NASA's MESSENGER Probe Prepares For Collision With Mercury

— -- NASA's MESSENGER probe will run out of fuel and smash into the surface of Mercury, creating a new crater on the surface of the planet closest to the sun.

The collision is expected to happen sometime near the end of April, marking the end of the decade-old MESSENGER mission. NASA expects the probe will hit Mercury at a speed of around 9,000 mph.

"Messenger is going to create a new crater on Mercury sometime in the near future," John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator, said today in a video conference.

MESSENGER recently completed its 4,065th orbit and has about 40 left before NASA expects the spacecraft to run out of fuel and crash into the planet nearest the sun.

Launching in 2004, MESSENGER traveled nearly 5 billion miles on a route that included 15 trips around the sun, whizzing past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times.

It began orbiting Mercury in 2011 and has since been collecting data about the planet to send back to Earth.

Among MESSENGER's discoveries about the planet are hollows on its surface, evidence of volcanism and polar deposits of water ice.