Topic · 5 episodes
Mercury
Every Onpode episode on Mercury.
Episodes
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is set for a Mercury flyby in the coming monthsBepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA Mercury mission, completed its sixth and final Mercury flyby on 8 January 2025 and is on course for Mercury orbit insertion in November 2026 — becoming only the second spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury, after NASA's MESSENGER (2011–2015).
Kelsey Plum scored 20 points and hit the game winner in her Phoenix Mercury debut todayKelsey Plum scored 20 points and hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 53.2 seconds left in her Phoenix Mercury debut on August 4, helping Phoenix beat Chicago 106-101. She played roughly 20 minutes under a load restriction, just 44 days after a left lower leg injury and 18 hours after arriving in Chicago via trade from the LA Sparks.
Mercury has radiation belts after all — they form and vanish with solar wind, reshaping mission planningMercury does have radiation belts, but they are temporary: a July 2026 Nature Astronomy study by Jiutong Zhao (University of Michigan) found belts present ~50% of the time near aphelion and only ~20% near perihelion, where solar wind pressure up to 30× Earth's collapses Mercury's weak magnetosphere entirely.
Brittney Griner just lost her No. 1 spot in Phoenix Mercury history — here's who topped herOn July 20, DeWanna Bonner surpassed Brittney Griner as the Phoenix Mercury's all-time rebounding leader by exactly two rebounds — 2,324 to 2,322 — doing it from the Connecticut Sun's bench as an opponent. Griner still holds Phoenix's all-time blocks record (812) and ranks second in scoring (5,572 points), behind only Diana Taurasi.
Phoenix Mercury aims to deepen LA Sparks' slide heading into All-Star breakThe LA Sparks enter their July 22 game against the Phoenix Mercury on a four-game losing streak, with Kelsey Plum — the WNBA's second-leading scorer — sidelined. Phoenix is 9-18 and ranked 13th. The Sparks have already beaten the Mercury twice in 2026, making this a structural test, not a matchup problem.