(Photo: AFP) 

    BEIJING, Aug.3 (Xinhuanet) -- The launch of NASA's Messenger spacecraft has been postponed due to a risk of lightning from residual clouds.  

    The launch has been rescheduled for Tuesday, CRIENGLISH.com reported Tuesday.

    Aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket, Messenger is set to begin a 4.9 billion mile journey to orbit the planet Mercury and collect data on the planet's geology and atmospheric composition.

    It will be the first spacecraft to visit the planet since Mariner 10 whizzed by three times in 1974 and 1975. Enditem

    CRIENGLISH.com