MESSENGER probe enters orbit around Mercury
MAR 18, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025148
Space.com : After a journey of more than six years and 5 billion miles, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft attained its goal of entering orbit around Mercurythe first spacecraft to do so. Launched in August 2004, MESSENGER has orbited the Sun 15 times and made one flyby of Earth, two of Venus, and three of Mercury. With seven science instruments, the spacecraft will study Mercury over the next 12 months, mapping its surface and studying its composition and atmosphere. Among other things, scientists hope to determine whether Mercury has any water ice and, on a larger scale, to gain insight into how the solar system formed and evolved.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
