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likely overlain with a solid shell of iron and sulfur

layered structure not known to exist on Earth, Venus or Mars

Messenger has taken nearly 100,000 images and made more than 4 million measurements of the planet's surface

probe is mapping Mercury's surface and gathering data on the planet's composition, magnetic environment and tenuous atmosphere, among other features

s original science campaign was designed to last one Earth year

NASA announced in November that it had granted the spacecraft a one-year mission extension

officially began its extended mission earlier this week.

In one study

They found that the range of elevations was smaller than that found on either Mars or the moon.

also observed that the floors of many Mercury craters have been tilted substantially

suggest that internal forces pushed the craters up after the impacts created them

not out of the question that Mercury is still active today

not very likely

have not observed an active eruption or extrusion

determined that Mercury has "mascons," large positive gravity anomalies associated with big impact basins

first discovered on the moon in 1968 and caused great problems in the Apollo program because they tugged low-orbiting spacecraft around and made navigation difficult

Subsequently mascons were discovered on Mars

find out that Mercury has

appear to be a common feature of terrestrial planetary bodies

gravity calculations also suggest that Mercury has an iron core that comprises roughly 85 percent of the planet's radius

Earth's iron core covers about half of its radius

new findings should help shed light on Mercury's past

formation and evolution of rocky planets in general

looks like a layer of solid iron sulfide overlies Mercury's core — a feature not known to exist on any other terrestrial planet

Messenger spacecraft found a mix of frozen water and possible organic materials

Evidence of big pockets of ice is visible from a latitude of 85 degrees north up to the pole

smaller deposits scattered as far away as 65 degrees north.

NASA will direct Messenger's observation toward that area in the coming months — when the angle of the sun allows — to get a better look

Researchers also believe the south pole has ice, but Messenger's orbit has not allowed them to obtain extensive measurements of that region yet

Messenger will spiral closer to the planet in 2014 and 2015 as it runs out of fuel

Speculation about water ice on Mercury dates back more than 20 years

In 1991, Earth-bound astronomers fired radar signals to Mercury and received results showing there could be ice at both poles

reinforced by 1999 measurements using the more powerful Arecibo Observatorymicrowave beam in Puerto Rico

Radar pictures beamed back to New Mexico's Very Large Array showed white areas that researchers suspected was water ice.

The laser is weak — about the strength of a flashlight — but just powerful enough to distinguish bright icy areas from the darker, surrounding Mercury regolith

Messenger's neutron spectrometer spotted hydrogen, which is a large component of water ice. But the temperature profile unexpectedly showed that dark, volatile materials – consistent with climes in which organics survive – are mixing in with the ice

Organic materials are life's ingredients, though they do not necessarily lead to life itself

the presence of organics is also suspected on airless, distant worlds such as Pluto

suspect Mercury's water ice is coated with a 4-inch (10 centimeters) blanket of "thermally insulating material

measurements from the NASA SOHO spacecraft and the University of Michigan's Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) on NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft at Mercury

creator is Robert Alexander, a design science doctoral student at the University of Michigan and NASA fellow.

a composer with a NASA fellowship to study how representing information as sound could aid in data mining.

raw information to an audio waveform

To sonify the data

in its original sampling rate of 44,100 hertz, it played back in less than a quarter of a second

benefits of sonifying data. You can zip through days' worth of information in an instant

Sonification is the process of translating information into sound

used in Geiger counter radiation detectors, which emit clicks in the presence of high-energy particles

not typically used to pick out patterns in information, but scientists on the U-M Solar and Heliospheric Research Group are exploring its potential in that realm. They're looking to Alexander to make it possible.

used to looking at wiggly-line plots and graphs, but humans are very good at hearing things. We wonder if there's a way to find things in the data that are difficult to see."

his approach led to a new discovery

a particular ratio of carbon atoms that scientists had not previously keyed in to can reveal more about the source of the solar wind than the ratios of elements they currently rely on. The solar wind is a squall of hot plasma, or charged particles, continuously emanating from the sun.

hopes to build a bridge between science and art.

movies were silent and people just accepted that that's the way it

this high res footage of what's happening on the surface of the sun, and it's silent. I'm creating a soundtrack