07-August-2006, 05:24 AM
|
 |
Vulcan Administrator
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Posts: 26,030
|
|
Happy Anniversary, MESSENGER!
Quote:
Today marks the second anniversary of MESSENGER's launch. "It's still more than four and a half years to Mercury Orbit Insertion in March 2011, and there are many milestones between now and then," says Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, who leads the mission as principal investigator. "But it's worth pausing for a few moments today to appreciate how far we've come."
And just how far has the spacecraft traveled since its Aug. 3, 2004, launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.? Nearly 1.2 billion miles. MESSENGER's computers have executed 180,271 commands since liftoff, a time interval that includes seven major trajectory correction maneuvers.
|
Launch plus 2 years and still less than a third of the way enroute.
__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
|