ASTRONOMY

URANUS
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-
largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and
both have different bulk chemical composition from that of the larger gas
giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as "ice
giants" to distinguish them from the gas giants. Uranus's atmosphere is similar to Jupiter's and
Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, but it contains more "ices" such as
water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of other hydrocarbons.[12] It is the coldest
planetary atmosphere in the Solar System, with a minimum temperature of 49 K (−224 °C;
−371 °F), and has a complex, layered cloud structure with water thought to make up the lowest
clouds and methane the uppermost layer of clouds.[12] The interior of Uranus is mainly composed
of ices and rock.[11]
Uranus is the only planet whose name is derived directly from a figure from Greek mythology,
from the Latinised version of the Greek god of the sky Ouranos. Like the other giant planets,
Uranus has a ring system, a magnetosphere, and numerous moons. The Uranian system has a
unique configuration among those of the planets because its axis of rotation is tilted sideways,
nearly into the plane of its solar orbit. Its north and south poles, therefore, lie where most other
planets have their equators.[17] In 1986, images from Voyager 2showed Uranus as an almost
featureless planet in visible light, without the cloud bands or storms associated with the other
giant planets.[17] Observations from Earth have shown seasonal change and increased weather
activity as Uranus approached its equinox in 2007. Wind speeds can reach 250 metres per
second (900 km/h; 560 mph).[18]

History
Like the classical planets, Uranus is visible to the naked eye, but it was never recognised as a
planet by ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit.[19] Sir William
Herschel announced its discovery on 13 March 1781, expanding the known boundaries of
the Solar System for the first time in history and making Uranus the first planet discovered with
a telescope.

Exploration
Main article: Exploration of Uranus

Crescent Uranus as imaged by Voyager 2 while en route to Neptune

In 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 interplanetary probe encountered Uranus. This flyby remains the
only investigation of Uranus carried out from a short distance and no other visits are planned.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Uranus on 24 January 1986, coming
within 81,500 km (50,600 mi) of the cloudtops, before continuing its journey to Neptune. The
spacecraft studied the structure and chemical composition of Uranus's atmosphere,[77] including
its unique weather, caused by its axial tilt of 97.77°. It made the first detailed investigations of its
five largest moons and discovered 10 new ones. It examined all nine of the system's known
rings and discovered two more.[17][98][131] It also studied the magnetic field, its irregular structure, its
tilt and its unique corkscrew magnetotail caused by Uranus's sideways orientation.[91]
Voyager 1 was unable to visit Uranus because investigation of Saturn's moon Titan was
considered a priority. This trajectory took Voyager 1 out of the plane of the ecliptic, ending its
planetary science mission.[132]:118
The possibility of sending the Cassini spacecraft from Saturn to Uranus was evaluated during a
mission extension planning phase in 2009, but was ultimately rejected in favour of destroying it in
the Saturnian atmosphere.[133] It would have taken about twenty years to get to the Uranian
system after departing Saturn.[133] A Uranus orbiter and probe was recommended by the 2013–
2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey published in 2011; the proposal envisages launch
during 2020–2023 and a 13-year cruise to Uranus.[134] A Uranus entry probe could use Pioneer
Venus Multiprobeheritage and descend to 1–5 atmospheres.[134] The ESA evaluated a "medium-
class" mission called Uranus Pathfinder.[135] A New Frontiers Uranus Orbiter has been evaluated
and recommended in the study, The Case for a Uranus Orbiter.[136] Such a mission is aided by the
ease with which a relatively big mass can be sent to the system—over 1500 kg with an Atlas 521
and 12-year journey.[137] For more concepts see Proposed Uranus missions.
Internal heat
Uranus's internal heat appears markedly lower than that of the other giant planets; in
astronomical terms, it has a low thermal flux.[18][71] Why Uranus's internal temperature is so low is
still not understood. Neptune, which is Uranus's near twin in size and composition, radiates 2.61
times as much energy into space as it receives from the Sun,[18] but Uranus radiates hardly any
excess heat at all. The total power radiated by Uranus in the far infrared (i.e. heat) part of the
spectrum is 1.06±0.08 times the solar energy absorbed in its atmosphere.[12][72] Uranus's heat flux
is only 0.042±0.047 W/m2, which is lower than the internal heat flux of Earth of
about 0.075 W/m2.[72] The lowest temperature recorded in Uranus's tropopause is 49 K
(−224.2 °C; −371.5 °F), making Uranus the coldest planet in the Solar System.[12][72]
One of the hypotheses for this discrepancy suggests that when Uranus was hit by a
supermassive impactor, which caused it to expel most of its primordial heat, it was left with a
depleted core temperature.[73] This impact hypothesis is also used in some attempts to explain
the planet's axial tilt. Another hypothesis is that some form of barrier exists in Uranus's upper
layers that prevents the core's heat from reaching the surface.[11] For example, convection may
take place in a set of compositionally different layers, which may inhibit the upward heat
transport;[12][72] perhaps double diffusive convection is a limiting factor.[11]

Atmosphere
Main article: Atmosphere of Uranus

Although there is no well-defined solid surface within Uranus's interior, the outermost part of
Uranus's gaseous envelope that is accessible to remote sensing is called
its atmosphere.[12] Remote-sensing capability extends down to roughly 300 km below the 1 bar
(100 kPa) level, with a corresponding pressure around 100 bar (10 MPa) and temperature of
320 K (47 °C; 116 °F).[74] The tenuous thermosphere extends over two planetary radii from the
nominal surface, which is defined to lie at a pressure of 1 bar.[75] The Uranian atmosphere can be
divided into three layers: the troposphere, between altitudes of −300 and 50 km (−186 and 31 mi)
and pressures from 100 to 0.1 bar (10 MPa to 10 kPa); the stratosphere, spanning altitudes
between 50 and 4,000 km (31 and 2,485 mi) and pressures of between 0.1 and 10−10 bar (10 kPa
to 10 µPa); and the thermosphere extending from 4,000 km to as high as 50,000 km from the
surface.[12] There is no mesosphere.
Composition
The composition of Uranus's atmosphere is different from its bulk, consisting mainly of molecular
hydrogen and helium.[12] The helium molar fraction, i.e. the number of helium atomsper molecule
of gas, is 0.15±0.03[16] in the upper troposphere, which corresponds to a mass
fraction 0.26±0.05.[12][72] This value is close to the protosolar helium mass fraction
of 0.275±0.01,[76] indicating that helium has not settled in its centre as it has in the gas
giants.[12] The third-most-abundant component of Uranus's atmosphere is methane (CH
4).[12]Methane has prominent absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared (IR), making
Uranus aquamarine or cyan in colour.[12] Methane molecules account for 2.3% of the atmosphere
by molar fraction below the methane cloud deck at the pressure level of 1.3 bar (130 kPa); this
represents about 20 to 30 times the carbon abundance found in the Sun.[12][15][77] The mixing
ratio[i] is much lower in the upper atmosphere due to its extremely low temperature, which lowers
the saturation level and causes excess methane to freeze out.[78] The abundances of less volatile
compounds such as ammonia, water, and hydrogen sulfide in the deep atmosphere are poorly
known. They are probably also higher than solar values.[12][79] Along with methane, trace amounts
of various hydrocarbons are found in the stratosphere of Uranus, which are thought to be
produced from methane by photolysis induced by the solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation.[80] They
include ethane (C
2H
6), acetylene (C
2H
2), methylacetylene (CH
3C
2H), and diacetylene (C
2HC
2H).[78][81][82]Spectroscopy
has also uncovered traces of water vapour, carbon
monoxide and carbon dioxide in the upper atmosphere, which can only originate from an external
source such as infalling dust and comets.[81][82][83]
 Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days.[12] It has the
longest rotation period (243 days) of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite
direction to most other planets (meaning the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east).[13] It
does not have any natural satellites. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It
is the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, reaching an apparent
magnitude of −4.6 – bright enough to cast shadows at night and, rarely, visible to the naked
eye in broad daylight.[14][15] Orbiting within Earth's orbit, Venus is an inferior planet and never
appears to venture far from the Sun; its maximum angular distance from the Sun (elongation) is
47.8°.
Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their
similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition. It is radically different from Earth
in other respects. It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more
than 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of
Earth, or roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) underwater on Earth. Venus is by far the
hottest planet in the Solar System, with a mean surface temperature of 735 K (462 °C; 863 °F),
even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly
reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible
light. It may have had water oceans in the past,[16][17] but these would have vaporized as the
temperature rose due to a runaway greenhouse effect.[18] The water has
probably photodissociated, and the free hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by
the solar wind because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field.[19] Venus's surface is a dry
desertscape interspersed with slab-like rocks and is periodically resurfaced by volcanism.
As one of the brightest objects in the sky, Venus has been a major fixture in human culture for as
long as records have existed. It has been made sacred to gods of many cultures, and has been a
prime inspiration for writers and poets as the morning star and evening star. Venus was the
first planet to have its motions plotted across the sky, as early as the second millennium BC.[20]
As the closest planet to Earth, Venus has been a prime target for early interplanetary exploration.
It was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft (Mariner 2 in 1962), and the first to be
successfully landed on (by Venera 7 in 1970). Venus's thick clouds render observation of its
surface impossible in visible light, and the first detailed maps did not emerge until the arrival of
the Magellan orbiter in 1991. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions,
but they are hindered by Venus's hostile surface conditions

