TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Table of Contents
• Mission Overview
• Timeline
• Scientific Objectives
• Equipment
• Mercury
• Links

Image from NASA
Artists impression of MESSENGER at Mercury.
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MISSION OVERVIEW

• MESSENGER will study Mercury and take images of
  the entire planet.
• It will fly by and study Earth and Venus before
  reaching Mercury.
• MESSENGER is short for MErcury Surface, Space
  ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging.

Image from NASA
Mercury image from Mariner 10
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TIMELINE

• Aug. 3rd 2004 MESSENGER launches.
• Aug. 2nd 2005 Flies by Earth over Asia.
• Oct. 2006 and June 2007 Flies by Venus.

• Jan. 2008, Oct.
  2008, and Sept 2009 Flies by Mercury.
• Mar. 2011 Enters Mercury orbit.

Image from NASA
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Path of MESSENGER. Click to view animation.
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SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES PART 1

• Mercurys Density
• Mercury has a very large iron core that makes the
  planet extremely dense. Why is the core so large?
• Mercury may have had an outer crust that was
  vaporized by the sun.
• MESSENGER will use geo-chemical remote-sensing to
  detect the abundance of metallic elements on the
  surface and determine the planets evolution.
• Mercurys Geological History
• Mercury has several mysterious landforms that
  have not yet been explained.
• MESSENGER will photograph the entire planet and
  use X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Infrared spectrometers
  to determine the elements in the surface.

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SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES PART 2

• Mercurys Core
• Is Mercurys core liquid or solid, and what does
  it consist of?
• MESSENGER will use its laser altimeter to measure
  the movement of Mercurys axis and its gravity
  field. These measurements can be used to
  determine the nature of the core.
• Mercurys Magnetic Field
• What are the sources of the weak magnetic field?
• MESSENGER will measure the magnetic sphere using
  its magnetometer over 88 days.

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SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES PART 3

• Mercurys Poles
• Scientists have observed materials inside craters
  on Mercurys poles that reflected radar pulses
  similarly to ice. What are in Mercurys poles,
  and could it be ice?
• MESSENGER will use its gamma-ray and neutron
  spectrometers to measure emissions from the
  poles.
• Mercurys Atmosphere
• MESSENGER will determine what elements are in the
  atmosphere by using X-Ray and Gamma-Ray
  spectrometers.

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EQUIPMENT INDEX

• Mercury Dual Imaging System
• Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer
• X-Ray Spectrometer
• Magnetometer
• Mercury Laser Altimeter
• Mercury Atmospheric and Composition Spectrometer
• Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer

Image from NASA
Illustration of MESSENGER with parts labeled.
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EQUIPMENT PART 1

• Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
• Photographs Mercurys surface in monochrome,
  color, and stereo.
• Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
• Detects gamma rays emitted by atoms.
• Neutron Spectrometer
• Detects movements and speeds of neutrons emitted
  by Mercurys surface

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EQUIPMENT PART 2

• X-Ray Spectrometer
• Maps elements on the crust by measuring solar
  X-ray reflections from Mercury.
• Magnetometer (MAG)
• Detects and maps Mercurys magnetic field.
• Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA)
• Maps landforms by timing how long a transmitted
  infrared laser takes to reflect back to
  MESSENGER.

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EQUIPMENT PART 3

• Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition
  Spectrometer (MASCS)
• Determines the composition of Mercurys
  atmosphere by using ultraviolet and infrared
  spectrometers.
• Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer
• Detects particle speeds and identities in the
  magnetosphere.

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MERCURY

• Rocky planet closest to sun (57,909,175 km).
• One Mercury year is 88 Earth days, one Mercury
  day is about 6 Earth months.
• At day, can reach a temperature of 467C At
  night, can reach a temperature of -183C.
• Mariner 10 (1974) was the only spacecraft to
  visit Mercury, imaging only 45 of the planet.

Image from NASA
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Color image of Mercury from Mariner 10
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LINKS

• http//www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/i
  ndex.html
• http//messenger.jhuapl.edu/
• http//solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cf
  m?ObjectMercuryDisplayOverview
• http//photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/targetFamily/Merc
  ury

Image from NASA
Artists impression of MESSENGER at Mercury.
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