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Press Release
Apr 4, 2011MESSENGER Kicks Off Yearlong Campaign of Mercury Science
The spacecraft will fly around Mercury 700 times over the next 12 months, and its instruments will perform the first complete reconnaissance of the cratered planet’s geochemistry, geophysics, geological history, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and plasma environment. -
Press Release
Mar 29, 2011MESSENGER Sends Back First Image of Mercury from Orbit
MESSENGER has delivered its first image since entering orbit about Mercury on March 17. It was taken today at 5:20 am EDT by the Mercury Dual Imaging System as the spacecraft sailed high above Mercury’s south pole, and provides a glimpse of portions of Mercury’s surface not previously seen by spacecraft. -
Press Release
Mar 28, 2011NASA to Release MESSENGER’s First Orbital Images Of Mercury
NASA will release the first orbital image of Mercury's surface, including previously unseen terrain, on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. -
Press Release
Mar 22, 2011Johns Hopkins University Names APL’s Sommerer as Inaugural Gilman Scholar
John Sommerer, head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., has been named one of the inaugural Gilman Scholars by university President Ronald J. Daniels and Provost Lloyd B. Minor. -
Press Release
Mar 21, 2011Spacecraft Data Confirm MESSENGER Orbit and Operation
Data from its first three days in orbit about Mercury have confirmed the initial assessment of the spacecraft team that MESSENGER is in its intended orbit and operating nominally. -
Press Release
Mar 17, 2011MESSENGER Begins Historic Orbit around Mercury
At 9:10 p.m. EDT, engieers in the MESSENGER Mission Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., received the anticipated radiometric signals confirming nominal burn shutdown and successful insertion of the MESSENGER probe into orbit around the planet Mercury. -
Press Release
Mar 17, 2011Cassini Sees Seasonal Rains Transform Titan’s Surface
As spring continues to unfold at Saturn, April showers on the planet’s largest moon, Titan, have brought methane rain to its equatorial deserts, as revealed in images captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This is the first time scientists have obtained current evidence of rain soaking Titan’s surface at low latitudes. -
Press Release
Mar 16, 2011MESSENGER On Autopilot for Orbit Insertion
MESSENGER is now on autopilot, faithfully executing a detailed set of instructions required to achieve its historic rendezvous with Mercury tomorrow night. -
Press Release
Mar 15, 2011MESSENGER Primed for Mercury Orbit
After more than a dozen laps through the inner solar system and six planetary flybys, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will move into orbit around Mercury on at around 9 p.m. EDT on March 17, 2011. The durable spacecraft — carrying seven science instruments and fortified against the blistering environs near the Sun — will be the first to orbit the innermost planet. -
Press Release
Mar 10, 2011NASA Media Telecon Previews First Spacecraft to Orbit Mercury
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 15, to discuss the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.