The materials NASA Mercury looks like it was unevenly dyed. Why? The system on the spacecraft “Messenger” captures spectral data. These data are applied to monochrome photographs depicting the area of the planet. Space agency visualizes frequencies of light, turning them into colors.
Charles Wojcicki of the Copernicus Science Centre, explains, that the “Messenger” is not only photographed the planet’s surface. He found a place where there is water in the form of ice. The researchers also found the organic compounds that were probably drawn there by comets.
Data were collected from March 2011, year. All this happened before the emergency landing of the probe. Now the “Messenger” used up almost all the fuel helium and his flight is subject to the forces of gravity of Mercury and the sun. The mission of the probe comes to an end.
After the impact, “Messenger” in the surface of Mercury will remain a 16-meter crater. But before that happens, the probe will perform a series of still images from a height of about 250 meters and send them to Earth.
People will not leave the planet in peace. Space agencies – the European and Japanese – are already planning new missions to Mercury. The first probe is to be launched in January 2017.
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