It's a home run when the team touch basin To see the details of Mercury’s Caloris basin, our MESSENGER spacecraft took images of the planet in the best conditions to see variations in brightness. Those images were turned into an enhanced-color composite and combined with a monochrome image to make this 2014 mosaic. Doing so lets us match geologic features with color properties. For example, lavas that flooded the basin appear orange, while craters that appeared after the lava flooding are blue. MESSENGER was the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury. The spacecraft’s seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation helped to unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System’s innermost planet. In the mission’s more than three years of orbital operations, MESSENGER acquired over 250,000 images and other data sets. Image description: Caloris Basin stretches across the image, with craters pockmarking the surface. The center is mostly orange, while the surrounding edges are a deep blue. The colors help to distinguish different geologic features. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Carnegie Institution of Washington #NASA #MESSENGER #Mercury #space #craters #mosaic #planet