Physical characteristics

Size comparison with Earth

Venus is one of the four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, meaning that it is a rocky body
like Earth. It is similar to Earth in size and mass, and is often described as Earth's "sister" or
"twin".[21] The diameter of Venus is 12,103.6 km (7,520.8 mi)—only 638.4 km (396.7 mi) less than
Earth's—and its mass is 81.5% of Earth's. Conditions on the Venusian surface differ radically
from those on Earth because its dense atmosphere is 96.5% carbon dioxide, with most of the
remaining 3.5% being nitrogen.[22]

Geography
Main article: Mapping of Venus
The Venusian surface was a subject of speculation until some of its secrets were revealed
by planetary science in the 20th century. Venera landers in 1975 and 1982 returned images of a
surface covered in sediment and relatively angular rocks.[23] The surface was mapped in detail
by Magellan in 1990–91. The ground shows evidence of extensive volcanism, and the sulfur in
the atmosphere may indicate that there have been some recent eruptions.[24][25]
About 80% of the Venusian surface is covered by smooth, volcanic plains, consisting of 70%
plains with wrinkle ridges and 10% smooth or lobate plains.[26] Two highland "continents" make up
the rest of its surface area, one lying in the planet's northern hemisphere and the other just south
of the equator. The northern continent is called Ishtar Terra after Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess
of love, and is about the size of Australia. Maxwell Montes, the highest mountain on Venus, lies
on Ishtar Terra. Its peak is 11 km (7 mi) above the Venusian average surface elevation.[27] The
southern continent is called Aphrodite Terra, after the Greek goddess of love, and is the larger of
the two highland regions at roughly the size of South America. A network of fractures and faults
covers much of this area.[28]
The absence of evidence of lava flow accompanying any of the visible calderas remains an
enigma. The planet has few impact craters, demonstrating that the surface is relatively young,
approximately 300–600 million years old.[29][30] Venus has some unique surface features in
addition to the impact craters, mountains, and valleys commonly found on rocky planets. Among
these are flat-topped volcanic features called "farra", which look somewhat like pancakes and
range in size from 20 to 50 km (12 to 31 mi) across, and from 100 to 1,000 m (330 to 3,280 ft)
high; radial, star-like fracture systems called "novae"; features with both radial and concentric
fractures resembling spider webs, known as "arachnoids"; and "coronae", circular rings of
fractures sometimes surrounded by a depression. These features are volcanic in origin.[31]
Most Venusian surface features are named after historical and mythological
women.[32] Exceptions are Maxwell Montes, named after James Clerk Maxwell, and highland
regions Alpha Regio, Beta Regio, and Ovda Regio. The latter three features were named before
the current system was adopted by the International Astronomical Union, the body which
oversees planetary nomenclature.[33]
The longitudes of physical features on Venus are expressed relative to its prime meridian. The
original prime meridian passed through the radar-bright spot at the centre of the oval feature Eve,
located south of Alpha Regio.[34] After the Venera missions were completed, the prime meridian
was redefined to pass through the central peak in the crater Ariadne.

Internal structure
The internal structure of Venus – the crust (outer layer), the mantle (middle layer) and the core (yellow
inner layer)

Without seismic data or knowledge of its moment of inertia, little direct information is available
about the internal structure and geochemistryof Venus.[53] The similarity in size and density
between Venus and Earth suggests they share a similar internal structure: a core, mantle,
and crust. Like that of Earth, the Venusian core is at least partially liquid because the two planets
have been cooling at about the same rate.[54]The slightly smaller size of Venus means pressures
are 24% lower in its deep interior than Earth's.[55] The principal difference between the two
planets is the lack of evidence for plate tectonics on Venus, possibly because its crust is too
strong to subduct without water to make it less viscous. This results in reduced heat loss from the
planet, preventing it from cooling and providing a likely explanation for its lack of an internally
generated magnetic field.[56] Instead, Venus may lose its internal heat in periodic major
resurfacing events

Magnetic field and core

In 1967, Venera 4 found Venus's magnetic field to be much weaker than that of Earth. This
magnetic field is induced by an interaction between the ionosphere and the solar wind,[88][89] rather
than by an internal dynamo as in the Earth's core. Venus's small induced
magnetosphere provides negligible protection to the atmosphere against cosmic radiation.
The lack of an intrinsic magnetic field at Venus was surprising, given that it is similar to Earth in
size, and was expected also to contain a dynamo at its core. A dynamo requires three things:
a conducting liquid, rotation, and convection. The core is thought to be electrically conductive
and, although its rotation is often thought to be too slow, simulations show it is adequate to
produce a dynamo.[90][91] This implies that the dynamo is missing because of a lack of convection
in Venus's core. On Earth, convection occurs in the liquid outer layer of the core because the
bottom of the liquid layer is much hotter than the top. On Venus, a global resurfacing event may
have shut down plate tectonics and led to a reduced heat flux through the crust. This caused the
mantle temperature to increase, thereby reducing the heat flux out of the core. As a result, no
internal geodynamo is available to drive a magnetic field. Instead, the heat from the core is being
used to reheat the crust.[92]
One possibility is that Venus has no solid inner core,[93] or that its core is not cooling, so that the
entire liquid part of the core is at approximately the same temperature. Another possibility is that
its core has already completely solidified. The state of the core is highly dependent on the
concentration of sulfur, which is unknown at present.[92]
The weak magnetosphere around Venus means that the solar wind is interacting directly with its
outer atmosphere. Here, ions of hydrogen and oxygen are being created by the dissociation of
neutral molecules from ultraviolet radiation. The solar wind then supplies energy that gives some
of these ions sufficient velocity to escape Venus's gravity field. This erosion process results in a
steady loss of low-mass hydrogen, helium, and oxygen ions, whereas higher-mass molecules,
such as carbon dioxide, are more likely to be retained. Atmospheric erosion by the solar wind
probably led to the loss of most of Venus's water during the first billion years after it
formed.[94] The erosion has increased the ratio of higher-mass deuterium to lower-mass hydrogen
in the atmosphere 100 times compared to the rest of the solar system

Mercury
Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period around the
Sun of 87.97 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System. It is named after
the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods.
Like Venus, Mercury orbits the Sun within Earth's orbit as an inferior planet, and never exceeds
28° away from the Sun. When viewed from Earth, this proximity to the Sun means the planet can
only be seen near the western or eastern horizon during the early evening or early morning. At
this time it may appear as a bright star-like object, but is often far more difficult to observe than
Venus. The planet telescopically displays the complete range of phases, similar to Venus and the
Moon, as it moves in its inner orbit relative to Earth, which reoccurs over the so-called synodic
period approximately every 116 days.
Mercury is gravitationally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance,[15] and rotates in a
way that is unique in the Solar System. As seen relative to the fixed stars, it rotates on its axis
exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun.[a][16] As seen from the Sun,
in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every
two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years.
Mercury's axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar System's planets (about 1⁄30 degree).
Its orbital eccentricity is the largest of all known planets in the Solar System;[b] at perihelion,
Mercury's distance from the Sun is only about two-thirds (or 66%) of its distance at aphelion.
Mercury's surface appears heavily cratered and is similar in appearance to the Moon's, indicating
that it has been geologically inactive for billions of years. Having almost no atmosphere to retain
heat, it has surface temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other planet in the Solar
System, ranging from 100 K (−173 °C; −280 °F) at night to 700 K (427 °C; 800 °F) during the day
across the equatorial regions. The polar regions are constantly below 180 K (−93 °C; −136 °F).
The planet has no known natural satellites.
Two spacecraft have visited Mercury: Mariner 10 flew by in 1974 and 1975; and MESSENGER,
launched in 2004, orbited Mercury over 4,000 times in four years before exhausting its fuel and
crashing into the planet's surface on April 30, 2015.

