Discoveries
During its flyby of Venus, Mariner 10 discovered evidence of rotating clouds and a very weak magnetic field.
The spacecraft flew past Mercury three times. Owing to the geometry of its orbit – its orbital period was almost exactly twice Mercury's – the same side of Mercury was sunlit each time, so it was only able to map 40–45% of Mercury’s surface, taking over 2,800 photos. It revealed a more or less moon-like surface. It thus contributed enormously to our understanding of the planet, whose surface had not been successfully resolved through telescopic observation. The regions mapped included most or all of the Shakespeare, Beethoven, Kuiper, Michelangelo, Tolstoj, and Discovery quadrangles, half of Bach and Victoria, and small portions of Solitudo Persephones, Liguria, and Borealis.
Mariner 10 also discovered that Mercury has a tenuous atmosphere consisting primarily of helium, as well as a magnetic field and a large iron-rich core. Its radiometer readings suggested that Mercury has a night time temperature of −183 °C (−297 °F) and maximum daytime temperatures of 187 °C (369 °F).
Read more about this topic: Mariner 10
Famous quotes containing the word discoveries:
“Decisive inventions and discoveries always are initiated by an intellectual or moral stimulus as their actual motivating force, but, usually, the final impetus to human action is given by material impulses ... merchants stood as a driving force behind the heroes of the age of discovery; this first heroic impulse to conquer the world emanated from very mortal forces—in the beginning, there was spice.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“However many discoveries we may have made in the land of self-love, there remain uncharted territories.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Furnished as all Europe now is with Academies of Science, with nice instruments and the spirit of experiment, the progress of human knowledge will be rapid and discoveries made of which we have at present no conception. I begin to be almost sorry I was born so soon, since I cannot have the happiness of knowing what will be known a hundred years hence.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)