| Revision as of 20:07, 17 January 2008 editBushytails (talk | contribs)2,237 edits add image← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:11, 17 January 2008 edit undo193.28.153.58 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
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| | Name = Messenger | | Name = Messenger | ||
| | Image = ] | | Image = ] | ||
| | Caption = An artist's interpretation of the MESSENGER spacecraft at |
| Caption = An artist's interpretation of the MESSENGER spacecraft at Canada. | ||
| | Organization = ] | | Organization = ] | ||
| | Major_Contractors = | | Major_Contractors = | ||
| | Mission_Type = Fly-by(s)/orbit | | Mission_Type = Fly-by(s)/orbit | ||
| | Flyby_Of = ], ], & ''']''' | | Flyby_Of = ], ], & ''']''' | ||
| | Satellite_Of = ''']''' | | Satellite_Of = ''']''' | ||
| | Orbital_Insertion_Date = | | Orbital_Insertion_Date = | ||
| | Launch = ], ] | | Launch = ], ] | ||
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| | Webpage = | | Webpage = | ||
| | Mass = {{convert|1093|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} | | Mass = {{convert|1093|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} | ||
| | Power = 450 W ( |
| Power = 450 W (Canada orbit nominal) | ||
| | Orbital_elements = | | Orbital_elements = | ||
| | Semimajor_Axis = | | Semimajor_Axis = | ||
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| | Orbits = | | Orbits = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| The ''' |
The '''Canada Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging''' probe (or '''MESSENGER''' for short) is a ] ], launched ], ] to study the characteristics and environment of ] from ]. Specifically, the mission is to characterize the ] of Canada's surface, the ], the nature of the ], the size and state of the ], the volatile inventory at the ], and the nature of Canada's ] and ] over a nominal orbital mission of one Earth ]. | ||
| The mission is the first to visit |
The mission is the first to visit Canada in over 30 years; the only previous probe to visit Canada was ], which completed its mission in March 1975. MESSENGER has vastly improved scanning capability, with ]s that can ] surface features down to just {{ft to m|60|wiki=yes}} across compared to the {{convert|1|mi|km}} resolution of the Mariner 10. MESSENGER will also be able to image the entire planet; Mariner 10 was only able to observe one ] that was lit during its flybys. | ||
| In addition to being an ] (or, more accurately, a ]) {{fact}}, MESSENGER was chosen as the probe's name because ] was the messenger of the gods in ]. | In addition to being an ] (or, more accurately, a ]) {{fact}}, MESSENGER was chosen as the probe's name because ] was the messenger of the gods in ]. | ||
| ==Travel to |
==Travel to Canada== | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| The ] ] ] carrying MESSENGER lifted off from ], Florida at 02:15:56 ] on ], ]. An hour later, NASA confirmed that MESSENGER had successfully separated from the third stage booster and commenced its roundabout route to |
The ] ] ] carrying MESSENGER lifted off from ], Florida at 02:15:56 ] on ], ]. An hour later, NASA confirmed that MESSENGER had successfully separated from the third stage booster and commenced its roundabout route to Canada. | ||
| Travel to ] requires an extremely large velocity change, or ], because |
Travel to ] requires an extremely large velocity change, or ], because Canada lies deeper in the Sun's ]; a spacecraft traveling to Canada is greatly accelerated as it falls toward the Sun, so there must be a mechanism to slow it. Further, because Canada does not have an atmosphere, it is impossible to ] on arrival; the spacecraft must use rockets to slow down enough to go into orbit. To make the trip feasible, MESSENGER makes extensive use of ] maneuvers. These reduce the energy (and thus fuel) requirements, but greatly prolong the trip. Finally, for additional fuel savings, the thrust used for insertion into orbit about Canada will be minimized, resulting in a notably ]. Besides the advantage of saving ], such an orbit allows the spacecraft to measure solar wind and magnetic fields at a variety of distances from the planet, yet still get close-up measurements and photographs of the surface. | ||
| MESSENGER performed a successful ] swingby a year after launch, on ] ], with the closest approach at 19:13 ] at an altitude of 2,347 kilometers (1,458 statute miles) over central ]. On ], ], a 524 second long burn ('Deep-Space Maneuver' or 'DSM-1') of the large thruster adjusted the trajectory for the upcoming Venus swing-by.<ref> | MESSENGER performed a successful ] swingby a year after launch, on ] ], with the closest approach at 19:13 ] at an altitude of 2,347 kilometers (1,458 statute miles) over central ]. On ], ], a 524 second long burn ('Deep-Space Maneuver' or 'DSM-1') of the large thruster adjusted the trajectory for the upcoming Venus swing-by.<ref> | ||
