Space probe blasts off to Mercury
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 7:54 pm
The Mercury Messenger probe has launched successfully on its mission to carry out a detailed investigation of the first planet from the Sun.
The spacecraft blasted off just before 0616 GMT on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket for a seven-year journey.
It is the first US mission to Mercury for more than 30 years. After arriving in 2011, the probe will orbit Mercury for a year to explore its atmosphere, composition and structure. The probe will gather information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geological history, polar regions, atmosphere and magnetic environment as well as the make-up of its core.
Scientists hope the $427m mission will help solve some of the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic world. Mercury is probably the least explored of the so-called rocky planets that also include Venus, Earth and Mars. In 1973, Nasa launched the Mariner 10 spacecraft which flew by the planet three times, but was only able to photograph 45% of its surface.
Astronomers already know that Mercury - which has a comparable density to Earth even though it is much smaller - is about two-thirds iron. But why it became so much richer in this metal than the other inner planets is unknown. Mercury is also the only inner planet besides Earth with a global magnetic field. Scientists hope to learn how this formed. One of the most intriguing mysteries about Mercury, however, is the apparent presence of ice on its surface.
On a planet where surface temperatures at the equator can reach 450C (about 840F), any ice must stay out of the Sun, inside the shadowy interior of craters at the poles. Radio telescopes on Earth have detected the signature of ice in craters at some shaded, high latitude regions, where the temperature could remain below -184C (-300F). But some scientists caution that the "ice" could actually be super-frozen silica or something else.
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:749, old post ID:7711
The spacecraft blasted off just before 0616 GMT on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket for a seven-year journey.
It is the first US mission to Mercury for more than 30 years. After arriving in 2011, the probe will orbit Mercury for a year to explore its atmosphere, composition and structure. The probe will gather information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geological history, polar regions, atmosphere and magnetic environment as well as the make-up of its core.
Scientists hope the $427m mission will help solve some of the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic world. Mercury is probably the least explored of the so-called rocky planets that also include Venus, Earth and Mars. In 1973, Nasa launched the Mariner 10 spacecraft which flew by the planet three times, but was only able to photograph 45% of its surface.
Astronomers already know that Mercury - which has a comparable density to Earth even though it is much smaller - is about two-thirds iron. But why it became so much richer in this metal than the other inner planets is unknown. Mercury is also the only inner planet besides Earth with a global magnetic field. Scientists hope to learn how this formed. One of the most intriguing mysteries about Mercury, however, is the apparent presence of ice on its surface.
On a planet where surface temperatures at the equator can reach 450C (about 840F), any ice must stay out of the Sun, inside the shadowy interior of craters at the poles. Radio telescopes on Earth have detected the signature of ice in craters at some shaded, high latitude regions, where the temperature could remain below -184C (-300F). But some scientists caution that the "ice" could actually be super-frozen silica or something else.
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:749, old post ID:7711