History Made: MESSENGER Orbital Photograph of Mercury : Big Pic
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March 29, 2011 -- After the successful orbital insertion of NASA's MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft on March 17, the much anticipated first photo from Mercury orbit is here. This is a historic photograph of the solar system's innermost planet, the first time a spacecraft has ever orbited the crater-riddled world.
NEWS: The Incredible Shrunken Mercury
In this impressive Mercury vista, a large crater known as Debussy is prominent, with bright rays that stretch for hundreds of miles away from the point of impact. To the left of the large crater is a small impact crater called Matabei that exhibits rare, dark rays emanating from the impact.
WIDE ANGLE: MESSENGER's Mission to Mercury
Taken by the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on board MESSENGER, this photo was acquired this morning at 5:20 a.m. EDT. A further 363 images were captured and beamed back to Earth. The new data are being reviewed and more photographs of Mercury's surface will be displayed during the NASA press conference on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EDT.
-- by Ian O'Neill
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington via @JPMajor and Lights in the Dark.
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