Philosophy
A NASA spacecraft has captured the first-ever image of Mercury taken from orbit around the planet. MESSENGER, which on March 17 became the first space probe to orbit Mercury, the innermost world of the solar system, snapped its first photo of the diminutive, cratered planet at 5:20 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 29.
Prior to MESSENGER's arrival at Mercury, only half the planet had ever been seen in any detail. (Mercury's size and proximity to the sun complicate Earth-based observation of the planet.) The spacecraft filled in a number of cartographic gaps in a series of Mercury flybys prior to entering orbit, but even those maneuvers left some terrain uncharted. In MESSENGER's first photo from orbit, for instance, the lower center of the photograph covers a large swath of previously uncharted surface. For comparison, see this mosaic map of the region MESSENGER was targeted to photograph on March 29; note the gaping blank space in the map that the spacecraft has now filled.
NASA plans for MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, to spend at least a year circling Mercury, charting the planet's surface in detail and investigating its magnetosphere and chemical environment.
Debussy Crater [Wikipedia]
- Craters On Mercury Named "after Famous Deceased Artists, Musicians, Or Authors Or Other Contributors To The Humanities"
"Newly Named Craters on Mercury" by Keith Cowing March 27th, 2013 spaceREF The International Astronomical Union (IAU) - the arbiter of planetary and satellite nomenclature since its inception in 1919 - recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER...
- The Colors Of Planet Mercury
"Mercury shows off its colourful side" by Jonathan Amos February 15th, 2013 BBC News It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit. This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey...
- Eugène Michel Antoniadi...ardent Observer Of Mars
Wikipedia... Eugène Michel Antoniadi (...1 March 1870, Constantinople – 10 February 1944, Paris) was a Greek astronomer, born in Asia Minor, who spent most of his life in France when invited there by Camille Flammarion. He was also known as Eugenios...
- Mercury--still Developing
"Strange Hollows Discovered on Mercury" October 24th, 2011 NASA NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has discovered strange hollows on the surface of Mercury. Images taken from orbit reveal thousands of peculiar depressions at a variety of longitudes and...
- Messenger And Mercury
"The Littlest Planet Gets a Close-Up Look" by Michael D. Lemonick March 18th, 2011 Time It took six years and six gravity assists from three different planets to get there, but at a little after 9 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 17, NASA's...
Philosophy
1st MESSENGER photo of Mercury...Debussy Crater
"NASA probe returns first-ever orbiter photo of Mercury"
by
John Matson
March 29th, 2011
Scientific American
by
John Matson
March 29th, 2011
Scientific American
A NASA spacecraft has captured the first-ever image of Mercury taken from orbit around the planet. MESSENGER, which on March 17 became the first space probe to orbit Mercury, the innermost world of the solar system, snapped its first photo of the diminutive, cratered planet at 5:20 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 29.
Prior to MESSENGER's arrival at Mercury, only half the planet had ever been seen in any detail. (Mercury's size and proximity to the sun complicate Earth-based observation of the planet.) The spacecraft filled in a number of cartographic gaps in a series of Mercury flybys prior to entering orbit, but even those maneuvers left some terrain uncharted. In MESSENGER's first photo from orbit, for instance, the lower center of the photograph covers a large swath of previously uncharted surface. For comparison, see this mosaic map of the region MESSENGER was targeted to photograph on March 29; note the gaping blank space in the map that the spacecraft has now filled.
NASA plans for MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, to spend at least a year circling Mercury, charting the planet's surface in detail and investigating its magnetosphere and chemical environment.
Debussy Crater [Wikipedia]
- Craters On Mercury Named "after Famous Deceased Artists, Musicians, Or Authors Or Other Contributors To The Humanities"
"Newly Named Craters on Mercury" by Keith Cowing March 27th, 2013 spaceREF The International Astronomical Union (IAU) - the arbiter of planetary and satellite nomenclature since its inception in 1919 - recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER...
- The Colors Of Planet Mercury
"Mercury shows off its colourful side" by Jonathan Amos February 15th, 2013 BBC News It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit. This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey...
- Eugène Michel Antoniadi...ardent Observer Of Mars
Wikipedia... Eugène Michel Antoniadi (...1 March 1870, Constantinople – 10 February 1944, Paris) was a Greek astronomer, born in Asia Minor, who spent most of his life in France when invited there by Camille Flammarion. He was also known as Eugenios...
- Mercury--still Developing
"Strange Hollows Discovered on Mercury" October 24th, 2011 NASA NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has discovered strange hollows on the surface of Mercury. Images taken from orbit reveal thousands of peculiar depressions at a variety of longitudes and...
- Messenger And Mercury
"The Littlest Planet Gets a Close-Up Look" by Michael D. Lemonick March 18th, 2011 Time It took six years and six gravity assists from three different planets to get there, but at a little after 9 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 17, NASA's...