Tag: MESSENGER
-
Messenger mission ends with plunge into Mercury
Artist’s concept of the Messenger spacecraft flying over Mercury’s surface displayed in enhanced color. The crater ringed by bright orange is Calvino crater. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington NASA’s Messenger spacecraft closed out a successful four-year tour in Mercury’s orbit Thursday with a cataclysmic crash into the scorching planet after…
-
MESSENGER ends Mercury adventure with a bang
NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft has ended its mission in a dramatic, but planned, event – crashing into the surface of the planet that it had been studying for over four years. “Going out with a bang” the spacecraft impacted with Mercury at nearly 9,000 mph, creating a new crater in…
-
NASA spacecraft to get bonus time studying Mercury
A depiction of the MESSENGER spacecraft is shown passing near the crater Hokusai and its extensive system of rays. Both the monochrome and enhanced color views of Mercury were obtained during MESSENGER’s second Mercury flyby. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington Running low on fuel after completing the first global survey…
-
MESSENGER and Cassini’s landmark discoveries in 2014
For NASA, 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of MESSENGER in space and the tenth anniversary of Cassini at Saturn. Throughout the year, the two probes returned valuable scientific data to Earth while scientists revealed the fruits of the probes’ labors through several announcements of groundbreaking discoveries at the two planets, including new information about solar…
-
YIR (Part II) – Lunar and Saturnian exploration captures public’s attention
Capturing and holding the attention of the general public for space exploration purposes is often a difficult thing to achieve. But 2013 saw not only NASA but also the China National Space Administration do just that through a series of new and continuing voyages to the Moon and Saturn. YIR Part II: Lunar exploration –…
-
Year in Review (Part I): Unmanned probes reach new milestones in 2013
The 2013 year was another busy and productive year for NASA and the world’s space agencies. As with 2012, robotic exploration of the solar system and, for the first time in human history, interstellar space, dominated space exploration endeavors in 2013, with MESSENGER, the Van Allen Probes, Juno, New Horizons, and Voyager 1 all delivering…
-
Year in review (Part II) – Through the solar system and beyond
For NASA’s unmanned explorers, 2012 was an astonishing year filled with discoveries and observations inside our solar system, at the outer reaches of our solar system, and in the star systems beyond our own. Leading these discoveries were the NASA probes MESSENGER, GRAIL, Cassini, Voyager I, and the Kepler Space Telescope. MESSENGER at Mercury –…
-
Year in Review – Part 1: NASA’s planetary probes dominate in 2011
It was an interesting year for NASA as the 2011 calendar brought about the retirement of the iconic Space Shuttle fleet, the completion of the USOS segment of the International Space Station, the launch of three new planetary missions, and the ongoing scientific endeavors of NASA’s fleet of planetary probes. In all, 2011 proved a…