Messenger captures previously unseen parts of Mercury NASA

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft recently made its third flyby of Mercury, in order to get a gravity boost that will enable it to enter into orbit around Mercury in 2011. Scientists used the close encounter to capture images of Mercury's surface that had never been seen before.

Messenger’s cameras revealed an additional five percent of Mercury previously unseen by spacecraft even after the three flybys by Mariner 10 in 1974-75 and Messenger's two previous flybys in 2008. The new images show many interesting surface features, including impact craters, smooth plains, and an intriguing double-ring basin.

[NASA]

Want to read more articles on the military, aviation, and space? Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!

1 Comment

ooohhh ahhhhhh



June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email

Contributing Writers:

Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif
bmxmag-ps