[meteorite-list] MESSENGER Reveals Mercury in New Detail

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:17:49 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200801162217.OAA10124_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Laurel, Maryland
Media Contacts: Paulette Campbell
(240) 228-6792 or (443) 778-6792
paulette.campbell at jhuapl.edu

January 16, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MESSENGER REVEALS MERCURY IN NEW DETAIL

As MESSENGER approached Mercury on Jan. 14, the spacecraft's
Narrow-Angle Camera on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
instrument captured a view of the planet's rugged, cratered landscape
illuminated obliquely by the Sun. See the image at

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=118

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. Its outer ring has a diameter of about
200 kilometers (about 125 miles).

MESSENGER's modern camera has revealed detail that was not well seen
by Mariner 10, including the broad ancient depression overlapped by
the lower-left part of the Vivaldi crater.

The MESSENGER science team is in the process of evaluating later
images snapped from even closer range showing features on the side of
Mercury never seen by Mariner 10. It is already clear that
MESSENGER's superior camera will tell us much that could not be
resolved even on the side of Mercury viewed by Mariner's vidicon
camera in the mid-1970s.

This MESSENGER image was taken from a distance of about 18,000
kilometers (11,000 miles), about 56 minutes before the spacecraft's
closest encounter with Mercury. It shows a region roughly 500
kilometers (300 miles) across, and craters as small as 1 kilometer
(0.6 mile) can be seen in this image.

Additional information and features from this first flyby will be
available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_flyby1.html

Check for the latest released images and science results.

MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet
Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet
closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3,
2004, and after flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury will start a
yearlong study of its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C.
Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, leads the mission
as Principal Investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and
manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA.

                                                                   
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Received on Wed 16 Jan 2008 05:17:49 PM PST