[meteorite-list] MESSENGER Reveals Mercury in New Detail

[Ron Baalke]

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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