MESSENGER flyby preview

I listened in to this morning's press conference and have now posted an extensive preview of Monday's flyby of Mercury by MESSENGER. Enjoy!

And here's that optical navigation photo of Mercury from MESSENGER that I lamented not having yesterday. It's not much to look at yet; it's funny how most planets look pretty much the same from long distance and high phase (that is, when they're illuminated as a crescent). That's definitely Mercury, but I'm sure you'd have no trouble believing me if I told you that was Venus or even Uranus.