nasa spacecraft crashes on mercury
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

After 11-year mission

NASA spacecraft crashes on Mercury

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today NASA spacecraft crashes on Mercury

Surface of Mercury
Miami - Arab Today

An unmanned NASA spacecraft has crashed on the surface of the planet Mercury, after it ran out of fuel following a successful 11-year mission, the US space agency said Thursday.

The MESSENGER probe -- short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging -- was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, and issued a final farewell on Twitter shortly before its demise at 3:26 pm (1926 GMT).

"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye to all my friends, family, support team. I will be making my final impact very soon."

Shortly after, the official @MESSENGER2011 Twitter account posted another image of Mercury's surface, with the caption: "MESSENGER's LAST ACT? THAT'S SMASHING!"

The image was not of Mercury's fall. NASA has said previously that there could be no real-time pictures of the impact, which would take place on the side of the planet facing away from the Earth.

But the US space agency confirmed that the probe had indeed crash-landed.

"A NASA planetary exploration mission came to a planned, but nonetheless dramatic, end Thursday when it slammed into Mercury's surface at about 8,750 miles per hour (3.91 kilometers per second) and created a new crater on the planet's surface," the agency said in a statement.

The spacecraft itself was just about three meters long.

The crater it would cause was expected to be 16 meters (52 feet) in diameter, NASA said.

The mission, which launched in 2004, had achieved "unprecedented success," with its top discovery being that Mercury had lots of frozen water and other volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters on the planet closest to the Sun, the US space agency said.

"Going out with a bang as it impacts the surface of Mercury, we are celebrating MESSENGER as more than a successful mission," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

"The MESSENGER mission will continue to provide scientists with a bonanza of new results as we begin the next phase of this mission -- analyzing the exciting data already in the archives, and unravelling the mysteries of Mercury."
Source: AFP

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

nasa spacecraft crashes on mercury nasa spacecraft crashes on mercury

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

nasa spacecraft crashes on mercury nasa spacecraft crashes on mercury

 



GMT 05:03 2017 Saturday ,21 October

EMPC denies transfer to new administrative capital

GMT 10:50 2014 Friday ,07 November

UAE Fables and Folklore

GMT 12:10 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Poachers kill rare giant elephant in Kenya

GMT 00:31 2016 Thursday ,08 December

Kuwaiti-European group considers investing $1bn

GMT 12:31 2017 Thursday ,06 April

At 73, Barry Manilow comes out of closet

GMT 18:34 2017 Friday ,10 February

Malabar Gold to open 11th Saudi showroom in Jubail

GMT 16:18 2017 Monday ,02 October

Saudi university to open driving school for women

GMT 16:20 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

French parliament adopts tough anti-terror bill

GMT 02:18 2017 Tuesday ,03 October

Egypt's Sisi says spoke to Donald Trump by telephone
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday