The end of MESSENGER's mission, What happens after March 2013? |
The end of MESSENGER's mission, What happens after March 2013? |
Apr 21 2012, 10:08 AM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 62 Joined: 11-July 11 Member No.: 6058 |
I know nothing about either the technological constraints or the funding possibilities, but I was wondering if anyone knew what might happen to the probe once the extended mission at Mercury comes to an end. Is it definitely going to be decommissioned? Or is there a chance of sending it somewhere else? Is there sufficient propellant to allow it to break orbit using the LVA, and (say) conduct a flyby of an Aten or Apollo asteroid? I do not know how much delta-v would be required to do this, or even if there are any targets in favourable positions, but it would (to my untrained eye) be an excellent reuse of what has proven itself to be a very capable spacecraft.
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Oct 11 2012, 07:23 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
I have received a copy of this paper http://www.iafastro.net/iac/paper/id/13288/summary.lite/ which I cannot share.
I have not had the time to read it in detail yet, but there are a couple of things in it that I wanted to share: in November 2013 comet Encke will pass just 3.7 million km from Mercury and MESSENGER could be used to observe it. the paper also confirms that surface impact is planned for the end of mission. provided budget is available until then, impact could occur in March or April 2015 |
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