VIDEO: NASA’s "MESSENGER" Probe, is Crashing into Mercury

In April 30, NASA’s "MESSENGER" Spacecraft Smacked into the Surface of Mercury, thus Ending its 11-Year Mission. It Sounds like a Disaster but, this is Always the Way it was Supposed to Go Down. "MESSENGER" (which Carries the Official Name, "MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging") has been Studying Mercury Up Close since 2008 and the Mission has Now Come to an End. Gives New Meaning to “Kill the Messenger”, eh ? NASA has a Cute Euphemism for What’s about to Happen — they Call it Lithobraking. That Means "Messenger" will Impact the Surface of Mercury at a Steep Angle Going Several Thousand Miles per Hour. Whatever is Left of it, will Skid to a Stop but, it’ll Most Likely be in Tiny Pieces. Lithobraking Can also Refer to a More Controlled Landing that Crafts are Intended to Survive but, Not this Time. Mercury Doesn’t Have an Atmosphere so, "MESSENGER" Won’t Slow Down or Heat Up before it “Lands”.


NASA Calculates the Impact Crater from "Messenger’s" Initial Touchdown will be about 52 Feet in Diameter — just Another Crater in Mercury’s already Impressive Collection. The Actual Impact is Expected to Happen at about 3:30 P.M. ET and the Slooh Observatory has a Live Stream Up to Talk about the Event and Take a Look at Mercury as it Happens. The Original Mission was Expected to End Several Years Ago but, Flight Engineers Managed to Keep "MESSENGER" Alive More than 4 Times Longer than the Original Design Spec Stated. That’s All Thanks to the Economical Use of Fuel. It’s Not Easy to Keep an Object in Orbit of Mercury because, it’s so Close to the Sun. It’s the Sun’s Gravity that is actually Pulling "MESSENGER" Out of Orbit. The Only Thing that Kept it Aloft All these Years is, the Occasional Boost from the Maneuvering Thrusters, which are Now Exhausted.


During its Time in Orbit of Mercury, "MESSENGER" has Made a Number of Fascinating Discoveries and Snapped More than 255,000 Images of the Planet’s Pockmarked Surface (that’s 10 Terabytes of Data). It Produced the 1st Usable Maps of the Planet and Provided Evidence for Water on its Surface, despite the Scorching Temperatures. It also Found Evidence of Organic Compounds and Volcanic Activity on Mercury. "MESSENGER" was the 1st Spacecraft Ever to Orbit Mercury — Mariner 10 Only did a Flyby Several Decades Ago — and it was a Smashing Success. The Probe will Meet its End on the Surface of Mercury but, the Data will Live on and Help NASA Plan Future Missions to the Innermost Planet of our Solar System. Maybe we’ll Even Manage a Landing on Mercury Now that, we Know More about the Surface. Hopefully such a Mission will Involve the Gentler Kind of Lithobraking.




Info Sources:

http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/the-end-of-the-mercury-messenger-spacecraft

https://youtu.be/ENwD31EDFjc