First image of Mercury taken from orbit with MESSENGER's NAC. MESSENGER's camera system, the MDIS, has two cameras: the Narrow Angle Camera and the Wide Angle Camera. Comparison of this image with MESSENGER's first WAC image of the same region shows the substantial difference between the fields of view of the two cameras. At 1.5簞, the field of view of the NAC is seven times smaller than the 10.5簞 field of view of the WAC. This image was taken using MDIS's pivot. MDIS is mounted on a pivoting platform and is the only instrument in MESSENGER's payload capable of movement independent of the spacecraft. The other instruments are fixed in place, and most point down the spacecraft's boresight at all times, relying solely on the guidance and control system for pointing. The 90簞 range of motion of the pivot gives MDIS a much-needed extra degree of freedom, allowing MDIS to image the planet's surface at times when spacecraft geometry would normally prevent it from doing so. The pivot also gives MDIS additional imaging opportunities by allowing it to view more of the surface than that at which the boresight-aligned instruments are pointed at any given time. NASA image March 29, 2011.