Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p51a0895p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P51A-0895
Other
5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 6235 Mercury, 6250 Moon (1221), 6297 Instruments And Techniques, 6299 General Or Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
The MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on 3 August 2004. It returned to Earth for a gravity assist on 2 August 2005, providing an exceptional opportunity for the Science Team to perform instrument calibrations and to test some of the data acquisition sequences that will be used to meet Mercury science goals. The Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), one of seven science instruments on MESSENGER, consists of a wide-angle and a narrow-angle imager that together can map landforms, track variations in surface color, and carry out stereogrammetry. The two imagers are mounted on a pivot platform that enables the instrument to point in a different direction from the spacecraft boresight, allowing great flexibility and increased imaging coverage. During the week prior to the closest approach to Earth, MDIS acquired a number of images of the Moon for radiometric calibration and to test optical navigation sequences that will be used to target planetary flybys. Twenty-four hours before closest approach, images of the Earth were acquired with 11 filters of the wide-angle camera. After MDIS flew over the nightside of the Earth, additional color images centered on South America were obtained at sufficiently high resolution to discriminate small-scale features such as the Amazon River and Lake Titicaca. During its departure from Earth, MDIS acquired a sequence of images taken in three filters every 4 minutes over a period of 24 hours. These images have been assembled into a movie of a crescent Earth that begins as South America slides across the terminator into darkness and continues for one full Earth rotation. This movie and the other images have provided a successful test of the sequences that will be used during the MESSENGER Mercury flybys in 2008 and 2009 and have demonstrated the high quality of the MDIS wide-angle camera.
Hawkins Eduard S.
Murchie Scott L.
Prockter Louise M.
Robinson Mark S.
Shelton Richard G.
No associations
LandOfFree
The MESSENGER Earth Flyby: Results from the Mercury Dual Imaging System does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The MESSENGER Earth Flyby: Results from the Mercury Dual Imaging System, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The MESSENGER Earth Flyby: Results from the Mercury Dual Imaging System will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-750501