Aerojet propulsion system has propelled NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft past Mercury on its historic first of three visits, preceding a planned orbital insertion in 2011.
Spacecraft controllers used this encounter -- accomplished on Jan. 14, 2008 -- to obtain a gravity assist, which together with the flybys will set up the propulsion system burn that will put MESSENGER into orbit around the closest planet to the sun. The spacecraft observed the surface of Mercury during this flyby encounter and imaged a large portion of Mercury's surface that has never before been seen by spacecraft until this month. Many of those images were released for the first time at a NASA press conference today. Aerojet's propulsion system was fired previously to align MESSENGER for this precise maneuver.The seventh in NASA's Discovery series, the MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Aug. 3, 2004 aboard a Boeing Delta II. Aerojet has provided propulsion for all 10 Discovery missions to date. 'With a propulsion system on MESSENGER in-bound toward Mercury and another on New Horizons out-bound toward Pluto, we are proud to be part of this historic moment,' said Aerojet President Scott Neish. Aerojet was awarded the MESSENGER propulsion contract in March 2000 by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which manages the mission. NASA provided funding for the program under its Discovery Program series in January 2000. |
