MESSENGER captures new views of Mercury
Posted: Thu, Oct 9, 2008, 7:15 AM ET (1115 GMT)
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has returned images of portions of the planet Mercury never seen before, taken during a flyby of the innermost planet earlier this week. The spacecraft approached to within 200 kilometers of the planet early Monday on the second of three planned flybys of the planet. Images taken by the spacecraft revealed about 30 percent of the planet's surface that had never been seen by spacecraft before. Some news features seen in the MESSENGER images include patterns of rays extending longitudinally along the surface. MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, was launched in 2004 on a mission to study the planet in much greater detail than ever before. It is scheduled to enter orbit around the planet in early 2011 after one more flyby next year.
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has returned images of portions of the planet Mercury never seen before, taken during a flyby of the innermost planet earlier this week. The spacecraft approached to within 200 kilometers of the planet early Monday on the second of three planned flybys of the planet. Images taken by the spacecraft revealed about 30 percent of the planet's surface that had never been seen by spacecraft before. Some news features seen in the MESSENGER images include patterns of rays extending longitudinally along the surface. MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, was launched in 2004 on a mission to study the planet in much greater detail than ever before. It is scheduled to enter orbit around the planet in early 2011 after one more flyby next year.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, September 11
The grief of a fandom: on Starship, Musk and losing the spark
Space News — 5:48 am ET (0948 GMT) Musk confident Starship will start launching 100 tons to orbit next year
Space News — 5:48 am ET (0948 GMT) Japan’s IHI expands constellation plans with SatVu thermal imaging partnership
Space News — 5:48 am ET (0948 GMT) How is the Space Force doing on getting the resources it needs?
Space News — 5:47 am ET (0947 GMT) SpaceX launches 21 satellites for Space Development Agency ‘Transport Layer’ military network
Space News — 5:47 am ET (0947 GMT) |
