Post by glactus on Apr 2, 2011 5:19:15 GMT
Messenger in orbit
The Messenger mission is a NASA sponsored scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun.
Orbits of the planets
The Messenger spacecraft launched on August 3 2004 and after flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury has started a year long study of this target planet.
The surface of Mercury
The John Hopkins University applied physics laboratory built and operates the Messenger spacecraft and manages this discovery class mission for NASA.
University scientist received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet.
The spacecraft rotated back to the Earth by 9:45 p.m. EDT, and started transmitting data. Upon review of these data, the engineering and operations teams confirmed that the burn executed nominally with all subsystems reporting a clean burn and no logged errors.
MESSENGER’s main thruster fired for approximately 15 minutes at 8:45 p.m., slowing the spacecraft by 1,929 miles per hour (862 meters per second) and easing it into the planned eccentric orbit about Mercury. The rendezvous took place about 96 million miles (155 million kilometers) from Earth.
Primary science phase of the mission will begin.on April 4.
Mercury
Credita: These are NASA images.
text: credit John Hopkins University