Images of Mercury revealed

From correspondents in Washington

Jan 31, News.com.au

NASA has unveiled images and data taken by the Messenger probe on its flight over uncharted terrain of Mercury, the solar system's smallest and closest planet to the sun.

"This flyby allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed by spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data,'' said Sean Solomon, Messenger's chief investigator from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

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"From the perspectives of spacecraft performance and manoeuvre accuracy, this encounter was near-perfect, and we are delighted that all of the science data are now on the ground,'' he said.

He said Mercury "was not the planet we were expecting" and investigators found it to be "a very dynamic planet,'' with active volcanos and magnetosphere.

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photo: Space odyssey ... this NASA image from the Messenger spacecraft shows remarkable detail from the surface of Mercury (AP)