The above-shown photo of Mercury was taken by NASA’s Messenger Probe in 2011, and recently it hit the headlines due to its resemblance to carbonite-frozen Han Solo from Star Wars. The humor of this whole situation was not lost on the NASA scientists studying the images; not only did they name the photo “He will not be permanently damaged” but they also gave the following quote to Yahoo:

A portion of the terrain surrounding the northern margin of the Caloris basin hosts an elevated block in the shape of a certain carbonite-encased smuggler who can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

If there are two things you should remember, it’s not to cross a Hutt, and that Mercury’s surface can throw up all kinds of surprises. This block may be part of the original surface that pre-dates the formation of Caloris, which was shaped by material ejected during the basin-forming event.

I always knew Star Wars was real.

[via Geekologie, Yahoo]