Photo courtesy Michael Colella

DTM was the venue for the 22^nd meeting of the MESSENGER Science Team this week.  DTM director and MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon chaired the three-day meeting, which brought 130 scientists, engineers, educators, and managers to the Broad Branch Road campus.  As it was the first team meeting since the MESSENGER spacecraft was successfully inserted into orbit about Mercury in March, the focus of most presentations and discussions was on early observations of the innermost planet from orbit.

Meetings of the MESSENGER Science Team disciplinary groups were held on 10 and 11 May, and plenary sessions of the full team followed on the afternoon of 11 May and the morning of 12 May.  A team dinner on 11 May, held at a local restaurant, featured an after-dinner presentation by James Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.