Today, MESSENGER will experience its closest approach to Mercury, passing just 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the planet’s surface. MESSENGER will begin to transmit the new data to Earth once all of the scientific measurements are completed, about 22 hours after the spacecraft’s closest approach to Mercury. These flyby data will shed light on fundamental scientific questions related to the formation and evolution of the planet Mercury. As scientists analyze the data, the MESSENGER spacecraft will continue on its planned journey, which includes two more encounters of Mercury in October 2008 and September 2009, before entering an orbit around Mercury in March 2011. Amptek is proud to be part of this mission by supplying hybrid preamplifiers, shaping amplifiers, and other front-end electronics.
Photo of Mercury taken by MESSENGER on 1/13/08 on its first approach to the planet.
MESSENGER home page.