Subject: Mercury Orbit Insertion (MOI)
From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:50:24 -0700

ATIG Members-

After nearly 7 years of interplanetary cruise, the MESSENGER robotic probe
will become the first artifact to orbit Mercury at 8 PM CDT tonight
(http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_orbit.html).  A heliocentric trajectory
plot showing the end of interplanetary cruise is attached, along with a
Mercury-centered plot showing terminal approach, MOI, and the first orbit of
Mercury (actually Orbit 0 and the first half of Orbit 1 the way JHU-APL
controllers reckon it).

-Dan