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Doomsday at Mercury: NASA craft falls from orbit into planet

The Columbian
Published: April 29, 2015, 5:00pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Messenger — the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury — is no more.

Messenger ended its four-year tour at the solar system’s innermost planet with a crash landing Thursday. It plunged from orbit at a speed of more than 8,750 mph and carved out a crater an estimated 52 feet across.

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