HR: 08:15h
AN: P41B-02 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: MESSENGER's Venus Flyby: An Overview of Early Results
AU: * Solomon, S C
EM: scs@dtm.ciw.edu
AF: Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road, N.W., Washington, DC 20015, United States
AU: Ho, G C
EM: george.ho@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Izenberg, N R
EM: noam.izenberg@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Lawrence, D J
EM: djlawrence@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AU: McClintock, W E
EM: william.mcclintock@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Neumann, G A
EM: neumann@tharsis.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Prockter, L M
EM: louise.prockter@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Raines, J M
EM: jraines@umich.edu
AF: University of Michigan, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
AU: Rhodes, E A
EM: ed.rhodes@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Robinson, M S
EM: mrobinson@asu.edu
AF: Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe, AZ 85287, United States
AU: Slavin, J A
EM: james.a.slavin@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Smith, D E
EM: dsmith@tharsis.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Starr, R D
EM: richard.starr@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20064, United States
AU: Zuber, M T
EM: zuber@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
AU: MESSENGER Science Team, t
AB: The MESSENGER spacecraft flew by Venus on 5 June 2007 for a gravity assist to its subsequent encounters with Mercury. Closest approach was at 338 km altitude over 12°S, 165°E, near the boundary between the lowland plains of Rusalka Planitia and the rifted uplands of Aphrodite Terra. All of the MESSENGER instruments operated during the flyby. The camera system imaged the night side in near-infrared bands and obtained color and higher-resolution monochrome mosaics of both the approaching and departing hemispheres. The ultraviolet and visible spectrometer obtained profiles of atmospheric species on the day and night sides as well as observations of the exospheric tail on departure. The visible and infrared spectrograph made observations of the Venus dayside near closest approach to gather compositional information on the upper atmosphere and clouds, and the laser altimeter carried out passive radiometry at 1064 nm and attempted to range to one or more cloud decks for several minutes near closest approach. The gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers observed gamma-rays and neutrons from the Venus atmosphere, providing information for planning the upcoming Mercury flybys and for calibration from a source of known composition. That the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission was operating at the time of the flyby permitted the simultaneous observation of the planet from two independent spacecraft, a situation of particular value for characterization of the particle and field environment at Venus. MESSENGER's energetic particle and plasma spectrometer observed charged particle acceleration at the Venus bow shock and elsewhere, and the magnetometer provided measurements of the upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), bow shock signatures, and pick-up ion waves as a reference for energetic particle and plasma observations by both spacecraft. The encounter also enabled two-point measurements of IMF penetration into the Venus ionosphere, primary plasma boundaries, and the near-tail region.
DE: 5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060)
DE: 5421 Interactions with particles and fields
DE: 5435 Ionospheres (2459)
DE: 5470 Surface materials and properties
DE: 6295 Venus
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting