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Meeting	ACGS Committee Meeting 92 - Dayton - October 2003
Agenda Location	5 SUBCOMMITTEE B – MISSILES AND SPACE VEHICLES 5.2 Impact of Technology Advancements on MESSENGER – the First Mercury Orbiter
Title	Impact of Technology Advancements on MESSENGER – the First Mercury Orbiter
Presenter	Jim McAdams
Affiliation	Applied Physics Laboratory
Available Downloads*	none
	Downloads are available to members who are logged in and either Active* or attended this meeting.
Abstract	MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) will be the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury when this NASA Discovery Program mission begins its one-year Mercury orbit phase in July 2009. The spacecraft will utilize three Venus flybys and two Mercury flybys during its innovative 5-year ballistic trajectory to Mercury. The initial primary science orbit at Mercury has 80 orbit inclination, 200-km periherm altitude, 60N sub-spacecraft periherm latitude, and 12-hour orbit period. Key technology advancements will benefit the MESSENGER mission through increased quantity and quality of data returned, lowered operational risk, and cost and mass reductions. The presentation will focus on the technology advancements that proved to be mission enabling, thereby differentiating MESSENGER from three decades of Mercury orbiter mission studies.