MESSENGER Spacecraft In-flight Experiments: Science Return Improvement Techniques

The Mercury surface, space environment, geochemistry, and ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft is on its way to Mercury after a successful August 2004 launch. Upon arrival at Mercury in March 2011, the spacecraft will investigate and return science observations that will dramatically enhance our knowledge of Mercury and thus of the inner solar system. Through a hybrid approach using CCSDS file delivery protocol (CFDP) to enable link margin reductions and date rate optimization during communication contacts, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) performed several in-flight tests and achieved significant science data return improvement while maintaining data reliability for this first Mercury orbital mission.