Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.5701d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #57.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.588
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, launched on 3 August 2004, is well into its voyage of discovery. The mission, spacecraft, and payload are designed to answer six fundamental questions regarding the innermost planet, thus initiating a new era in our understanding of the terrestrial planets; (1) Why is Mercury so dense? (2) What is Mercury's geologic history? (3) What are the nature and origin of Mercury's magnetic field? (4) What is the structure of Mercury's core? (5) What are the unusual materials at the poles? (6) What volatiles are important at Mercury? The answers to these questions are all pieces of an interconnecting puzzle that will expand our understanding of the formation and evolution of the terrestrial planets as a group. The mission, currently in its cruise phase, has been focused on commissioning the spacecraft and science payload in addition to planning for flyby and orbital operations. The second Venus flyby (June 2007) will complete final rehearsals for the Mercury flyby operations (January and October 2008 and September 2009). The flybys will be used to image the hemisphere of the planet not seen by Mariner 10 and to obtain high-resolution spectral observations with which to map surface mineralogy and assay the exosphere. The orbital phase (beginning in March 2011) is a one-year-long, near-polar-orbital observational campaign. The orbital phase will complete gloal imaging, yield detailed surface compositional and topographic data over the northern hemisphere, determine the geometry of Mercury's internal magnetic field, and inventory exospheric neutrals and magnetospheric charged particle species.
Domingue Deborah
Gold Robert E.
Grant David G.
Leary James C.
McNutt Ralph L.
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