Mercury Flyby 1 |
Mercury Flyby 1 |
Dec 5 2007, 06:47 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 258 Joined: 22-December 06 Member No.: 1503 |
40 days and counting. The long wait is almost over!
I wonder whether we will get enough data to test new simulation theories like this one. http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19...solar-wind.html What do you expect from this first flyby? |
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Jan 17 2008, 07:15 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
General observation on high resolution imagery of Mercury.
Mercury has been ***CHEWED*** on. The bulk of the surface is "functionally" older than lunar mare terrains, regardless of absolute dates. Most of the surface is like lunar highlands or impact basins and craters (Apollo 15, 16 and 17, Surveyor 7) and basin-ejecta-plains (like Apollo 14's Frau Mauro site). What lava plains there are, are hard to tell from welded basin ejecta blankets (Cayley Plains @ Apollo 14). Many existing lava plains may have basin ejecta blankets on top. Very-high to Ultra-high resolution imagery, and there was a little very high resolution data from Mariner 10 (the closest in approach and flyaway frames), will mostly show sharp features in recent craters and their ejecta secondary terrains, and "tree-bark" textures on rounded and quite blurry highland terrains. Look at that new image near the terminator from the flyout sequence. Aside from fresher primary impacts and secondaries, ALL the terrain is rather rounded at the resolution of the image. At 10 times more resolution, there simply won't be much more data, just blurrier, softer terrains with sharp features of recently imposed disturbances on it. This is not like Mars, where crucially important processes primarily occur at sub-meter to meters scale, forming essentially important geologic features that can not be understood at all at hundred meter scales. Yes, high resolution will be important, will help, but don't expect the sort of "my-ghod" reactions you get from Mars or Europa or Io or (will get) from Titan. At least not nearly as many of them on as grandiose a scale. |
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