On September 12th 2014 NASAs MESSENGER spacecraft performed orbit correction maneuver 10 (OCM-10). At the time MESSENGER was in an orbit with a closest approach of 15.1 miles above the surface of Mercury, but the burn from the spacecraft’s four largest monopropellant thrusters (with a small contribution from four of the 12 smallest monopropellant thrusters) nudged the spacecraft into a higher orbit with a closest approach altitude of 58.4 miles. This maneuver also slightly increased the spacecraft’s speed relative to Mercury, as MESSENGER travels around the planet on its eight-hour, two-minute orbit period. Two similar burns are scheduled to occur on October 24th 2014 and on January 21st 2015. After these burns (OCM-11 and OCM-12) MESSENGER will be out of propellant, making any further OCMs impossible. Therefore, this remarkably successful mission will come to an end and the spacecraft will impact Mercury’s surface sometime in March 2015. Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 01:17:59 +0000
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