Mercury-P

Mercury-P (Russian: Меркурий-П) is a mission concept for an orbiter and lander by the Russian Federal Space Agency to study the planet Mercury.[1] The initial study suggested a launch in 2024, [1] but because of crash of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, the implementation period was postponed to the 2030s.[1] The letter P in Mercury-P, stands for the Russian word 'posadka', meaning landing.[1]

Mercury-P

Artist's rendering of the Mercury-P spacecraft
Mission type	Planetary reconnaissance
Operator	Russian Federal Space Agency
Spacecraft properties
BOL mass	8,120 kg[1]
Landing mass	710 kg [2]
Payload mass	Lander: 40 kg [2] Orbiter: 50 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date	Circa 2030s [3][4]
Rocket	Soyuz-2[1]
Mercury orbiter
Mercury lander

Mercury-P would be the first soft lander on Mercury. A proposed flight scenario for the mission included a flyby of Venus, the insertion of the spacecraft into the orbit around Mercury and the delivery of a lander on its surface. The Institute of Space Research studied the possibility of "recycling" hardware developed for the Phobos-Grunt, Mars-NET, Mars-96, and Solar Sail spacecraft, with proposed upgrades of the hardware.[1] As of 2012, Russian scientists have conducted a preliminary concept study of the project, and compiled a list of the required scientific payload.[1][3]

References

1. "Mercury-P project". Russianspaceweb. 13 January 2013.
2. LAVOCHKIN ASSOCIATION - Space Missions. (PDF). Roscosmos 2010.
3. Russian space probe aims to be the first to land on Venus' surface. October 17, 2012. Andrei Kislyakov Russia Beyond
4. Roscosmos looking to win the Venus race. Andrei Kislyakov, Russia Beyond.October 18, 2012.