PIA02425: Young Craters on Smooth Plains


Young Craters on Smooth Plains

Caption:

Young craters (the largest of which is about 100 kilometers in diameter) superposed on smooth plains. Larger young craters have central peaks, flat floors, terraced walls, radial ejecta deposits, and surrounding fields of secondary craters. Smooth plains have well-developed ridges extending NW and NE. This image (FDS 167), acquired during the spacecraft's first encounter with Mercury, is located approximately 60 degrees N, 175 degrees W.

Background Info:

The Mariner 10 mission, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, explored Venus in February 1974 on the way to three encounters with Mercury-in March and September 1974 and in March 1975. The spacecraft took more than 7,000 photos of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and the Moon.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mercury
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mariner
Instrument Host Mariner 10
Host Type Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Crater, Grayscale, Moon
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2000-01-15
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Northwestern University
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02425
Identifier PIA02425