NASA offers Christmas presents of Mercury through its messenger

William Atkins
Wednesday, 08 October 2008 19:18

Science - Space

The images show lava flows, scarps, and even 2,000-kilometer-long lines extending out from a north-pole crater, along with other very interesting features on the planet’s surface.

Long scarps (cliff-like structures) are thought to be places on Mercury where the surface has collapsed (buckled) as the planet grows smaller with age.

Images from the two flybys performed by MESSENGER, along with the flybys of Mariner 10 in 1974-1975, will be combined by scientists into “mosaics” that will, in total, show about 95% of Mercury’s surface.

MESSENGER will be making one final flyby of Mercury in September of 2009 in order to prepare for its final destination, an orbit around the planet in March 2011.

Read more about the slingshot maneuver that MESSENGER performed to get itself ready for its orbital insertion around Merucry. Please go to the iTWire article "MESSENGER spacecraft to slingshot Mercury ."

Also, check out The Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) website of MESSENGER.