Is there water on Mercury?

Observation of Mercury will begin officially on April 4, 2011 with the help of spacecraft Messenger spacecraft already orbiting the planet. Mapping the entire surface of Mercury will be done to uncover the mysteries of geology, history and that planet formation.

One of the questions raised in the observation of Mercury is there any water in the form of ice on the planet? With Mercury's temperature reaches 450 degrees Celsius, the question may seem silly.

However, Sean Solomon, Messenger leader investigator, said the possibility. "Can ice stuck in there? Model temperature say yes, it is possible. But does the ice water-based? There are a lot of speculation," he said.

Meanwhile, 20 years ago had no radar data found reflective material in the polar regions of the Sun's nearest planet. Reflective material could have been water in the form of ice.

Positive answer may be known within the next year when the Messenger successfully completed its mission. Along with that, may be known about the structure and the reason why Mercury's core density is lower.

Messenger himself has reached the orbit of Mercury since March 17, 2011 after traveling for 6.5 years. This space vehicle 2 days ago just sent image of Mercury's craters and Matabei Debussy.

Messenger stands for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging. Its mission is not the mission of making low-cost because the fund reached 446 million U.S. dollars.