Juan
Rodriguez from Oviedo (Spain)
What researching will you do during the Venus flybies? |
Peter
from Basel Swiss
Messenger orbiting the Planet Mercury - Where is the Lander? |
Art
from Los Altos
What imaging and spectrographic instruments will be aboard the spacecraft, and
what data do you hope to gather, and what are you expecting to learn from this
information? |
Rich
from Elk Grove
How long will MESSENGER's science mission last, and what will happen to MESSENGER
when it is done with its mission? |
Dan
Sez from Dallas
What special equipment and strategies are used to protect the spacecraft from
much higher levels of solar radiations, CMEs and other solar specific threats? |
Juan
Fernandez from Barcelona (Spai
What is/are the OS that is governing the Messenger system/s? |
john
tate from yucca valley ca
What are the estimated temperatures way out there? |
Renato
from S Paulo Brazil
How close will be the Mercury fly-bys? What level of resolution can we expect
of the pictures taken during these fly-bys? |
vikram
from kurnool
What if during the fly-by, a solar flare occurs and is so strong that it interferes
with MESSENGER'S communications? Did you plan for this already? What's your interest
in studying Mercury?How can data be transferred without interruption if solar
bursts occur? |
Kenny
Keese from Dallas, TX
How will the gravity assist flight plan differ for MESSENGER, as opposed to other
deep space launches, since the spacecraft is ultimately traveling towards the
Sun? Can we expect MESSENGER to reach a higher traveling velocity than previous
flights and how will that affect the procedures of orbit insertion? |
Kenny
Keese from Dallas, TX
At the conclusion of MESSENGER's mission, what is the current plan for the spacecraft's
disposal? If it collides with another object will it exceed the record set by
the Galileo spacecraft for a manmade collision? |
Pawan
from Sharjah
Will MESSENGER be able to find out the contents in Mercury's core? What type
of materials and terrain are the scientists expecting to be found on the surface
of Mercury? |
Junichi
from Niihama-city
How will you protect MESSENGER from high energy solar winds and really high temperatures
and/or freezing cold temperatures? |
Junichi
from Niihama-city
Would MESSENGER be affected by the twisting of spacetime effects by the Sun? |
Junichi
from Niihama-city
With Mercury being so close to Sun, what is the most complex feature that had
to be designed to protect the MESSENGER spacecraft? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city,JP
What is the most significant difference between the previous Mariner 10 Mission
and the upcoming sophisticated MESSENGER? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city,JP
Will high-resolution pictures of Mercury bring us Mercury's geophysical composition
in details? |
Junichi
from Niihama-city
Some scientists say that Titan and Mars are the most important places to explore,
others say Mercury is a really important planet because it is so similar EARTH
in terms of the composition of materials of its surface. I wonder which would
bring us cutting edge results for us to know where Earth came from and where
Earth would go? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city
What is the most fascinating aspectof Mercury versus the other planets in terms
of solving the secrets of our Solar System? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city
What is the difference in the instruments and equipment of MESSENGER compared
to the Mariner 10 Mission? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city
What do you think most interests scientists about MERCURY in terms of the Solar
System Mechanism? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city,JP
What is the most advanced or cutting edge equipment of MESSENGER versus Mariner10? |
Junichi
MAKI from NIIHAMA-CITY
What will the advanced instruments on MESSENGER reveal about the surface MERCURY?
What is different from the Mariner10 mission in 1975 and the most distinguished
features of MESSENGER? |
Robert
from Tucson AZ
What is the Caloris Basin?,and why is this area of Mercury unique in our solar
system? Would this be a primary point of interest to MESSENGER? |
Robert
from Tucson AZ
There is a trace of an atmosphere on Mercury.What would that be composed of? |
Robert
from Tucson AZ
Can MESSENGER help explain why Mercury's axis is virtualy perpendicular to the
plain of the orbit? and what caused this to happen? |
Glenn
from Moscow
What exploration programs of Mercury surfaces will be carried out during this
mission? |
Raymond
from Portland OR
What are the criteria, in general, for choosing the orbital path, ie what information
gathered on the 3 fly-bys will influence your final decision. Also, what is the
range of possible orbits? polar? equitorial? stationary? |
David
from Barcelona
Why such a long journey? Is it because of low-cost constraints? Didn't Mariner
missions in the 60s arrive to Mercury in a few months? |
Matthew
from Big Lake
What science do you hope is obtained by MESSENGER? Do you hope to find out what
mercury is made out of? And why it is hot on one side and cold on the other side
of the planet? |
Joey
V. from Austin
How will MESSENGER be able to operate with the intense heat from the Sun? |
