#messenger spacecraft

[spacewonder19]

Cosmic Disco Ball, Mercury ©

[that-bluesybitch]

[without-ado]

Enhanced Color Mercury Map l NASA MESSENGER (2004-2015)

[theofficialastronomy101]

The Earth As Seen From

[of-stars-and-dust]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2024 November 23

Interplanetary Earth

Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA / JHU Applied Physics Lab / Carnegie Inst. Washington

In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System, innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon system is seen against the dark background of space as captured by the sunward MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its image as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury, moons that would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image, the brighter Earth and Moon are both overexposed and shine brightly with reflected sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world, both Cassini and MESSENGER have since retired from their missions of Solar System exploration.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)

NASA Official: Amber Straughn

A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,

NASA Science Activation

& Michigan Tech. U.

[krakenmare]

Messenger Spacecraft: Alver crater, Mercury (July 29, 2014)

[daintybomb]

Best determination of MESSENGER spacecraft's impact location on Mercury.

Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

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