MESSENGER flies past Mercury
Posted: Tue, Jan 15, 2008, 7:49 AM ET (1249 GMT)
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past the planet MErcury on Monday, the first time a spacecraft has visited the solar system's innermost planet in over three decades. MESSENGER passed 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury at 2:04 pm EST (1904 GMT) Monday, and the spacecraft performed as planned during the flyby. The spacecraft will begin transmitting images and other data collected during the flyby on Tuesday. The observations will include portions of the planet now seen by the only other spacecraft to visit Mercury, Mariner 10, which performed three flybys of Mercury in the mid-1970s. The flyby is the first of three MESSENGER will perform through September 2009 before the spacecraft enters orbit around the planet in 2011. MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and performed one flyby of Earth and two of Venus en route to Mercury.
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past the planet MErcury on Monday, the first time a spacecraft has visited the solar system's innermost planet in over three decades. MESSENGER passed 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury at 2:04 pm EST (1904 GMT) Monday, and the spacecraft performed as planned during the flyby. The spacecraft will begin transmitting images and other data collected during the flyby on Tuesday. The observations will include portions of the planet now seen by the only other spacecraft to visit Mercury, Mariner 10, which performed three flybys of Mercury in the mid-1970s. The flyby is the first of three MESSENGER will perform through September 2009 before the spacecraft enters orbit around the planet in 2011. MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and performed one flyby of Earth and two of Venus en route to Mercury.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, August 12
Firefly Now Targeting Next Alpha Flight By Year’s End
Aviation Week — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) 'Russian Starlink' Is Fast Becoming A Reality, There's Just One Problem For The Kremlin
Radio Free Europe — 4:52 am ET (0852 GMT) Firefly Aerospace Announces Extension of Multi-Launch Agreement with Lockheed Martin Through 2031
Firefly Aerospace — 4:50 am ET (0850 GMT) Firefly’s SciTec Awarded $94 Million U.S. Space Force Contract to Advance Ground-Based Radar Digitization Program
Firefly Aerospace — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) Registration Now Open for Spacepower Conference 2026
EINPresswire.com — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