Bob
from Belvidere
Will MESSENGER be able to take pictures in color? |
Bob
from Belvidere
How does the sunshade get deployed and how close to the Sun when it needs to
be deployed? Also, does the sunshade move in relation to the spacecraft or does
the spacecraft itself have to keep orienting itself to keep the sunshade between
it and the Sun? |
Ashutosh
from Mumbai (India)
During this long journey of 7 years, are you going to do any science to study
the space between Sun and Earth? |
Ashutosh
from Mumbai (India)
As we are moving towards the Sun, will there be any impact of sun spots on MESSENGER
during this long journey of 7 years? |
Shawn
from Parison
Hi to all NASA experts... I heard about the landing of MESSENGER on Mercury's
pole!! Do you really believe that MESSENGER will arrive at Mercury as you intend,
due to interplanetary mediums and cosmic rays sent by our star, the Sun? |
Matthew
from Los Altos
How will MESSENGER map the surface of Mercury? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city
Why does Mercury go arund the Sun "in a wildly elliptical (non-ciricular) orbit?" Is
it because of the Sun's efect of warping of spacetime due to the presence of
a neaby massive Sun? |
Junichi
MAKI from Niihama-city
Is Mercury affected by the geodetic effect of the presence of a massive Sun? |
Grace
from Clarksville
How much fuel is it going to take to get to Mercury and how big is the fuel tank? |
Edward
from Albuquerque
Who made the solar cells on MESSENGER? |
Valesca
from Palm Harbor
Could you explain how light works with the spectroscope? |
Pulakesh
Saikia from India
Does MESSENGER have any Mirror System For reflection of excess heat and diversion
of sunlight into the instruments? |
Greg
from Mechanicsville
Why is the MESSENGER spacecraft going to loop around several plaents including
Mercury before entering orbit around the planet? In other words, why can't we
fly directly to the planet like we do to the Moon? |
Jason
from Greenville
Why does it take so long to get to Mercury, which I heard is at times Earth's
closest planetary neighbor? Does Mercury have a dark side that does not face
the sun? If it has a dark side, is it cold? |
Steven
from Spartanburg
What kind of propulsion does MESSENGER use to get to Mercury? Is it advanced
technology? |
mike
from Louisville
Why will it take so long to get to Mercury? It only takes 8-9 months to get to
Mars. |
bert
from Norwood
When will the questions on the MESSENGER message board be answered? My question
is why does it take seven years after launch to reach orbit? |
Berne
from Paris, KY
Will there be relativistic spacetime physics experiments performed to test Einstein
and other modern physics theory while in Mercury's high velocity orbit around
the Sun? |
Carl
from Lethbridge, Can
Would Mercury have been torn apart by the sun's radiation if it did not have
a magnetic field? |
nishant
from mumbai
Is the MESSENGER safe and will it be safe till the end? |
Arthur
from Vancouver
Mercury is one of the inner planets, so why will it take 7 years to reach it?
Cassini took 7 years to reach Saturn, and the distance to Saturn is far greater.
57 million miles to Mercury compared to 744 million miles to Saturn, that's when
they are the closest to Earth. |
Kim
from Winnemucca, NV
Will MESSENGER do any science at Venus? |
Manfred
from Buford, GA
How is MESSENGER protected against the high energy particles (solar winds) if
it has no magnetic field to use as a shield? Will it be kept on the dark side
of Mercury to maintain communication with Earth? |
George
from Mesquite
Given Mercury's simularities to the Earth, how will the lessons learned at Mercury
help us better understand our own planet? |
George
from Mesquite
Will MESSENGER be able to study the solar wind while en-route, or will it be
sleeping? |
john
from leicester (UK)
When MESSENGER reaches Mercury, what type of sheilding will MESSENGER use to
protect itself from the Sun's heat and harmful radiation? |
Matthew
from Zagreb
What do you expect to find on Mercury? Thank you. |
Wade
from Adelaide
Do you expect any major surprises or unknowns to be unearthed during the investigation
of Mercury by MESSENGER? |
Daniel
from San Jose
How long will MESSENGER last, do you think, due to the harmful radiation? |
shivani
from melbourne
What's your actual mission on Mercury? Is it to find out that people can survive
on Mercury or not? |
Hardik
Gajjar from Ahmedabad,India
What is the reason to send a probe to Mercury, where life is not possible? Don't
you think that it will be good to spend more on Mars rather than spending on
Mercury or other such planets? |
venkatesh
from hyderabad
Why isn't Mercury slanting? Does it require a moon like Earth? |
Enigman
from Warren
Do you think there will be a heavier concentration of heavier metals on Mercury?
ie The platinum group or possibilities of greater amounts of Uranium? |
Erykah
from west sacramento
How do you know that the MESSENGER will not encounter any problems, such as asteroids,
or comets, on its way to Mercury? |
Evan
from Soo
I've heard there is a special covering over the rocket to protect the probe from
the extreme heat. Do you foresee any other complications from the extreme heat
and radiation? |
