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Maneuver Puts Messenger On Track For 2005 Earth Flyby
Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 28, 2004 Messenger marked its 52nd day of flight operations with a burst from its thrusters, completing a maneuver on Sept. 24 that kept it on course for next summer's Earth flyby. Carried out mostly by Messenger's four medium (5-pound) hydrazine- fueled thrusters � with a little help from 8 of its 12 small (1- pound) thrusters � the 62-second burn corrected the last remaining trajectory errors from the spacecraft's Aug. 3 launch. The short maneuver was a long-distance tap on the brakes, reducing Messenger's velocity by about 10 miles an hour (4.6 meters per second) relative to the Sun. Messenger is now more than 11.5 million miles (18.5 million kilometers) from Earth, speeding through space at 62,319 miles (100,292 kilometers) per hour. At that distance radio signals reach Earth in just over a minute � meaning the burn, which started at 2 p.m. EDT, was effectively over when mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, picked up Messenger's signals through the NASA Deep Space Network tracking station near Madrid, Spain. Messenger is currently flying with its sunshade away from the Sun, allowing it to keep its instruments and systems warm without using power for heaters. The spacecraft is in good health and operating normally; subsystem and instrument tests resume today when the operations team turns on Messenger's instrument data processor (DPU-A) and checks its interfaces with the Magnetometer, X-Ray Spectrometer and Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Messenger at APL SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Astronomy News from Skynightly.com
Chris Van Allsburg Talks About Sci-Fi, Art And Education
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 21, 2005NASA is part of a partnership that provides educational materials based on the book and movie "Zathura" to help teachers get students excited about space and learning. |
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