Get the latest tech news

Spacecraft Buzzes Mercury's North Pole and Beams Back Stunning Photos


SysEngineer shares a report from the Associated Press: A spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury's north pole. The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the pla...

The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the planet's north pole. The European Space Agency released the stunning snapshots Thursday, showing the permanently shadowed craters at the top of of our solar system's smallest, innermost planet. Cameras also captured views of neighboring volcanic plains and Mercury's largest impact crater, which spans more than 930 miles (1,500 kilometers).

Get the Android app

Or read this on Slashdot

Read more on:

Photo of Spacecraft

Spacecraft

Photo of Beams

Beams

Photo of north pole

north pole

Related news:

News photo

Mercury's shadowy North Pole revealed by M-CAM 1

News photo

Beams secures $9M Series A to digitize UK home renovation market

News photo

Track Santa's Journey From the North Pole Using Google's Santa Tracker