MESSENGER Facts for Kids

MESSENGER
An artist's picture of MESSENGER orbiting Mercury
Organization:	NASA / APL
Mission type:	Flyby / Orbiter
Satellite of:	Mercury
Launch date:	August 3, 2004
Launch vehicle:	Boeing Delta II
Launch site:	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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MESSENGER, MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging, was an unmanned NASA and APL spacecraft. It was orbiting and studying the planet Mercury. Its mission lasted 10 years, 8 months and 28 days.

It was launched on August 3, 2004 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. After launch, the probe did several fly-bys and deep space manoeuvres to gain the right trajectory and speed.

It completed 30% mapping of Mercury on January 14, 2008. MESSENGER made one more pass by Mercury in 2009, and on March 18, 2011 began to orbit Mercury. 100% mapping was completed in March 2013 and the probe continued its studies. On April 30, 2015, it crashed into Mercury. It crashed near the crater Janáček.

Images for kids

MESSENGER captured a near-complete portrait of the Solar System during November 2010.
Diagram of MESSENGER.
The assembly of MESSENGER's solar panels by APL technicians.
Technicians prepare MESSENGER for transfer to a hazardous processing facility.
Attachment of the PAM to MESSENGER. The ceramic-cloth sunshade is prominent in this view.
A suited worker looks over the hydrazine fuel supply to be loaded in MESSENGER.
Exploded diagram of Delta II launch vehicle with MESSENGER
The launch of MESSENGER on a Delta II launch vehicle.
Animation of MESSENGER's trajectory from August 3, 2004 to May 1, 2015 MESSENGER · Earth · Mercury · Venus
A view of Earth from MESSENGER during its Earth flyby.
A view of Earth from MESSENGER during its Earth flyby.
The Earth and Moon (lower left), captured by MESSENGER from a distance of 183 million kilometers.
Venus imaged by MESSENGER on its first flyby of the planet in 2006.
Venus imaged by MESSENGER on its second flyby of the planet in 2007.
A more detailed image of Venus MESSENGER on the second flyby of the planet.
Sequence of images as MESSENGER departs after the second flyby of the planet.
The first high-resolution color Wide Angle Camera image of Mercury acquired by MESSENGER.
Mercury from later in the first flyby, showing many previously unknown features
View from the second flyby in October 2008, with Kuiper crater near center
Smooth plains of Borealis Planitia imaged by MESSENGER during the third flyby of the planet.
An image of part of the previously unseen side of the planet.
Lava-flooded craters and large expanses of smooth volcanic plains on Mercury.
View with Rachmaninoff crater, from third flyby
Animation of MESSENGER's trajectory around Mercury from March 15, 2011 to December 30, 2014 MESSENGER · Mercury
Charles Bolden and colleagues wait for news from the MESSENGER probe.
Charles Bolden congratulates Eric Finnegan following the successful orbital insertion.
The first-ever photograph from Mercury orbit, taken by MESSENGER on March 29, 2011.
A simplified chart showing the path of MESSENGER's orbital insertion.
A monochrome image of Mercury from MESSENGER, with Warhol at center.
Stevenson crater, with two perpendicular secondary crater chains running through its center.
A south polar projection of Mercury.
A close snapshot of ridges near Mercury's south pole.
A MESSENGER image of Mercury shows previously undetected fault scarps— cliff-like landforms resembling stairs that are small enough that scientists believe they are geologically young. This shows that Mercury is still contracting, and that Earth is not the only tectonically active Solar System planet.
False-color map showing maximum temperatures of north polar region.
Crater Apollodorus, with the Pantheon Fossae radiating from it.
Crater rays streaking across the planet's southern hemisphere.
Hollows in the wall of crater Sholem Aleichem.
Perspective view of Caloris Basin – high (red); low (blue).
Mass concentrations (red; Caloris Basin at center, Sobkou Planitia at right), detected via gravity anomalies, provide evidence for subsurface structure and evolution.
Northern hemisphere topography from MLA data shows a 10 km vertical range: high (red); low (purple).
MASCS spectral scan of Mercury's surface.
Water ice (yellow) in permanently shaded craters of Mercury's north polar region

MESSENGER facts for kids

Images for kids

See also