Instrument Host Information
IDENTIFIER urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument_host:spacecraft.mess::1.3
NAME MESSENGER
TYPE Spacecraft
DESCRIPTION The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft was launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Station on 2004-08-03, on an approximately 8 year mission to become the first probe to orbit the planet Mercury. The initial mission included one year orbit of Mercury which was subsequently extended to a total of four years. Most of the science data collected by the MESSENGER mission will originate from instruments on the spacecraft and be relayed via the telemetry system to stations of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). Radio Science (RS) experiments (Doppler velocity and ranging as well as radio occultations) require that DSN hardware also participate in the data acquisition. The following sections provide an overview first of the spacecraft, then of the DSN ground system, and the spacecraft clock reset and use of MET partitions.
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REFERENCES Asmar, S. W., N. A. Renzetti, The Deep Space Network as an instrument for radio science research, NASA Technical Reports Server, 1993STIN...9521456A, 1993.

Leary, J.C., R.F. Conde, G. Dakermanji, C.J. Ercol, K. Fielhauer, D.G. Grant, T.J. Hartka, T.A. Hill, S.E. Jaskulek, M.A. Mirantes, L.E. Mosher, M.V. Paul, C.E. Person, D.F. Persons, E.H. Rodberg, D.K. Srinivasan, R.M. Vaughan, and S.R. Wiley, The MESSENGER spacecraft, Space Science Reviews, 131, 187-217, 2007.

Solomon, S.C., R.L. McNutt, Jr., R.E. Gold, and D.L. Domingue, MESSENGER mission overview, Space Science Reviews, 131, 3-39, 2007.