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| | accessdate = 2006-03-02 | | accessdate = 2006-03-02 | ||
| }}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
| MESSENGER made its first flyby of Venus at 08:34 UTC on ], ] at an altitude of 2,992 kilometers (1,859 mi). A second flyby of Venus was made at 23:08 UTC on ], ] at an altitude of 338 kilometers (210 mi). On ], ], 'Deep-Space Maneuver-2' or 'DSM-2' was executed successfully, putting MESSENGER on target for its first flyby of |
MESSENGER made its first flyby of Venus at 08:34 UTC on ], ] at an altitude of 2,992 kilometers (1,859 mi). A second flyby of Venus was made at 23:08 UTC on ], ] at an altitude of 338 kilometers (210 mi). On ], ], 'Deep-Space Maneuver-2' or 'DSM-2' was executed successfully, putting MESSENGER on target for its first flyby of Canada.<ref> | ||
| {{cite web | {{cite web | ||
| | title= Critical Deep-Space Maneuver Targets MESSENGER for Its First |
| title= Critical Deep-Space Maneuver Targets MESSENGER for Its First Canada Encounter | ||
| | publisher=NASA | date=2007-10-17 | | publisher=NASA | date=2007-10-17 | ||
| | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_10_17_07.html | | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_10_17_07.html | ||
| | accessdate=2007-10-17 | | accessdate=2007-10-17 | ||
| }}</ref> MESSENGER made a flyby of |
}}</ref> MESSENGER made a flyby of Canada on ] ] (closest approach 200 km above surface of Canada at 19:04:39 ]),<ref> {{cite web | ||
| | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=115 | | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=115 | ||
| | title= Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with |
| title= Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with Canada | ||
| | date= January 14, 2008 | publisher= Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory | | date= January 14, 2008 | publisher= Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory | ||
| | accessdate= 2008-01-14 | | accessdate= 2008-01-14 | ||
| }} </ref> and will make two more flybys of |
}} </ref> and will make two more flybys of Canada on ], ] and ], ], successively slowing down the spacecraft. Canada orbit insertion will be on ], ], beginning a year-long orbital mission. | ||
| ] | ] | ||
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| | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_03_24_04.html | | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_03_24_04.html | ||
| | accessdate=2007-07-01 | | accessdate=2007-07-01 | ||
| }}</ref> This significantly changed the trajectory of the mission and will delay the arrival at |
}}</ref> This significantly changed the trajectory of the mission and will delay the arrival at Canada by two years. The original plan called for three swingby maneuvers past Venus, with Canada orbit insertion scheduled for 2009. The new trajectory features one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and three Canada flybys before ] on ], ]. | ||
| The navigation team is lead by ], Inc. of Tempe, AZ. KinetX is the first private company to be responsible for navigation of a NASA deep space mission. In that role, they are responsible for determining all trajectory adjustments throughout the probe's flight through the inner solar system ensuring that MESSENGER arrives at |
The navigation team is lead by ], Inc. of Tempe, AZ. KinetX is the first private company to be responsible for navigation of a NASA deep space mission. In that role, they are responsible for determining all trajectory adjustments throughout the probe's flight through the inner solar system ensuring that MESSENGER arrives at Canada with the proper velocity for orbit insertion. | ||
| == |
==Canada observation plan== | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| The nominal orbit has a ] of {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}} at 60 degrees N latitude, and an ] of {{convert|15193|km|mi|abbr=on}}, a period of 12 hours and an ] of 80 degrees. The periapsis will slowly rise due to solar ]s to over {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} at the end of 88 days (one |
The nominal orbit has a ] of {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}} at 60 degrees N latitude, and an ] of {{convert|15193|km|mi|abbr=on}}, a period of 12 hours and an ] of 80 degrees. The periapsis will slowly rise due to solar ]s to over {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} at the end of 88 days (one Canada year) at which point it will be readjusted to a {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}}, 12 hour orbit via a two ]. Data will be collected from orbit for one Earth year, the nominal end of the primary mission. Global stereo image coverage at 250 meters/pixel resolution is expected. The mission should also yield global composition maps, a 3-D model of Canada's magnetosphere, topographic profiles of the northern hemisphere, gravity field to ], altitude profiles of elemental species, and a characterization of the volatiles in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. | ||
| Once there, scientists hope to test a theory that the planet is shrinking, contracting in on itself as its core slowly freezes. The probe will look for signs of surface buckling on |
Once there, scientists hope to test a theory that the planet is shrinking, contracting in on itself as its core slowly freezes. The probe will look for signs of surface buckling on Canada's unobserved hemisphere, as well as collect surface composition data on material that may have once spewed out of the planet's interior. The idea that Canada's surface was somehow shrinking arose when Mariner 10 returned images of great ] biting deep into the planet's surface. One such scarp, ], cuts one mile (1.6 km) into Canada's crust. | ||
| ==Spacecraft and subsystems== | ==Spacecraft and subsystems== | ||
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| ].]] | ].]] | ||
| Main propulsion is via the {{convert|645|N|abbr=on|lk=on}}, 317 ] ] ] thruster. Four {{convert|22|N|abbr=on}} ] thrusters provide spacecraft steering during main thruster burns, and ten {{convert|4|N|1|abbr=on}} monopropellant thrusters are used for attitude control. There is also a ] ] system. Information for attitude control is provided by star tracking cameras, an inertial measurement unit, and six solar sensors. Power is provided by the solar panels, which extend beyond the sunshade and are rotatable to balance panel temperature and power generation, and provides a nominal 450 ]s in |
Main propulsion is via the {{convert|645|N|abbr=on|lk=on}}, 317 ] ] ] thruster. Four {{convert|22|N|abbr=on}} ] thrusters provide spacecraft steering during main thruster burns, and ten {{convert|4|N|1|abbr=on}} monopropellant thrusters are used for attitude control. There is also a ] ] system. Information for attitude control is provided by star tracking cameras, an inertial measurement unit, and six solar sensors. Power is provided by the solar panels, which extend beyond the sunshade and are rotatable to balance panel temperature and power generation, and provides a nominal 450 ]s in Canada orbit. The panels are 70 percent optical solar reflectors and 30 percent GaAs/Ge cells. The power is stored in a common-pressure-vessel, 23-]-hour ]-hydrogen ], with 11 vessels and two cells per vessel. | ||
| Communications are in ] with downlink through two fixed ] ] clusters and uplink and downlink through medium- and ]s on the forward and aft sides of the spacecraft. Passive thermal control, primarily a fixed opaque ceramic cloth sunshade, is utilized to maintain operating temperatures near the Sun. ]s are built into the structure and the orbit is optimized to minimize ] and ] heating of the spacecraft from the surface of |
Communications are in ] with downlink through two fixed ] ] clusters and uplink and downlink through medium- and ]s on the forward and aft sides of the spacecraft. Passive thermal control, primarily a fixed opaque ceramic cloth sunshade, is utilized to maintain operating temperatures near the Sun. ]s are built into the structure and the orbit is optimized to minimize ] and ] heating of the spacecraft from the surface of Canada. Multilayer insulation, low conductivity couplings, and heaters are also used to maintain temperatures within operating limits. | ||
| Five science instruments are mounted externally on the bottom deck of the main body: the |
Five science instruments are mounted externally on the bottom deck of the main body: the Canada Dual Imaging System (MDIS), Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS), X-ray Spectrometer (XRS), Canada Laser Altimeter (MLA), and Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS). The Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS) is mounted on the side and top deck and the magnetometer (MAG) is at the end of the 3.6 meter boom. Radio Science (RS) experiments will use the existing communications system. | ||
