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Incoming Hemisphere - Enhanced Color

Dec. 7, 1999
Updated calibration and subsequent mosaicing led to substantial improvements in NASA's Mariner 10 color image data; the spacecraft launched in 1974.

Updated calibration and subsequent mosaicing have led to substantial improvements in the Mariner 10 color image data.

This color composite was formed to especially highlight differences in opaque minerals (such as ilmenite), Iron content, and soil maturity.





  • K - crater Kuiper shows color consistent with fresh material excavated from a subsurface unit that may have an unusual composition
  • D - relatively dark and blue unit consistent with enhanced titanium content
  • B - bright red unit that may represent primitive crustal material
  • F - color unit that follows plains boundaries, interpreted as lava flow

The Mariner 10 mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, explored Venus in February 1974 on the way to three encounters with Mercury-in March and September 1974 and in March 1975. The spacecraft took more than 7,000 photos of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and the Moon.

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