MESSENGER image of Mercury: Craters Kuiper, Calvino, and Rudaki

First seen in Mariner 10 images, and again during MESSENGER’s second flyby of Mercury, the bright-rayed crater Kuiper (62 km in diameter) provides an important stratigraphic marker in Mercury’s history. The craters Calvino (67 km) and Rudaki (123 km), imaged at some of the highest resolution color obtained prior to orbit, are seen at the bottom left (northeast is up). Date acquired: April 10, 2011 Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. More images