Physical characteristics
Internal structure

Internal structure of Mercury:

1. Crust: 100–300 km thick

2. Mantle: 600 km thick
3. Core: 1,800 km radius
Gravity anomalies on Mercury—mass concentrations (red) suggest subsurface structure and evolution

Mercury appears to have a solid silicate crust and mantle overlying a solid, iron sulfide outer core
layer, a deeper liquid core layer, and possibly a solid inner core.[20]
Mercury is one of four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, and is a rocky body like Earth. It is
the smallest planet in the Solar System, with an equatorial radius of 2,439.7 kilometres
(1,516.0 mi).[3] Mercury is also smaller—albeit more massive—than the largestnatural satellites in
the Solar System, Ganymede and Titan. Mercury consists of approximately 70% metallic and
30% silicatematerial.[21] Mercury's density is the second highest in the Solar System at
5.427 g/cm3, only slightly less than Earth's density of 5.515 g/cm3.[3] If the effect of gravitational
compression were to be factored out from both planets, the materials of which Mercury is made
would be denser than those of Earth, with an uncompressed density of 5.3 g/cm3 versus Earth's
4.4 g/cm3.[22]
Mercury's density can be used to infer details of its inner structure. Although Earth's high density
results appreciably from gravitational compression, particularly at the core, Mercury is much
smaller and its inner regions are not as compressed. Therefore, for it to have such a high
density, its core must be large and rich in iron.[23]
Geologists estimate that Mercury's core occupies about 55% of its volume; for Earth this
proportion is 17%. Research published in 2007 suggests that Mercury has a molten
core.[24][25] Surrounding the core is a 500–700 km mantle consisting of silicates.[26][27] Based on data
from the Mariner 10 mission and Earth-based observation, Mercury's crust is estimated to be
35 km thick.[28] One distinctive feature of Mercury's surface is the presence of numerous narrow
ridges, extending up to several hundred kilometers in length. It is thought that these were formed
as Mercury's core and mantle cooled and contracted at a time when the crust had already
solidified.[29]
Mercury's core has a higher iron content than that of any other major planet in the Solar System,
and several theories have been proposed to explain this. The most widely accepted theory is that
Mercury originally had a metal–silicate ratio similar to common chondrite meteorites, thought to
be typical of the Solar System's rocky matter, and a mass approximately 2.25 times its current
mass.[30] Early in the Solar System's history, Mercury may have been struck by a planetesimal of
approximately 1/6 that mass and several thousand kilometers across.[30] The impact would have
stripped away much of the original crust and mantle, leaving the core behind as a relatively major
component.[30] A similar process, known as the giant impact hypothesis, has been proposed to
explain the formation of the Moon.[30]
Alternatively, Mercury may have formed from the solar nebula before the Sun's energy output
had stabilized. It would initially have had twice its present mass, but as the protosun contracted,
temperatures near Mercury could have been between 2,500 and 3,500 K and possibly even as
high as 10,000 K.[31] Much of Mercury's surface rock could have been vaporized at such
temperatures, forming an atmosphere of "rock vapor" that could have been carried away by
the solar wind.[31]
A third hypothesis proposes that the solar nebula caused drag on the particles from which
Mercury was accreting, which meant that lighter particles were lost from the accreting material
and not gathered by Mercury.[32] Each hypothesis predicts a different surface composition, and
there are two space missions set to make observations. MESSENGER, which ended in 2015,
found higher-than-expected potassium and sulfur levels on the surface, suggesting that the giant
impact hypothesis and vaporization of the crust and mantle did not occur because potassium and
sulfur would have been driven off by the extreme heat of these events.[33] BepiColombo, which
will arrive at Mercury in 2025, will make observations to test these hypotheses.[34] The findings so
far would seem to favor the third hypothesis; however, further analysis of the data is needed.

Magnetic field and magnetosphere

Main article: Mercury's magnetic field

Graph showing relative strength of Mercury's magnetic field

Despite its small size and slow 59-day-long rotation, Mercury has a significant, and apparently
global, magnetic field. According to measurements taken by Mariner 10, it is about 1.1% the
strength of Earth's. The magnetic-field strength at Mercury's equator is about 300 nT.[80][81] Like
that of Earth, Mercury's magnetic field is dipolar.[79] Unlike Earth's, Mercury's poles are nearly
aligned with the planet's spin axis.[82] Measurements from both the Mariner
10 and MESSENGER space probes have indicated that the strength and shape of the magnetic
field are stable.[82]
It is likely that this magnetic field is generated by a dynamo effect, in a manner similar to the
magnetic field of Earth.[83][84] This dynamo effect would result from the circulation of the planet's
iron-rich liquid core. Particularly strong tidal effects caused by the planet's high orbital
eccentricity would serve to keep the core in the liquid state necessary for this dynamo effect.[85]
Mercury's magnetic field is strong enough to deflect the solar wind around the planet, creating
a magnetosphere. The planet's magnetosphere, though small enough to fit within Earth,[79] is
strong enough to trap solar wind plasma. This contributes to the space weathering of the planet's
surface.[82] Observations taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft detected this low energy plasma in
the magnetosphere of the planet's nightside. Bursts of energetic particles in the planet's
magnetotail indicate a dynamic quality to the planet's magnetosphere.[79]
During its second flyby of the planet on October 6, 2008, MESSENGER discovered that
Mercury's magnetic field can be extremely "leaky". The spacecraft encountered magnetic
"tornadoes" – twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting the planetary magnetic field to
interplanetary space – that were up to 800 km wide or a third of the radius of the planet. These
twisted magnetic flux tubes, technically known as flux transfer events, form open windows in the
planet's magnetic shield through which the solar wind may enter and directly impact Mercury's
surface via magnetic reconnection[86] This also occurs in Earth's magnetic field.
The MESSENGER observations showed the reconnection rate is ten times higher at Mercury,
but its proximity to the Sun only accounts for about a third of the reconnection rate observed
by MESSENGER.

Research with space probes

Main article: Exploration of Mercury

MESSENGER being prepared for launch

Mercury transiting the Sun as viewed by the Mars rover Curiosity(June 3, 2014).[155]

Reaching Mercury from Earth poses significant technical challenges, because it orbits so much
closer to the Sun than Earth. A Mercury-bound spacecraft launched from Earth must travel over
91 million kilometres (57 million miles) into the Sun's gravitational potential well. Mercury has
an orbital speed of 48 km/s (30 mi/s), whereas Earth's orbital speed is 30 km/s (19 mi/s).
Therefore, the spacecraft must make a large change in velocity (delta-v) to enter a Hohmann
transfer orbit that passes near Mercury, as compared to the delta-v required for other planetary
missions.[156]
The potential energy liberated by moving down the Sun's potential well becomes kinetic energy;
requiring another large delta-v change to do anything other than rapidly pass by Mercury. To land
safely or enter a stable orbit the spacecraft would rely entirely on rocket motors. Aerobraking is
ruled out because Mercury has a negligible atmosphere. A trip to Mercury requires more rocket
fuel than that required to escape the Solar System completely. As a result, only two space
probes have visited it so far.[157] A proposed alternative approach would use a solar sail to attain a
Mercury-synchronous orbit around the Sun.[158]
Mariner 10
Main article: Mariner 10
Mariner 10, the first probe to visit Mercury

The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 (1974–1975).[122] The spacecraft
used the gravity of Venus to adjust its orbital velocity so that it could approach Mercury, making it
both the first spacecraft to use this gravitational "slingshot" effect and the first NASA mission to
visit multiple planets.[156] Mariner 10 provided the first close-up images of Mercury's surface,
which immediately showed its heavily cratered nature, and revealed many other types of
geological features, such as the giant scarps that were later ascribed to the effect of the planet
shrinking slightly as its iron core cools.[159] Unfortunately, the same face of the planet was lit at
each of Mariner 10's close approaches. This made close observation of both sides of the planet
impossible,[160] and resulted in the mapping of less than 45% of the planet's surface.[161]
The spacecraft made three close approaches to Mercury, the closest of which took it to within
327 km (203 mi) of the surface.[162] At the first close approach, instruments detected a magnetic
field, to the great surprise of planetary geologists—Mercury's rotation was expected to be much
too slow to generate a significant dynamo effect. The second close approach was primarily used
for imaging, but at the third approach, extensive magnetic data were obtained. The data revealed
that the planet's magnetic field is much like Earth's, which deflects the solar windaround the
planet. For many years after the Mariner 10 encounters, the origin of Mercury's magnetic field
remained the subject of several competing theories.[163][164]
On March 24, 1975, just eight days after its final close approach, Mariner 10 ran out of fuel.
Because its orbit could no longer be accurately controlled, mission controllers instructed the
probe to shut down.[165] Mariner 10 is thought to be still orbiting the Sun, passing close to Mercury
every few months.[166]
MESSENGER
Main article: MESSENGER

Estimated details of the impact of MESSENGER on 30 April 2015

A second NASA mission to Mercury, named MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space

ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging), was launched on 3 August 2004. It made a fly-by of
Earth in August 2005, and of Venus in October 2006 and June 2007 to place it onto the correct
trajectory to reach an orbit around Mercury.[167] A first fly-by of Mercury occurred on January 14,
2008, a second on October 6, 2008,[168] and a third on September 29, 2009.[169] Most of the
hemisphere not imaged by Mariner 10 was mapped during these fly-bys. The probe successfully
entered an elliptical orbit around the planet on March 18, 2011. The first orbital image of Mercury
was obtained on March 29, 2011. The probe finished a one-year mapping mission,[168]and then
entered a one-year extended mission into 2013. In addition to continued observations and
mapping of Mercury, MESSENGER observed the 2012 solar maximum.[170]
The mission was designed to clear up six key issues: Mercury's high density, its geological
history, the nature of its magnetic field, the structure of its core, whether it has ice at its poles,
and where its tenuous atmosphere comes from. To this end, the probe carried imaging devices
that gathered much-higher-resolution images of much more of Mercury than Mariner 10,
assorted spectrometers to determine abundances of elements in the crust,
and magnetometers and devices to measure velocities of charged particles. Measurements of
changes in the probe's orbital velocity were expected to be used to infer details of the planet's
interior structure.[171] MESSENGER's final maneuver was on April 24, 2015, and it crashed into
Mercury's surface on April 30, 2015.[172][173][174] The spacecraft's impact with Mercury occurred near
3:26 PM EDT on April 30, 2015, leaving a crater estimated to be 16 m (52 ft) in diameter.[175]

First (29 March 2011) and last (30 April 2015) images of Mercury by MESSENGER

BepiColombo
Main article: BepiColombo
The European Space Agency is planning a joint mission with Japan called BepiColombo, which
will orbit Mercury with two probes: one to map the planet and the other to study
its magnetosphere.[176] Once launched in 2018, BepiColombo is expected to reach Mercury in
2025.[177] It will release a magnetometer probe into an elliptical orbit, then chemical rockets will
fire to deposit the mapper probe into a circular orbit. Both probes will operate for one terrestrial
year.[176] The mapper probe will carry an array of spectrometers similar to those
on MESSENGER, and will study the planet at many different wavelengths
including infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray.

Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant
planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other
planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants; the other two giant
planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since
antiquity.[13] The Romans named it after their god Jupiter.[14] When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can
reach an apparent magnitude of −2.94, bright enough for its reflected light to cast
shadows,[15] and making it on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after
the Moon and Venus.
Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium, though helium
comprises only about a tenth of the number of molecules. It may also have a rocky core of
heavier elements,[16] but like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface.
Because of its rapid rotation, the planet's shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it has a slight but
noticeable bulge around the equator). The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several
bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries.
A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at
least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary
ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. Jupiter has at least 69 moons,[17]including the four
large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has
a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury.
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the
early Pioneer and Voyagerflyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter. In late February 2007,
Jupiter was visited by the New Horizons probe, which used Jupiter's gravity to increase its speed
and bend its trajectory en route to Pluto. The latest probe to visit the planet is Juno, which
entered into orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016.[18][19] Future targets for exploration in the Jupiter
system include the probable ice-covered liquid ocean of its moon Europa

Physical characteristics
Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter. It is the largest of the four giant
planets in the Solar System and hence its largest planet. It has a diameter of 142,984 km
(88,846 mi) at its equator. The average density of Jupiter, 1.326 g/cm3, is the second highest of
the giant planets, but lower than those of the four terrestrial planets.

Composition
Jupiter's upper atmosphere is about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of
gas molecules. A helium atom has about four times as much mass as a hydrogen atom, so the
composition changes when described as the proportion of mass contributed by different atoms.
Thus, Jupiter's atmosphere is approximately 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, with the
remaining one percent of the mass consisting of other elements. The atmosphere contains trace
amounts of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds. There are also
traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide, neon, oxygen, phosphine, and sulfur. The outermost
layer of the atmosphere contains crystals of frozen ammonia. The interior contains denser
materials - by mass it is roughly 71% hydrogen, 24% helium, and 5% other
elements.[22][23] Through infrared and ultraviolet measurements, trace amounts of benzene and
other hydrocarbons have also been found.[24]
The atmospheric proportions of hydrogen and helium are close to the theoretical composition of
the primordial solar nebula. Neon in the upper atmosphere only consists of 20 parts per million
by mass, which is about a tenth as abundant as in the Sun.[25] Helium is also depleted to about
80% of the Sun's helium composition. This depletion is a result of precipitation of these elements
into the interior of the planet.[26]
Based on spectroscopy, Saturn is thought to be similar in composition to Jupiter, but the other
giant planets Uranus and Neptune have relatively less hydrogen and helium and relatively
more ices and are thus now termed ice giants.[27]

Mass and size

Main article: Jupiter mass
Jupiter's diameter is one order of magnitude smaller (×0.10045) than that of the Sun, and one order of
magnitude larger (×10.9733) than that of Earth. The Great Red Spot is roughly the same size as Earth.

Jupiter's mass is 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined—this is so
massive that its barycenter with the Sun lies above the Sun's surface at 1.068 solar radii from the
Sun's center.[28] Jupiter is much larger than Earth and considerably less dense: its volume is that
of about 1,321 Earths, but it is only 318 times as massive.[5][29] Jupiter's radius is about 1/10
the radius of the Sun,[30] and its mass is 0.001 times the mass of the Sun, so the densities of the
two bodies are similar.[31] A "Jupiter mass" (MJ or MJup) is often used as a unit to describe masses
of other objects, particularly extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs. So, for example, the extrasolar
planet HD 209458 b has a mass of 0.69 MJ, while Kappa Andromedae b has a mass
of 12.8 MJ.[32]
Theoretical models indicate that if Jupiter had much more mass than it does at present, it would
shrink.[33] For small changes in mass, the radius would not change appreciably, and above about
500 M⊕ (1.6 Jupiter masses)[33] the interior would become so much more compressed under the
increased pressure that its volume would decrease despite the increasing amount of matter. As a
result, Jupiter is thought to have about as large a diameter as a planet of its composition and
evolutionary history can achieve.[34] The process of further shrinkage with increasing mass would
continue until appreciable stellar ignition was achieved, as in high-mass brown dwarfs having
around 50 Jupiter masses.[35]
Although Jupiter would need to be about 75 times as massive to fuse hydrogen and become
a star, the smallest red dwarf is only about 30 percent larger in radius than Jupiter.[36][37] Despite
this, Jupiter still radiates more heat than it receives from the Sun; the amount of heat produced
inside it is similar to the total solar radiation it receives.[38] This additional heat is generated by
the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanismthrough contraction. This process causes Jupiter to shrink by
about 2 cm each year.[39] When it was first formed, Jupiter was much hotter and was about twice
its current diameter.[40]

Internal structure
Jupiter is thought to consist of a dense core with a mixture of elements, a surrounding layer of
liquid metallic hydrogen with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of molecular
hydrogen.[39] Beyond this basic outline, there is still considerable uncertainty. The core is often
described as rocky, but its detailed composition is unknown, as are the properties of materials at
the temperatures and pressures of those depths (see below). In 1997, the existence of the core
was suggested by gravitational measurements,[39]indicating a mass of from 12 to 45 times that of
Earth, or roughly 4%–14% of the total mass of Jupiter.[38][41] The presence of a core during at least
part of Jupiter's history is suggested by models of planetary formation that require the formation
of a rocky or icy core massive enough to collect its bulk of hydrogen and helium from
the protosolar nebula. Assuming it did exist, it may have shrunk as convection currents of hot
liquid metallic hydrogen mixed with the molten core and carried its contents to higher levels in the
planetary interior. A core may now be entirely absent, as gravitational measurements are not yet
precise enough to rule that possibility out entirely.[39][42]

Animation of four images showing Jupiter in infrared light as seen by NASA's Infrared telescope facility on
May 16, 2015

The uncertainty of the models is tied to the error margin in hitherto measured parameters: one of
the rotational coefficients (J6) used to describe the planet's gravitational moment, Jupiter's
equatorial radius, and its temperature at 1 bar pressure. The Juno mission, which arrived in July
2016,[18] is expected to further constrain the values of these parameters for better models of the
core.[43]
The core region may be surrounded by dense metallic hydrogen, which extends outward to about
78% of the radius of the planet.[38] Rain-like droplets of helium and neon precipitate downward
through this layer, depleting the abundance of these elements in the upper
atmosphere.[26][44]Rainfalls of diamonds have been suggested to occur on Jupiter, as well as
on Saturn[45] and ice giants Uranus and Neptune.[46]
Above the layer of metallic hydrogen lies a transparent interior atmosphere of hydrogen. At this
depth, the pressure and temperature are above hydrogen's critical pressure of 1.2858 MPa
and critical temperature of only 32.938 K.[47] In this state, there are no distinct liquid and gas
phases—hydrogen is said to be in a supercritical fluid state. It is convenient to treat hydrogen as
gas in the upper layer extending downward from the cloud layer to a depth of about
1,000 km,[38] and as liquid in deeper layers. Physically, there is no clear boundary—the gas
smoothly becomes hotter and denser as one descends.[48][49]
The temperature and pressure inside Jupiter increase steadily toward the core, due to
the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. At the pressure level of 10 bars (1 MPa), the temperature is
around 340 K (67 °C; 152 °F). At the phase transition region where hydrogen—heated beyond its
critical point—becomes metallic, it is calculated the temperature is 10,000 K (9,700 °C;
17,500 °F) and the pressure is 200 GPa. The temperature at the core boundary is estimated to
be 36,000 K (35,700 °C; 64,300 °F) and the interior pressure is roughly 3,000–4,500 GPa.[38]
This cut-away illustrates a model of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of
liquid metallic hydrogen.

Atmosphere
Main article: Atmosphere of Jupiter
Jupiter has the largest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System, spanning over 5,000 km
(3,000 mi) in altitude.[50][51] Because Jupiter has no surface, the base of its atmosphere is usually
considered to be the point at which atmospheric pressure is equal to 100 kPa (1.0 bar).
Cloud layers

The movement of Jupiter's counter-rotating cloud bands. This looping animation maps the planet's exterior
onto a cylindrical projection.

