* Astronomy

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RE: MESSENGER

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MESSENGER Takes First Picture While in Mercury's Orbit

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Nasa's Messenger sends back image as it orbits nearest planet to our Sun

The spacecraft, which went into orbit around the planet on March 17, snapped 363 images over the next six hours, and more are expected to be released today.
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Credit NASA/JPL

This image shows a 50-mile wide crater called Debussy in the planet's southern hemisphere, an area which has never before ben observed closely - and which, it's believed, may contain water ice in areas of permanent shadow.

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NASA To Release Messenger's First Orbital Images Of Mercury Media Teleconference Scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday

NASA will release the first orbital image of Mercury's surface, including previously unseen terrain, on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. Several other images will be available Wednesday, March 30 in conjunction with a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss these initial orbital images taken from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.
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MESSENGER Mercury Orbit Insertion with first orbit

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Nasa Mercury Messenger team excited by orbit

Mission chief Sean Solomon told the BBC the planet was "extreme in several respects", and "really pushes the level of our understanding".
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MESSENGER Begins Historic Orbit around Mercury

At 9:10 p.m. EDT, engineers in the MESSENGER Mission Operations Centre at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet Mercury.
The spacecraft rotated back to the Earth by 9:45 p.m. EDT, and started transmitting data. Upon review of these data, the engineering and operations teams confirmed that the burn executed nominally with all subsystems reporting a clean burn and no logged errors.
MESSENGERs main thruster fired for approximately 15 minutes at 8:45 p.m., slowing the spacecraft by 862 meters per second and easing it into the planned eccentric orbit about Mercury. The rendezvous took place about 155 million kilometres from Earth.
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Messenger spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury

With a 30-minute blast from its main rocket engine, NASA's Messenger spacecraft slipped into orbit around Mercury on Thursday evening, becoming the first Earth vehicle to circle the closest planet to the sun.
About 6:15 p.m. Pacific time, when early telemetry data indicated the rocket burn had finished and the probe had been captured by Mercury's gravity, a round of applause went up from the mission control room at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory near Laurel, Md.
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MESSENGER in Mercury Orbit

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MESSENGER, Mercury Orbit Insertion at 12:45 am UTC