QUICKTIME

Launch to Orbit
View MESSENGER’s journey (38.2 MB or 12.1 MB) from launch on August 3, 2004, through Earth, Venus, and Mercury flybys, to Mercury arrival on March 18, 2011. Check out the relative motions of Earth, Venus, Mercury and the MESSENGER spacecraft trajectory, nearly 16 spacecraft orbits around the Sun, and the orbits of Earth, Venus and Mercury in the plane of Earth’s orbit. Use the timeline at the bottom to track the spacecraft’s progress from launch to Mercury orbit insertion.

View the same journey but from a different perspective, with Earth's orbital motion frozen (75.4 MB). In this animation, while the spacecraft is in the "solar conjunction" region (shown as a yellow-shaded region in the upper left), interference from the Sun can reduce or prevent communication with the spacecraft.

Launch
View Earth from MESSENGER (13.2 MB or 5.8 MB) or see the spacecraft’s path from high above Asia (5.6 MB or 1.6 MB) beginning at launch on August 3, 2004. The view from MESSENGER features night lights of Florida and a close-up view of southern Africa.

Earth Flyby
Ride along with MESSENGER (17.9 MB or 6.0 MB) or watch from high above northern Asia (8.7 MB or 3.8 MB) as the spacecraft flies by Earth on August 2, 2005. The view from above northern Asia depicts the spacecraft flying above, not through, Earth’s shadow.

Venus Flyby 1
Soar over Venus’ cloud deck on October 24, 2006. Two views show the encounter from MESSENGER’s perspective (8.0 MB or 4.2 MB) or from above Venus’ north pole (7.2 MB or 3.9 MB).

Venus Flyby 1 - additional views
The MESSENGER flyby trajectory and Venus Express orbit around Venus (7.6 MB) have tick marks every 30 minutes and a line-of-sight link (no communication is possible) between each spacecraft. The marker for MESSENGER changes color during eclipse, when Venus blocks sunlight from reaching the spacecraft. Venus Express orbit data courtesy of Trevor Morley of the European Space Agency. View the surface features of Venus that MESSENGER will fly over (45.1 MB). The red line with time ticks every two minutes shows the surface directly below the spacecraft. Thick clouds above Venus and limited spacecraft activity during the flyby will prevent the spacecraft's instruments from observing the planet's surface. Topographic maps courtesy of Ralph Aeschliman.

Venus Flyby 2
Follow MESSENGER’s second trip over Venus on June 5, 2007, choosing from MESSENGER’s view (7.6 MB or 4.9 MB) or from above Venus' north pole (6.7 MB or 3.7 MB).

As the MESSENGER spacecraft approaches the brightly illuminated Venus it will begin a carefully planned sequence of science observations that are designed to practice activities planned seven months later at the first flyby of Mercury. This animation shows the approximate spacecraft orientation with Venus in the background from one hour before closest approach to one hour after the 338 kilometer altitude closest approach. (8.4MB)

Venus Flyby 2 - additional views
The MESSENGER flyby trajectory and Venus Express orbit around Venus are shown in this animation (21.2 MB), with tick marks every 30 minutes and a line-of-sight path (through no communication is possible) between each spacecraft. Notice how the MESSENGER spacecraft model becomes dimmer and how the line-of-sight between MESSENGER and Venus Express disappears as the spacecraft passes through solar eclipse (the shadow of Venus). Preliminary planned movements of the MESSENGER spacecraft also appear in the animations. The animations show the best publicly available predicted position and orbit orientation (not the planned spacecraft orientation) of the Venus Express spacecraft.

View the surface features of Venus that MESSENGER will fly over (11.2 MB). The red line with time ticks every two minutes shows the surface directly below the spacecraft. Thick clouds above Venus and spacecraft pointing limits will prevent many of the spacecraft's science instruments from observing the surface of Venus. Topographic maps courtesy of Ralph Aeschliman.

Venus Flyby 2 Instrument Operations
This animation (6.2MB or 37.4MB) shows the planet Venus with its center fixed in the center of the field of view as MESSENGER flies by the planet obtaining a gravity assist. The maneuvers shown for the spacecraft correspond to the programmed pointing and data collection sequences implemented in the actual flyby. Large rectangular fields of view indicate imaging with the Wide Angle Camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); smaller fields of view correspond to images made with the Narrow Angle Camera of the same instrument. Other remote-sensing instrument footprints are shown as well, noted with labels in the animation.

Mercury Flyby 1
On January 14, 2008, MESSENGER flies over the eastern side of Mercury’s never-before-imaged hemisphere. Mariner 10 images are projected onto the globe of Mercury in these animations. See the encounter from MESSENGER (9.28 MB or 4.70 MB) and over Mercury's north pole (3.00 MB or 1.82 MB).

Mercury Flyby 1 Instrument Operations
This animation (10.4 MB or 84.2 MB) shows the planet Mercury as MESSENGER flies by the planet for the first time during the mission. The maneuvers shown for the spacecraft correspond to the programmed pointing and data collection sequences planned for the flyby. Large rectangular fields of view indicate imaging with the Wide Angle Camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); smaller fields of view correspond to images made with the Narrow Angle Camera of the same instrument. Other remote-sensing instrument footprints are shown as well with labels describing the measurements made.

The animation is compressed by about 90:1 (1 second of animation is about 90 seconds of real time). The animation begins at January 14, 2008, when MESSENGER is about 2 hours and 40 minutes before closest approach and about 57,000 km from the center of the planet. The animation ends on January 14, 2008, about 1 hour and 45 minutes after closest approach and about 38,000 km from the center of the planet.

Mercury Flyby 1 - Ground Track views
This animation (21.9 MB) shows the spacecraft's ground track on Mercury's surface with time ticks every two minutes and labeled latitude and longitude lines. The latitude, longitude, and altitude of MESSENGER are shown every 10 seconds within one hour of closest approach on January 14, 2008. The view of Mercury combines Mariner 10 spacecraft images and Arecibo radar images.

View the track below MESSENGER (15 MB) while viewing a projection of the entire surface of Mercury. A label shows the extent of Arecibo radar images. All other longitudes display Mariner 10 images of the surface. The "closest point" marker indicates the point on Mercury's surface below MESSENGER at closest approach. The animation covers the period within three hours of closest approach.

Mercury Flyby 2
On October 6, 2008, MESSENGER zips past the western end of Mercury’s “unseen” hemisphere. Again, Mariner 10 images make up the globe of Mercury. Watch the encounter from MESSENGER (10.5 MB or 5.4 MB) and over Mercury's north pole (8.2 MB or 4.3 MB).

Mercury Flyby 3
On September 29, 2009, MESSENGER again zips past the western end of Mercury’s “unseen” hemisphere. Again, Mariner 10 images make up the globe of Mercury. Watch the encounter from MESSENGER (10.6 MB or 5.5 MB) and over Mercury's north pole (8.2 MB or 4.3 MB).

Arrival at Mercury
During the first orbit of Mercury on March 18, 2011, MESSENGER sees Mercury’s cratered surface from an orbit that nearly follows the planet’s dawn-dusk line. View the orbit insertion maneuver and first orbit from just beyond MESSENGER (12.7 MB or 6.5 MB) and from high above Mercury's north pole (10.8 MB or 5.7 MB). The pale green part of the trajectory highlights MESSENGER’s path during the orbit insertion maneuver.

MPEG

Solar Panel Deployment 1
Shortly after lifting off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, MESSENGER deploys the first of its two solar panels. (3.16 MB)

Solar Panel Deployment 2
MESSENGER deploys its second solar panel. (3.02 MB)

Science Instruments
A view of MESSENGER’s science instruments inside the launch vehicle adapter ring (2.74 MB).

Orbit Insertion
MESSENGER prepares to perform the Mercury orbit insertion burn (1.37 MB).

MESSENGER in Orbit
View of MESSENGER in orbit at Mercury (2.21 MB).