South polar view of Jupiter

Enhanced color view of Jupiter's southern storms

Jupiter is perpetually covered with clouds composed of ammonia crystals and

possibly ammonium hydrosulfide. The clouds are located in the tropopause and are arranged
into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These are sub-divided into lighter-
hued zones and darker belts. The interactions of these conflicting circulation patterns cause
storms and turbulence. Wind speeds of 100 m/s (360 km/h) are common in zonal jets.[52]The
zones have been observed to vary in width, color and intensity from year to year, but they have
remained sufficiently stable for scientists to give them identifying designations.[29]

Jupiter clouds
(Juno; December 2017)

The cloud layer is only about 50 km (31 mi) deep, and consists of at least two decks of clouds: a
thick lower deck and a thin clearer region. There may also be a thin layer of waterclouds
underlying the ammonia layer. Supporting the idea of water clouds are the flashes
of lightning detected in the atmosphere of Jupiter. These electrical discharges can be up to a
thousand times as powerful as lightning on Earth.[53] The water clouds are assumed to generate
thunderstorms in the same way as terrestrial thunderstorms, driven by the heat rising from the
interior.[54]
The orange and brown coloration in the clouds of Jupiter are caused by upwelling compounds
that change color when they are exposed to ultravioletlight from the Sun. The exact makeup
remains uncertain, but the substances are thought to be phosphorus, sulfur or
possibly hydrocarbons.[38][55]These colorful compounds, known as chromophores, mix with the
warmer, lower deck of clouds. The zones are formed when rising convection cellsform
crystallizing ammonia that masks out these lower clouds from view.[56]
Jupiter's low axial tilt means that the poles constantly receive less solar radiation than at the
planet's equatorial region. Convection within the interior of the planet transports more energy to
the poles, balancing out the temperatures at the cloud layer.
Magnetosphere
Main article: Magnetosphere of Jupiter

Aurorae on the north pole of Jupiter as viewed by Hubble

Infrared view of Jupiter's southern lights, taken by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper

Jupiter's magnetic field is fourteen times as strong as that of Earth, ranging from
4.2 gauss (0.42 mT) at the equator to 10–14 gauss (1.0–1.4 mT) at the poles, making it the
strongest in the Solar System (except for sunspots).[56] This field is thought to be generated
by eddy currents—swirling movements of conducting materials—within the liquid metallic
hydrogen core. The volcanoes on the moon Io emit large amounts of sulfur dioxide forming a gas
torus along the moon's orbit. The gas is ionized in the magnetosphere
producing sulfur and oxygen ions. They, together with hydrogen ions originating from the
atmosphere of Jupiter, form a plasma sheet in Jupiter's equatorial plane. The plasma in the sheet
co-rotates with the planet causing deformation of the dipole magnetic field into that of
magnetodisk. Electrons within the plasma sheet generate a strong radio signature that produces
bursts in the range of 0.6–30 MHz.[78]
At about 75 Jupiter radii from the planet, the interaction of the magnetosphere with the solar
wind generates a bow shock. Surrounding Jupiter's magnetosphere is a magnetopause, located
at the inner edge of a magnetosheath—a region between it and the bow shock. The solar wind
interacts with these regions, elongating the magnetosphere on Jupiter's lee side and extending it
outward until it nearly reaches the orbit of Saturn. The four largest moons of Jupiter all orbit
within the magnetosphere, which protects them from the solar wind.[38]
The magnetosphere of Jupiter is responsible for intense episodes of radio emission from the
planet's polar regions. Volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io (see below) injects gas into Jupiter's
magnetosphere, producing a torus of particles about the planet. As Io moves through this torus,
the interaction generates Alfvén waves that carry ionized matter into the polar regions of Jupiter.
As a result, radio waves are generated through a cyclotron maser mechanism, and the energy is
transmitted out along a cone-shaped surface. When Earth intersects this cone, the radio
emissions from Jupiter can exceed the solar radio output.

Exploration
Main article: Exploration of Jupiter
Since 1973 a number of automated spacecraft have visited Jupiter, most notably the Pioneer
10 space probe, the first spacecraft to get close enough to Jupiter to send back revelations about
the properties and phenomena of the Solar System's largest planet.[116][117] Flights to other planets
within the Solar System are accomplished at a cost in energy, which is described by the net
change in velocity of the spacecraft, or delta-v. Entering a Hohmann transfer orbit from Earth to
Jupiter from low Earth orbit requires a delta-v of 6.3 km/s[118] which is comparable to the 9.7 km/s
delta-v needed to reach low Earth orbit.[119] Fortunately, gravity assists through
planetary flybys can be used to reduce the energy required to reach Jupiter, albeit at the cost of
a significantly longer flight duration.[120]
Flyby missions

Perijove 6 pass of Jupiter as viewed by JunoCam

Flyby missions

Closest
Spacecraft Distance
approach

Pioneer 10 December 3, 1973 130,000 km

Pioneer 11 December 4, 1974 34,000 km

Voyager 1 March 5, 1979 349,000 km

Voyager 2 July 9, 1979 570,000 km

February 8, 1992[121] 408,894 km

Ulysses
February 4, 2004[121] 120,000,000 km

Cassini December 30, 2000 10,000,000 km

New Horizons February 28, 2007 2,304,535 km

Beginning in 1973, several spacecraft have performed planetary flyby maneuvers that brought
them within observation range of Jupiter. The Pioneer missions obtained the first close-up
images of Jupiter's atmosphere and several of its moons. They discovered that the radiation
fields near the planet were much stronger than expected, but both spacecraft managed to
survive in that environment. The trajectories of these spacecraft were used to refine the mass
estimates of the Jovian system. Radio occultations by the planet resulted in better
measurements of Jupiter's diameter and the amount of polar flattening.[29][122]
Six years later, the Voyager missions vastly improved the understanding of the Galilean
moons and discovered Jupiter's rings. They also confirmed that the Great Red Spot was
anticyclonic. Comparison of images showed that the Red Spot had changed hue since the
Pioneer missions, turning from orange to dark brown. A torus of ionized atoms was discovered
along Io's orbital path, and volcanoes were found on the moon's surface, some in the process of
erupting. As the spacecraft passed behind the planet, it observed flashes of lightning in the night
side atmosphere.[29][123]
The next mission to encounter Jupiter was the Ulysses solar probe. It performed a flyby
maneuver to attain a polar orbitaround the Sun. During this pass, the spacecraft conducted
studies on Jupiter's magnetosphere. Ulysses has no cameras so no images were taken. A
second flyby six years later was at a much greater distance.[121]

Cassini views Jupiter and Io on January 1, 2001

In 2000, the Cassini probe flew by Jupiter on its way to Saturn, and provided some of the
highest-resolution images ever made of the planet.[124]
The New Horizons probe flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist en route to Pluto. Its closest
approach was on February 28, 2007.[125] The probe's cameras measured plasma output from
volcanoes on Io and studied all four Galilean moons in detail, as well as making long-distance
observations of the outer moons Himalia and Elara.[126] Imaging of the Jovian system began
September 4, 2006.[127][128]
Galileo mission
Main article: Galileo (spacecraft)
Jupiter as seen by the space probe Cassini

The first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter was the Galileo probe, which entered orbit on December 7,
1995.[34] It orbited the planet for over seven years, conducting multiple flybys of all the Galilean
moons and Amalthea. The spacecraft also witnessed the impact of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 as
it approached Jupiter in 1994, giving a unique vantage point for the event. Its originally designed
capacity was limited by the failed deployment of its high-gain radio antenna, although extensive
information was still gained about the Jovian system from Galileo.[129]
A 340-kilogram titanium atmospheric probe was released from the spacecraft in July 1995,
entering Jupiter's atmosphere on December 7.[34]It parachuted through 150 km (93 mi) of the
atmosphere at a speed of about 2,575 km/h (1600 mph)[34] and collected data for 57.6 minutes
before the signal was lost at a pressure of about 23 atmospheres at a temperature of
153 °C.[130] It melted thereafter, and possibly vaporized. The Galileo orbiter itself experienced a
more rapid version of the same fate when it was deliberately steered into the planet on
September 21, 2003 at a speed of over 50 km/s to avoid any possibility of it crashing into and
possibly contaminating Europa, a moon which has been hypothesized to have the possibility
of harboring life.[129]
Data from this mission revealed that hydrogen composes up to 90% of Jupiter's
atmosphere.[34] The recorded temperature was more than 300 °C (>570 °F) and the windspeed
measured more than 644 km/h (>400 mph) before the probes vapourised.[34]
Juno mission
Main article: Juno (spacecraft)
NASA's Juno mission arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, and is expected to complete 37 orbits
over the next 20 months.[18] The mission plan called for Juno to study the planet in detail from
a polar orbit.[131] On August 27, 2016, the spacecraft completed its first fly-by of Jupiter and sent
back the first-ever images of Jupiter’s north pole.[132]
Future probes
The next planned mission to the Jovian system will be the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy
Moon Explorer (JUICE), due to launch in 2022,[133] followed by NASA's Europa Clipper mission in
2025.[134]
Canceled missions
There has been great interest in studying the icy moons in detail because of the possibility of
subsurface liquid oceans on Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Funding
difficulties have delayed progress. NASA's JIMO (Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter) was cancelled in
2005.[135] A subsequent proposal was developed for a joint NASA/ESA mission
called EJSM/Laplace, with a provisional launch date around 2020. EJSM/Laplace would have
consisted of the NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter and the ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede
Orbiter.[136] However, ESA had formally ended the partnership by April 2011, citing budget issues
at NASA and the consequences on the mission timetable. Instead, ESA planned to go ahead
with a European-only mission to compete in its L1 Cosmic Vision selection

Moons
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Moons
of Jupiter.

Main article: Moons of Jupiter

See also: Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their moons
Jupiter has 69 known natural satellites.[138] Of these, 53 are less than 10 kilometres in diameter
and have only been discovered since 1975. The four largest moons, visible from Earth with
binoculars on a clear night, known as the "Galilean moons", are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and
Callisto.

Galilean moons
Main article: Galilean moons
The moons discovered by Galileo—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—are among the largest
satellites in the Solar System. The orbits of three of them (Io, Europa, and Ganymede) form a
pattern known as a Laplace resonance; for every four orbits that Io makes around Jupiter,
Europa makes exactly two orbits and Ganymede makes exactly one. This resonance causes
the gravitational effects of the three large moons to distort their orbits into elliptical shapes,
because each moon receives an extra tug from its neighbors at the same point in every orbit it
makes. The tidal force from Jupiter, on the other hand, works to circularize their orbits.[139]
The eccentricity of their orbits causes regular flexing of the three moons' shapes, with Jupiter's
gravity stretching them out as they approach it and allowing them to spring back to more
spherical shapes as they swing away. This tidal flexing heats the moons' interiors by friction. This
is seen most dramatically in the extraordinary volcanic activity of innermost Io (which is subject to
the strongest tidal forces), and to a lesser degree in the geological youth of Europa's
surface (indicating recent resurfacing of the moon's exterior).
The Galilean moons, compared to Earth's Moon

Diameter Mass Orbital radius Orbital period

Name IPA
km % kg % km % days %

Io /ˈaɪ.oʊ/ 3,643 105 8.9×1022 120 421,700 110 1.77 7

Europa /jʊˈroʊpə/ 3,122 90 4.8×1022 65 671,034 175 3.55 13

Ganymede /ˈɡænimiːd/ 5,262 150 14.8×1022 200 1,070,412 280 7.15 26

Callisto /kəˈlɪstoʊ/ 4,821 140 10.8×1022 150 1,882,709 490 16.69 61

 The Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto (in order of increasing distance from Jupiter)

Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter.
It is a gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth.[10][11] It has only one-eighth
the average density of Earth, but with its larger volume Saturn is over 95 times more
massive.[12][13][14] Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture; its astronomical symbol (♄)
represents the god's sickle.
Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock
(silicon and oxygen compounds). This core is surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen,
an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally a gaseous outer layer.
Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Electrical
current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic
field, which is weaker than Earth's, but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to
Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's.[15] The
outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can
appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h (1,100 mph; 500 m/s), higher than on
Jupiter, but not as high as those on Neptune.[16]
The planet's most famous feature is its prominent ring system that is composed mostly of ice
particles, with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. At least 62 moons[17] are known to orbit
Saturn, of which 53 are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of moonlets in the
rings. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and the second-largest in the Solar System, is larger than the
planet Mercury, although less massive, and is the only moon in the Solar System to have a
substantial atmosphere.

Physical characteristics
Composite image comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth

Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. It lacks a
definite surface, though it may have a solid core.[19] Saturn's rotation causes it to have the shape
of an oblate spheroid; that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator. Its equatorial
and polar radii differ by almost 10%: 60,268 km versus 54,364 km.[5] Jupiter, Uranus, and
Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent. The
combination of the bulge and rotation rate means that the effective surface gravity along the
equator, 8.96 m/s2, is 74% that at the poles and is lower than the surface gravity of the Earth.
However, the equatorial escape velocity of nearly 36 km/s is much higher than that for the
Earth.[20]
Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30%
less.[21] Although Saturn's core is considerably denser than water, the average specific density of
the planet is 0.69 g/cm3 due to the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times the Earth's mass,[22] and
Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth.[5] Together, Jupiter and Saturn hold 92% of the total
planetary mass in the Solar System.[23]

Internal structure

Diagram of Saturn, to scale

Despite consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium, most of Saturn's mass is not in
the gas phase, because hydrogen becomes a non-ideal liquid when the density is
above 0.01 g/cm3, which is reached at a radius containing 99.9% of Saturn's mass. The
temperature, pressure, and density inside Saturn all rise steadily toward the core, which causes
hydrogen to be a metal in the deeper layers.[23]
Standard planetary models suggest that the interior of Saturn is similar to that of Jupiter, having a
small rocky core surrounded by hydrogen and helium with trace amounts of
various volatiles.[24] This core is similar in composition to the Earth, but more dense. Examination
of Saturn's gravitational moment, in combination with physical models of the interior, has allowed
constraints to be placed on the mass of Saturn's core. In 2004, scientists estimated that the core
must be 9–22 times the mass of the Earth,[25][26] which corresponds to a diameter of about
25,000 km.[27] This is surrounded by a thicker liquid metallic hydrogen layer, followed by a liquid
layer of helium-saturated molecular hydrogen that gradually transitions to a gas with increasing
altitude. The outermost layer spans 1,000 km and consists of gas.[28][29][30]
Saturn has a hot interior, reaching 11,700 °C at its core, and it radiates 2.5 times more energy
into space than it receives from the Sun. Jupiter's thermal energy is generated by the Kelvin–
Helmholtz mechanism of slow gravitational compression, but such a process alone may not be
sufficient to explain heat production for Saturn, because it is less massive. An alternative or
additional mechanism may be generation of heat through the "raining out" of droplets of helium
deep in Saturn's interior. As the droplets descend through the lower-density hydrogen, the
process releases heat by friction and leaves Saturn's outer layers depleted of helium.[31][32] These
descending droplets may have accumulated into a helium shell surrounding the
core.[24] Rainfalls of diamonds have been suggested to occur within Saturn, as well as in
Jupiter[33] and ice giants Uranus and Neptune.[34]

Atmosphere

Methane bands circle Saturn. The moon Dione hangs below the rings to the right.

The outer atmosphere of Saturn contains 96.3% molecular hydrogen and 3.25% helium by
volume.[35] The proportion of helium is significantly deficient compared to the abundance of this
element in the Sun.[24] The quantity of elements heavier than helium (metallicity) is not known
precisely, but the proportions are assumed to match the primordial abundances from the
formation of the Solar System. The total mass of these heavier elements is estimated to be 19–
31 times the mass of the Earth, with a significant fraction located in Saturn's core region.[36]
Trace amounts of ammonia, acetylene, ethane, propane, phosphine and methane have been
detected in Saturn's atmosphere.[37][38][39] The upper clouds are composed of ammonia crystals,
while the lower level clouds appear to consist of either ammonium hydrosulfide (NH
4SH) or water.[40] Ultraviolet radiation from the Sun causes methane photolysis in the upper
atmosphere, leading to a series of hydrocarbon chemical reactions with the resulting products
being carried downward by eddies and diffusion. This photochemical cycle is modulated by
Saturn's annual seasonal cycle.

Magnetosphere
Main article: Magnetosphere of Saturn
Polar aurorae on Saturn

Auroral lights at Saturn’s north pole[62]

Saturn has an intrinsic magnetic field that has a simple, symmetric shape – a magnetic dipole. Its
strength at the equator – 0.2 gauss (20 µT) – is approximately one twentieth of that of the field
around Jupiter and slightly weaker than Earth's magnetic field.[15] As a result,
Saturn's magnetosphere is much smaller than Jupiter's.[63] When Voyager 2 entered the
magnetosphere, the solar wind pressure was high and the magnetosphere extended only 19
Saturn radii, or 1.1 million km (712,000 mi),[64] although it enlarged within several hours, and
remained so for about three days.[65] Most probably, the magnetic field is generated similarly to
that of Jupiter – by currents in the liquid metallic-hydrogen layer called a metallic-hydrogen
dynamo.[63] This magnetosphere is efficient at deflecting the solar wind particles from the Sun.
The moon Titan orbits within the outer part of Saturn's magnetosphere and contributes plasma
from the ionized particles in Titan's outer atmosphere.[15] Saturn's magnetosphere, like Earth's,
produces aurorae.

