Mercury: New views from MESSENGER
Date: Wed. January 21st, 2015, 11:00 am-1:00 pmLocation: Sears 552
Mercury: New views from MESSENGER
Steve Hauck, Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, CWRU
More than 35 years after Mariner 10 made its third and final flyby of the planet Mercury MESSENGER (short for MErcury, Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet in March of 2011. Among the primary goals of the MESSENGER mission are to map its surface, determine the composition of the planet and its exosphere, and to constrain the structure of its interior and the nature of the planetary magnetic field. We will discuss highlights of some of MESSENGER’s major discoveries and talk about the upcoming end of the mission.