Messenger
NASA space mission
General Knowledge
The Messenger was invented to map the surface makeup, study the Magnetic field and midland structure of our solar system's smallest and innermost planet Murcury.
On March the 18th 2011 , messenger became the 1st spacecraft to orbit Mercury. During serial flybuys that edged it closer to orbit insertion, the spacecraft exposed ore of Mercury than has ever been seen before. Images and data reveal Mercury as a singular geologically diverse world with a magnetosphere.
Messenger orbital images have revealed volcanic vents measuring up to 25 km. that appear to have once been sources for large masses of blistering lava that, after eruption, carved vallys and created teardrop-shaped ridges in the underlying terrain.
The space craft also found Mercury has an circumstantially complex internal construction.
Date of Descoveries
The mission began on April 4th 2011 and th primary mission was completed on March 17th 2012. The year-long extended mission was completed on March 17th 2013.
Technology Used
Messenger carries eight tools to study Mercury's polar deposits, core and magnetic dynamo, crust and mantle, agnetosphere, crustal composition, geologic evolution. The tools include a solar panel, MASCS, GRINS, XRS, MLA, MAG, MDIS AND EPPS
Contribution Made to Modern Learning
Messenger solved the decades-old question of whether there are are volcanic lodges on the planet's surface.