MESSENGER post flyby update

Yesterday at 19:04 UTC MESSENGER skimmed 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface of Mercury in the first of three flybys of the planet. Initial indications from the radio signals indicate the spacecraft is still operating nominally.

The first science data return from the flyby was received yesterday, just minutes before the closest approach point with the planet, as planned.
"The engineers and operators at the Deep Space Network (DSN) in Goldstone, Calif., in conjunction with engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., pulled off a tremendous feat, acquiring and locking onto the downlink signal from the spacecraft within seconds, providing the necessary Doppler measurements for the Radio Science team" said MESSENGER Mission Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan, of APL."

The spacecraft is continuing to collect imagery and other scientific measurements from the planet as we now depart Mercury from the illuminated side, documenting for the first time the previously unseen surface of the planet."

Today the spacecraft will turn back towards the Earth to start down-linking the on-board stored data. Measurements of this Doppler signal from the spacecraft will allow improve knowledge of Mercury's gravity field.

Source: JHU/APL
	More on • MESSENGER • Mercury