A NASA spacecraft destined for Mercury has made its first trip, a 20-mile (32-kilometer) trek that pales before the eventual five-year voyage it is expected to make on the way to its target planet.
After almost four years of design, assembly and testing, researchers with the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland shipped its Messenger spacecraft to the environmental testing facilities at NASA's nearby Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. There, spacecraft is undergoing about 10 weeks of shakedown tests that will check its balance and alignment, simulate launch conditions, and subject it to the harsh temperatures it may experience near Mercury.
Messenger, an acronym for Mercury Surface and Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging, will be the first orbital mission to small Mercury, where the Sun shines 11 times brighter than it appears on Earth and daytime temperatures can surpass 800 degrees Fahrenheit (426 degrees Celsius). With seven science instruments, including a camera, laser altimeter, magnetometer and several spectrometers, Messenger is one of the most complex spacecraft ever built by APL, which will operate the craft during the NASA mission.
Project researchers hope the probe will shed light on the nature of Mercury's crust and thin atmosphere, as well as the makeup of its core and polar materials. In March, the spacecraft is due to be delivered to Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a May 2004 launch. Messenger is expected to swing past Mercury twice, first in 2007 and again in 2008, before entering orbit around the planet in 2009.
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Darth_Zod wrote:why send a probe to mercury? i'm sure there's more viable planets they could choose. or even asteroids for that matter. . . . .
I dunno...curiosity, maybe? Because they haven't before? Desire to learn something about the planet, perhaps? Why the hell not?
This doesn't merit a WTF.
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i'd definitely agree that putting the money towards a new shuttle or space plane would be more practical. instead of spending it on projects to explore planets with older tech. it's not like the planets are going anywhere anytime soon.
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Darth_Zod wrote:i'd definitely agree that putting the money towards a new shuttle or space plane would be more practical. instead of spending it on projects to explore planets with older tech. it's not like the planets are going anywhere anytime soon.
Space exploration is useless if we cant ecnomicaly launch to orbit. Once a space plane becomes reality costs for all missions are going to come down drasticaly.
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
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Don't you know that, over here lad, they like it best like this!
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evilcat4000 wrote:Space exploration is useless if we cant ecnomicaly launch to orbit. Once a space plane becomes reality costs for all missions are going to come down drasticaly.
The problem, however, is that spaceplanes are inherently more costly. They have horrible reentry systems, and a spaceplane does not jettison it's fuel tanks meaning that what fuel you do have will have to be able to push the entire fuel mass and ship into space. Staging reduces the costs of development, reduces the ship mass, and reduces the amount of fuel needed. I suspect the cost of a small tank is significantly less than the extra necessary fuel systems, and fuel, and potential dangers that come from using a spaceplane instead of a capsule design.
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Even if the whole "planetary explorers" stuff is just a waste of money, sending a probe to Mercury isn't any weirder than sending one to Mars or Jupiter.
