crater – Secrets of Space https://secretsofspace.com Exploring planets, stars, galaxies, astronomy, the universe and space secrets Tue, 13 Oct 2020 22:42:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 Kuiper crater on planet Mercury https://secretsofspace.com/kuiper-crater-mercury/ Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=359 Continue reading Kuiper crater on planet Mercury →]]> Kuiper crater - NASA
NASA’s Messenger space probe photographed the Kuiper crater on planet Mercury

NASA in collaboration with CalTech, University of Arizona and Johns Hopkins University, manages the Messenger spacecraft whose mission was to be the first to orbit, explorer and study the innermost planet of our solar system, Mercury. This picture shows the 62 km wide crater Kuiper, photographed by Messenger’s wide angle camera. This is an important stratigraphic marker in Mercury’s geologic history as Kuiper and the surrounding area consists of rock that was melted by the impact with whatever it was, that created this crater.

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