Radar And Mariner 10, Best possible mapping, pre-Messenger Options

[JRehling]

[...]

[Phil Stooke]

I too am interested in this topic of pre-Messenger mapping of Mercury, in one of my many guises, as a historian of planetary cartography. One interesting aspect of cartographic history is the progression of mapping of a world from mission to mission... from pre-mission planning maps to the initial post-mission maps to assist initial data analysis, to the most advanced maps which summarize mission results, including relief, topography where appropriate, and geological maps. Mariner 10 didn't use a pre-mission map in the sense that Mars missions did, but there was a preliminary post-mission 1:25,000,000 scale map, and then the set of 1:5,000,000 scale quads and a new 1:15,000,000 global map. (and a lot more outside this very basic framework, such as the unpublished global map showing only the first encounter results).

Yes, I'd love to see a good pre-mission map. You are right, JRehling, it could be done. I'd love to see your work on this, actually. But one problem is that the radar data are almost always treated as traditional astronomical data, belonging to the scientists who obtained them, not as typical planetary data which are made public (almost immediately these days in some cases, and in compressed form). We planet types are spoiled! But the radar people have never released things very readily, one exception being the "pre-Magellan" CD-ROM with some venus and lunar radar data. An awful lot of radar data never even gets adequately published either.

Could your maps go up on a free image hosting service, with a URL in a post here?

Phil