Artist rendering of Messenger above Mercury.

(NASA)

NASA confirmed Thursday afternoon that its , creating a new crater on the planet.

“Going out with a bang as it impacts the surface of Mercury, we are celebrating Messenger as more than a successful mission,” John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate said. “The Messenger mission will continue to provide scientists with a bonanza of new results as we begin the next phase of this mission — analyzing the exciting data already in the archives, and unraveling the mysteries of Mercury.”

But before Messenger’s years-long mission came an end, NASA released several new photos of Mercury, as taken by the spacecraft. Some of these photos were composite imagery, , according to CNET.

(WATCH: )

Here’s one of the incredible false-color images recently published by NASA. The different colors signify variations in mineral composition, topography and other factors on Mercury’s surface.

(NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

io9 reports that the spacecraft, which was the first to orbit Mercury, during its four-year mission. The website also said the impact will create a 52-foot-wide crater in Mercury’s surface.

The spacecraft made several big discoveries during its mission, including the presence of ice , according to The New York Times. That’s pretty big news on a planet that reaches temperatures as high as 800 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.

The , according to NASA, because the spacecraft’s thrusters have run out of fuel.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Mercury’s Famous Craters

Lennon, for John Lennon (1940-1980), an English songwriter, musician, and singer who rose to worldwide fame as a founding member of the Beatles. (USGS/NASA/Getty Image, file)