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Riding with Robots writes "The robotic spacecraft MESSENGER is making its second fly-by of the first planet today, skimming just 200 kilometers above the surface. The fly-by will reveal portions of the planet that have never been seen before, but the main purpose of the maneuver is to prepare for an orbital insertion in 2011. The mission site offers extensive information, along with the first pictures...
If all went well, the Messenger spacecraft is 50 minutes past closest approach of its second flyby, and is currently 20,000 km above the fastest planet and receding rapidly. The spacecraft has turned away from Earth to perform its mission, so it will be another 19 hours before contact with the spacecraft is regained. I wonder if anyone on the mission will manage to get any sleep during that
"All spacecraft sub-systems and instruments reported nominal operations indicating that MESSENGER is ready for its second encounter with Mercury," said MESSENGER Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan of APL.
The first fly-by of Mercury by a probe from Earth in 33 years took place in January this year [plenty of images and videos there] , before departing the planet on January 14, and on Monday morning NASA’s Messenger probe , is due to return to Mercury for its second fly-by of the closest planet to the Sun. The planet is already clearly visible from the probe and the animation below details the measurements...
T he New NASA spacecraft MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry and Ranging)now reached Mars. It will now pass all the innermost planet at the length of 201 kilometres. And it is expected to take more than 1200 images of the cratered surface, with its Hi-Quality Designed Camera.
NASA's Messenger space capsule is aiming to photograph Mercury as it swings by, a prelude to putting the first spacecraft in orbit with the planet in 2011. The Messenger will fly 124 miles above the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
MESSENGER mission operators have received the first optical navigation images from the spacecraft. "We will be taking seven additional sets over the next three days as the spacecraft approaches the planet," said Mission Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan.
On October 6, 2008, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flies by Mercury for the second time since its August 4, 2004, launch. Here's a wrap-up of Astronomy.com's coverage of this historic mission to the innermost planet.
Cameras at the ready... NASA's Messenger spacecraft is closing on Mercury for a second fly-by, during which it will snap 1,200 images of the planet's remaining unseen surface.…
Next Monday the U.S. spacecraft Messenger will fly past Mercury a second time in preparation for settling in to orbit around the planet closest to the Sun. Mission controllers with the U.S. space agency NASA are anxiously awaiting the event, which will give them an opportunity to view most of the unseen surface of Mercury. [...]
A space probe is headed for a second swing past Mercury to pick up a gravitational boost and eventually become the first spacecraft to orbit the closest planet to our sun.
An American spacecraft will whiz over Mercury's crater-scarred surface next week, getting a look at a third of the planet that has never been seen close-up before.
T he New NASA spacecraft MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry and Ranging)now reached Mars. It will now pass all the innermost planet at the length of 201 kilometres. And it is expected to take more than 1200 images of the cratered surface, with its Hi-Quality Designed Camera.
