14 DAY TRIAL // A NASA spacecraft orbiting around the innermost planet of the solar system was recently able to collect an amazing view of a landscape feature called the Rembrandt impact basin. The photo was snapped on February 07, 2012.
The image was taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS). The instrument is on the NASA MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft,
This view boasts a resolution of 210 meters (689 feet) per pixel, which is an excellent performance considering the hellish conditions in the Mercurial atmosphere. The planet is so close to the Sun that it's tidally locked to the star, always maintaining the same face oriented towards it.
Throughout MESSENGER's 1-year mission, the MDIS assembly will collect in excess of 75,000 images. This spacecraft is the first man-made object to successfully enter orbit around Mercury, SpaceRef reports.