The view shown here is similar to an earlier one, posted in October 2011, but now the coverage is more complete. The globe on the left was created from the MDIS monochrome surface morphology base map campaign. The globe on the right was produced from the MDIS color base map campaign. Each map is composed of thousands of images, and the color view was created by using 3 of the 8 color filters acquired. (1000, 750, and 430 nm wavelengths are displayed in red, green, and blue, respectively.) On March 8, 2013, these global maps will be publicly released at full resolution by NASA's Planetary Data System.

Instrument: Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 0°
Center Longitude: 75° E
Scale: Mercury's diameter is 4880 kilometers (3030 miles).
Map Projection: orthographic

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS acquired 88,746 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is now in a year-long extended mission, during which plans call for the acquisition of more than 80,000 additional images to support MESSENGER's science goals.

For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.