Following has just been posted on the FPspace list , links to some spectacular images from Messenger taken during the fly by. Interestingly , if you scroll to a time of 235951 you'll see a small object pop up......probably a hot pixel bearing in mind the spacecraft was about 60,000 miles out at the time.....however its nearness to Earth shadow could just suggest its a satellite . John >MESSENGER Mission News >August 24, 2005 >http://messenger.jhuapl.edu > > _____ > > >MESSENGER Mission News > > > >August 26, 2005 > > > >Movie Headlines MESSENGER Earth Flyby Gallery > > > >The pictures from MESSENGER's Aug. 2 flyby of Earth are in - and they >are spectacular! The collection includes ><http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_twins.html> "natural" >color and infrared views of North and South America; a peek at the ><http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_galapagos.html> Galapagos >Islands through a break in the clouds; and a ><http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/flyby_movie.html> movie of the >rotating Earth, taken as MESSENGER sped away from its home planet. > > > >The close flyby of the Earth and Moon allowed the MESSENGER spacecraft >to give its two cameras, known as the Mercury Dual Imaging System >(MDIS), a thorough workout. The images were planned to enable scientists >to understand fully how the cameras are operating in flight in >comparison with test results obtained in the laboratory before launch. >Images were taken in full color and at different resolutions, and the >cameras passed their tests with flying colors. > >Not only are these images useful for carefully calibrating the imaging >system in preparation for the spacecraft's Mercury encounters, but they >have also shown a unique view of the Earth. Clear skies over much of >South America allow features such as the Amazon, the Andes and Lake >Titicaca to be discerned, as well as huge swaths of rain forest. > >One of the highlights of the returned images is a movie, comprised of >hundreds of color images taken over a 24-hour period, showing one full >rotation of the Earth. > > > >"We are thrilled with the images from the flyby, which have demonstrated >that MDIS is performing exactly as planned," said Louise Prockter, >MESSENGER's deputy instrument scientist, who planned the observations. >"The movie has brought home to me the contrast between our beautiful >ocean-covered, cloud-wreathed Earth and our destination planet Mercury - >a world on which lead would melt on the daytime surface near the equator >but one on which ice may be stable for eons on the shadowed floors of >polar craters. We have much to learn about a planet that, although one >of our nearest neighbors in the solar system, differs profoundly from >Earth in bulk composition and geologic history. The tests we carried out >during the Earth flyby show that our cameras are well up to the task of >unlocking many of Mercury's secrets." > > > >Click <http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.html> here to the view the >images, or visit the MESSENGER Web site at: ><http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.html> >http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.html. > > > > > _____ > > >MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and >Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet >Mercury, and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet >closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on Aug. 3, 2004, >and after flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury will start a yearlong study >of its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie >Institution of Washington <http://carnegieinstitution.org/> , leads the >mission as principal investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied >Physics <http://www.jhuapl.edu/> Laboratory built and operates the >MESSENGER spacecraft and manages the Discovery ><http://discovery.nasa.gov/> -class mission for NASA ><http://www.nasa.gov/> . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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