from the waiting-for-Google-street-view-of-Mercury dept.
Topographical maps of Mercury, created from imagery taken by the Messenger probe, have been released by NASA:
NASA's MESSENGER mission has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet and paving the way for scientists to fully characterize Mercury's geologic history.
The global topographic model is among three new products from the Planetary Data System (PDS), a NASA-funded organization that archives and distributes all of NASA's planetary mission data to the public. With this 15th and last major data release, the MESSENGER mission has shared more than 10 terabytes of Mercury science data, including nearly 300,000 images, millions of spectra, and numerous map products, along with interactive tools that allow the public to explore those data.
The release at the Planetary Data System.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 09 2016, @05:18PM
What's all these Mercury topics? I'd sure be happy, if i could find a 1971-72 Mercury Cougar.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 09 2016, @06:05PM
I'd be happy if I could find a mercury capsule...oops, I mean a Mercury capsule.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Monday May 09 2016, @06:10PM
Topographical maps of Mercury, created from imagery taken by the Messenger probe, have been released by NASA
Finally! Now I can finish planning my hiking trip there.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday May 09 2016, @08:07PM
I cancelled mine when I realized that my sunscreen only comes in "lead sheets" SPF with the "floral booms" scent.
There are things I just won't put up with.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday May 09 2016, @08:09PM
Floral bLooms, obviously...
Enough energy on Mercury already without adding flower power.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 09 2016, @08:08PM
You'll save a lot of money on your return trip because human jerky fits nicely into the overhead bins.
(Score: 1) by Osamabobama on Tuesday May 10 2016, @12:09AM
There are craters that never see the sun, located near the poles. They will be an important part of your hiking trip if you don't intend to bake.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Tuesday May 10 2016, @02:04PM
Oh I intend to get very baked :)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Tuesday May 10 2016, @03:40AM
Apparently a Mercury day is 176 earth days, and awful hot.
I wonder, ( providing if we somehow ever developed the technology to do so ) if the planet's rotation could be slowed down even further and brought into tidelock with the Sun like the moon is to Earth, if the side facing away from the sun could be made habitable?
What I am getting at is that by doing so, one would have a damn limitless supply of thermal differential to work with. For all practical purposes, limitless energy.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Tuesday May 10 2016, @06:19AM
Another poster suggested the poles as among the least inhospitable places. A slowly rotating solar collector there would be feasible with existing technology.