Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.u21a0015b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #U21A-0015
Other
5464 Remote Sensing, 6235 Mercury
Scientific paper
In January 2008 the MESSENGER spacecraft made the first visit to Mercury since Mariner 10 and photographed about 38% of the planet at scales of 1 km per pixel or better. The Mariner 10 spacecraft executed three close-approach flybys of the planet Mercury more than thirty years ago. At each encounter the subsolar point on the planet was nearly identical, so only half the planet was illuminated for the Mariner 10 cameras. Approximately one thousand MESSENGER images were processed and combined into a mosaic that covers about 42% of Mercury's surface at a scale of 1 km per pixel. Combining the image data collected by the two missions yields coverage of about 67% of Mercury's surface. Because a spacecraft flyby happens on a timescale much shorter than Mercury's rotation period, there is no appreciable change in illumination of the surface during the encounter and any given area is seen at a single incidence angle. Combining data from different flybys thus result in large differences in illumination for overlapping areas of the mosaic. While distracting, such different lighting in areas of overlap aids in the interpretation of morphology and albedo variations. MESSENGER will return to Mercury on 6 October 2008 to reveal another large area never before seen by any spacecraft, and the combined coverage after that encounter will be nearly global. Common features in areas of overlap between frames will form the basis for analytic triangulation that will improve camera pointing knowledge and focal length estimates for both the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) and Narrow Angle Camera (NAC). Accuracy of the new mosaic will be checked by comparing coordinates of crater centers in Earth-based radar images of Mercury's poles. The new global mosaic will serve science analysis and provide a critical planning tool for the orbital phase of the MESSENGER mission.
Becker Julia K.
Denevi Brett Wilcox
McNutt Ralph L.
Murchie Scott L.
Oberst Jürgen
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