NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov, 29, to reveal new observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington.

Science Journal has embargoed details until 2 p.m. on Nov. 29. The news conference will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER spacecraft has been studying Mercury in unprecedented detail since its historic arrival there in March 2011.

The news conference participants are:

– Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington
– Sean Solomon, MESSENGER Principal Investigator, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, N.Y.
– David Lawrence, MESSENGER Participating Scientist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
– Gregory Neumann, Mercury Laser Altimeter Instrument Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
– David Paige, MESSENGER Participating Scientist, University of California, Los Angeles

Journalists may attend the briefing in-person, ask questions from participating NASA locations and join by phone or via Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA’s MESSENGER mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/messenger