OVERVIEW Launched in August of 2004, Messenger is the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging mission designed to investigate six key scientific questions about Mercury’s characteristics and environment. The Messenger mission orbited Mercury after making two flybys of the planet, using data collected during the flybys as an initial guide to perform a more focused scientific investigation of the planet. The spacecraft was inserted into Mercury orbit in March 2011 and carried out comprehensive measurements for one full Earth year. Orbital ATK (formerly Composite Optics, Inc.) was responsible for the design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of the composite bus structure of the spacecraft. ATA supported Orbital ATK by providing comprehensive analysis of the Mes

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