The Mercury Dual Orbiter missionThe Mercury Orbiter (MeO) will carry out a full range of particles, fields, and planetary imaging science at Mercury. Present mission plans call for a launch in 1999 with a flight time of about 4.5 years. By means of multiple Venus and Mercury gravitational assists, the mission can be accomplished with present U.S. launch vehicles and a very large payload can be placed in orbit around Mercury. The dual-spacecraft concept will permit outstanding scientific study of solar cosmic rays and the solar wind throughout the inner heliosphere from 0.3 AU to 1.0 AU. Modest enhancements to the planned magnetospheric instruments and utilization of onboard solar instruments will permit unique investigation of solar particle acceleration and transport with the MeO spacecraft.
Document ID
19920037916
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Baker, D. N. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Slavin, J. A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)