MESSENGER MASCS VIRS: Mercury Surface Spectra from the MESSENGER Mission

MESSENGER MASCS VIRS derived observations are spectral data from the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer's Visible and Infrared Spectrograph. The data set, version 2.0, is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026. It contains derived data records covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths from the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury.

Use Cases

• Analyzing Mercury's surface mineralogy based on visible and near-infrared spectral reflectance.
• Mapping spectral variations across Mercury's surface based on derived data records.
• Comparing surface composition between different regions of Mercury based on spectrometer data.
• Validating or improving spectral models of planetary surfaces based on the VIRS instrument's coverage.

Strengths

• Data is version 2.0, indicating an updated release from a previous version.
• Produced by the authoritative source National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Covers two distinct wavelength ranges (visible and near-infrared) simultaneously.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the MASCS VIRS instrument, a fixed concave grating spectrograph with a beam splitter, aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:26:20.997945; freshness should be verified

Geography

Mercury