Messenger Launch to Orbit

Описание: MESSENGER's journey from launch on August 3, 2004, through Earth, Venus, and Mercury flybys, to Mercury arrival on March 18, 2011. Check out the relative motions of Earth, Venus, Mercury and the MESSENGER spacecraft trajectory, nearly 16 spacecraft orbits around the Sun, and the orbits of Earth, Venus and Mercury in the plane of Earth's orbit. Use the timeline at the bottom to track the spacecraft's progress from launch to Mercury orbit insertion. Credit: NASA/JHU/APL