Mercury Flyby 3 |
Mercury Flyby 3 |
Jul 3 2009, 09:27 PM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
We're now just one Mercury year (88 days) from flyby #3, which happens on September 29, 2009, so this seems like a good time to start a thread about it.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.php For comparison purposes, it'd be nice if someone (probably someone on the Messenger team) put together a Mercury Map showing what areas will get better coverage from this flyby than from the previous ones. I realize it'll be very similar to flyby #1, but it won't be exactly the same. After that, it's a long wait until MOI on March 18, 2011. Curiously, that's the same date the New Horizons crosses the orbit of Uranus. http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/passingpla...ets_current.php --Greg |
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Jul 3 2009, 10:09 PM
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#2
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10256 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
From a global point of view I don't think there will be any significant extension of coverage this time. The important thing will be the chance to extend the area covered by the highest resolution images shortly before and after closest approach. Things happen so fast near closest approach that only a small area can be seen in the highest resolution images. This time it will be possible to image areas not covered at highest resolution before, or to plan images to give good stereo viewing when combined with the earlier images. So, lots of opportunity to do good things, but not really any chance of increasing coverage.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Jul 4 2009, 04:33 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
Yes, I understand that. I was hoping someone might make a map that indicated which areas would get improved coverage though. That is, if one were trying to make a Mercury map, which existing areas should one expect to upgrade as a result of this flyby.
Of course, that'll all be obsoleted when Messenger goes into orbit, but that's still a long time from now. --Greg |
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Jul 4 2009, 11:04 AM
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#4
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10256 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
There's no public information on coverage yet, but it will come.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Jul 8 2009, 11:32 PM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 31-October 08 Member No.: 4473 |
It will also be interesting if any stereo-pair frames are shceduled.
Any further word on the search for "Vulcanoids"? --Mark G. |
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Jul 9 2009, 02:49 PM
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 9-September 08 Member No.: 4334 |
Probably a dumb question, but what are Vulcanoids - Mercury-crossing asteroids?
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Jul 9 2009, 05:26 PM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 118 Joined: 18-November 07 Member No.: 3964 |
There is an article about vulcanoids in Wikipedia.
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Jul 12 2009, 04:21 PM
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#8
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Member Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 31-October 08 Member No.: 4473 |
Probably a dumb question, but what are Vulcanoids - Mercury-crossing asteroids? There is a Wikipedia, but the short answer is that Vulcanoids are a purported group of small bodies orbiting inside Mercury's orbit. Messenger can look for them when at perigee -- looking at an angle away from the sun, but still look at space inside Mercury's orbit. |
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Jul 12 2009, 04:27 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3652 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Messenger can look for them when at perigee I think you meant perihelion. -------------------- |
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Jul 12 2009, 08:46 PM
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#10
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Member Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 31-October 08 Member No.: 4473 |
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Jul 14 2009, 07:04 AM
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#11
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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 |
By the way, this year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Le Verrier's first study of the "intramercurial planet" and of Lescarbault's observed transit of Vulcan across the Sun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(hypothetical_planet)
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Aug 3 2009, 05:12 AM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
Just half an orbit away now. (Messenger's orbit is currently 116 days). Even if the coverage largely duplicates flyby #1, the phase angle might be different enough to be useful. Does anyone remember how close to the other flybys the Messenger team started posting information for the public?
--Greg |
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Aug 3 2009, 06:31 AM
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#13
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Member Group: Members Posts: 340 Joined: 11-April 08 From: Sydney, Australia Member No.: 4093 |
Does anyone remember how close to the other flybys the Messenger team started posting information for the public? I dont recall for sure but if memory serves me right they published their flyby timeline very close to C/A, maybe 2 or 3 weeks in advance. The press-kit seems to have been published on 13 Sep 08 for the 06 oct 08 flyby Press Kit: MESSENGER Mercury Flyby 2 (PDF)
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Aug 3 2009, 03:13 PM
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#14
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1598 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Just got an email with a 5-year milestone press release:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=127 QUOTE The probe has completed four major deep-space maneuvers (DSMs) and 12 trajectory-correction maneuvers, and mission controllers have been able to forgo six additional planned course corrections by using MESSENGER’s solar panels creatively, harnessing solar radiation pressure to adjust the spacecraft’s trajectory. “Because of the implementation of solar sailing, the MESSENGER team has not used propellant to correct the cruise trajectory of the spacecraft since December 19, 2007, in advance of the first Mercury flyby,” says MESSENGER Mission Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan, of APL. Neat! |
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Aug 3 2009, 06:52 PM
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#15
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
That suggests they might be able to have quite the extended mission, when the time comes. I wonder if this counts as the first successful solar sail application? :-)
--Greg |
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