Messenger Reveals Mercury In New Detail

MERCURY RISING

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

by Staff Writers
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 17, 2008
As NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft approached Mercury on January 14, 2008, it captured this view of the planet's rugged, cratered landscape illuminated obliquely by the sun. This image was taken from a distance of approximately 11,000 miles, about 56 minutes before the spacecraft's closest encounter with Mercury.

It shows a region 300 miles across including craters less than a mile wide. The large, shadow-filled, double ringed crater to the upper right was glimpsed by Mariner 10 more than three decades ago and named Vivaldi, after the Italian composer.

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MERCURY RISING

US space probe glides over Mercury in first visit since '75

Washington (AFP) Jan 14, 2008
The US space probe soared over Mercury on Monday on a mission to unlock the mysteries of the smallest planet of the solar system which was last visited in 1975, NASA said.

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