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{{Short description|NASA mission to Mercury}} {{Redirect|Mercury Messenger|the 2003 concept car|Mercury Messenger (concept car)|other uses|Messenger (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox spaceflight | name = ''MESSENGER'' | image = MESSENGER - spacecraft at mercury - atmercury lg.jpg | image_caption = Artist's rendering of ''MESSENGER'' orbiting Mercury | insignia = MESSENGER mission emblem.png | mission_type = [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] orbiter | operator = [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] | website = {{url|http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/}} | COSPAR_ID = 2004-030A | SATCAT = 28391 | mission_duration = {{ubli | '''Total''': 10 years, 8 months and 27 days | '''At Mercury''': 4 years, 1 month and 14 days | '''En route''': 7 years | '''Primary mission''': 1 year | '''First extension''': 1 year<ref name=Extended2013>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/11/15/NASA-extends-spacecrafts-Mercury-mission/UPI-55131321408343/|title=NASA extends spacecraft's Mercury mission|publisher=UPI|date=November 15, 2011|access-date=December 20, 2012}}</ref><ref name=ExMissionCompleted2013/> | '''Second extension''': 2 years<ref name="Wu 2015">{{cite news |last=Wu |first=Brian |url=http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/5077/20150330/nasa-set-extend-mercury-mission-another-month.htm |title=NASA Set to Extend Mercury Mission for Another Month |work=Johns Hopkins University APL |publisher=The Science Times |date=April 3, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Extension 2015">{{cite press release |url=https://spaceref.com/science-and-exploration/messengers-operations-at-mercury-extended/ |title=MESSENGER's Operations at Mercury Extended |publisher=[[Applied Physics Laboratory]] |via=SpaceRef |editor-last=Cowing |editor-first=Keith |date=April 3, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240125212816/https://spaceref.com/science-and-exploration/messengers-operations-at-mercury-extended/ |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> }} | spacecraft_type = | manufacturer = [[Applied Physics Laboratory]] | dry_mass = | launch_mass = {{cvt|1107.9|kg}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/messenger/in-depth/ |title=MESSENGER |publisher=NASA's Solar System Exploration website |access-date=December 1, 2022}}</ref> | power = 450 watts | launch_date = {{start-date|August 3, 2004, 06:15:56|timezone=yes}} UTC | launch_rocket = [[Delta II]] 7925H-9.5 | launch_site = [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]], [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17|SLC-17B]] | launch_contractor = | entered_service = April 4, 2011 | disposal_type = Crashed into Mercury | destroyed = April 30, 2015, 19:26 UTC<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/1060/beyond-earth-a-chronicle-of-deep-space-exploration|title=Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration|website=NASA Solar System Exploration}}</ref> | orbit_epoch = January 1, 2000<ref name=Domingue>{{cite book |editor1-first=D.L. |editor1-last=Domingue |editor2-first=C.T. |editor2-last=Russell |title=Messenger mission to Mercury |date=2007 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=9780387772141| pages=225β245| edition=1st}}</ref> | orbit_reference = [[hermiocentric orbit|Hermiocentric]] | orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|200|km}} | orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|10300|km}} | orbit_inclination = 80Β° | orbit_period = 12 hours | apsis = hermion | interplanetary = {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |note = gravity assist |object = [[Earth]] |distance = {{cvt|2347|km}} |arrival_date = August 2, 2005 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |note = gravity assist |object = [[Venus]] |distance = {{cvt|2990|km}} |arrival_date = October 24, 2006 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |note = gravity assist |object = [[Venus]] |distance = {{cvt|337|km}} |arrival_date = June 5, 2007 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |object = [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] |distance = {{cvt|200|km}} |arrival_date = January 14, 2008 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |object = [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] |distance = {{cvt|200|km}} |arrival_date = October 6, 2008 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = flyby |object = [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] |distance = {{cvt|228|km}} |arrival_date = September 29, 2009 }} {{Infobox spaceflight/IP |type = orbiter |object = [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] |orbits = |arrival_date = March 18, 2011, 01:00 UTC<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/messenger_chat.html | title = NASA Chats β MESSENGER Prepares to Orbit Mercury | access-date = March 18, 2011 | first1 = Jimmy | last1= Lee | first2 = Mike | last2= Galuska | date = March 18, 2011 | publisher = NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607054204/http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/messenger_chat.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref> }} | programme = '''[[Discovery Program]]''' | previous_mission = ''[[CONTOUR]]'' | next_mission = ''[[Deep Impact (spacecraft)|Deep Impact]]'' }} '''''MESSENGER''''' was a [[NASA]] [[Space probe|robotic space probe]] that orbited the planet [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, [[Geology of Mercury|geology]], and [[Mercury's magnetic field|magnetic field]].<ref name=CircleMerc>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/03/17/science/AP-US-SCI-Mercury.html?ref=science | work= The New York Times | title=NASA Spacecraft Circling Mercury | date=March 17, 2011|access-date=July 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Wendel |first=J. |title=Mercury's secrets revealed by soon-to-crash spacecraft |journal=Eos |volume=96 | doi=10.1029/2015EO029165 | date=April 2015 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The name is a [[backronym]] for ''Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging'', and a reference to the messenger god [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] from [[Roman mythology]]. ''MESSENGER'' was launched aboard a [[Delta II]] rocket in August 2004. Its path involved a complex series of [[gravity assist|flyby]]s β the spacecraft flew by [[Earth]] once, [[Venus]] twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel. During its first flyby of Mercury in January 2008, ''MESSENGER'' became the second mission, after [[Mariner 10]] in 1975, to reach Mercury.<ref name="jhuapl1">{{cite press release|url=http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=115 |title=Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with Mercury |date=January 14, 2008 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University |access-date=May 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513080731/http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=115 |archive-date=May 13, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="jhuapl2">{{cite press release | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=96 | title= Critical Deep-Space Maneuver Targets MESSENGER for Its Second Mercury Encounter | date= March 19, 2008 | publisher= Johns Hopkins University | access-date= April 20, 2010 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130513075754/http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=96 | archive-date= May 13, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="jhuapl3">{{cite press release | url= http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=116 | title= Deep-Space Maneuver Positions MESSENGER for Third Mercury Encounter | date= December 4, 2008 | publisher= Johns Hopkins University | access-date= April 20, 2010 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130513080326/http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=116 | archive-date= May 13, 2013 }}</ref> ''MESSENGER'' entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so.<ref name=CircleMerc/> It successfully completed its primary mission in 2012.<ref name=ExMissionCompleted2013/> Following two mission extensions, the spacecraft used the last of its maneuvering propellant to deorbit, impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.<ref name="NYT-20150430">{{cite news |last=Corum |first=Jonathan |title=Messenger's Collision Course With Mercury |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/30/science/space/messenger-collides-with-mercury.html |date=April 30, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 30, 2015 }}</ref>
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