system formed and how solar system form in general, allowing us a better understand of how life formed and forms.

The price tag of this mission is equivalent to every American buying one cup of coffee, so ya I think its totally worth it.

Noon apex temps of ~673K (400C or 752F) midnight temps of 103K (-170C or -274F)

Here is a good fact sheet on it:
http://www.nineplanets.org/mercury.html

 

To understand as much as we can brings us closer to understanding everything.

 

The vast majority of Americans believe that it's worth spending money on basic science research, even if it doesn't have any practical benefit.

 

Sure, I'm all for science and learning but there are choices to be made with any budget. All I'm saying is that I'm surprised Mercury isn't lower on the priority list.

 

It is useless to me

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anyways... I think that a lot more valuable data could be gotten from other places in our solar system, others than Mercury

 

dsdsds,

This was a once in a 30 year opportunity when Mercury, Venus and Earth will be in such a alignment as to allow a gravity assist mission to get to mercury. If it were not done now we would have to wait several decades to do it.

 

ah, I see

 

The Americans are going to Mercury. American taxpayers paid for it. Nobody else. Since I'm Canadian I don't care because none of my money was wasted.

 

Mercury must have been low on the priority list, one probe and since then we've had all the jupiter and mars missions.

 

for those that liked this mission (or did not) check out some of the other missions in operation or/and development:
http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/

how about sending a space probe to the sun?

how about one to pluto?

 

I think soil composition ans sub-surface scans on Mercury might be interesting.

 

Sun Space probes:

http://www.deutsches-museum.de/ausstell/meister/e_helios.htm

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0407/08solarflare/

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

http://www.lmsal.com/SXT/

http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/solar-b.stm

 

Pluto mission:

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/