A spacecraft the size of a car has zoomed over Mercury taking more than 1,000 photos of parts of the planet that have never been seen before.
American space agency Nasa said the Messenger probe flew just 200km above Mercury's equator, getting close-up shots of the planet's rocky surface.
The first of the images being beamed back to Earth have already revealed newly discovered cliffs.
The mission is the second of three planned for the Messenger probe.
Scientists say by the time it has completed its three Mercury missions, only about 5% of the planet will remain unseen by a spacecraft.
The next and final Messenger flyover will be carried out in September 2009.
Mercury is considered by many to be the smallest planet in the solar system and is positioned nearest the sun.
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