William Atkins
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 19:41
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
The NASA Messenger spacecraft has mapped another 6% of the surface of Mercury, leaving only the polar regions of the planet unseen by humans with the aid of spacecraft.
The November 3, 2009 media brief “
Hidden Territory on Mercury Revealed” by NASA states,
“The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.”
The spacecraft made a third flyby of the planet in order to accomplish its final goal of inserting itself into orbit about the planet in 2011.
The September 29, 2009 flyby of Mercury produced a mapping of another 6% of Mercury.
All that remains to be mapped is about 2%, which comprises the polar regions of the planet.
The 6% of the planet that was photographed during the flyby included a
“… picturesque region pocked by impact craters and molded by volcanic activity.”
This region is shown within the article mentioned
above.
Sean Solomon, principal investigator for the Messenger mission, stated,
“The new images remind us that Mercury continues to hold surprises.”
Page two concludes.
