A Sight Never Seen By Human Eyes

Posted Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at 2:26 PM

(Photo-NASA/JPL) Mercury 89 minutes after the Messenger flyby on Oct. 6.

Until this morning (Oct. 7), parts of the surface of Mercury in this photo have never been seen before. This is a spectacular shot made 1 1/2 hours after the NASA spacecraft, Messenger, made a very close flyby (around 125 miles from the 800 degree F. surface) of the Solar System's closest planet to the Sun early yesterday (Oct. 6) morning. This is the second flyby. After another flyby next year (Sept. 09), Messenger will be the first spacecraft to ever go into orbit around Mercury, in March of 2011. The last spacecraft to fly by Mercury was Mariner 10 in 1975.

NASA and space exploration

By Kenneth Renshaw

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Kenneth Renshaw NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador/Saturn Observation Campaign Kenneth is one of 494 volunteer educators and astronomers who donate their time to educate America's youth, and the general public, about astronomy and the U.S. space program. Organized in 1999 by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab,it focuses on spacecraft built by the JPL such as Voyager, Mars Rover, Galileo, Cassini as well as the Hubble Space Telescope. Renshaw is one of four ambassadors in Arkansas, and makes presentations to all age and experience groups from pre-school to university science level. His official NASA website it www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/profiles/Kenneth_Renshaw.htm His email address is renshaw@newwavecomm.net

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