Modern NASA and ESA probes

Main article: Exploration of Saturn
Pioneer 11 flyby

Pioneer 11 image of Saturn

Pioneer 11 made the first flyby of Saturn in September 1979, when it passed within 20,000 km of
the planet's cloud tops. Images were taken of the planet and a few of its moons, although their
resolution was too low to discern surface detail. The spacecraft also studied Saturn's rings,
revealing the thin F-ring and the fact that dark gaps in the rings are bright when viewed at
high phase angle (towards the Sun), meaning that they contain fine light-scattering material. In
addition, Pioneer 11 measured the temperature of Titan.[131]
Voyager flybys
In November 1980, the Voyager 1 probe visited the Saturn system. It sent back the first high-
resolution images of the planet, its rings and satellites. Surface features of various moons were
seen for the first time. Voyager 1 performed a close flyby of Titan, increasing knowledge of the
atmosphere of the moon. It proved that Titan's atmosphere is impenetrable in visible
wavelengths; therefore no surface details were seen. The flyby changed the spacecraft's
trajectory out from the plane of the Solar System.[132]
Almost a year later, in August 1981, Voyager 2 continued the study of the Saturn system. More
close-up images of Saturn's moons were acquired, as well as evidence of changes in the
atmosphere and the rings. Unfortunately, during the flyby, the probe's turnable camera platform
stuck for a couple of days and some planned imaging was lost. Saturn's gravity was used to
direct the spacecraft's trajectory towards Uranus.[132]
The probes discovered and confirmed several new satellites orbiting near or within the planet's
rings, as well as the small Maxwell Gap (a gap within the C Ring) and Keeler gap (a 42 km wide
gap in the A Ring).
Cassini–Huygens spacecraft
Main article: Cassini–Huygens
The Cassini–Huygens space probe entered orbit around Saturn on 1 July 2004. In June 2004, it
conducted a close flyby of Phoebe, sending back high-resolution images and
data. Cassini's flyby of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, captured radar images of large lakes and
their coastlines with numerous islands and mountains. The orbiter completed two Titan flybys
before releasing the Huygens probe on 25 December 2004. Huygens descended onto the
surface of Titan on 14 January 2005.[133]
Starting in early 2005, scientists used Cassini to track lightning on Saturn. The power of the
lightning is approximately 1,000 times that of lightning on Earth.[134]

At Enceladus's south pole geysers spray water from many locations along the tiger stripes.[135]

In 2006, NASA reported that Cassini had found evidence of liquid water reservoirs no more than
tens of meters below the surface that erupt in geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. These jets
of icy particles are emitted into orbit around Saturn from vents in the moon's south polar
region.[136] Over 100 geysers have been identified on Enceladus.[135] In May 2011, NASA scientists
reported that Enceladus "is emerging as the most habitable spot beyond Earth in the Solar
System for life as we know it".[137][138]
Cassini photographs have revealed a previously undiscovered planetary ring, outside the brighter
main rings of Saturn and inside the G and E rings. The source of this ring is hypothesized to be
the crashing of a meteoroid off Janus and Epimetheus.[139] In July 2006, images were returned of
hydrocarbon lakes near Titan's north pole, the presence of which were confirmed in January
2007. In March 2007, hydrocarbon seas were found near the North pole, the largest of which is
almost the size of the Caspian Sea.[140] In October 2006, the probe detected an 8,000 km
diameter cyclone-like storm with an eyewall at Saturn's south pole.[141]
From 2004 to 2 November 2009, the probe discovered and confirmed eight new satellites.[142] In
April 2013 Cassini sent back images of a hurricane at the planet's north pole 20 times larger than
those found on Earth, with winds faster than 530 km/h (330 mph).[143] On 15 September 2017,
the Cassini-Huygensspacecraft performed the "Grand Finale" of its mission: a number of passes
through gaps between Saturn and Saturn's inner rings.[144][145] The atmospheric
entry of Cassini ended the mission.
Possible future missions
The continued exploration of Saturn is still considered to be a viable option for NASA as part of
their ongoing New Frontiers program of missions. NASA previously requested for plans to be put
forward for a mission to Saturn that included an atmospheric entry probe and possible
investigations into the habitability and possible discovery of life on Saturn's moons Titan and
Enceladus.

Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar
System after Mercury. In English, Mars carries a name of the Roman god of war, and is often
referred to as the "Red Planet"[14][15] because the reddish iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives
it a reddish appearance that is distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked
eye.[16] Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent
both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.
The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as is the
tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the
largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles
Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the
northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature.[17][18] Mars has
two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be
captured asteroids,[19][20] similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan.
There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars, as well as the
possibility of extant life. Future astrobiology missions are planned, including the Mars
2020 and ExoMars rovers.[21][22][23][24] Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low
atmospheric pressure, which is less than 1% of the Earth's,[25] except at the lowest elevations for
short periods.[26][27] The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water.[28][29] The volume of
water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary
surface to a depth of 11 meters (36 ft).[30] In November 2016, NASAreported finding a large
amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars. The volume of water detected
has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior.[31][32][33]
Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish coloring. Its apparent
magnitude reaches −2.91,[8] which is surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun.
Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometers
(190 mi) across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth's atmosphere.

Physical characteristics
Mars is approximately half the diameter of Earth with a surface area only slightly less than the
total area of Earth's dry land.[8] Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's
volume and 11% of Earth's mass, resulting in about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. The red-
orange appearance of the Martian surface is caused by iron(III) oxide, or rust.[35] It can look like
butterscotch;[36]other common surface colors include golden, brown, tan, and greenish,
depending on the minerals present.[36]

Comparison: Earth and Mars

Animation (00:40) showing major features of Mars

Video (01:28) showing how three NASA orbiters mapped the gravity field of Mars

Internal structure
Like Earth, Mars has differentiated into a dense metallic core overlaid by less dense
materials.[37] Current models of its interior imply a core with a radius of about 1,794 ± 65
kilometers (1,115 ± 40 mi), consisting primarily of iron and nickel with about 16–
17% sulfur.[38] This iron(II) sulfide core is thought to be twice as rich in lighter elements as
Earth's.[39] The core is surrounded by a silicate mantle that formed many of the tectonic and
volcanic features on the planet, but it appears to be dormant. Besides silicon and oxygen, the
most abundant elements in the Martian crust are iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium,
and potassium. The average thickness of the planet's crust is about 50 km (31 mi), with a
maximum thickness of 125 km (78 mi).[39] Earth's crust averages 40 km (25 mi).

Surface geology
Main article: Geology of Mars
Mars is a terrestrial planet that consists of minerals containing silicon and oxygen, metals, and
other elements that typically make up rock. The surface of Mars is primarily composed
of tholeiitic basalt,[40] although parts are more silica-rich than typical basalt and may be similar
to andesitic rocks on Earth or silica glass. Regions of low albedo suggest concentrations
of plagioclase feldspar, with northern low albedo regions displaying higher than normal
concentrations of sheet silicates and high-silicon glass. Parts of the southern highlands include
detectable amounts of high-calcium pyroxenes. Localized concentrations
of hematite and olivine have been found.[41] Much of the surface is deeply covered by finely
grained iron(III) oxide dust.[42][43]

Geologic map of Mars (USGS, 2014)[44]

Although Mars has no evidence of a structured global magnetic field,[45] observations show that
parts of the planet's crust have been magnetized, suggesting that alternating polarity reversals of
its dipole field have occurred in the past. This paleomagnetism of magnetically susceptible
minerals is similar to the alternating bands found on Earth's ocean floors. One theory, published
in 1999 and re-examined in October 2005 (with the help of the Mars Global Surveyor), is that
these bands suggest plate tectonic activity on Mars four billionyears ago, before the
planetary dynamo ceased to function and the planet's magnetic field faded.[46]
It is thought that, during the Solar System's formation, Mars was created as the result of
a stochastic process of run-away accretion of material from the protoplanetary disk that orbited
the Sun. Mars has many distinctive chemical features caused by its position in the Solar System.
Elements with comparatively low boiling points, such as chlorine, phosphorus, and sulphur, are
much more common on Mars than Earth; these elements were probably pushed outward by the
young Sun's energetic solar wind.[47]
After the formation of the planets, all were subjected to the so-called "Late Heavy
Bombardment". About 60% of the surface of Mars shows a record of impacts from that
era,[48][49][50] whereas much of the remaining surface is probably underlain by immense impact
basins caused by those events. There is evidence of an enormous impact basin in the northern
hemisphere of Mars, spanning 10,600 by 8,500 km (6,600 by 5,300 mi), or roughly four times the
size of the Moon's South Pole – Aitken basin, the largest impact basin yet discovered.[17][18] This
theory suggests that Mars was struck by a Pluto-sized body about four billion years ago. The
event, thought to be the cause of the Martian hemispheric dichotomy, created the
smooth Borealis basin that covers 40% of the planet.[51][52]

Artist's impression of how Mars may have looked four billion years ago[53]

The geological history of Mars can be split into many periods, but the following are the three
primary periods:[54][55]
 Noachian period (named after Noachis Terra): Formation of the oldest extant surfaces of
Mars, 4.5 to 3.5 billion years ago. Noachian age surfaces are scarred by many large impact
craters. The Tharsis bulge, a volcanic upland, is thought to have formed during this period,
with extensive flooding by liquid water late in the period.
 Hesperian period (named after Hesperia Planum): 3.5 to between 3.3 and 2.9 billion years
ago. The Hesperian period is marked by the formation of extensive lava plains.
 Amazonian period (named after Amazonis Planitia): between 3.3 and 2.9 billion years ago
to the present. Amazonian regions have few meteorite impact craters, but are otherwise
quite varied. Olympus Mons formed during this period, with lava flows elsewhere on Mars.
Geological activity is still taking place on Mars. The Athabasca Valles is home to sheet-like lava
flows created about 200 Mya. Water flows in the grabens called the Cerberus Fossae occurred
less than 20 Mya, indicating equally recent volcanic intrusions.[56] On February 19, 2008, images
from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed evidence of an avalanche from a 700-metre-high
(2,300 ft) cliff.[57]

