Blue Mercury

MESSENGER snapped this picture on its 2008 fly by of Mercury. This view, which wouldn't be detected by the human eye, illustrates the geological build of the planet. But

As spectacular as this color image is, it is just a taste of what is yet to come. In 2011, MESSENGER will become the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury and begin a year-long observing campaign that includes imaging all of Mercury's surface in color at an average resolution of about 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel), a resolution that is about a factor of three better than this already impressive image.

Wayne

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