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Mercury’s MESSENGER

Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

MESSENGER, a NASA robotic probe, visited Mercury from 2011 to 2015, and unlike Mariner 10, it actually entered into the planet’s orbit. The image above, taken on October 2, 2013, shows Mercury’s surface in exquisite detail and includes sharp views of both primary and secondary craters. MESSENGER took over 250,000 images while investigating the Sun’s nearest planet.

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