Messenger Performance Assurance

Paper number

IAC-06-D5.2.07

Author

Mr. Stan Purwin, The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, United States

Year

2006

Abstract

MESSENGER is a scientific investigation – by spacecraft – of the planet Mercury. The name comes from “MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, Geochemistry, and Ranging,” highlighting the project’s broad range of scientific goals.
The spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.  MESSENGER will travel more than six and a half years before it begins to orbit Mercury in March 2011. This journey includes a flyby of Earth (in August 2005), two flybys of Venus (October 2006 and June 2007) and three flybys of Mercury (January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009).
The spacecraft will travel 4.9 billion miles (7.9 billion kilometers) from launch in summer 2004 until beginning orbit around Mercury in March 2011. During MESSENGER's journey to Mercury orbit insertion, its average speed will be approximately 84,500 miles per hour (nearly 38 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun. MESSENGER's maximum speed relative to the Sun will be about 140,870 mph (nearly 63 km/s).
The energy required to send a spacecraft so close to the Sun is significant, and an orbital mission only raises the requirement. Once the spacecraft arrives, it meets a hostile environment, so it must be designed to withstand high radiation and temperatures. MESSENGER marks the first time the technologies and knowledge required for an orbital Mercury mission are available.

I was the Performance Assurance Engineer and Supervisor responsible for the safety, reliability, contamination control, EEE (Electronic, Electrical, and Electromechanical) parts testing, hardware and software quality assurance, and quality control of the Messenger Mission.  My presentation details what we had to do in order to assure the performance of the spacecraft in a hostile environment and how we overcame the difficulties associated with meeting the mission performance requirements in the time frame and budget allotted. How we screened and tested EEE parts to assure that they would be reliable for the extended duration and radiation degradation will be presented.  How the last minute intervention of NASA headquarters will be discussed.

Abstract document

IAC-06-D5.2.07.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-D5.2.07.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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