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After more than a decade in space and four years orbiting Mercury, Nasa's MESSENGER mission has come to an explosive end. The spacecraft crashed into the planet's surface in a planned manouevre. The mission has transformed our understanding of Mercury. It sent back more than 270,000 images and 10 terabytes of scientific measurements. Nancy Chabot, the instrument scientist who operated the probe's cameras, explains why the mission had ended. (Photo: An illustration showing the surface of Mercury where the probe crashed. Credit: NASA/JHU APL/ Washington Carnegie Institution of Washington)