Jacques van Oene
August 3rd 05, 04:11 AM
Dolores Beasley/Erica Hupp
Headquarters, Washington August 2, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1753/1237)
Michael Buckley
Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
(Phone: 240/228-7536; 443/778-7536)
RELEASE: 05-210
NASA SPACECRAFT COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL EARTH SWINGBY
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, headed toward the first study of
Mercury from orbit, swung by Earth today for a gravity assist that
propelled it deeper into the inner solar system.
Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md, said MESSENGER's systems performed
flawlessly. The spacecraft swooped around Earth, coming to a closest
approach point of approximately 1,458 miles (2,347 kilometers) over
central Mongolia at 3:13 p.m. EDT.
The spacecraft used the tug of Earth's gravity to significantly change
its trajectory. Its average orbit distance is nearly 18 million miles
closer to the sun. The maneuver sent it toward Venus for another
gravity-assist flyby next year.
Launched Aug. 3, 2004, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the
solar-powered spacecraft is approximately 581 million miles (930
million kilometers) into a 4.9 billion mile (7.9 billion kilometer)
voyage that includes 14 more loops around the sun. MESSENGER will fly
past Venus twice and Mercury three times before moving into orbit.
The Venus flybys in October 2006 and June 2007 will use the planet's
gravity to guide MESSENGER toward Mercury's orbit. The Mercury flybys
in January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009 will help MESSENGER
match the planet's speed. These events will set up the maneuver in
March 2011 that starts a year-long science orbit around Mercury.
"This Earth flyby is the first of a number of critical mission
milestones during MESSENGER's circuitous journey toward Mercury orbit
insertion," said Sean C. Solomon, the mission's principal investigator
from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "Not only did it help the
spacecraft sharpen its aim toward our next maneuver, it presented a
special opportunity to calibrate several of our science instruments."
MESSENGER's main camera snapped several approach shots of Earth and the
moon during the past week. Today the camera is taking a series of color
images, beginning with South America and continuing for one full Earth
rotation. Science team members will string the images into a video
documenting MESSENGER's departure.
On Earth approach, the craft's atmospheric and surface composition
spectrometer made several scans of the moon in conjunction with the
camera observations. In addition, the particle and magnetic field
instruments spent several hours measuring Earth's magnetosphere. The
science team will download the data and images through NASA's Deep
Space Network over the next several weeks, continuing assessment of the
instruments' performance.
MESSENGER will conduct the first orbital study of Mercury, the least
explored of the terrestrial planets that include Venus, Earth and Mars.
During one Earth year (four Mercury years), MESSENGER will provide the
first images of the entire planet. It will collect detailed information
about the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geologic
history, nature of its atmosphere and magnetosphere, makeup of its core
and polar materials.
MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry,
and Ranging, is the seventh mission in NASA's Discovery Program of
lower-cost scientifically focused exploration projects. APL designed,
built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate.
For information about the spacecraft and mission on the Web, visit:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Headquarters, Washington August 2, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1753/1237)
Michael Buckley
Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
(Phone: 240/228-7536; 443/778-7536)
RELEASE: 05-210
NASA SPACECRAFT COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL EARTH SWINGBY
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, headed toward the first study of
Mercury from orbit, swung by Earth today for a gravity assist that
propelled it deeper into the inner solar system.
Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md, said MESSENGER's systems performed
flawlessly. The spacecraft swooped around Earth, coming to a closest
approach point of approximately 1,458 miles (2,347 kilometers) over
central Mongolia at 3:13 p.m. EDT.
The spacecraft used the tug of Earth's gravity to significantly change
its trajectory. Its average orbit distance is nearly 18 million miles
closer to the sun. The maneuver sent it toward Venus for another
gravity-assist flyby next year.
Launched Aug. 3, 2004, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the
solar-powered spacecraft is approximately 581 million miles (930
million kilometers) into a 4.9 billion mile (7.9 billion kilometer)
voyage that includes 14 more loops around the sun. MESSENGER will fly
past Venus twice and Mercury three times before moving into orbit.
The Venus flybys in October 2006 and June 2007 will use the planet's
gravity to guide MESSENGER toward Mercury's orbit. The Mercury flybys
in January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009 will help MESSENGER
match the planet's speed. These events will set up the maneuver in
March 2011 that starts a year-long science orbit around Mercury.
"This Earth flyby is the first of a number of critical mission
milestones during MESSENGER's circuitous journey toward Mercury orbit
insertion," said Sean C. Solomon, the mission's principal investigator
from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "Not only did it help the
spacecraft sharpen its aim toward our next maneuver, it presented a
special opportunity to calibrate several of our science instruments."
MESSENGER's main camera snapped several approach shots of Earth and the
moon during the past week. Today the camera is taking a series of color
images, beginning with South America and continuing for one full Earth
rotation. Science team members will string the images into a video
documenting MESSENGER's departure.
On Earth approach, the craft's atmospheric and surface composition
spectrometer made several scans of the moon in conjunction with the
camera observations. In addition, the particle and magnetic field
instruments spent several hours measuring Earth's magnetosphere. The
science team will download the data and images through NASA's Deep
Space Network over the next several weeks, continuing assessment of the
instruments' performance.
MESSENGER will conduct the first orbital study of Mercury, the least
explored of the terrestrial planets that include Venus, Earth and Mars.
During one Earth year (four Mercury years), MESSENGER will provide the
first images of the entire planet. It will collect detailed information
about the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geologic
history, nature of its atmosphere and magnetosphere, makeup of its core
and polar materials.
MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry,
and Ranging, is the seventh mission in NASA's Discovery Program of
lower-cost scientifically focused exploration projects. APL designed,
built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate.
For information about the spacecraft and mission on the Web, visit:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info