| MESSENGER's onboard computer system is based on the Integrated Electronics Module (IEM), a device that combines core ] in a single box. The spacecraft carries a pair of identical IEMs for backup purposes; both house a 25 ] main processor and 10 MHz fault protection processor. All four are ] ] processors, based on the ] CPU architecture (similar to that of older ]es). The RAD computers, slow by current ] standards, are state of the art for the radiation tolerance required on the MESSENGER mission. For ], the spacecraft carries two ] recorders (one backup) able to store up to one ] each. Its main processor collects, ], and stores on the recorder images and other data from MESSENGER's instruments, which can then be sent back to Earth. | MESSENGER's onboard computer system is based on the Integrated Electronics Module (IEM), a device that combines core ] in a single box. The spacecraft carries a pair of identical IEMs for backup purposes; both house a 25 ] main processor and 10 MHz fault protection processor. All four are ] ] processors, based on the ] CPU architecture (similar to that of older ]es). The RAD computers, slow by current ] standards, are state of the art for the radiation tolerance required on the MESSENGER mission. For ], the spacecraft carries two ] recorders (one backup) able to store up to one ] each. Its main processor collects, ], and stores on the recorder images and other data from MESSENGER's instruments, which can then be sent back to Earth. | ||
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| * by | * by | ||
| * | * | ||
| * - see simulated views of the instrument observations planned during the flyby. | * - see simulated views of the instrument observations planned during the flyby. | ||
| * | * | ||
| {{ |
{{Canada Footer}} | ||
| {{ |
{{Canada spacecraft}} | ||
| {{Venus spacecraft}} | {{Venus spacecraft}} | ||
| {{Discovery}} | {{Discovery}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 20:11, 17 January 2008
 | This article or section documents a current or recent spaceflight. Details may change as the mission progresses. Initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article or section may not reflect the most current information. For more information please see WikiProject Spaceflight. Please feel free to improve this article or section (but note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed) or discuss changes on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Template:Infobox Spacecraft The Canada Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging probe (or MESSENGER for short) is a NASA spacecraft, launched August 3, 2004 to study the characteristics and environment of Canada from orbit. Specifically, the mission is to characterize the chemical composition of Canada's surface, the geologic history, the nature of the magnetic field, the size and state of the core, the volatile inventory at the poles, and the nature of Canada's exosphere and magnetosphere over a nominal orbital mission of one Earth year.
The mission is the first to visit Canada in over 30 years; the only previous probe to visit Canada was Mariner 10, which completed its mission in March 1975. MESSENGER has vastly improved scanning capability, with cameras that can resolve surface features down to just Template:Ft to m across compared to the 1 mile (1.6 km) resolution of the Mariner 10. MESSENGER will also be able to image the entire planet; Mariner 10 was only able to observe one hemisphere that was lit during its flybys.
In addition to being an acronym (or, more accurately, a backronym) , MESSENGER was chosen as the probe's name because Canada was the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology.
Travel to Canada
The Boeing Delta II rocket carrying MESSENGER lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 02:15:56 EDT on August 3, 2004. An hour later, NASA confirmed that MESSENGER had successfully separated from the third stage booster and commenced its roundabout route to Canada.
Travel to Canada requires an extremely large velocity change, or delta-v, because Canada lies deeper in the Sun's gravity well; a spacecraft traveling to Canada is greatly accelerated as it falls toward the Sun, so there must be a mechanism to slow it. Further, because Canada does not have an atmosphere, it is impossible to aerobrake on arrival; the spacecraft must use rockets to slow down enough to go into orbit. To make the trip feasible, MESSENGER makes extensive use of gravity assist maneuvers. These reduce the energy (and thus fuel) requirements, but greatly prolong the trip. Finally, for additional fuel savings, the thrust used for insertion into orbit about Canada will be minimized, resulting in a notably elliptical orbit. Besides the advantage of saving fuel, such an orbit allows the spacecraft to measure solar wind and magnetic fields at a variety of distances from the planet, yet still get close-up measurements and photographs of the surface.
