Mercury - First Rocky Planet

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Mercury Mercury

It's cute, it's cuddly, it's the closest planet to our Sun and it's a bit self-concious about its size. Yay Mercury! Guess what?

Because Mercury is so close to the Sun it will never be very far away from it in the sky. The few times you will see Mercury is within a couple of hours before sunrise or after sunset. Let's learn more:

Distance from Sun:
Closest: 46,000,000 km (0.0 AU)
Farthest: 70,000,000 km (0.0 AU)
Size:
Volume: 6.083x1010 km3
Diameter: 4,880 km
Mass: 3.30x1023 kg
Motion:
Year: 88 E Days
Day: 58.6 E Days
Other:
Gravity: .38 of Earth's
Temperature: -168°C to 427°C

Mercury gets its name from the god Mercury. He is known as the swift messenger which seems appropriate since Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet. Only two probes have been sent to Mercury.

 

Missions to Mercury (Needs updating)

Even though Mercury is close we've only sent two probes to it:

# Name Launch Date Arrival Date Mission End Date
1 Mariner 10 10/03/1973 03/29/1974 03/16/1975
2 MeSSEnGeR 08/04/2004 03/18/2011 In Progress

Mariner 10

Mariner 10 ProbeLaunched November 3rd, 1973, the Mariner 10 probe was to fly past both Venus and Mercury. The Venus Flyby took place on February 5th, 1974 and was meant to test some of the data recieved on previous Mariner missions (2 & 5). After Venus it was on to Mars where it made flybys on March 29th, 1974; September 21st, 1974; & March 16th, 1975. Taking over 2,800 photos the craft mapped about 45% of the planet's surface. Learn more on our Mariner 10 page.

MeSSEnGeR

MeSSEnGeR ProbeOn August 4th, 2004 the U.S. launched a probe to gather more information about this "elusive planet." The probe has already gone around the Solar System and passed Earth, Venus, Venus again and Mercury three times. It has now slowed down enough that it will begin to orbit Mercury on March 18th, 2011. Learn more on our Messenger Page.

Gallery

It is the least photographed planet. Only one mission photograped less than half of the planet's surface.

Mariner 10 Closeup 1Mariner 10 Closeup 1 Mariner 10 Closeup 2Mariner 10 Closeup 2 Mariner 10 Closeup 3Mariner 10 Closeup 3 Mariner 10 Closeup 4Mariner 10 Closeup 4 Mariner 10 Closeup 5Mariner 10 Closeup 5 Mariner 10 Closeup 6Mariner 10 Closeup 6 Mariner 10 FullMariner 10 Full Mercury Crater DiagramMercury Crater Diagram Messenger Closeup 1Messenger Closeup 1 Messenger Closeup 2Messenger Closeup 2 Messenger Closeup 3Messenger Closeup 3 Messenger Closeup 4Messenger Closeup 4 Mariner 10 Closeup 7Messenger Closeup 5 Messenger Full 1Messenger Full 1 Messenger Full 2Messenger Full 2  

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