messenger spacecraft

The MPO has a payload of 11 instruments including spectrometers covering a variety of wavelengths, a neutron spectrometer, magnetometer, laser altimeter, radiometer, and cameras. The IMU accurately determined the spacecraft’s rotation rate, and MESSENGER tracked its own orientation by checking the location of stars and the Sun. Development: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder Finally, the MESSENGER spacecraft performed three flybys of its own on January 14, 2008, October 6, 2008, and September 29, 2009; on March 18, 2011, it entered Mercury orbit. Communication with the spacecraft was reestablished in late November and performed a deep space maneuver on December 12, to correct the trajectory to encounter Venus in a second flyby. This dynamic state together with the values of C2,0 and C2,2, the Earth-based radar measurements of the amplitude of Mercury's forced libration (35.8 ± 2 arcsec) and obliquity (2.06 ± 0.1 arcmin), and data on the precession rate and pole position provide the basis for calculating not only C/MR2 but also Cm/C, where Cm is the axial MoI of Mercury's silicate shell. [84] The crash occurred at a place not visible from Earth at the time, and thus was not detected by any observers or instruments. Mass: 3.9 kilograms (8.6 pounds) Start MDIS color imaging sequence of Amazon Basin. A ceramic-fabric sunshade, heat radiators, and a mission design that limited time over the planet’s hottest regions protected MESSENGER without expensive and impractical cooling systems. Messenger spacecraft was launched to Mercury for a series of flybys beginning in 2008 and entered orbit around the planet in 2011.

During the encounter, MESSENGER passed behind Venus and entered superior conjunction, a period when Earth was on the exact opposite side of the Solar System, with the Sun inhibiting radio contact. The crust is generally thicker (50–80 km) near the equator and thins toward the north polar region (20–40 km); the regionally thinnest crust is located beneath the northern lowlands. Radio tracking of the MESSENGER spacecraft has allowed the determination of the low-degree and low-order spherical harmonic coefficients of Mercury's gravity field (Smith et al., 2012). The corresponding zero-pressure density of about 5300 kg m− 3 is even much higher than the uncompressed densities of Earth, Venus, and Mars, which are about 4100, 4000, and 3800 kg m− 3, respectively.

Mercury could have a solid inner core.

MESSENGER made a flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008 (making its closest approach of 200 km above the surface of Mercury at 19:04:39 UTC), followed by a second flyby on October 6, 2008. Messenger was launched on August 3, 2004, by a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. If the flight software detected that the Sun was “moving” out of a designated safe zone it could initiate an automatic turn to ensure that the shade faced the Sun.

Provide surface abundances of Fe, Si, and K, infer alkali depletion from K abundances, and provide abundance limits on H (water ice) and S (if present) at the poles. Mapped mineral composition within the top millimeter of the surface on Mercury by detecting. [78] In the later years of its mission, MESSENGER also provided visual evidence of past volcanic activity on the surface of Mercury,[79] as well as evidence for a liquid iron planetary core. Earth-based radar ranging data have suggested that the equatorial shape of Mercury has a significant ellipticity (a–b)/a = (540 ± 54) × 10− 6 and a center of figure CoF offset from the center of mass CoM of amplitude 640 ± 78 m in the approximate direction of the then unseen hemisphere (Anderson et al., 1996). From its vantage point near the top deck of the spacecraft, EPS observed ions and electrons accelerated in the magnetosphere. High-gain antennas sent radio signals through a narrower, more concentrated beam than low-gain antennas and were used primarily to send larger amounts of data over the same distance as a low-gain antenna. Determine the structure of the planet's magnetic field. Venus. For additional information about and examples of MDIS images, visit these pages: The Imaging Campaigns of MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System. Mass: 7.4 kilograms (16.3 pounds) There are eight science experiments on board the spacecraft (Fig. All four were radiation-hardened RAD6000 processors, based on predecessors of the PowerPC chip found in some models of home computers. The MESSENGER science and operations teams communicated with the MESSENGER spacecraft using the large ground-based antennas of the Deep Space Network (DSN).
Provide secondary evidence to aid in interpreting GRS measured gamma-ray line strengths in terms of elemental abundances.
This image shows half of the hemisphere missed by Mariner 10 in 1974–75 and was snapped by Messenger's Wide Angle Camera when it was about 27,000 km (17,000 miles) from the planet. M.A. The mosaic contained 34 images, acquired by the MDIS instrument during November 2010.

Messenger was launched on the 3rd of August, 2004, with the aim of going into orbit around Mercury and studying this planet in more detail than ever before. (MESSENGER only spent about 25 minutes of each 12-hour orbit crossing Mercury’s broiling surface at low altitude.) Also these data will be extremely useful to help us decipher Mercury's geology.

Mass: 8.0 kilograms (17.6 pounds) A range of imaging campaigns achieves a balance between globally mapping the entire surface of Mercury and obtaining targeted higher-resolution images in support of specific science goals.


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