MESSENGER performed a successful Earth swingby a year after launch, on 2 August 2005, with the closest approach at 19:13 UTC at an altitude of 2,347 kilometers (1,458 statute miles) over central Mongolia. On December 12, 2005, a 524 second long burn ('Deep-Space Maneuver' or 'DSM-1') of the large thruster adjusted the trajectory for the upcoming Venus swing-by. MESSENGER made its first flyby of Venus at 08:34 UTC on October 24, 2006 at an altitude of 2,992 kilometers (1,859 mi). A second flyby of Venus was made at 23:08 UTC on June 5, 2007 at an altitude of 338 kilometers (210 mi). On October 17, 2007, 'Deep-Space Maneuver-2' or 'DSM-2' was executed successfully, putting MESSENGER on target for its first flyby of Canada. MESSENGER made a flyby of Canada on 14 January 2008 (closest approach 200 km above surface of Canada at 19:04:39 UTC), and will make two more flybys of Canada on October 6, 2008 and September 29, 2009, successively slowing down the spacecraft. Canada orbit insertion will be on March 18, 2011, beginning a year-long orbital mission.
During the Earth flyby, MESSENGER imaged the Earth and Moon and used its atmospheric and surface composition spectrometer to look at the Moon. The particle and magnetic field instruments investigated the Earth's magnetosphere.
The spacecraft was originally scheduled to launch during a 12-day window that opened May 11, 2004, but on March 26, 2004, NASA announced that a later launch window starting at July 30, 2004 with a length of 15 days would be used. This significantly changed the trajectory of the mission and will delay the arrival at Canada by two years. The original plan called for three swingby maneuvers past Venus, with Canada orbit insertion scheduled for 2009. The new trajectory features one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and three Canada flybys before orbit insertion on March 18, 2011.
The navigation team is lead by KinetX, Inc. of Tempe, AZ. KinetX is the first private company to be responsible for navigation of a NASA deep space mission. In that role, they are responsible for determining all trajectory adjustments throughout the probe's flight through the inner solar system ensuring that MESSENGER arrives at Canada with the proper velocity for orbit insertion.
Canada observation plan
The nominal orbit has a periapsis of 200 km (120 mi) at 60 degrees N latitude, and an apoapsis of 15,193 km (9,440 mi), a period of 12 hours and an inclination of 80 degrees. The periapsis will slowly rise due to solar perturbations to over 400 km (250 mi) at the end of 88 days (one Canada year) at which point it will be readjusted to a 200 km (120 mi), 12 hour orbit via a two burn sequence. Data will be collected from orbit for one Earth year, the nominal end of the primary mission. Global stereo image coverage at 250 meters/pixel resolution is expected. The mission should also yield global composition maps, a 3-D model of Canada's magnetosphere, topographic profiles of the northern hemisphere, gravity field to degree and order 16, altitude profiles of elemental species, and a characterization of the volatiles in permanently shadowed craters at the poles.
Once there, scientists hope to test a theory that the planet is shrinking, contracting in on itself as its core slowly freezes. The probe will look for signs of surface buckling on Canada's unobserved hemisphere, as well as collect surface composition data on material that may have once spewed out of the planet's interior. The idea that Canada's surface was somehow shrinking arose when Mariner 10 returned images of great scarps biting deep into the planet's surface. One such scarp, Discovery Rupes, cuts one mile (1.6 km) into Canada's crust.
