MESSENGER

MESSENGER's orbit about Mercury is highly elliptical (egg-shaped), 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface at the lowest point and more than 15,193 kilometers (9,420 miles) at the highest. At the outset of the orbital phase of the mission, the plane of the spacecraft's orbit is inclined 82.5° to Mercury's equator, and the low point in the orbit is reached at a latitude of 60° North. About 31% of the spacecraft's propellant is required for Mercury orbit insertion -- the process of placing the spacecraft into its primary science orbit around Mercury. MESSENGER's thrusters must slow the spacecraft by just over 0.86 kilometers (0.53 miles) per second. As the spacecraft approaches Mercury, the largest thruster must be pointed close to the forward velocity direction of the spacecraft.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Messenger
• Mercury
• Surface
• Space
• Environment
• Geochemistry
• Ranging
• spacecraft
• flyby

[endub42]

@ kowch737 whats the scientific reasoning behind the mission to mercury? mars i somewhat understand but why mercury? thanks for all the great vids.

[Kowch737]

@endub42 Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are terrestrial (rocky) planets. Among these, Mercury is an extreme: the smallest, the densest, the one with the oldest surface, the one with the largest daily variations in surface temperature, and the least explored. Understanding this 'end member' among the terrestrial planets is crucial to developing a better understanding of how the planets in our Solar System formed and evolved.

[endub42]

@kowch737 what would be the scientific reasoning to look at mercury? mars i understand somewhat but why mercury?