Mercury Map...

NASA has published a new false-color map of the entire planet of Mercury. 

I remember Mariner 10, when it returned the first photos from Mercury – grainy, black-and-white, and seemingly miraculous.  At right is an example of those first photos.  Now we have this incredibly detailed image that's chock full of information encoded in those false colors, revealing the kinds of geology over the entire planet's surface.

The Weird Blue “Hollows” on Mercury...

The robotic MESSENGER mission to the planet Mercury has vastly extended our knowledge of that little orb.  One of the oddest things MESSENGER has found are bluish “hollows” dotting the surface, a feature not found so far on any other planet.  The photograph at right (click to enlarge) is on APOD.  You can learn more about the hollows here.

Once again, NASA's little robots are quietly pouring fascinating science data back to Earth – and at a bargain price compared with the relatively useless ISS...

Strangeness on Mercury...

The MESSENGER spacecraft has been orbiting Mercury, returning wonderful science data about this little-understood member of our solar system.  Early on the science team spotted strange little “hollows” in numerous places all over the planet's surface.  These hollows appear to indicate relatively recent geologic activity, something nobody really expected.  Their appearances is certainly odd: brightly colored (often bluish), and associated with structures that look a bit like Swiss cheese.  As you might imagine, the science team is working hard to understand exactly what these things might be.  Meanwhile, we can enjoy them for their visual interest (and oddity)...

Mercury, via MESSENGER...

MESSENGER has now spent more than one Mercury year (88 Earth days) in orbit, doing solid science.  Recently it made an adjustment to its orbit, bringing its closest approach to just 200 km high.  Some recent imagery is at right (click to enlarge), in false color, via APOD.  By all reports, MESSENGER is doing exactly what its science team had hoped it would do, and all of its systems are (in NASA-speak) “nominal”.

Long-time readers would be disappointed if I didn't include here my usual rant about the effectiveness (and glory!) of unmanned space exploration, as compared to the utter waste and uselessness of the current and proposed manned space program...

MESSENGER: Science Mission Begins!

MESSENGER's main science mission has begun.  All systems are now fully up and running, and all systems are operating flawlessly.  Six and half years after launch, everything is still A-OK.  Woo hoo!

The most accessible science data for most people are the photographs, and they're starting to pour in.  Visit the gallery on the MESSENGER site for the latest...

MESSENGER: More Photos...

At least superficially, Mercury closely resembles our own planet's fair moon.

Go, MESSENGER, go!

MESSENGER: First Image from Mercury Orbit!

MESSENGER is doing fine.  The mission controllers are progressing along their planned “wake up” sequence, working their way through all the systems and instruments, getting them ready for MESSENGER's primary science mission.  It won't be long now before the science data start pouring in.

The main imaging system was just brought on line, and as you can see at right (click to enlarge) it's working just fine.

Woo hoo, and three cheers for MESSENGER!

MESSENGER Is Looking Good!

I stayed up (late for me) last night, listening to the webcast of MESSENGER's orbital insertion burn.  When I heard the operations team cheering and applauding, I went to bed.  This morning I woke up and scanned the news – and it was all good.  Every report I read says that the orbital insertion burn was “nominal”, which is NASA-speak for “perfect”.  All systems appear to be operational, and MESSENGER is now going into it's week or so of preparation for science operations.

Woo hoo!  And congratulations, MESSENGER team.  This has to be a happy morning for all of you...

MESSENGER's Big Day...

At 5:45 pm PST today, MESSENGER will start its 15 minute long orbital insertion burn.  With any luck at all, after over 6 years of incredibly complex travel, MESSENGER will be safely parked in a highly elliptical orbit around the planet Mercury – the first explorer from earth to have done so.  The last time any explorer visited Mercury was on March 16, 1975 – almost exactly 36 years ago – when Mariner 10 made its third and final high-speed fly-by.

I remember Mariner 10 quite well, as I thought its pioneering use of the “gravitational slingshot” technique was both clever and fascinating.  MESSENGER is itself a rather extreme example of that same technique in action; without it, MESSENGER's fuel budget would have been prohibitively large.

The scientists and engineers of the MESSENGER project must be very excited right about now.  They've been waiting for this moment since MESSENGER's launch on August 3, 2004, some six and a half years ago.

Fare thee well, MESSENGER!

MESSENGER Does Its Last Slingshot...

The MESSENGER spacecraft successfully made the last of three planned “slingshot” maneuvers in preparation for Mercury orbital insertion on March 19, 2011.  On each of these slingshot flybys MESSENGER has gathered images (click to enlarge) and other science data.

MESSENGER is a great science and technology success story, for a tiny fraction of the cost of a manned space mission...