Photos of Mercury from NASA's Messenger Spacecraft

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Kandinsky Crater on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft was the first probe ever to orbit the planet Mercury. It arrived in orbit around the innermost planet in our solar system in 2011 and ended its mission in 2015 with a crash into the planned planet's surface. The probe snapped more than 200,000 photos of Mercury. Here: Kandinsky crater lies near Mercury's north pole, and may have hosted water ice. MESSENGER spacecraft's Wide Angle Camera broadband image appears at left, outlined in yellow, and superimposed on an MDIS polar mosaic. The view on the right shows the same image but with the brightness and contrast adjusted to show details of the crater's shadowed floor. Image released Oct. 15, 2014. Read the full story here.

Four Views of Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

The Mercury Atmosphere and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) instrument aboard NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows spectral surface measurements of the planet Mercury. Image released April 29, 2015.

Mercury's North Polar Region

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

This view shows Mercury's north polar region, colored by the maximum biannual surface temperature, which ranges from hotter temperatures in red to lower temperatures in purple. Image released March 16, 2015.

Crater with Slumping Sides on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

This view of Mercury shows two craters. The one on the left has a sharp rim for about one-quarter of its circumference (at the right side).The other three quarters consist of a broad terrace, created by slumping and inward movement of material, the cause of which is unknown. Image released March 9, 2015.

Van Eyck Crater on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Van Eyck crater on Mercury show long-shadowed features in a new image from MESSENGER spacecraft. Image released Nov. 14, 2014.

Alver Crater on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alver crater appears on the limb of Mercury, just on the horizon. Image released Oct. 22, 2014.

Crater Li Po on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Crater Li Po on Mercury appears in the lower half of this image obtained by MESSENGER spacecraft on October 29, 2011. Image released Sept. 29, 2014.

Berlioz Crater on Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

The top image shows a view of Berlioz crater, with the areas that contain radar-bright material marked in yellow and persistent shadows marked in red. The middle image, acquired a few hours later, shows details within the shadowed crater. A distinctively darker region sits on the crater's floor, which corresponds well with the radar-bright and shadowed regions as shown in the bottom image. Image released Oct. 15, 2014. Read the full story here.

MESSENGER Crater Hollows Mosaic

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Scientists with NASA's MESSENGER probe created this mosaic image showing a 9-mile (15 kilometers) crater on Mercury's surface. Image uploaded Feb. 7, 2014. [See the Full Story Behind this Mercury Photo Here]

Mercury Seen by Messenger in 2013

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

A far-off view of Mercury taken by the orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft on April 23, 2013.

MESSENGER Spacecraft Survey of Surface of Mercury

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft captured the most comprehensive survey of the surface of Mercury.

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Tom Chao
Tom Chao
Tom Chao has contributed to SPACE.com as a producer and writer since 2000. As a writer and editor, he has worked for the Voyager Company, Time Inc. New Media, HarperCollins and Worth Publishers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Cinema Production from the University of Southern California, and a master’s degree from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Tom on Google+.