(Photo: ccce.51.net)

    BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA is about to embark on its hottest mission ever, to Mercury.

    The Messenger spacecraft, to be launched next week, will be blasted by up to 700-degree heat as it orbits the tiny planet closest to the sun, so close that it would be as though 11 suns were beating down on Earth, CRIENGLISH.com reported Monday.

    Messenger will be the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury and the first in more than 30 years to come close.

    Even though Mercury is 50 million miles from Earth at closest approach, Messenger will travel 5 billion miles to get there. It's technologically infeasible to fly straight to Mercury, a trip of a few months, and so the spacecraft must swing once past Earth, twice past Venus and thrice past Mercury before slowing down enough to slip into orbit around Mercury.

    Once its mission is accomplished in 2012, Messenger will keep orbiting Mercury until it eventually crashes onto the surface. Enditem

    CRIENGLISH.com