Friday, October 31st, 2008

Mercury Flyby Results

Image of Mercury captured by MESSENGER on the probe's second approach. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Instituti

This week NASA released data from a recent close flyby of the planet Mercury, including stunning new pictures. The encounter, on Oct. 6, was part of a gravity-assist maneuver aimed at keeping the spacecraft on track for its orbit insertion around the planet three years from now. We'll talk with one of the researchers on the MESSENGER mission about what they found during the flyby, and what's in store for the rest of the mission.

Guests

Sean Solomon
Principal Investigator, Messenger Science Team
Director, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Washington, DC

Related Links

• NASA MESSENGER mission

Segment produced by:Annette Heist

Friday, October 31st, 2008

• The Secret of The Mummy's DNA
• Stem Cell Research and the Election
• Mercury Flyby Results
• Bat Crisis Update
• Vampire Bats and Other Blood-Suckers
• Beautiful Science

Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com

Explore More

• Planets
• Planetary and Earth Sciences
• Spaceflight