NASA's hardest working probe has finally run out of fuel, and the MESSENGER will meet a tragic fate as it crashes into the planet Mercury on April 30. See the amazing photos this probe shared with us in its very extended lifespan.
MESSENGER (an acronym of MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) launched into space in August 2004 on a mission to study Mercury. After four years of traveling across 4.9 billion miles, MESSENGER finally flew by Mercury in January 2008. However, it would take two more years and two more flybys before the probe could slow itself down enough to enter into Mercury's orbit in March 2011.
But MESSENGER proved to be a role model for NASA probes, successfully completing its yearlong mission to study the chemical composition, geology and magnetic field of the smallest planet in our solar system. It proved to do so well, its mission was extended twice.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of MESSENGER was the discovery of large amounts of ice water on Mercury's poles. This was highly unexpected by scientists since the planet is so close to the Sun, with surface temperatures reaching a vaporizing 800 degrees Fahrenheit in daylight. However, because Mercury has such a small axis tilt, the craters near the poles have never have been exposed to the sunlight, and its water still survives.
President Obama awarded MESSENGER's Principal Investigator Sean Solomon with the National Medal of Science, the nation's top scientific honor, on Nov. 20, 2014.
NASA hopes to crash MESSENGER into Mercury a few hours early so it can receive photos throughout the probe's final moments before it impacts on the surface. When it does, the 1,000-pound probe will create a crater 52 feet in diameter.
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