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
|
|
NASA IG cites overconfidence and unrealistic schedules for Starliner woes
Posted: Sat, Jul 4 8:11 PM ET (0011 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, July 8
Wall Street reveals hugely bullish SpaceX calls, expects 47% growth
New York Post — 8:45 am ET (1245 GMT) SpaceX Shares Stumble in Nasdaq-100 Debut
Wall Street Journal — 8:45 am ET (1245 GMT) With SpaceX Starship, Japan's ispace provides ride-share to the moon
Reuters — 8:45 am ET (1245 GMT) A SpaceX holdout: We spoke to a rare analyst who doesn't rate the stock a buy
Business Insider — 8:44 am ET (1244 GMT) Why Wall Street is bullish on SpaceX
Axios — 8:40 am ET (1240 GMT) |
