August 26th 05, 06:01 PM
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_movies.html
MESSENGER Mission News
Earth Flyby Pictures and Animations
August 26, 2005
Movie Headlines MESSENGER Earth Flyby Gallery
The pictures from MESSENGER's Aug. 2 flyby of Earth are in - and they
are spectacular! The collection includes
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_twins.html> "natural"
color and infrared views of North and South America; a peek at the
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_galapagos.html>
Galapagos
Islands through a break in the clouds; and a
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_movie.html> movie of the
rotating Earth, taken as MESSENGER sped away from its home planet.
The close flyby of the Earth and Moon allowed the MESSENGER spacecraft
to give its two cameras, known as the Mercury Dual Imaging System
(MDIS), a thorough workout. The images were planned to enable
scientists
to understand fully how the cameras are operating in flight in
comparison with test results obtained in the laboratory before launch.
Images were taken in full color and at different resolutions, and the
cameras passed their tests with flying colors.
Not only are these images useful for carefully calibrating the imaging
system in preparation for the spacecraft's Mercury encounters, but they
have also shown a unique view of the Earth. Clear skies over much of
South America allow features such as the Amazon, the Andes and Lake
Titicaca to be discerned, as well as huge swaths of rain forest.
One of the highlights of the returned images is a movie, comprised of
hundreds of color images taken over a 24-hour period, showing one full
rotation of the Earth.
"We are thrilled with the images from the flyby, which have
demonstrated
that MDIS is performing exactly as planned," said Louise Prockter,
MESSENGER's deputy instrument scientist, who planned the observations.
"The movie has brought home to me the contrast between our beautiful
ocean-covered, cloud-wreathed Earth and our destination planet Mercury
-
a world on which lead would melt on the daytime surface near the
equator
but one on which ice may be stable for eons on the shadowed floors of
polar craters. We have much to learn about a planet that, although one
of our nearest neighbors in the solar system, differs profoundly from
Earth in bulk composition and geologic history. The tests we carried
out
during the Earth flyby show that our cameras are well up to the task of
unlocking many of Mercury's secrets."
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet
Mercury, and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet
closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on Aug. 3, 2004,
and after flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury will start a yearlong
study
of its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the
Carnegie
Institution of Washington, leads the mission as principal investigator.
The
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and operates
the
MESSENGER spacecraft and manages the Discovery-class mission for NASA.
MESSENGER Mission News
Earth Flyby Pictures and Animations
August 26, 2005
Movie Headlines MESSENGER Earth Flyby Gallery
The pictures from MESSENGER's Aug. 2 flyby of Earth are in - and they
are spectacular! The collection includes
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_twins.html> "natural"
color and infrared views of North and South America; a peek at the
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_galapagos.html>
Galapagos
Islands through a break in the clouds; and a
<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_movie.html> movie of the
rotating Earth, taken as MESSENGER sped away from its home planet.
The close flyby of the Earth and Moon allowed the MESSENGER spacecraft
to give its two cameras, known as the Mercury Dual Imaging System
(MDIS), a thorough workout. The images were planned to enable
scientists
to understand fully how the cameras are operating in flight in
comparison with test results obtained in the laboratory before launch.
Images were taken in full color and at different resolutions, and the
cameras passed their tests with flying colors.
Not only are these images useful for carefully calibrating the imaging
system in preparation for the spacecraft's Mercury encounters, but they
have also shown a unique view of the Earth. Clear skies over much of
South America allow features such as the Amazon, the Andes and Lake
Titicaca to be discerned, as well as huge swaths of rain forest.
One of the highlights of the returned images is a movie, comprised of
hundreds of color images taken over a 24-hour period, showing one full
rotation of the Earth.
"We are thrilled with the images from the flyby, which have
demonstrated
that MDIS is performing exactly as planned," said Louise Prockter,
MESSENGER's deputy instrument scientist, who planned the observations.
"The movie has brought home to me the contrast between our beautiful
ocean-covered, cloud-wreathed Earth and our destination planet Mercury
-
a world on which lead would melt on the daytime surface near the
equator
but one on which ice may be stable for eons on the shadowed floors of
polar craters. We have much to learn about a planet that, although one
of our nearest neighbors in the solar system, differs profoundly from
Earth in bulk composition and geologic history. The tests we carried
out
during the Earth flyby show that our cameras are well up to the task of
unlocking many of Mercury's secrets."
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet
Mercury, and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet
closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on Aug. 3, 2004,
and after flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury will start a yearlong
study
of its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the
Carnegie
Institution of Washington, leads the mission as principal investigator.
The
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and operates
the
MESSENGER spacecraft and manages the Discovery-class mission for NASA.