JAXA Shows Off Orbiting Space Probe Bound for Mercury in 2016

SAGAMIHARA, JAPAN - MARCH 15: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) is unveiled at their facility on March 15, 2015 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. The MMO, gleaning data on Mercury to ascertain how the solar system's smallest planet was formed, will be launched in 2016 on a mission to unlock the mysteries of the planet closest to the sun. Developed at a cost of 15.2 billion Japanese Yen (125 million U.S. Dollars), the MMO will be part of the BepiColombo space mission, a joint project between JAXA and the European Space Agency. The MMO and an ESA probe will be launched aboard an ESA Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana in fiscal 2016. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)