Seventh mission of the Discovery program; orbital reconnaissance of the planet Mercury (2004–2015)
"Mercury Messenger" redirects here. For the 2003 concept car, see Mercury Messenger (concept car). For other uses, see Messenger (disambiguation).
MESSENGER
Artist's rendering of MESSENGER orbiting Mercury
Mission type
Mercury probe
Operator
NASA
COSPAR ID
2004-030A
SATCAT no.
28391
Website
messenger.jhuapl.edu
Mission duration
Total: 10 years, 8 months and 27 days At Mercury: 4 years, 1 month and 14 days En route: 7 years Primary mission: 1 year First extension: 1 year[1][2] Second extension: 2 years[3][4]
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer
Applied Physics Laboratory
Launch mass
1,107.9 kg (2,443 lb)[5]
Power
450 watts
Start of mission
Launch date
August 3, 2004, 06:15:56 (2004-08-03UTC06:15:56Z) UTC
Rocket
Delta II 7925H-9.5
Launch site
Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
Entered service
April 4, 2011
End of mission
Disposal
Crashed into Mercury
Destroyed
April 30, 2015 at 19:26 UT[6]
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Hermiocentric
Perihermion altitude
200 kilometers (120 mi)
Apohermion altitude
10,300 kilometers (6,400 mi)
Inclination
80 degrees
Period
12 hours
Epoch
January 1, 2000[7]
Flyby of Earth (gravity assist)
Closest approach
August 2, 2005
Distance
2,347 kilometers (1,458 mi)
Flyby of Venus (gravity assist)
Closest approach
October 24, 2006
Distance
2,990 kilometers (1,860 mi)
Flyby of Venus (gravity assist)
Closest approach
June 5, 2007
Distance
337 kilometers (209 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach
January 14, 2008
Distance
200 kilometers (120 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach
October 6, 2008
Distance
200 kilometers (120 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach
September 29, 2009
Distance
228 kilometers (142 mi)
Mercury orbiter
Orbital insertion
March 18, 2011, 01:00 UTC[8]
Discovery program
← CONTOUR
Deep Impact →
MESSENGER was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field.[9][10] The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging", and a reference to the messenger god Mercury from Roman mythology.
MESSENGER was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004. Its path involved a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel. During its first flyby of Mercury in January 2008, MESSENGER became the second mission, after Mariner 10 in 1975, to reach Mercury.[11][12][13]
MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so.[9] It successfully completed its primary mission in 2012.[2] Following two mission extensions, the spacecraft used the last of its maneuvering propellant to deorbit, impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.[14]
^"NASA extends spacecraft's Mercury mission". UPI. November 15, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
^ abCite error: The named reference ExMissionCompleted2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Wu, Brian (April 3, 2015). "NASA Set to Extend Mercury Mission for Another Month". Johns Hopkins University APL. The Science Times. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
^Cowing, Keith, ed. (April 3, 2015). "MESSENGER's Operations at Mercury Extended" (Press release). Applied Physics Laboratory. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2015 – via SpaceRef.
^"MESSENGER". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
^"Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration". NASA Solar System Exploration.
^Domingue, D.L.; Russell, C.T., eds. (2007). Messenger mission to Mercury (1st ed.). New York: Springer. pp. 225–245. ISBN 9780387772141.
^Lee, Jimmy; Galuska, Mike (March 18, 2011). "NASA Chats – MESSENGER Prepares to Orbit Mercury". NASA. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
^ ab"NASA Spacecraft Circling Mercury". The New York Times. March 17, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
^Wendel, J. (April 2015). "Mercury's secrets revealed by soon-to-crash spacecraft". Eos. 96. doi:10.1029/2015EO029165.
^"Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with Mercury" (Press release). Johns Hopkins University. January 14, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
^"Critical Deep-Space Maneuver Targets MESSENGER for Its Second Mercury Encounter" (Press release). Johns Hopkins University. March 19, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
^"Deep-Space Maneuver Positions MESSENGER for Third Mercury Encounter" (Press release). Johns Hopkins University. December 4, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
^Corum, Jonathan (April 30, 2015). "Messenger's Collision Course With Mercury". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
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