MESSENGER's Venus Flyby: An Overview of Early Results

Details MESSENGER's Venus Flyby: An Overview of Early Results MESSENGER's Venus Flyby: An Overview of Early Results

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p41b..02s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P41B-02

Physics

5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 5421 Interactions With Particles And Fields, 5435 Ionospheres (2459), 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6295 Venus

Scientific paper

The MESSENGER spacecraft flew by Venus on 5 June 2007 for a gravity assist to its subsequent encounters with Mercury. Closest approach was at 338 km altitude over 12°S, 165°E, near the boundary between the lowland plains of Rusalka Planitia and the rifted uplands of Aphrodite Terra. All of the MESSENGER instruments operated during the flyby. The camera system imaged the night side in near-infrared bands and obtained color and higher-resolution monochrome mosaics of both the approaching and departing hemispheres. The ultraviolet and visible spectrometer obtained profiles of atmospheric species on the day and night sides as well as observations of the exospheric tail on departure. The visible and infrared spectrograph made observations of the Venus dayside near closest approach to gather compositional information on the upper atmosphere and clouds, and the laser altimeter carried out passive radiometry at 1064 nm and attempted to range to one or more cloud decks for several minutes near closest approach. The gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers observed gamma-rays and neutrons from the Venus atmosphere, providing information for planning the upcoming Mercury flybys and for calibration from a source of known composition. That the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission was operating at the time of the flyby permitted the simultaneous observation of the planet from two independent spacecraft, a situation of particular value for characterization of the particle and field environment at Venus. MESSENGER's energetic particle and plasma spectrometer observed charged particle acceleration at the Venus bow shock and elsewhere, and the magnetometer provided measurements of the upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), bow shock signatures, and pick-up ion waves as a reference for energetic particle and plasma observations by both spacecraft. The encounter also enabled two-point measurements of IMF penetration into the Venus ionosphere, primary plasma boundaries, and the near-tail region.

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