MESSENGER at Mercury (artist's impression)
Date: 01 March 2011
Satellite: MESSENGER
Copyright: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Artist's impression of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft in orbit at Mercury. MESSENGER launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 3 August 2004, beginning a yearlong orbital study of Mercury in March 2011. Though the Sun is up to 11 times brighter at Mercury than we see on Earth and surface temperatures can reach 450 degrees Celsius, MESSENGER's instruments operated at room temperature behind a sunshade of heat-resistant ceramic fabric. The spacecraft also passed only briefly over the hottest parts of the surface, limiting exposure to heat reradiated from the planet.
Full details of this image can be found here.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
