MESSENGER News Thread, news, updates and discussion |
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MESSENGER News Thread, news, updates and discussion |
 Dec 2 2013, 10:06 PM
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#451
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 Senior Member  Group: Members Posts: 2079 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221  |
Does this mean the low-orbit extended mission we heard about a few months back has been approved?
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Dec 3 2013, 12:56 AM
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#452
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
QUOTE (nprev @ Dec 2 2013, 01:24 PM)  Hmm. When MESSENGER impacts that will mean that all of the planets known to the ancients but Saturn (but don't forget Titan!) will have human artifacts present. Progress of sorts.  Cassini will eventually be disposed of into Saturn's atmosphere a-la Galileo - so that'll tick all the boxes. |
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Dec 3 2013, 07:31 AM
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#453
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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 |
QUOTE (Explorer1 @ Dec 2 2013, 11:06 PM) Does this mean the low-orbit extended mission we heard about a few months back has been approved? from the graph I have seen, MESSENGER is to spend most of 2014 on orbits with periapsis lower than 200 km, and as low as 25 km |
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Dec 9 2013, 05:34 PM
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#454
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 78 Joined: 16-October 12 From: Pennsylvania Member No.: 6711 |
25km? That is really low. Like GRAIL low. Guess the team is in the gravity map phase of the mission then. I thought we had a pretty good one but you can always do better, that's science for ya.
Can MESSENGER measure Mercury's isotopic composition in any way? Or will we have to wait till BepiColombo arrives? Assuming BepiColombo will be able to measure it without a lander. |
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Feb 6 2014, 04:56 PM
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#455
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2079 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
200K images surpassed!
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=251 And news about the extended mission: QUOTE In about two months, each closest approach will be at a lower altitude than at any previous point in the mission, enabling the acquisition of unprecedentedly high-spatial-resolution data. For spacecraft altitudes below 350 kilometers, Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images will be acquired with pixel scales ranging from 20 meters to as little as 2 meters.
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Feb 6 2014, 07:12 PM
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#456
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1582 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
The release image of hollows in a crater wall is pretty spiffy, too!
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Feb 7 2014, 10:38 AM
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#457
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Member Group: Members Posts: 102 Joined: 8-August 12 Member No.: 6511 |
Doesn't the lower orbit subject MESSENGER to more heat stress? It was my understanding that heat radiating off the planet is a signficant issue.
Doug M. |
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Feb 7 2014, 06:53 PM
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#458
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2079 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Little time is actually spent at periapse; orbital velocities are fastest close to the surface, so there's some compensation for lower altitudes being closer to the hot surface.
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Apr 25 2014, 10:19 PM
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#459
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
Latest update:
3000 orbits, closest approach |
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Jul 30 2014, 08:33 PM
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#460
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Mercury's magnetic field shows a strong hemispheric asymmetry:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/...40730094310.htm |
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Jul 30 2014, 11:02 PM
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#461
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Huh. Odd.
Tempting to speculate that Earth's lunar tides help to 'mix' the outer core a bit more frequently & out of the rotational plane than solar tides do for Mercury, thus making it more homogenous (and thus making our field more evenly distributed). -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jul 31 2014, 04:29 AM
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#462
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2079 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Closer and closer....
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=259 25 kilometers from the surface in September! EDIT: Fantastic movie from an oblique perspective, LRO style: http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/scienc...p;image_id=1416 |
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Oct 15 2014, 11:38 PM
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#463
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 71 Joined: 3-February 11 Member No.: 5800 |
Latest update: First Optical Images of Ice at Mercury's North pole, and a comparison to lunar ice.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=266 |
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Oct 17 2014, 11:02 PM
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#464
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 495 Joined: 12-February 12 Member No.: 6336 |
'FOV' wrote:
Latest update: First Optical Images of Ice at Mercury's North pole, and a comparison to lunar ice. The somewhat controversial Arecibo radar detection of water ice at Mercury can finally be put to rest - as being correct. (As well as the later theoretical work also pointing out the possibility.) |
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Dec 24 2014, 04:53 PM
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#465
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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 |
MESSENGER appears to have bought itself a little bit more of time
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=269 |
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