The event takes place 77 million kilometers from Earth and must occur at a speed higher than 14,000 Km / h. It will cause a crater about 15 meters in diameter. The end of the mission comes after the probe has depleted fuel reserves, after a journey that included 15 trips around the sun, a passage by Earth, two of Venus and three of Mercury, the main target of the mission.
Launched on August 3, 2004, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the Messenger – acronym for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging – was the first spacecraft to go into orbit the planet Mercury. The satellite about 485 kg was released with the help of Delta II rocket.
In the orbit of Mercury, the Messenger gathered data to study the chemistry, geology, magnetic field, the size and state of Mercury’s core. The mission was also part of the objective of determining the volatility of the poles, perceive the nature of the magnetic field and study the nature of the planet’s exosphere.
In October 2004, two months after it was launched, the probe sent the sharpest images collected from the surface of Earth to date.
In this video provided by NASA to retrieve some of the most interesting pictures of the mission, which should officially end on Friday around 20:30.
Written under the new Spelling Agreement
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