Japanese approval for Mercury probe

A key committee of space scientists has advised the Japanese Government to give its approval for the country to get involved in a space mission to the planet Mercury.

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun

The mission, scheduled for launch in about seven years' time, will be a joint venture between the Japanese and European Space Agencies and will be the first to attempt a landing on the planet.

Only one probe has so far visited Mercury, the innermost planet of the Solar System.

The US space agency (Nasa) sent the Mariner 10 probe in the mid-1970s and received a series of tantalising photographs

Mercury is a rocky planet and appears very dense but beyond that, little is known about it.

Scientists believe it could hold the key to understanding how the Solar System formed - hence the proposed Japanese-European mission.

The mission is named Bepi-Colombo after the late Italian mathematician whose calculations were vital in sending Mariner 10 to Mercury.

Bepi-Colombo will consist of two orbiting probes and a lander, which will penetrate through the planet's surface.

The European Space Agency approved the project and budget three years ago. Now, advisers to Japan's space activities commission have said the Pacific country should also sanction its part of the mission.

An official said the Japanese Government was likely to spend as much as 13.5 billion yen ($114.4m) on the entire project. Japan will provide an orbiter to study the magnetic field around the planet.

Japan is expected to include the cost in its budget for next year, meaning that Bepi-Colombo should be able to meet its target of launching in 2010.