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Date & Duration

Objectives

Instrumentation

This highlights just some of the major events:

August 3, 2004 -- MESSENGER Launch

August 2005 -- Earth flyby

October 2006 -- Venus flyby

June 2007 -- Venus flyby

January 2008 -- Mercury flyby

October 2008 -- Mercury flyby

September 2009 -- Mercury flyby

March 2011 -- Yearlong science orbit of Mercury begins

Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS): consists of wide-angle and narrow-angle imagers that map landforms, track variations in surface spectra and gather topographic information.

Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS): detects gamma rays and neutrons that emitted by radioactive elements on Mercury's surface or by surface elements that have been stimulated by cosmic rays. It will map the relative abundances of different elements and will help to determine if there is ice at Mercury's poles, which are never exposed to direct sunlight. Gamma rays and high-energy X-rays from the Sun can cause the surface elements to emit low-energy X-rays. XRS will detect these X-rays to measure the abundances of various elements in the materials of Mercury's crust.

Magnetometer (MAG): It is at the end of a 3.6 meter (nearly 12-foot) boom, and will map Mercury's magnetic field and will search for regions of magnetized rocks in the crust.

Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA): contains a laser that sends light to the planet's surface and a sensor that will gather the light after it has been reflected from the surface. Together they will measure the amount of time for light to make a round-trip to the surface and back. Recording variations in this distance will produce highly accurate descriptions of Mercury's topography.

Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS): It sensitive to light from the infrared to the ultraviolet and will measure the abundances of atmospheric gases, as well as detect minerals on the surface.

Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS): measures the composition, distribution, and energy of charged particles (electrons and various ions) in Mercury's magnetosphere.

Radio Science (RS): uses the Doppler effect to measure very slight changes in the spacecraft's velocity as it orbits Mercury. This will allow scientists to study Mercury's mass distribution, including variations in the thickness of its crust.

Pictures taken by Messenger

Spacecraft

Messenger

Works Cited

NASASolarSystem. "MESSENGER Launch." YouTube.

YouTube, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 11 June 2015.

Talbert, Tricia. "Last Images seen from MESSENGER."

NASA. NASA. 9 Jun. 2015. Web. 9 Jun. 2015.

Talbert, Tricia. "Spacecraft and Instruments." NASA.

NASA. 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 6 Jun. 2015.

Talbert, Tricia. "MESSENGER 10 Years in Space: By the

Numbers." NASA. NASA. 9 Jun. 2015. Web. 9 Jun. 2015.

The Launch

Messenger

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