messenger
1. a carrier of official dispatches; courier
2. Nauticala. a light line used to haul in a heavy rope
b. an endless belt of chain, rope, or cable, used on a powered winch to take off power
3. Archaic a herald
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
MESSENGER
abbrev. for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, a NASA mission to the planet Mercury, launched Aug. 3 2004 from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 Heavy rocket and forming part of the agency's Discovery Program. Although an acronym, the name recalls the planet's mythical association with Mercury the winged messenger of the gods. The MESSENGER spacecraft is NASA's first Mercury orbiter. Its chief goal is to investigate important scientific questions about Mercury's surface and interior composition and its environment. Among other things, the probe will seek to find out why Mercury's density is so high, what the composition and structure of its crust is, and whether there has been any volcanism. It will also look into the nature, dynamics and origin of Mercury's magnetic field (possibly driven by a liquid outer core) and its tenuous atmosphere. One focus of interest will be the mysterious polar deposits on Mercury, which some scientists believe could be water ice. The data for these questions will be gathered by an array of seven miniature instruments working in one of the most hostile environments in the Solar System, a mere 58 million km from the Sun. To avoid overshooting its target and possibly falling into the Sun, the MESSENGER craft is following a 6½-year, 7.9-billion-km roundabout course to Mercury that should slow it down sufficiently to accomplish its task. The journey will involve 15 solar orbits, 6 trajectory-altering planetary flybys (including 1 of the Earth, 2 of Venus, and 3 of Mercury itself), and 6 crucial rocket firings. It will enter orbit around Mercury in March 2011 for a year of scientific data collection.
Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006
Messenger
Aethalidesherald of the Argonauts. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 11]
(1599–1687) speaks to Priscilla Mullins for Miles Standish. [Am. Lit.: “The Courtship of Miles Standish” in Hart, 188–189]
Mercury’s staff; symbol of messengers. [Rom. Myth.: Jobes, 266–267]
sent by Noah to see if the waters were abated; returns with an olive leaf. [O.T.: Genesis 8:8–11]
symbolic carrier of God’s word to all. [Christian Symbol-ism: Appleton, 35]
announces births of Jesus and John the Baptist. [N.T.: Luke 1:19, 26]
(Rom. Mercury) messenger of the gods. [Gk. Myth.: Wheeler Dictionary, 240]
messenger of the gods. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 130; Gk. Lit.: Iliad]
real name was Arnaeus; messenger of Penelope’s suitors. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey]
Odin’s two ravens; brought him news from around world. [Norse Myth.: Leach, 761]
nickname for U.S. postmasters. [Am. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 745–746]
ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to carry news of Greek defeat of Persians. [Gk. Legend: Zimmerman, 159]
speedy relay mail-carrying system of 1860s. [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 276]
news agency; established as telegraphic and pigeon post bureau (1851). [Br. Hist.: Benét, 852]
(1735–1818) warned colonials of British advance (1775). [Am. Hist.: 425–426]
symbolic of a courier on a mission. [Christian Symbolism: Appleton, 4]
messenger for the king of England (1880s). [Br. Lit.: Lorna Doone, Magill I, 524–526]
courier of the czar. [Fr. Lit.: Michael Strogoff]
the messenger of Satan. [N.T.: II Corinthians 12:7]
company founded in 1851; provides telegraphic service in U.S. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2958]
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.