MESSENGER
| MESSENGER | |
|---|---|
 An artist's picture of MESSENGER orbiting Mercury |
|
| Organization: | NASA / APL |
| Mission type: | Flyby / Orbiter |
| Satellite of: | Mercury |
| Launch date: | August 3, 2004 |
| Launch vehicle: | Boeing Delta II |
| Launch site: | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| edit | |
MESSENGER, MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging, was an unmanned NASA and APL spacecraft.[1] It was orbiting and studying the planet Mercury.[1] Its mission lasted 10 years, 8 months and 28 days.
It was launched on August 3, 2004[1][2] at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket.[2] After launch, the probe did several fly-bys and deep space manoeuvres to gain the right trajectory and speed.[1]
It completed 30% mapping of Mercury on January 14, 2008. MESSENGER made one more pass by Mercury in 2009, and on March 18, 2011 began to orbit Mercury.[1][3] 100% mapping was completed in March 2013 and the probe continued its studies. On April 30, 2015, it crashed into Mercury. It crashed near the crater Janáček.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 How it Works (Imagine Publishing) (23): 48-49, 2011-07-14
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Launch Coverage: MESSENGER Mission". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/launch/index.html. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ↑ Murchie, Scott L.; Vervack Jr., Ronald J.; Anderson, Brian J. (March 2011), "Journey to the Innermost Planet", Scientific American (New York) 304 (3): 26-31
