Historical Photo of the Month - March 2005

Easter Bunny on Mercury
Photograph Number P-14466

Can you see the Easter Bunny in this photograph? Seeing this image in a newspaper, a 4-year-old California girl noticed the shape of a bunny among the craters of Mercury. Her mother wrote a letter to JPL director Dr. William Pickering to tell him about it. Click on the photograph above to see a close up of the bunny.

This image of Mercury's heavily cratered surface was released by JPL and appeared in the Los Angeles Times on March 30, 1974, one day after Mariner 10 flew by the planet for the first time. Mariner 10 did three flybys of Mercury within a year, mapping half of the planet.

For more information about Mariner 10 or about the history of JPL, contact the JPL Archives.

Past Photos of the Month
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