Mercury: Far different than Earth's moon

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said its Messenger spacecraft showed that the planet Mercury appears to be surprisingly different from Earth's moon.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that after a journey of more than 2 billion miles and 3 1/2 years, the Jan. 14 flyby of Mercury produced an entirely new look at the planet once thought to have characteristics similar to those of Earth's moon.

The spacecraft collected more than 1,200 images of the planet and made other scientific observations, including the first up-close measurements of Mercury since the Mariner 10 spacecraft's third flyby March 16, 1975.

Scientists said the images obtained by Messenger show Mercury has huge cliffs with structures snaking hundreds of miles across the planet's face. The images also revealed impact craters that appear very different from lunar craters.

"We should keep this treasure trove of data in perspective," cautioned project scientist Ralph McNutt. "With two flybys to come and an intensive orbital mission to follow, we are just getting started to go where no one has been before."

More information on the flyby is available at www.nasa.gov/messenger