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Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper
Explanation:
Streaking
into the early morning sky on August 3rd, a
Delta II rocket launches NASA's
Messenger
spacecraft on an interplanetary voyage to
Mercury.
Scheduled to become the first probe to orbit Mercury, Messenger
will begin by
looping through the inner Solar System in a
series of close flybys of planet Earth and Venus.
The flybys are designed as trajectory changing
gravity
assist encounters to ultimately achieve the goal of orbiting
Mercury in 2011.
Prior to entering orbit, Messenger will also flyby Mercury
in 2008 and 2009 as the first spacecraft to visit
the Solar System's innermost planet since
Mariner 10 in the
mid 1970s.
This dramatic view
of the Messenger launch was recorded from
a pier in Jetty Park at the north end of Cocoa Beach
about 2.5 miles from the
Cape
Canaveral launch site.
So what's that erratic blue streak on the right?
It's the reflection from a camera
blurred in the time exposure.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spacecraft - Mercury - launch
Publications with words: spacecraft - Mercury - launch
See also: