http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/archive.php/ APL brings you the latest status reports from MESSENGER. en-us Copyright 2008 JHUAPL Copyright 2008 JHUAPLScience & Medicine/Natural SciencesnoAPL brings you the latest status reports from MESSENGER. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/Um_f5BmDBjg/details.php WASHINGTON -- A NASA spacecraft's third and final flyby of the planet Mercury gives scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and provides new scientific findings about this relatively unknown planet. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=138 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ivVAFKumTF8/details.php MESSENGER successfully flew by Mercury yesterday, gaining a critical gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011 and capturing images of five percent of the planet never before seen. With more than 90 percent of the planet's surface already imaged, MESSENGER's science team had drafted an ambitious observation campaign designed to tease out additional details from features uncovered during the first two flybys. But an unexpected signal loss prior to closest approach hampered those plans. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=136 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/-2KQzIQ1Wfo/details.php Shortly before 5:55 p.m. EDT, MESSENGER skimmed 228 kilometers (141 miles) above the surface of Mercury in its third and final flyby of the planet. Radio signals received after the spacecraft emerged from behind the planet indicate that the spacecraft is operating nominally. Its instruments are now collecting images and other scientific measurements from the planet as it departs Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=135 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/hQ9-3G8ARQo/details.php MESSENGER's engineering and operations teams convened at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., this morning to confirm the health and readiness of the spacecraft. "All spacecraft sub-systems and instruments reported nominal operations, indicating that MESSENGER was ready for its third encounter with Mercury," said MESSENGER Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan of APL. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=134 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/xvxdNJVumvo/details.php MESSENGER is approximately two days from its third encounter with Mercury. If you look at our "<a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/whereis/index.php">Where Is MESSENGER</a>?" page, which displays the spacecraft's trajectory status, you'll see that it is practically on Mercury's doorstep. This will be the team's last opportunity to practice at Mercury before orbit insertion, so many of the instrument command sequences have been assembled to be similar to how they will operate during the orbital phase of the mission, which begins in March 2011. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=133 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/HX-IJwNLGDs/details.php On September 29, 2009, the MESSENGER spacecraft will fly by Mercury for the third and final time, passing 141.7 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011. With more than 90 percent of the planet's surface already imaged, the team will turn its instruments during this flyby to specific features to uncover more information about the planet closest to the Sun. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=132 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/7IDbdedZBYU/details.php See Mercury through the "eyes" of MESSENGER's imagers with the Mercury Flyby Visualization Tool, now available at <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/encountersm3/">http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/encountersm3/</a>. This updated Web feature offers a unique opportunity to see simulated views of Mercury from MESSENGER's perspective, during approach, flyby, and departure, or in real-time (as the observations actually occur). http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=131 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/nnFyb35xCI8/details.php WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to preview MESSENGER's third and final flyby of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=130 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/td4Xadfyhg4/details.php In less than two weeks, on September 29, MESSENGER will fly by Mercury for the third and final time, a maneuver key to placing the probe on a trajectory that will enable its March 2011 insertion into orbit about Mercury. Even as the team readies for this critical event, a parallel effort has long been underway to prepare MESSENGER for the main event. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=129 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/X7YuFa9VwUc/details.php On September 29, the MESSENGER spacecraft will pass by Mercury for the third time, flying 141.7 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter orbit about Mercury in 2011. This encounter will also provide new observational opportunities for MESSENGER's Magnetometer, designed to determine the structure and origin of Mercury's intrinsic magnetic field. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=128 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/8rbj2FaS9vI/details.php It's been five years since MESSENGER was launched atop a Delta II rocket on August 3, 2004, and they have been busy years. It has been a long journey, says MESSENGER Mission Operations Manager Andy Calloway</strong>, "not just in distance travelled - just over 3.5 billion miles so far - but also in terms of significant milestones and accomplishments." http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=127 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/aKQHzZi2azA/details.php The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER Science Team to confer names on 16 impact craters on Mercury. The newly named craters were imaged during the mission's first two flybys of Mercury in January and October last year. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=126 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/RyUD7Hmu6Ns/details.php <strong>Brian Anderson</strong>, <strong>Louise Prockter</strong>, and <strong>Thomas Zurbuchen</strong> have been appointed MESSENGER Co-Investigators by NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator <strong>Edward Weiler</strong>. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=125 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/T60NGFkTbpk/details.php MESSENGER Co-Investigator <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/who_we_are/member_focus_010307.html">Stanton J. Peale</a>, a professor emeritus renowned for his work in planetary science and astrophysics at University of California, Santa Barbara, was among the 72 new members elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The election was held April 28 during the business session of the 146th annual meeting of the Academy. Those elected bring the total number of active members to 2,150, now including four members of the MESSENGER Science Team. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=124 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/PINLUIjapnE/details.php Analyses of data from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft's second flyby of Mercury in October 2008 show that the planet's atmosphere, magnetosphere, and geological past are all characterized by much greater levels of activity than scientists first suspected. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=123 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/swI5HRdR32g/details.php The National Space Club will award the MESSENGER team its Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award this evening at the 52nd annual Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington, D.C. The award, named in honor of the National Space Club's founder and past president, is presented annually to recognize exceptional teamwork between government and industry in the missile, aircraft, and space fields. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=122 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/uQxwwWbin-o/details.php Mario H. Acu�a, a senior astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Co-Investigator on the MESSENGER mission, died on March 5, 2009, after a long battle against multiple myeloma. During his four decades at NASA, he played a critical role in many NASA endeavors, serving as principal investigator or key developer of experiments flown on more than 30 missions to every planet in the solar system, as well as the Sun. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=121 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/yL-YF82KTxY/details.php MESSENGER reaches its orbital perihelion today and passes within 0.31 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun (one AU is nearly 150 million kilometers or 93 million miles). The mission's imaging team is taking advantage of the probe's proximity to the fiery sphere to continue their search for vulcanoids - small, rocky asteroids that have been postulated to circle the Sun in stable orbits inside the orbit of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=120 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/bAbbQmeTFHU/details.php On December 26, the MESSENGER spacecraft will have traveled three billion miles since its launch, marking somewhat more than 60 percent of the probe's journey toward its destination to be inserted into orbit about Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=119 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/uqVruUEJ5dQ/details.php Members of the MESSENGER science team will present a range of new findings from the spacecraft's studies of the planet Mercury during the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting next week in San Francisco. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=118 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/R8n39gSr0Ls/details.php MESSENGER completed the second part of a two-part deep-space maneuver today, providing the remaining 10% velocity change needed to place the probe on course to fly by Mercury for the third time in September 2009. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=117 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/OO5q_FzNeow/details.php The Mercury-bound spacecraft MESSENGER completed the first part of a two-part deep-space maneuver today, providing the expected 90% of the velocity change needed to place the spacecraft on course to fly by Mercury for the third time in September 2009. A 4.5-minute firing of its bi-propellant engine increased the probe's speed relative to the Sun by 219 meters per second (489 miles per hour) to a speed of about 30.994 kilometers per second (69,333 miles per hour). http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=116 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/6BXe69iRmV0/details.php The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER Science Team to name 15 craters on Mercury. All of the newly named craters were imaged during the mission's first flyby of the solar system's innermost planet in January 2008. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=115 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/1WuFyDBRcLo/details.php Gliding over the battered surface of Mercury for the second time this year, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has revealed even more previously unseen real estate on the innermost planet, sending home hundreds of photos and measurements of its surface, atmosphere, and magnetic field. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=114 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/adLPFU7Ynu8/details.php Shortly after 4 a.m. this morning, MESSENGER reached its greatest speed relative to the Sun. The spacecraft, nearly 70% closer to the Sun than Earth, was traveling nearly 140,880 miles per hour (62.979 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun. At this speed MESSENGER would traverse the distance from Earth to Earth's Moon in only 1.7 hours! http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=113 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/GevXUXg3lSw/details.php By using solar sailing - rotating the spacecraft and tilting its solar panels to use the very small pressure from sunlight to alter the spacecraft's trajectory - MESSENGER navigators have achieved a new record for the smallest miss distance between the intended and actual closest approach distance during a flyby of a planet other than Earth. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=112 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/YFmM-eDrXVc/details.php When Mariner 10 flew past Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975, the probe imaged less than half the planet. In January, during MESSENGER's first flyby, its cameras returned images of about 20 percent of the planet's surface missed by Mariner 10. Yesterday, at 4:40 am EDT, MESSENGER successfully completed its second flyby of Mercury, and its cameras captured more than 1,200 high-resolution and color images of the planet - unveiling another 30 percent of Mercury's surface that had never before been seen by spacecraft. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=111 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/6NgQ0wxZSHI/details.php At a little after 4:40 a.m. EDT, MESSENGER skimmed 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface of Mercury in the second of three flybys of the planet. Initial indications from the radio signals indicate that the spacecraft continues to operate nominally. The spacecraft is now collecting images and other scientific measurements from the planet as it departs Mercury from the illuminated side, filling in the details of much of Mercury's surface not previously viewed by spacecraft. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=110 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/sB8dtze3zGg/details.php MESSENGER's engineering and operations teams convened at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., this afternoon to confirm the health and readiness of the spacecraft. "All spacecraft sub-systems and instruments reported nominal operations indicating that MESSENGER is ready for its second encounter with Mercury," said MESSENGER Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan of APL. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=109 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/5isojltIItI/details.php If you look at our <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/whereis/index.php">"Where Is MESSENGER?"</a> page, which displays the spacecraft's trajectory status, you'll see that we're right on Mercury's doorstep. MESSENGER's mission design and navigation teams met today at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., to discuss the spacecraft's current trajectory to determine if a last-minute trajectory-correction maneuver would be needed. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=108 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/JW7Dgywsld4/details.php MESSENGER mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., have received the <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=206">first optical navigation images</a> from the spacecraft. "We will be taking seven additional sets over the next three days as the spacecraft approaches the planet," said APL's Eric Finnegan, the Mission Systems Engineer. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=107 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/4Qxm9sU2Rzk/details.php On October 6, for the second time in less than a year, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will swoop just 200 kilometers (125 miles) above the cratered surface of Mercury, snapping hundreds of pictures and collecting a variety of other data from the planet as it gains a critical gravity assist that keeps the probe on track to become the first spacecraft ever to orbit the innermost planet beginning in March 2011. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=106 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/lctOL369yEA/details.php One week from today, the MESSENGER spacecraft will fly by Mercury for the second time this year. As part of the final preparations for this encounter, the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) has been powered on after having been off since shortly after the first flyby at the beginning of the year. The entire MESSENGER science payload is now powered and configured to collect data during next week's encounter. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=105 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/rFTHN2jT1ns/details.php Two weeks from today, the MESSENGER spacecraft will fly by Mercury for the second time. As part of the final preparations for this encounter, the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) was placed in an "anneal mode" to prepare its detector for optimal performance during the flyby. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=104 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ESlCCHEIiHY/details.php It is now only slightly more than three weeks before the MESSENGER spacecraft flies by Mercury for the second time. At 4:40 a.m. ET on October 6, the craft will speed by the planet, passing within 125 miles (200 kilometers) and gaining a gravity assist that will tighten its orbit and keep it on its course to pass the planet one last time next year before becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury, beginning in 2011. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=103 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/QJNY4dzJylM/details.php On September 4, the MESSENGER team announced that it would not need to implement a scheduled maneuver to adjust the probe's trajectory. This is the fourth time this year that such a maneuver has been called off. The reason? A recently implemented navigational technique that makes use of solar-radiation pressure (SRP) to guide the probe has been extremely successful at maintaining MESSENGER on a trajectory that will carry it over the cratered surface of Mercury for a second time on October 6. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=102 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ByI-WWK1rKA/details.php Data from MESSENGER's first flyby of Mercury have been released to the public by the Planetary Data System (PDS), an organization that archives and distributes all of NASA's planetary mission data. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=101 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/blelamYlGUc/details.php Scientists have argued about the origins of Mercury's smooth plains and the source of its magnetic field for over 30 years. Now, analyses of data from the January 2008 flyby of the planet by the MESSENGER spacecraft have shown that volcanoes were involved in plains formation and suggest that its magnetic field is actively produced in the planet's core and is not a frozen relic. Scientists additionally took their first look at the chemical composition the planet's surface material. The tiny craft probed the composition of Mercury's thin atmosphere, sampled charged particles (ions) near the planet, and demonstrated new links between both sets of observations and materials on Mercury's surface. The results are reported in a series of 11 papers published in a special section of the July 4 issue of Science magazine. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=100 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/u1kcMTR2Bqg/details.php NASA will host a media teleconference Thursday, July 3, at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss analysis of data from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft's flyby of Mercury earlier this year. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=99 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ghbSk8gDgao/details.php Jim McAdams, the MESSENGER mission design lead engineer, was named the 2008 Engineer of the Year by the Baltimore Section, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Each spring, this chapter of AIAA honors those in the aerospace community who have made significant contributions during the previous year. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=98 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/YYqKC2S2Jmk/details.php The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved new names for features on Mercury and agreed on a new theme for fossae on the planet. These newly christened features were discovered from images taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft during its first flyby of Mercury in January. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=97 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/84ifStf1otY/details.php The MESSENGER spacecraft delivered a critical deep-space maneuver today - 64 million miles (103 million kilometers) from Earth - successfully firing its large bi-propellant engine to change the probe's trajectory and target it for its second flyby of Mercury on October 6, 2008. This was the first trajectory-correction maneuver (TCM) to test the continuous slow rotation of the spacecraft throughout the burn, essential for the March 18, 2011, Mercury orbit-insertion (MOI) maneuver. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=96 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/_y-eJ45Dg98/details.php During its January flyby of Mercury, the MESSENGER spacecraft observed swaths of the innermost planet never before seen up close. Members of the MESSENGER mission team will present findings from that historic encounter and discuss Mercury science during the <a href="http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2008/">39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference</a> March 10-14 at the South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center in League City, Texas. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=95 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/RDaa8JAkchU/details.php During MESSENGER's flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) acquired images to create eight different mosaics. Shown <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=172">here</a> is an image context sheet with small thumbnail versions of the MDIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images that were captured as the spacecraft approached the planet and used to create a high-resolution mosaic of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=94 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/SqdihECeyiA/details.php As MESSENGER sped by Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) captured <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=171">this image</a>, which includes the edge of the planet against the blackness of space. Much of the foreground shows a portion of Caloris basin, one of the largest impact basins in the solar system. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=93 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/VShVSS9-pxc/details.php As MESSENGER flew by Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) captured <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=166">this view</a>. Two of the larger craters in this image appear to have darkened crater rims and partial "halos" of dark material immediately surrounding the craters. Both craters appear to have nearly complete rims and interior terraced walls, suggesting that they formed more recently than the other nearby shallower craters of similar size. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=92 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/VFC85EBY6g4/details.php MESSENGER's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) captured <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=161">this image</a> during the flyby one month ago. The Sun is illuminating this region at a low angle, accentuating the modest ridges and other low topography on these nearly flat plains. Low ridges trend from the top-center of the image to the left edge (white arrows). The ghostly remains of craters are visible, filled to their rims by what may have been volcanic lavas (red arrows). http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=91 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/a4TMueEmL3Y/details.php Little more than three weeks after MESSENGER's first historic flyby of Mercury, the team this week began mapping out its trajectory and observation plans for the probe's second pass of the planet this fall. On October 6, 2008, at 4:39 a.m. EST, the spacecraft will once again fly 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface of the planet. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=90 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/Uo5YYenMRnc/details.php After a journey of more than 2.2 billion miles and three and a half years, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft made its first flyby of Mercury just after 2 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 14, 2008. All seven scientific instruments worked flawlessly, producing a stream of surprises that is amazing and delighting the science team. The 1,213 mages conclusively show that the planet is a lot less like the Moon than many previously thought, with features unique to this innermost world. The puzzling magnetosphere appears to be very different from what Mariner 10 discovered and first sampled almost 34 years ago. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=58 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/CT2zgt6P6FI/details.php After MESSENGER completed its successful flyby of Mercury, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), took images of the receding planet. Beginning on January 14, 2008, about 100 minutes after MESSENGER's closest pass by the surface of Mercury, until January 15, 2008, about 19 hours later, the NAC acquired one image every four minutes. In all, 288 images were snapped during this sequence; <A title="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=142" href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=142">shown here</A> are just 12 of those departing shots. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=26 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/yONjvzpOwrU/details.php Two weeks ago, on January 14, 2008, MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to see the side of Mercury shown in this image. <A href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?page=3&gallery_id=2&image_id=129">The first image transmitted back to Earth following the flyby of Mercury</A>, and then released to the web within hours, shows the historic first look at the previously unseen side. <A href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=141&preview=Y">This image</A>, taken by the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), shows a closer view of much of that territory. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=31 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/qfN-68Ccd2c/details.php <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=140">This frame</a>, taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), shows a region of Mercury's surface previously unseen by spacecraft and a large scarp crossing vertically through the scene, on the far right of the image. This scarp is the northern continuation of the one seen in the <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?page=3&gallery_id=2&image_id=119">NAC image released on January 16</a>. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=32 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/zok4VM8G77A/details.php As MESSENGER sped by Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) captured <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=139">this shot</a> looking toward Mercury's north pole. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=33 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/9HmSeSQXoR8/details.php During MESSENGER's flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008, part of the planned sequence of observations included taking images of the same portion of Mercury's surface from five different viewing angles. The first view from this sequence was taken just after MESSENGER made its closest approach to Mercury, from a low viewing angle; <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=125">an image of the first view</a> was released on January 19. <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=137">The image released here</a>, acquired with the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), was snapped 13 minutes after MESSENGER's closest approach with Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=34 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/YwyMnNAn00Q/details.php MESSENGER team members have been identifying and measuring the impact craters on portions of Mercury that had not been previously seen by spacecraft. By counting craters on different areas of the planet's surface, a relative geologic history of the planet can be constructed, indicating which surfaces formed first and which formed later. In <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=136">this image</a>, 763 craters have been identified and measured (shown in green) along with 189 hills (shown in yellow). http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=35 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/5L_rUhsAHkM/details.php As MESSENGER approached Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) snapped <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=134">this image</a> of the crater Matisse. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=36 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ROjhzh4ZEVE/details.php <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=132">This visible-infrared image</a> shows an incoming view of Mercury, about 80 minutes before MESSENGER's closest pass of the planet on January 14, 2008, from a distance of about 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles). http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=37 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ZnIxzHiIDsY/details.php Today the MESSENGER team released this image <http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=131> , which shows a side of Mercury not previously seen by a spacecraft, with a view looking toward the planet's south pole. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=38 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/CBvI_PdYHFY/details.php As it departed Mercury on January 14, 2008, MESSENGER's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) acquired <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=127">this view</a> of Mercury's surface illuminated obliquely from the right by the Sun, and <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=128">this frame</a>, which records a complex history of geological evolution. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=39 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/QQC_UQGTTxU/details.php Today the MESSENGER team released two new images. One, taken nine minutes after the spacecraft passed 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface of Mercury, shows the planet's surface as seen from a low viewing angle, looking over the surface and off the limb of the planet on the right side of the image. The second figure shows the distance, or range, from the spacecraft to the surface of Mercury as measured by Mercury Laser Altimeter during the flyby of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=40 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/LnwT4wcD1uU/details.php A day after its successful flyby of Mercury, the MESSENGER spacecraft turned toward Earth on Tuesday and began downloading the 500 megabytes of data that had been stored on the solid-state recorder during the encounter. All of those data, including 1,213 images from the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) cameras, have now been received by the Science Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=41 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/_dMi6jhMgoQ/details.php Shortly following MESSENGER's closest approach to Mercury on January 14, 2008, the spacecraft's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument acquired <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=121">this image</a> as part of a mosaic that covers much of the sunlit portion of the hemisphere not viewed by Mariner 10. It provides insight into the relative timing of processes that have acted on Mercury's surface in the past. <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=122">This image</a> is one of those mosaic frames and was acquired on January 14, 2008, 18:10 UTC, when the spacecraft was about 18,000 kilometers (11,000 miles) from the surface of Mercury, about 55 minutes before MESSENGER's closest approach to the planet. It shows a variety of surface textures. