Gallery: Hail and Farewell: A Robot From Earth Dies on Mercury Today

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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    060-Mg-Al-globes-2015

    Mercury's chemical diversity, as mapped by Messenger's X-Ray Spectrometer. Image released April 16, 2015
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    This color mosaic shows the craters Munch, Sander and Poe in the smooth volcanic plain of the Caloris basin. Image released Apr. 16, 2015.
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    The rock surface of the peak-ring basin Derain, as seen by the Mercury Dual Imaging System. Image released Apr. 16, 2015
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    Gravity anomalies on Mercury, captured through analysis of radio tracking data. Image released Apr. 15, 2015
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    An image of the wall of a volcanic vent, situated between the Rachmaninoff basin and Copland crater. Image released Mar. 16, 2015
  • Image may contain Mountain Outdoors Nature Crater and Volcano
    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    080-SouthPole-Illumination-2015

    The south pole of Mercury is in permanent shadow. Here water ice, brought to the planet by comets, persists despite the planet's proximity to the Sun. Image released Apr. 16, 2015
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    078-MASCS50Mono-2500

    Mercury holds a surprising diversity of surface materials, as seen through this analysis of infrared light by Messenger's instruments. Image released Apr. 16, 2015
  • The topography of Mercury's northern hemisphere as mapped by a laser altimeter. Image released Apr. 16 2015
    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
    09

    040-Polar45-mla-crop-2015

    The topography of Mercury's northern hemisphere, as mapped by a laser altimeter. Image released Apr. 16, 2015
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    NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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    090-WAC-3x3-orth-nopho.color

    Mercury, as seen from Messenger's first flyby. Image released Feb. 8, 2011
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