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Discovery Scarp

Jan. 18, 2000
One of the most prominent lobate scarps (Discovery Scarp), photographed by NASA's Mariner 10 during it's first encounter with Mercury, is located at the center of this image (extending from the top to near bottom).

One of the most prominent lobate scarps (Discovery Scarp), photographed by Mariner 10 during it's first encounter with Mercury, is located at the center of this image (extending from the top to near bottom). This scarp is about 350 kilometers long and transects two craters 35 and 55 kilometers in diameter. The maximum height of the scarp south of the 55-kilometer crater is about 3 kilometers. Notice the shallow older crater (near the center of the image) perched on the crest of the scarp. (FDS 17389 and 27399)

The Mariner 10 mission, 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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