Tuesday, March 29, 2011

First photo of Mercury from orbit

NASA's MESSENGER probe has sent back the first photograph of the planet from a spacecraft in its orbit. It's not the most interesting landscape, from the layman's point of view. (The large crater dominating the photo is named Debussy.) From the planetary geologist's point of view, though, this is a treasure trove, just the beginning of the data they expect on our most enigmatic planet.

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