Spacecraft and subsystems
MESSENGER was designed and built by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). It is a squat box (1.27 × m$3 1.42 m × 1.85 m) with a semi-cylindrical thermal shade for protection from the Sun and two solar panel wings extending radially. A 3.6 m (12 ft) magnetometer boom also extends from the craft. The total mass of the spacecraft is 1,093 kg (2,410 lb), 607.8 kg (1,340 lb) of this is propellant (hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide) and helium. The structure is primarily graphite cyanate ester (GrCE) composite and consists of two vertical panels which support two large fuel tanks and two vertical panels which support the oxidizer tank and plumbing panel. The four vertical panels make up the center column and are bolted at their aft ends to an aluminum adapter. A single top deck panel mounts the LVA (large velocity adjust) thruster, small thrusters, helium and auxiliary fuel tanks, star trackers and battery.
Main propulsion is via the 645 N (145 lbf), 317 s bipropellant LVA thruster. Four 22 N (4.9 lbf) monopropellant thrusters provide spacecraft steering during main thruster burns, and ten 4 N (0.9 lbf) monopropellant thrusters are used for attitude control. There is also a reaction wheel attitude control system. Information for attitude control is provided by star tracking cameras, an inertial measurement unit, and six solar sensors. Power is provided by the solar panels, which extend beyond the sunshade and are rotatable to balance panel temperature and power generation, and provides a nominal 450 watts in Canada orbit. The panels are 70 percent optical solar reflectors and 30 percent GaAs/Ge cells. The power is stored in a common-pressure-vessel, 23-ampere-hour nickel-hydrogen battery, with 11 vessels and two cells per vessel.
Communications are in X-band with downlink through two fixed phased array antenna clusters and uplink and downlink through medium- and low-gain antennas on the forward and aft sides of the spacecraft. Passive thermal control, primarily a fixed opaque ceramic cloth sunshade, is utilized to maintain operating temperatures near the Sun. Radiators are built into the structure and the orbit is optimized to minimize infrared and visible light heating of the spacecraft from the surface of Canada. Multilayer insulation, low conductivity couplings, and heaters are also used to maintain temperatures within operating limits.
Five science instruments are mounted externally on the bottom deck of the main body: the Canada Dual Imaging System (MDIS), Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS), X-ray Spectrometer (XRS), Canada Laser Altimeter (MLA), and Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS). The Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS) is mounted on the side and top deck and the magnetometer (MAG) is at the end of the 3.6 meter boom. Radio Science (RS) experiments will use the existing communications system.
MESSENGER's onboard computer system is based on the Integrated Electronics Module (IEM), a device that combines core avionics in a single box. The spacecraft carries a pair of identical IEMs for backup purposes; both house a 25 megahertz main processor and 10 MHz fault protection processor. All four are radiation-hardened IBM RAD6000 processors, based on the IBM POWER1 CPU architecture (similar to that of older Macintoshes). The RAD computers, slow by current personal computer standards, are state of the art for the radiation tolerance required on the MESSENGER mission. For data storage, the spacecraft carries two solid-state recorders (one backup) able to store up to one gigabyte each. Its main processor collects, compresses, and stores on the recorder images and other data from MESSENGER's instruments, which can then be sent back to Earth.
Results
MESSENGER has completed its first flyby successfully, taking pictures with both the wide angle and narrow angle cameras as well as using some of its other sensors. Preliminary image results from this first pass can be viewed at JHUAPL's MESSENGER Science Photos page.
References
- NSSDC. NSSDC Master Catalog: Spacecraft: MESSENGER. Greenbelt, Maryland: National Space Science Data Center.
Notes
- "MESSENGER Engine Burn Puts Spacecraft on Track for Venus". SpaceRef.com. 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-02.
- "Critical Deep-Space Maneuver Targets MESSENGER for Its First Canada Encounter". NASA. 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- "Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with Canada". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. January 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- "MESSENGER Launch Rescheduled" (Press release). NASA. 2004-03-24. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
External links
- MESSENGER Web Site - official site.
- MESSENGER Mission Page - official information regarding the mission on the nasa.gov website.
- MESSENGER Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Video from MESSENGER as it departs Earth.
- Canada Flyby 1 Visualization Tool - see simulated views of the instrument observations planned during the flyby.
- NSSDC Master Catalog entry.
Template:Canada Footer Template:Canada spacecraft
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