<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=iso-8859-1"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=iso-8859-1"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=iso-8859-1"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="font-family: Helvetica; "></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>* MESSENGER - November 29, 2012</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>MESSENGER Finds New Evidence for Water Ice at Mercury's Poles</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">"New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide compelling support for the long-held hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Three independent lines of evidence support this conclusion: the first measurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole with MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, the first measurements of the reflectance of Mercury's polar deposits at near-infrared wavelengths with the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury's north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury's surface measured by MLA. These findings are presented in three papers published online today in Science Express (<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/recent"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(2, 30, 170); ">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/recent</span></a>).</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Given its proximity to the Sun, Mercury would seem to be an unlikely place to find ice. But the tilt of Mercury's rotational axis is almost zero -- less than one degree -- so there are pockets at the planet's poles that never see sunlight. Scientists suggested decades ago that there might be water ice and other frozen volatiles trapped at Mercury's poles."</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(2, 30, 170); "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; color: #000000">The new app is available for download at <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/messenger-nasas-mission-to/id510144229?ls=1&mt=8"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; ">http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/messenger-nasas-mission-to/id510144229?ls=1&mt=8</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">.</span></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">For more information on the MESSENGER mission, visit the MESSENGER home page: <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>* Pack Your Backpack</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Calling all explorers! Tour JPL with our new Virtual Field Trip site. Stops include Mission Control and the Rover Lab. Your guided tour starts when you select a "face" that will be yours throughout the visit. Cool space images and souvenirs are all included in your visit.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; color: #000000">+ <a href="http://virtualfieldtrip.jpl.nasa.gov/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; ">http://virtualfieldtrip.jpl.nasa.gov/</span></a> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">* Past, Present, Future and Proposed JPL Missions - <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">* For special JPL programs and presentations in your area visit the JPL Solar System Ambassador web site at <a href="http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/index.html"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/index.html</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>Mars Missions</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b></b></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(2, 30, 170); "><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><a href="http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/welcome"><b><i>Be A Martian</i></b></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b></b></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); "><span style="font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "></span></div></body></html>