Update for 11 p.m. EDT: The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft have successfully launched toward Mercury.
Read our full story here.
Original story: It's been more than 14 years since a
spacecraft launched toward Mercury, so don't miss your chance to watch a
rocket do just that.
BepiColombo,
a European-Japanese project that will be just the third mission to
study the solar system's innermost planet, launches tonight (Oct. 19)
from
Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. EDT (0145 GMT, Oct. 20), and you can
watch the launch live at Space.com, courtesy of the European Space Agency (ESA).