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Space Topics: MESSENGER

MESSENGER Mission Facts

Mission Timeline

  • Launch: August 3, 2004 at 06:15:56 UTC
  • Earth Flyby: August 2, 2005 at 19:13 UTC
    • Deep Space Maneuver #1: December 12, 2005 at 06:30 UTC
  • Venus Flyby #1: October 24, 2006
  • Venus Flyby #2: June 6, 2007
    • Deep Space Maneuver #2: Late 2007
  • Mercury Flyby #1: January 14, 2008
    • Deep Space Maneuver #3: Early 2008
  • Mercury Flyby #2: October 6, 2008
    • Deep Space Maneuver #4 Late 2008
  • Mercury Flyby #3: September 29, 2009
    • Deep Space Maneuver #5: Early 2010
  • Mercury Orbit Insertion: March 18, 2011
  • End of Nominal Mission: March 18, 2012
MESSENGER
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MESSENGER
Artist's impression of the MESSENGER spacecraft at Mercury. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Spacecraft

  • Spacecraft mass:
    • Total: 1,100 kilograms
    • Instruments and spacecraft: 500 kilograms (7 instruments)
    • Fuel: 600 kilograms
  • Spacecraft dimensions:
    • Body: 1.42 x 1.85 x 1.27 meters
    • Sunshade: 2.5 meters tall by 2 meters wide
    • Solar panels: 6 meters, end to end
    • MAG boom: 3.6 meters long

Orbit

  • Highly elliptical, nearly polar (inclination 80 degrees)
  • Periapsis Altitude: 200 kilometers (124 miles)
  • Apoapsis Altitude: 15,193 kilometers (9,420 miles)
  • Period: 12 hours

Mission cost

    • $427 million