PIA02942: Large Double-ringed Basin

Target Name: Mercury Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Mariner Venus Mercury (MVM) Spacecraft: Mariner 10 Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Product Size: 311 samples x 356 lines Produced By: Northwestern University Producer ID: P15045 Addition Date: 2000-08-05 Other Information: Mariner 10 Image Project Primary Data Set: MARINER_VENUS_MERCURY_PAGE Full-Res TIFF: PIA02942.tif (117.7 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA02942.jpg (34.08 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: Taken about 40 minutes before Mariner 10 made its close approach to Mercury on September 21, this picture (FDS 166684) shows a large (230 kilometers, 142 miles) double-ringed basin (center of picture) located in the planet's south polar region - 75 degrees S. Lat. 120 degrees W. Long. Mercury saw the basin from a different viewing angle on Mariner 10's first sweep last March. This picture was taken from about 55,000 kilometers (44,000 miles). North is toward upper left. 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. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Northwestern University Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Northwestern University