http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html
NASA Spacecraft to Make Historic Flyby of Mercury
On Monday, Jan. 14, a pioneering NASA spacecraft will be the first to visit Mercury in almost 33 years when it soars over the planet to explore and snap close-up images of never-before-seen terrain. These findings could open new theories and answer old questions in the study of the solar system.
“...place it into orbit around Mercury in 2011...”
This is 2008. Why wait 4 years to orbit Mercury. Why not do it now while it’s going to be so close?