From the Wikipedia article Caloris Planitia: "Caloris was discovered on images taken by the Mariner 10 probe in 1974. Its name was suggested by Brian O'Leary, astronaut and member of the Mariner 10 imagery team.[2] It was situated on the terminator—the line dividing the daytime and nighttime hemispheres—at the time the probe passed by, and so half of the crater could not be imaged. Later, on January 15, 2008, one of the first photos of the planet taken by the MESSENGER probe revealed the crater in its entirety." Caloris Planitia is Latin for "plain (plateau or flatness) of heat".
Thanks. I just dug through my Brian books and memorabilia, and did not find it, but I once read Brian's account of finding the Caloris Basin (Planitia), and I think that it had to do with mascons and tidal locking, but I could be misremembering it. Anyway, Brian predicted its location, that it would be a mascon, and that it would be hot as hell. :)
From the Wikipedia article Caloris Planitia: "Caloris was discovered on images taken by the Mariner 10 probe in 1974. Its name was suggested by Brian O'Leary, astronaut and member of the Mariner 10 imagery team.[2] It was situated on the terminator—the line dividing the daytime and nighttime hemispheres—at the time the probe passed by, and so half of the crater could not be imaged. Later, on January 15, 2008, one of the first photos of the planet taken by the MESSENGER probe revealed the crater in its entirety." Caloris Planitia is Latin for "plain (plateau or flatness) of heat".
Thanks. I just dug through my Brian books and memorabilia, and did not find it, but I once read Brian's account of finding the Caloris Basin (Planitia), and I think that it had to do with mascons and tidal locking, but I could be misremembering it. Anyway, Brian predicted its location, that it would be a mascon, and that it would be hot as hell. :)