spacetoday.net: MESSENGER enters Mercury orbit

Posted: Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 7:43 AM ET (1143 GMT)
MESSENGER in orbit around Mercury (JHUAPL)

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully entered orbit around the planet Mercury Thursday evening, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the innermost planet. The spacecraft fired its main engine for approximately 15 minutes at 8:45 pm EDT Thursday (0045 GMT Friday), slowing the spacecraft down enough to go into orbit. Controllers received confirmation that the spacecraft had entered an elliptical orbit as planned an hour later. MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, launched in 2004 and performed three flybys of Mercury in 2008 and 2009 before going into orbit. Science operations are scheduled to begin early next month and continue for at least a year.