MESSENGER

MESSENGER is no longer on orbit
MESSENGER is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 28391

Int'l Code: 2004-030A

Launch date: August 3, 2004
Source: United States (US)
Launch site: AIR FORCE EASTERN TEST RANGE (AFETR)
Decay date: 2015-04-30

The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission was designed to study the characteristics and environment of Mercury from orbit. Specifically, the scientific objectives of the mission are to characterize the chemical composition of Mercury's surface, the geologic history, the nature of the magnetic field, the size and state of the core, the volatile inventory at the poles, and the nature of Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere over a nominal orbital mission of one Earth year. The Messenger space probe crashed into Mercury on April 30, 2015 after running out of fuel, ending a nearly 11-year journey that provided valuable data and thousands of photos.