MESSENGER Imaging Node Mission Page

The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on August 3, 2004. It returned to Earth for a gravity boost on August 2, 2005, then it flew past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007. The spacecraft uses the tug of Venus' gravity to resize and rotate its trajectory closer to Mercury's orbit.
Three Mercury flybys, each followed about two months later by a course correction maneuver, put MESSENGER in position to enter Mercury orbit in March 2011. During the flybys -- which occurred in January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009 -- MESSENGER mapped nearly the entire planet in color, imaged most of the areas unseen by Mariner 10, and measured the composition of the surface, atmosphere and magnetosphere. The three successful flybys of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft returned the first new data from Mercury in more than 30 years. These data were invaluable as plans were made for MESSENGER's year-long primary orbital mission.

Mission goals included:

* Map the elemental and mineralogical composition of Mercury's surface;

* Global imaging of the surface at a resolution of hundreds of meters or better;

* Determining the structure of the planet's magnetic field;

* Measuring the planet's gravitational field structure; and

* Characterizing exosphere neutrals and accelerated magnetosphere ions.

On September 29, 2009, the MESSENGER spacecraft passed by Mercury for the third time for a final gravity assist that enabled it to enter orbit about Mercury in March, 2011. The spacecraft passed by Mercury at an altitude of 142 miles and at a relative velocity of more than 12,000 miles per hour. As the spacecraft approached the planet, MESSENGER's MDIS Wide Angle and Narrow Angle Cameras captured striking views, which show portions of Mercury's surface that had remained unseen by spacecraft even after the three flybys by Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975 and MESSENGER's two earlier flybys in 2008. During this third and final flyby, the spacecraft captured images of five percent of the planet never before seen, and scientists continue to be surprised by new findings from the planet.
These data were invaluable as plans were made for MESSENGER's year-long primary orbital mission. Since entry into Mercury Orbit, MESSENGER has completed its primary mission which ran from March 18, 2011 to March 17, 2012, and first extended mission which ran March 18, 2012 to March 17, 2013. MESSENGER is now in its second extended mission which runs through March 2015.

MESSENGER Instruments

EPPS – Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer

GRNS – Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer

MAG – Magnetometer

MASCS – Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer

MDIS – Mercury Dual Imaging System

MLA – Mercury Laser Altimeter

RS – Radio Science

XRS – X-Ray Spectrometer

The PDS Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node maintains the archives for MESSENGER MDIS science data. The PDS Geosciences Node has information about archive responsibilities for other instruments.
The multi-spectral MDIS had wide- and narrow-angle cameras (the "WAC" and "NAC"), both based on charge-coupled devices. The WAC had a 10.5 degree by 10.5 degree field of view and observed Mercury through 11 different filters and monochrome. The NAC took black-and-white images at high resolution through its 1.5 degree by 1.5 degree field of view. MDIS mapped the rugged landforms and spectral variations on Mercury's surface in monochrome, color and stereo. MDIS data sets were produced by the MDIS Team at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland.

Mission Documents