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
|
|
Starship explodes during preparations for static-fire test
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 6:52 AM ET (1052 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, July 1
Move over Starlink, here comes Kuiper
Gulf News — 4:58 am ET (0858 GMT) USSF Seeks Industry Ideas For Space-Based Interceptors
Aviation Week — 4:57 am ET (0857 GMT) Don’t forget about Iran’s space program
POLITICO — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) EU Space Act is ‘orbital equivalent of GDPR’, says lawyer
Luxembourg Times — 4:53 am ET (0853 GMT) Poland’s second ever astronaut is safe in space
Euro Weekly News — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
