iTWire - Mercury data surprises scientists

Mercury data surprises scientists

by Stephen Withers
Thursday, 31 January 2008
! Data received from NASA's MESSENGER Mercury probe has delivered some surprises for scientists studying the solar system's innermost planet. MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) made its first flyby of Mercury earlier this month, sending back images of previously unseen features including huge cliffs and "The Spider" - a formation of more than 100 narrow troughs radiating from a central region. The craft has also revealed that the Caloris basin - a massive impact crater - is around 960 miles (1540km) in diameter, rather than the 800 miles (1290km) estimated by the Mariner 10 mission in the mid 1970s. "This flyby allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed by spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," said Sean Solomon, MESSENGER's principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington. Instruments on the probe have provided new information about Mercury's magnetic field and surface composition. MESSENGER will make two more flybys of Mercury before it settles into orbit in 2011. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment! Tags See All Tags Mercury NASA Science Solar system Space Stephen Withers Get stories like this delivered daily - FREE - subscribe now

< Next story in category		Previous story in the category >

Tags See All Tags