NASA's Messenger Probe Departs for Mercury

Posted on: Aug. 3rd, 2004 || Source: nytimes.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA’s Messenger spacecraft streaked into a clear sky early today, beginning a 5 billion-mile journey to Mercury.

Liftoff aboard a Delta 2 rocket came at 2:16 a.m. EDT and after a 24-hour weather delay. The bright flame lit up the sky already illuminated by the moon and reflected off the Atlantic Ocean.

Once Messenger arrives in orbit around the planet in 2011, its battery of seven instruments will study Mercury’s heavily cratered surface, the composition of its core, its thin atmosphere, and its magnetic field. The total cost of the mission is $427 million.

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