On June 21, the MESSENGER spacecraft performed its final “flip” maneuver for the mission—a 16-minute rotation designed to keep MESSENGER operating at safe temperatures as it moves closer to the Sun. The MESSENGER team, led by Principal Investigator and DTM Director Sean Solomon, will now turn its focus to preparing for the first Venus flyby on October 24.

A solar eclipse is scheduled to occur during the Venus flyby, so the team will be conducting various tests and simulations in the months prior to the event to verify that flight systems will work properly during the eclipse period. In August, the team will conduct a flight test that will power off spacecraft components prior to the solar eclipse, allowing the battery to discharge by approximately the same amount as during the real eclipse, and then power on components again once the battery is recharged.

During the approach to Venus starting in August, MESSENGER’s navigation team will use the Mercury Dual Imaging System cameras onboard the spacecraft to take a series of optical navigation pictures. These images will be used by the MESSENGER navigation team for calibration, and as practice for the optical navigation imaging to be utilized when the spacecraft reaches Mercury. For more information, see the MESSENGER Web site or the related Space Flight Now online article.