Mercury-bound MESSENGER Launches from Cape Canaveral (Forwarded)

From: Andrew Yee (ayee_at_nova.astro.utoronto.ca)
Date: 08/03/04 

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 09:00:35 -0400

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. August 3, 2004
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1727)

Michael Buckley
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
(Phone: 240/228-7536)

KSC Release No: 59 - 04

Mercury-bound MESSENGER Launches from Cape Canaveral

NASA Spacecraft to Conduct First Study of Innermost Planet from Orbit

NASA's MESSENGER -- set to become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet
Mercury -- launched today at 2:15:56 a.m. EDT aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The approximately 1.2-ton (1,100-kilogram) spacecraft, designed and built by the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., was
placed into a solar orbit 57 minutes after launch. Once in orbit, MESSENGER
automatically deployed its two solar panels and began sending data on its
status. Once the mission operations team at APL acquired the spacecraft's radio
signals through tracking stations in Hawaii and California, Project Manager
David G. Grant confirmed the craft was operating normally and ready for early
system check-outs.

"Congratulations to the MESSENGER launch team for a spectacular start to this
mission of exploration to the planet Mercury," said Orlando Figueroa, Deputy
Associate Administrator for Programs in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters, Washington. "While we celebrate this major milestone, let's keep
in mind there is still a lot to do before we reach our destination."

"All the work that went into designing and building this spacecraft is paying
off beautifully," Grant said. "Now the team is ready to guide MESSENGER through
the inner solar system and put us on target to begin orbiting Mercury in 2011."

During a 4.9-billion mile (7.9-billion kilometer) journey that includes 15 trips
around the sun, MESSENGER will fly past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury
three times before easing into orbit around its target planet. The Earth flyby,
in August 2005, and the Venus flybys, in October 2006 and June 2007, will use
the pull of the planets' gravity to guide MESSENGER toward Mercury's orbit. The
Mercury flybys in January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009 help MESSENGER
match the planet's speed and location for an orbit insertion maneuver in March
2011. The flybys also allow the spacecraft to gather data critical to planning a
yearlong orbit phase.

Since MESSENGER is only the second spacecraft sent to Mercury -- Mariner 10 flew
past it three times in 1974-75 and gathered detailed data on less than half the
surface -- the mission has an ambitious science plan. With a package of seven
science instruments MESSENGER will determine Mercury's composition; image its
surface globally and in color; map its magnetic field and measure the properties
of its core; explore the mysterious polar deposits to learn whether ice lurks in
permanently shadowed regions; and characterize Mercury's tenuous atmosphere and
Earth-like magnetosphere.

"It took technology more than 30 years, from Mariner 10 to MESSENGER, to bring
us to the brink of discovering what Mercury is all about," said Dr. Sean C.
Solomon, MESSENGER's principal investigator from the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, who leads a science team of investigators from 13 institutions
across the U.S. "By the time this mission is done we will see Mercury as a much
different planet than we think of it today."

MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and
Ranging, is the seventh mission in NASA's Discovery Program of lower cost,
scientifically focused exploration projects. APL manages the mission for NASA's
Office of Space Science, built the spacecraft and will operate MESSENGER during
flight. MESSENGER is the 61 st spacecraft built at APL.

"With MESSENGER on its way to Mercury, the reality is sinking in that in a few
years, we will see things that no human has ever seen and know infinitely more
about the formation of the solar system than we know today," said Dr. Michael D.
Griffin, head of the APL Space Department.

The countdown and launch was managed by the NASA Launch Services Program based
at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The Delta II launch service was
provided by Boeing Expendable Launch Systems, Huntington Beach, Calif.
MESSENGER's science instruments were built by APL; NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Md.; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and University of
Colorado, Boulder. GenCorp Aerojet, Sacramento, Calif., and Composite Optics
Inc., San Diego, provided MESSENGER's propulsion system and composite structure,
respectively. KinetX, Inc., Simi Valley, Calif., leads the navigation team.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Deep Space
Network of antenna stations the team uses to communicate with MESSENGER.

For photos of the launch or more information about the MESSENGER mission, visit
      http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
or
      http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

[NOTE: A MESSENGER Launch Press Kit (1.9MB) is available at
http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2004/MESSENGER_Launch_Press_Kit.pdf ]

Relevant Pages

  • MESSENGER Gains Speed
    ... MESSENGER Mission News ... The spacecraft, nearly 70% closer to the Sun than ... Because of MESSENGER's near-perfect Mercury flyby trajectory on ... New Color Images of Mercury Available ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • MESSENGER Completes Successful Earth Swingby
    ... MESSENGER Completes Successful Earth Swingby ... NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, headed toward the first study of Mercury ... Mercury three times before moving into orbit around its target planet. ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • MESSENGER Flyby of Mercury
    ... MESSENGER Flyby of Mercury ... spacecraft is still operating nominally. ... measurements for the Radio Science team" said MESSENGER Mission ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • Deep-Space Maneuver Positions MESSENGER for Third Mercury Encounter
    ... Deep-Space Maneuver Positions MESSENGER for Third Mercury Encounter ... velocity change needed to place the spacecraft on course to fly by ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • MESSENGER Update - July 20, 2004
    ... Next Stop: The Launch Pad ... The MESSENGER spacecraft is now firmly attached to the third stage ...
    (sci.astro)