NASA's Messenger mission delivers the first pictures ever taken by a spacecraft orbiting the solar system's innermost planet.
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First views from orbit
NASA's Messenger probe is the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury, and it sent back the first pictures taken from orbit on March 29, 2011. This image of Mercury's horizon was acquired as the spacecraft was flying northward along the first orbit during which its dual-camera system was turned on. Bright rays from Hokusai Crater can be seen running north to south.