June 27th 05, 09:21 PM
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_06_23_05.html
MESSENGER Status Report: MESSENGER Sets Course for Earth Flyby
June 23 ,2005
A short maneuver today kept MESSENGER on track for its Aug. 2 flyby of
Earth - the major gravity assist that starts the next leg of the
spacecraft's journey toward Mercury.
Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Laurel, Md., verified the start of the maneuver within 48
seconds, when the first signals indicating spacecraft thruster activity
reached NASA's Deep Space Network tracking station outside Madrid,
Spain. The maneuver, which started at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
and lasted just over 174 seconds, slowed the spacecraft by about 2.5
miles per hour (1.1 meters per second). At the time MESSENGER was about
8.9 million miles (14.3 million kilometers) from Earth, moving around
the Sun at nearly 69,200 miles (110,720 kilometers) per hour.
Today's was the fourth trajectory correction maneuver since MESSENGER
launched last Aug. 3. Early post-maneuver analysis shows that MESSENGER
is on track for a closest approach some 1,458 miles (2,347 kilometers)
over Mongolia in central Asia on August 2 - though the team has two
opportunities in late July to carry out another small course correction
if necessary.
The Earth flyby sends the spacecraft toward Venus; the first of two
Venus flybys is planned for October 2006.
Animation Premieres on the Web: Wonder what MESSENGER will "see" as it
flies past Earth, or as it zips past Venus and Mercury later in its
historic flight? Check out the latest summer blockbusters on the
MESSENGER Web site's animation page
(http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/movies.html). The QuickTime
movie files show views from MESSENGER, or from above Earth, Venus and
Mercury as the spacecraft flies by and, eventually, settles into orbit
around the innermost planet in 2011.
Scholarship Winners: Congratulations to the winners in the second
annual
MESSENGER scholarship competition! Anna Rothenbaum of Oak Park, Ill.,
topped the group with a $1,250 scholarship. Kyle Wilkins of Durham,
N.C., earned a $750 award, followed by Daniel Asselin of West
Springfield, Mass., who won $250.
The MESSENGER scholarship program was created to expand interest in the
MESSENGER mission and to support continuing education. College-bound
high school seniors are eligible; winners are selected based on
grade-point-average and a short essay on what we'll learn from the
first
mission to orbit Mercury. Watch the MESSENGER Web site for details on
the 2006 competition later this year.
MESSENGER Status Report: MESSENGER Sets Course for Earth Flyby
June 23 ,2005
A short maneuver today kept MESSENGER on track for its Aug. 2 flyby of
Earth - the major gravity assist that starts the next leg of the
spacecraft's journey toward Mercury.
Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Laurel, Md., verified the start of the maneuver within 48
seconds, when the first signals indicating spacecraft thruster activity
reached NASA's Deep Space Network tracking station outside Madrid,
Spain. The maneuver, which started at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
and lasted just over 174 seconds, slowed the spacecraft by about 2.5
miles per hour (1.1 meters per second). At the time MESSENGER was about
8.9 million miles (14.3 million kilometers) from Earth, moving around
the Sun at nearly 69,200 miles (110,720 kilometers) per hour.
Today's was the fourth trajectory correction maneuver since MESSENGER
launched last Aug. 3. Early post-maneuver analysis shows that MESSENGER
is on track for a closest approach some 1,458 miles (2,347 kilometers)
over Mongolia in central Asia on August 2 - though the team has two
opportunities in late July to carry out another small course correction
if necessary.
The Earth flyby sends the spacecraft toward Venus; the first of two
Venus flybys is planned for October 2006.
Animation Premieres on the Web: Wonder what MESSENGER will "see" as it
flies past Earth, or as it zips past Venus and Mercury later in its
historic flight? Check out the latest summer blockbusters on the
MESSENGER Web site's animation page
(http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/movies.html). The QuickTime
movie files show views from MESSENGER, or from above Earth, Venus and
Mercury as the spacecraft flies by and, eventually, settles into orbit
around the innermost planet in 2011.
Scholarship Winners: Congratulations to the winners in the second
annual
MESSENGER scholarship competition! Anna Rothenbaum of Oak Park, Ill.,
topped the group with a $1,250 scholarship. Kyle Wilkins of Durham,
N.C., earned a $750 award, followed by Daniel Asselin of West
Springfield, Mass., who won $250.
The MESSENGER scholarship program was created to expand interest in the
MESSENGER mission and to support continuing education. College-bound
high school seniors are eligible; winners are selected based on
grade-point-average and a short essay on what we'll learn from the
first
mission to orbit Mercury. Watch the MESSENGER Web site for details on
the 2006 competition later this year.