SCIENCE RESULTS AND NEW IMAGES FROM MESSENGER'S FIRST MERCURY FLYBY
Date: January 30, 2008 at 1 p.m. EST
Introduction:
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) is the first mission sent to orbit the planet closest to the sun. It will use Mercury's gravity for a critical assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its orbit insertion around the planet three years from now. During this month's Mercury pass the probe's cameras and other sophisticated, high-technology instruments took 1,213 images and made the first up-close measurements of the planet since Mariner 10's third and final flyby on March 16, 1975. The flyby also gathered essential data for planning the overall mission. MESSENGER was launched on Aug. 3, 2004. After flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, it will start a year-long orbital study of Mercury in March 2011.
Panelists:
- James L. Green, Director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
- Sean C. Solomon, MESSENGER Principal Investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington
- Maria T. Zuber, MESSENGER Science Team Member (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Robert G. Strom, MESSENGER Science Team Member (University of Arizona)
- Louise M. Prockter, Instrument Scientist for the Mercury Dual Imaging System
(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
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Contact Information:
Paulette Campbell
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Laurel, Maryland
Phone: 240.228.6792
Dwayne Brown/Tabatha Thompson
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC
Phone: 202.358.1726/3895
Tina McDowell
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Washington, DC
Phone: 202.939.1120
Event Information:
