MESSENGER Makes Its Debut in the Smithsonian Museum
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:15:31 -0700
MESSENGER Mission News
June 7, 2007
MESSENGER Makes Its Debut in the Smithsonian Museum
As part of the Venus 2 flyby activities this week, a 1:5 scale model
of
the MESSENGER spacecraft built by carpenters at the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., was hung
in
the Mercury exhibit in the Exploring the Planets Gallery of the
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C.
Artisans Ron Prietz, Sr., Bill Kulp, and Bob Harter, from APL's
Technical Services Department-along with supervisor Ted Hartka-were
there to see their handiwork displayed. Several members of the
MESSENGER
science and engineering teams were also in attendance, including
Principal Investigator Sean Solomon, from the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, and Project Scientist Ralph McNutt, Mission Operations
Manager Andy Calloway, and Missions Systems Engineer Eric Finnegan,
all
from APL.
NASM's Exploring the Planets Gallery was opened in 1979 to highlight
the
history and achievements of planetary exploration, both by Earth-based
observations and by spacecraft. This upgrade to the Mercury exhibit is
part of MESSENGER's Education and Public Outreach effort and is being
led by Tom Watters, a senior scientist at NASM and a MESSENGER
Participating Scientist. MESSENGER Co-Investigator Mark Robinson, at
Arizona State University, made available for the exhibit scores of
Mercury photographs from Mariner 10.
"This is a work in progress, but especially if you have not visited
the
museum for a while, it is worth a stop if you are in Washington," says
McNutt. "As the MESSENGER mission progresses, the exhibit will be
upgraded to reflect the mission and new Mercury results; so watch this
space."
Pictures from the event are available in MESSENGER's photo gallery at
http://messenger/the_mission/pictures/pictures.html. Additional
information about NASM's Gallery is online at
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/ceps/etp/etpmap.htm .
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 August 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, leads the mission as principal
investigator.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and
operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages this Discovery-class
mission for NASA.
.
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