NASA Craft Reveals Data On Mercury, The Shrinking Planet
July 4, 2008
Boston (dbTechno) - The NASA MESSENGER spacecraft has sent back never-before-seen images of the surface of Mercury. The mysterious planet was revealed a bit more to scientists, showcasing parts of the planet never seen before.
The images sent by MESSENGER on January 14 to NASA showcased parts of the planet that the original Mariner 10 spacecraft simply did not cover and could not map out.
The Mariner 10 spacecraft did a flyby of Mercury in 1974, but did not do anything close to what MESSENGER accomplished.
What researchers have found from the data is that the volcano system on the planet actually helped form its smooth plains.
More information was also found on the magnetic field of Mercury, similar to the core on Earth.
New measurments taken by the NASA MESSENGER spacecraft has also revealed that the planet has shrunk by more than a mile in diameter over its history, due to gradual cooling of its core.
More flybys are planned on October 6, 2008, and September 29, 2009. The last one will be on March 18, 2011.
There were a total of 11 reports published in the July 4th sisue of the journal Science, all on the Mercury flyby.
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