MESSENGER carries a Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) that is capable of measuring and characterizing gamma-ray emissions from the surface of Mercury.

The new project manager for the longest-working spacecraft currently active at Mars, NASA's Mars Odyssey, has a long track record himself.

Experiments by British scientists could reveal the make-up of the universe, the University of Liverpool said Thursday. The examinations will become part of the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array experiment, which seeks to create a so-called fingerprint of the inside of the atomic nucleus to help scientists understand the universe's structure, including humans and stars, the university said in a release. Scientists will analyze particle interactions that produce gamma rays, the university said, and use these interactions and the energy required to make them to prove exotic nuclei, formed by nuclear reactions that occur both in the core of stars and the accelerator facilities used to study them on earth.

The detectors will become part of the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) experiment, currently based in Italy, which aims to create a 'fingerprint' of the inside of the atomic nucleus to understand the structure of all matter in the Universe, including human beings and the stars.

The U.S. space agency has nudged the Mars Odyssey spacecraft's orbit, allowing it to look at the day side of Mars in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon. NASA said the change, which took eight months to complete, increases the sensitivity for infrared mapping of Martian minerals.