Week in Geek: MESSENGER end of message edition

This past Thursday, NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft completed it mission at Mercury and impacted the surface around 3:30pm EDT. MESSENGER was originally launched in 2004, arriving at Mercury in 2011 after taking a winding path through the inner Solar System. The spacecraft achieved its primary science objectives in March of 2012, but its mission was subsequently extended twice as the spacecraft remained functional and scientists couldn’t help but want to know more about the closest rock to the Sun.

#thatsmessenger pic.twitter.com/NPK4zqtNPM

— MESSENGER (@MESSENGER2011) April 30, 2015

MESSENGER helped solve a lot of mysteries about Mercury’s surface features, internal structure, water content, and magnetosphere. Principal Investigator and Director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Sean Solomon, has this to say:

“Today we bid a fond farewell to one of the most resilient and accomplished spacecraft ever to have explored our neighboring planets. Our craft set a record for planetary flybys, spent more than four years in orbit about the planet closest to the Sun, and survived both punishing heat and extreme doses of radiation. Among its other achievements, MESSENGER determined Mercury’s surface composition, revealed its geological history, discovered that its internal magnetic field is offset from the planet’s center, taught us about Mercury’s unusual internal structure, followed the chemical inventory of its exosphere with season and time of day, discovered novel aspects of its extraordinarily active magnetosphere, and verified that its polar deposits are dominantly water ice. A resourceful and committed team of engineers, mission operators, scientists, and managers can be extremely proud that the MESSENGER mission has surpassed all expectations and delivered a stunningly long list of discoveries that have changed our views not only of one of Earth’s sibling planets but of the entire inner solar system.”

Here’s some more smashing geek from the week:

Recommended

MS NOW Opinion

We don’t need nuclear reactors on the moon

Joseph Cirincione

Maddowblog

Resignations and a ‘dissent’ letter suggest Trump has put NASA’s future in doubt

Steve Benen

• The bombardier beetle can create over 500 explosions per second in its own body to fire at predators.
• A new frog species was discovered in Costa Rica and it looks EXACTLY like Kermit the Frog.
• Scientists in China have finally classified a new bird species first hinted at in 1987: the Sichuan bush warbler. [AUDIO]
• Want to know what bacteria and fungi you are breathing in right this second? There’s an atlas for that.
• Everyone’s favorite Centre for Interdisciplinary Science looks into whether Middle Earth has a higher oxygen content to allow for the great endurance of its heroes.
• Next time you get a song stuck in your head, try chewing gum BECAUSE SCIENCE.
• The neuroscience of teenagers’ brains.
• The latest images from New Horizons on its way to Pluto suggest the presence of a polar ice cap.
• Astronomers have determined why the Sun’s corona is so much hotter than the effective temperature of the star: nanoflares releasing the energy of a million H-bombs per second.
• Two guys from Essex, UK launched a model X-Wing fighter and a GoPro camera into the upper atmosphere. This is the result. [VIDEO]

Keep on geeking!

@Summer_Ash, In-house Astrophysicist