Space Spider, Color Pics and Long Cliffs on Mercury

Researchers have had a little time to analyze the mass of data sent back by the MESSENGER probe's Jan. 24 flyby of Mercury, and they're still rubbing their hands with glee over the new pictures.

NASA researchers held a press conference today to release new data, and give a summary of how the mission went. In a word: Rock. (Take that in as many different ways as you'd like.)

"This flyby allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed by spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," said Sean Solomon, MESSENGER's principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington. "From the perspectives of spacecraft performance and maneuver accuracy, this encounter was near-perfect, and we are delighted that all of the science data are now on the ground."

(Image right: A false-color picture of the planet, created by combining images taken at three different wavelengths of light. More images after the jump)

One of the most intriguing features, researchers said, was the discovery of a formation they're calling "The Spider" – a group of more than 100 "narrow, flat-floored troughs radiating from a complex central region," in the middle of the massive Caloris Basin (a monster impact crater, which has had its size upgraded to about 960 miles across as a result of the flyby).

The Spider itself has a crater near its center, but it's unclear whether that's actually related to the formation, scientists said.

There's still more to come, however.

"We should keep this treasure trove of data in perspective," said project scientist Ralph McNutt of the Applied Physics Laboratory. "With two flybys to come and an intensive orbital mission to follow, we are just getting started to go where no one has been before."

Along with the pictures below, a full gallery of MESSENGER's images posted online to date can be found here. Unfortunately, there's no sign of The Spider yet.

Below: Evidence that cliffs on the planet extend for long distances – at least the 125 mile width of this picture.

Below: The crater Matisse. Craters on Mercury are named for "people, now deceased, who have made contributions to the humanities, such as artists, musicians, painters, and authors."

(All images credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington )