[Geology2] Spacecraft Discovers Surprises on Mercury

Spacecraft Discovers Surprises on Mercury

On its third swing past Mercury, NASA's Mercury Messenger spacecraft
discovered an unexpectedly young lava plain, rapid rufflings of the
planet's
weak magnetic field and an unanticipated dance of elements in the thin
atmosphere.

"I think the biggest surprise for the community is that the planet is
turning out to be much more dynamic than people appreciated," said Sean
C.
Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington who is the principal
investigator for the Messenger mission.
The flyby occurred in September, when the spacecraft swooped within 142
miles of Mercury's surface at 12,000 miles per hour, but the findings of
that
flyby just appeared in three papers the journal Science published last
week on its Web site . . .

http://snipr.com/zo6dc

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