Mercury rising: New images of planet draw interest
Professor Maria Zuber, head of MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, addresses a Jan. 30 NASA press conference in Washington in which results from the first mission to visit the planet Mercury in 30 years were unveiled. The MESSENGER spacecraft, which will later go into orbit around the planet, made a flyby in mid-January and returned a wealth of new data, revealing a surprisingly active planet with ridges that extend for hundreds of miles and an enigmatic spider-like pattern of cracks in the floor of one large crater. Zuber heads the science team's Mercury Laser Altimeter analysis, and also chairs the geophysics group. Photo / NASA/Bill Ingalls A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 6, 2008 (download PDF). |
Image / NASA
At top center is the first laser altimeter profile of Mercury's topography, taken by MESSENGER's Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) instrument during the spacecraft's recent flyby of Mercury. At bottom center is the MLA ground projected onto a mosaic of radar images. At top left is a photograph of the MLA flight unit. MIT professor Maria Zuber is leading the analysis of the MLA data for the mission.
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Image / NASA
The MESSENGER spacecraft obtained this image of Mercury's Colaris basin showing a set of troughs radiating outward, nicknamed 'the spider' by the science team.
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RELATEDMaria Zuber - MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences NASA spacecraft streams back surprises from Mercury - NASA press release, Jan. 30, 2008 MESSENGER multimedia - NASA More: Aeronautical / astronautical engineering More: Earth and atmospheric sciences More: Faculty |
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