Brown Planetary Geologists Lend Expertise to Mercury Mission

When NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft makes its historic flyby of Mercury....

When NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft makes its historic flyby of Mercury on Monday, Jan. 14, 2008, Brown University students, led by planetary geologist James Head, will be part of the action. At mission headquarters and at Brown, these planetary experts will help analyze images from Mercury, the smallest and densest planet in the solar system. Head leads the MESSENGER mission’s geology group, overseeing analysis of Mercury’s volcanic features and dating rocks on the planet’s cratered surface