The journey to Mercury
Last updated on: August 03, 2004 18:39 IST
A Delta II rocket carrying NASA's new Messenger spacecraft lifts off from launch pad 17B on Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The launch had been postponed 24 hours due to weather conditions.
The Messenger spacecraft is expected to travel on an eight-year journey to Mercury, which may reveal more about our solar system's innermost planet than has ever been known.
The $426 million mission is being managed for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. More on MESSENGER
Photo: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images 
A Delta II rocket carrying NASA's new Messenger spacecraft lifts off from launch pad 17B on Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Florida.