Happy Trails, little robot - Mercury Messenger probe nears mission end after 10 years

[Baclava]

MESSENGER's Endgame: Hover Campaign Promises Bird's-Eye View of Mercury's Surface

MESSENGER will not go gentle into that good night. The mission will end sometime this spring, when the spacecraft runs out of propellant and the force of solar gravity causes it to impact the surface of Mercury. But the team initiated a "hover" observation campaign designed to gather scientific data from the planet at ultra-low altitudes until the last possible moment.

Engineers have devised a series of orbit-correction maneuvers (OCMs) over the next five weeks -- the first of which was designed to delay the inevitable impact a bit longer.

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/



So Far, So Good

This first maneuver went as planned. At the time of this most recent operation, MESSENGER was in an orbit with a closest approach of 11.6 kilometers (7.2 miles) above the surface of Mercury. The next maneuver, on April 2, will again raise the spacecraft's minimum altitude, allowing scientists to continue to collect images and data from MESSENGER's instruments.

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=276

[beam me up scottie]

1. Sad that it has to end but - Way To Go, MESSENGER!

Awesome!



Thanks for posting!

[calimary]

2. Remarkable!

Thank you for posting this, Baclava! I love this stuff. I wish we still had a space program that was really robust. It could be the only thing that might guarantee our survival as a species.

[Baclava]

6. pretty exciting time, actually, our probes are getting places

NASA’s New Horizons Homes in on Pluto

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/


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Dwarf planet Ceres might have right stuff for life

CERES is a dwarf planet with giant potential. As NASA's Dawn spacecraft gears up for the first in-depth look at this tiny world, speculation is rife. Could Ceres be an overgrown comet? Host an ocean made of mud? Or even possess icy volcanoes that make it an unexpected host for life in the asteroid belt?

The first signs of excitement came earlier this month when Dawn spotted a mysterious bright spot just 1 pixel wide inside a crater as it pulled into orbit around the dwarf planet. There were suspicions that the spot could be a sign of water spewing into space, and now fresh views, presented for the first time at the LPSC, lend weight to the idea.

In Dawn's latest pictures, the bright spot is visible even from the side, meaning it probably protrudes above the crater. "What is amazing is you can see this feature while the rim is very likely in front of the line of sight," said Andreas Nathues, who is in charge of the mission's camera. "We believe this could be some kind of outgassing."



http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530143.800-dwarf-planet-ceres-might-have-right-stuff-for-life.html#.VRQiBv10zIU

[calimary]

7. What does that Facebook page say? "I Fucking Love Science"!!!

Sure says it for me!

[Hekate]

3. Good job, little Hermes. TY Baclava for the post.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. 7.2 miles!

Lower than many commercial aircraft fly over our own planet.

[arcane1]

5. I love it! Dammit, we can be so clever when we want to be.