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=42 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/z5nb-BGTC-0/details.php Just 21 minutes after MESSENGER's closest approach to Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) took <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=119">this picture</a> showing a variety of intriguing surface features, including craters as small as about 300 meters (about 300 yards) across. <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=120">This image</a>, taken 37 minutes after MESSENGER's closest approach to the planet, shows a previously unseen crater with distinctive bright rays of ejected material extending radially outward from the crater's center. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=43 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/ZqooWCVWsvM/details.php As MESSENGER approached Mercury on January 14, 2008, the spacecraft's Narrow-Angle Camera on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument captured <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=118">this view</a> of the planet's rugged, cratered landscape illuminated obliquely by the Sun. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=44 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/aFqQ0H0Asvc/details.php When Mariner 10 flew past Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975, the same hemisphere was in sunlight during each encounter. As a consequence, Mariner 10 was able to image less than half the planet. Planetary scientists have wondered for more than 30 years about what spacecraft images might reveal about the hemisphere of Mercury that Mariner 10 never viewed. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=45 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/9Esl0IC9JVA/details.php At 16:30 UTC (11:30 a.m. EST) today, MESSENGER flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., received the first telemetry from the spacecraft following the probe's closest approach to Mercury yesterday. All spacecraft subsystems and instruments are operating normally, and telemetry data indicate that the command sequence during the flyby executed as expected. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=46 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/xsHl0gPpq1M/details.php Today, at 19:04:39 UTC (2:04:39 pm EST), MESSENGER will fly 200 kilometers (124 miles) above Mercury's surface. As the spacecraft continues to speed toward the planet, the Narrow Angle Camera, part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument, acquired <A title="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/" href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/">this</A> crescent view of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=47 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/59wBISW902c/details.php Today, at 19:04:39 UTC (2:04:39 pm EST), MESSENGER will fly 200 kilometers (124 miles) above Mercury's surface. As the spacecraft continues to speed toward the planet, the Narrow Angle Camera, part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument, acquired <a title="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/" href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/">this</a> crescent view of Mercury. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=55 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/IhrvD1WRByU/details.php MESSENGER's engineering and operations teams convened at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., early this morning to confirm the health and readiness of the spacecraft. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=48 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/MZ5GH7gMYX0/details.php If you look at our "Where Is MESSENGER?" page, which displays the spacecraft's trajectory status, you'll see we're right on Mercury's doorstep. MESSENGER's mission design and navigation teams at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., met yesterday to discuss the spacecraft's current trajectory to determine if a last-minute trajectory-correction maneuver would be needed. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=49 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/UTx3JLYS_f8/details.php The countdown to the first flyby of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft has begun. Sunday morning, MESSENGER will start recording the evidence of this historic event. At 8 a.m. EST on January 13 - 30 hours before the closest approach to Mercury - the spacecraft will turn its main antennas away from Earth and automatically begin executing the 5,000 on-board stored commands. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=50 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/v-DuEVrAySs/details.php NASA will return to Mercury for the first time in almost 33 years on January 14, 2008, when the MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first flyby of the Sun's closest neighbor, capturing images of large portions of the planet never before seen. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=51 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/9uF4avh0Eeo/details.php MESSENGER mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., have received the first eight optical navigation images from the spacecraft. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=52 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/m_wOlahuYO0/details.php The MESSENGER spacecraft continues to approach Mercury and will be less than 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) away from the planet at the end of today. In just six days - on January 14, 2008, at 2:04 p.m. EST - the probe will pass a mere 200 kilometers (124 miles) above Mercury's surface. Extensive scientific observations are planned during this historic flyby, the first spacecraft flyby of Mercury in more than 30 years. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=53 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JhuaplsMessengerStatusReports/~3/okxpFB4i5sA/details.php MESSENGER's mid-December trajectory correction maneuver (<a href="status_report_12_19_07.html">TCM-19</a>) went so well that the mission design and navigation teams have decided that a TCM scheduled for January 10 will not be needed. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=54 nonadult