This article needs to be updated.(April 2019) |
Mission type | Planetary reconnaissance |
---|---|
Operator | Russian Federal Space Agency |
Spacecraft properties | |
BOL mass | 8,120 kg [1] |
Landing mass | 710 kg [2] |
Payload mass | Lander: 40 kg
[2] Orbiter: 50 kg [1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | Circa 2024 [3] [4] |
Rocket | Soyuz-2 [1] |
Mercury orbiter | |
Mercury lander | |
Mercury-P ( Russian: Меркурий-П) is a mission concept for an orbiter and lander by the Russian Federal Space Agency to study the planet Mercury. [1] The initial study suggested a launch in 2024, [1] but because of the crash of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, the implementation period was postponed to the 2030s. [1] The letter P in Mercury-P, stands for the Russian word 'posadka', meaning landing. [1]
Mercury-P would be the first soft lander on Mercury. A proposed flight scenario for the mission included a flyby of Venus, the insertion of the spacecraft into the orbit around Mercury and the delivery of a lander on its surface. The Institute of Space Research studied the possibility of "recycling" hardware developed for the Phobos-Grunt, Mars-NET, Mars-96, and Solar Sail spacecraft, with proposed upgrades of the hardware. [1] As of 2012 [update], Russian scientists have conducted a preliminary concept study of the project, and compiled a list of the required scientific payload. [1] [3]