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Smile, Planet Mercury: We're Taking Your Picture

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TBO.com

Published: October 7, 2008

NASA's Messenger probe flew by the planet Mercury for the second time this year early Monday morning. It maneuvered as close as 125 miles above the planet and took hundreds of pictures, according to NASA's Web site. The probe also collected various other data during this pass. Messenger is the first mission sent to orbit the Mercury, and should do so in March 2011, NASA said.

The newest pictures were received on Earth at about 1:50 a.m. today. The bright crater shown near the center of the image is Kuiper. NASA says it identified this crater from the Mariner 10 mission of the 1970s.

Messenger's latest pass by Mercury was also needed in order to provide a critical gravity assist needed to keep the spacecraft headed for its 2011 orbit around Mercury, NASA said.

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