‘The first thing that strikes you is the incredible clarity of the images, which is particularly impressive when you consider that the monitoring cameras that took them have to withstand such extreme temperatures,’ Caroline Harper, the head of space science at the UK Space Agency, told Metro.
‘The volume of lava making up Borealis Planitia is similar in scale to mass extinction-level volcanic events recorded in Earth’s history, notably the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian period 252,000,000 years ago,’ European space officials said today.
See Mercury up close and personal in ‘incredible’ new images Say hello to Mercury, that pesky rock that always seems to be in retrograde ruining your life.
The images, taken around 6am (UK time, not Mercury time, by the way), show a row of craters near the north pole.
This is the third time a spacecraft has visited Mercury in the history of space exploration.
