Mercury Flyby

Uncategorized October 7, 2008

On Monday, Oct 6, MESSENGER made it’s second pass around Mercury. The spacecraft doesn’t have enough fuel to just pull up to the planet Star Trek style, so it has to make a series of looping passes, shedding a little velocity and angular momentum each time. But it wasn’t all navigational changes; MESSENGER took the opportunity to take a few more pictures as it flew past. Details are at the official web site.

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