Soil
Main article: Martian soil

Exposure of silica-rich dust uncovered by the Spirit rover

The Phoenix lander returned data showing Martian soil to be slightly alkaline and containing
elements such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and chlorine. These nutrients are found in
soils on Earth, and they are necessary for growth of plants.[58] Experiments performed by the
lander showed that the Martian soil has a basic pH of 7.7, and contains 0.6% of
the salt perchlorate.[59][60][61][62]
Streaks are common across Mars and new ones appear frequently on steep slopes of craters,
troughs, and valleys. The streaks are dark at first and get lighter with age. The streaks can start
in a tiny area, then spread out for hundreds of metres. They have been seen to follow the edges
of boulders and other obstacles in their path. The commonly accepted theories include that they
are dark underlying layers of soil revealed after avalanches of bright dust or dust
devils.[63] Several other explanations have been put forward, including those that involve water or
even the growth of organisms.[64][65]

Hydrology
Main article: Water on Mars
Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure, which is less
than 1% that of Earth's,[25] except at the lowest elevations for short periods.[26][27] The two polar ice
caps appear to be made largely of water.[28][29] The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap,
if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters
(36 ft).[30] A permafrost mantle stretches from the pole to latitudes of about 60°.[28] Large quantities
of water ice are thought to be trapped within the thick cryosphere of Mars. Radar data from Mars
Express and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show large quantities of water ice at both poles
(July 2005)[66][67] and at middle latitudes (November 2008).[68] The Phoenix lander directly sampled
water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2008.[69]

Photomicrograph by Opportunityshowing a gray hematite concretion, nicknamed "blueberries", indicative of

the past existence of liquid water

Landforms visible on Mars strongly suggest that liquid water has existed on the planet's surface.
Huge linear swathes of scoured ground, known as outflow channels, cut across the surface in
about 25 places. These are thought to be a record of erosion caused by the catastrophic release
of water from subsurface aquifers, though some of these structures have been hypothesized to
result from the action of glaciers or lava.[70][71] One of the larger examples, Ma'adim Vallis is
700 km (430 mi) long, much greater than the Grand Canyon, with a width of 20 km (12 mi) and a
depth of 2 km (1.2 mi) in places. It is thought to have been carved by flowing water early in
Mars's history.[72]The youngest of these channels are thought to have formed as recently as only
a few million years ago.[73] Elsewhere, particularly on the oldest areas of the Martian surface,
finer-scale, dendritic networks of valleys are spread across significant proportions of the
landscape. Features of these valleys and their distribution strongly imply that they were carved
by runoff resulting from precipitation in early Mars history. Subsurface water flow
and groundwater sapping may play important subsidiary roles in some networks, but precipitation
was probably the root cause of the incision in almost all cases.[74]
Along crater and canyon walls, there are thousands of features that appear similar to
terrestrial gullies. The gullies tend to be in the highlands of the southern hemisphere and to face
the Equator; all are poleward of 30° latitude. A number of authors have suggested that their
formation process involves liquid water, probably from melting ice,[75][76] although others have
argued for formation mechanisms involving carbon dioxide frost or the movement of dry
dust.[77][78] No partially degraded gullies have formed by weathering and no superimposed impact
craters have been observed, indicating that these are young features, possibly still
active.[76] Other geological features, such as deltas and alluvial fans preserved in craters, are
further evidence for warmer, wetter conditions at an interval or intervals in earlier Mars
history.[79] Such conditions necessarily require the widespread presence of crater lakes across a
large proportion of the surface, for which there is independent mineralogical, sedimentological
and geomorphological evidence.[80]
Composition of "Yellowknife Bay" rocks. Rock veins are higher in calciumand sulfur than "portage" soil
(Curiosity, APXS, 2013).

Further evidence that liquid water once existed on the surface of Mars comes from the detection
of specific minerals such as hematite and goethite, both of which sometimes form in the
presence of water.[81] In 2004, Opportunity detected the mineral jarosite. This forms only in the
presence of acidic water, which demonstrates that water once existed on Mars.[82] More recent
evidence for liquid water comes from the finding of the mineral gypsum on the surface by NASA's
Mars rover Opportunity in December 2011.[83][84] It is believed that the amount of water in the
upper mantle of Mars, represented by hydroxyl ions contained within the minerals of Mars's
geology, is equal to or greater than that of Earth at 50–300 parts per million of water, which is
enough to cover the entire planet to a depth of 200–1,000 m (660–3,280 ft).[85]
In 2005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles[66] and at
mid-latitudes.[68][86] The Mars rover Spiritsampled chemical compounds containing water
molecules in March 2007. The Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil
on July 31, 2008.[69]
On March 18, 2013, NASA reported evidence from instruments on the Curiosity rover of mineral
hydration, likely hydrated calcium sulfate, in several rock samples including the broken fragments
of "Tintina" rock and "Sutton Inlier" rock as well as in veins and nodules in other rocks
like "Knorr" rock and "Wernicke" rock.[87][88][89] Analysis using the rover's DAN instrument provided
evidence of subsurface water, amounting to as much as 4% water content, down to a depth of
60 cm (24 in), during the rover's traverse from the Bradbury Landing site to the Yellowknife
Bay area in the Glenelg terrain.[87] In September 2015, NASA announced that they had found
conclusive evidence of hydrated brine flows on recurring slope lineae, based on spectrometer
readings of the darkened areas of slopes.[90][91][92] These observations provided confirmation of
earlier hypotheses based on timing of formation and their rate of growth, that these dark streaks
resulted from water flowing in the very shallow subsurface.[93] The streaks contain hydrated salts,
perchlorates, which have water molecules in their crystal structure.[94] The streaks flow downhill in
Martian summer, when the temperature is above −23 degrees Celsius, and freeze at lower
temperatures.[95] On September 28, 2015, NASA announced the presence of briny flowing salt
water on the Martian surface.[96]
Researchers believe that much of the low northern plains of the planet were covered with an
ocean hundreds of meters deep, though this remains controversial.[97] In March 2015, scientists
stated that such an ocean might have been the size of Earth's Arctic Ocean. This finding was
derived from the ratio of water to deuterium in the modern Martian atmosphere compared to that
ratio on Earth. The amount of Martian deuterium is eight times the amount that exists on Earth,
suggesting that ancient Mars had significantly higher levels of water. Results from
the Curiosity rover had previously found a high ratio of deuterium in Gale Crater, though not
significantly high enough to suggest the former presence of an ocean. Other scientists caution
that these results have not been confirmed, and point out that Martian climate models have not
yet shown that the planet was warm enough in the past to support bodies of liquid water.
Volcanoes

Viking 1 image of Olympus Mons. The volcano and related terrain are approximately 550 km (340 mi)
across.

Main article: Volcanology of Mars

The shield volcano Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) is an extinct volcano in the vast upland
region Tharsis, which contains several other large volcanoes. Olympus Mons is roughly three
times the height of Mount Everest, which in comparison stands at just over 8.8 km (5.5 mi).[129] It
is either the tallest or second-tallest mountain in the Solar System, depending on how it is
measured, with various sources giving figures ranging from about 21 to 27 km (13 to 17 mi) high.

Atmosphere
Main article: Atmosphere of Mars

The tenuous atmosphere of Mars visible on the horizon

Mars lost its magnetosphere 4 billion years ago,[137] possibly because of numerous asteroid
strikes,[138] so the solar wind interacts directly with the Martian ionosphere, lowering the
atmospheric density by stripping away atoms from the outer layer. Both Mars Global
Surveyor and Mars Expresshave detected ionised atmospheric particles trailing off into space
behind Mars,[137][139] and this atmospheric loss is being studied by the MAVENorbiter. Compared to
Earth, the atmosphere of Mars is quite rarefied. Atmospheric pressure on the surface today
ranges from a low of 30 Pa(0.030 kPa) on Olympus Mons to over 1,155 Pa (1.155 kPa) in Hellas
Planitia, with a mean pressure at the surface level of 600 Pa (0.60 kPa).[140]The highest
atmospheric density on Mars is equal to that found 35 km (22 mi)[141] above Earth's surface. The
resulting mean surface pressure is only 0.6% of that of Earth (101.3 kPa). The scale height of the
atmosphere is about 10.8 km (6.7 mi),[142] which is higher than Earth's, 6 km (3.7 mi), because the
surface gravity of Mars is only about 38% of Earth's, an effect offset by both the lower
temperature and 50% higher average molecular weight of the atmosphere of Mars.
The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon and
1.89% nitrogen along with traces of oxygen and water.[8][143] The atmosphere is quite dusty,
containing particulates about 1.5 µm in diameter which give the Martian sky a tawny color when
seen from the surface.[144] It may take on a pink hue due to iron oxide particles suspended in it.[15]

Potential sources and sinks of methane (CH

4) on Mars

Methane has been detected in the Martian atmosphere with a concentration of about
30 ppb;[145][146] it occurs in extended plumes, and the profiles imply that the methane was released
from discrete regions. In northern midsummer, the principal plume contained 19,000 metric tons
of methane, with an estimated source strength of 0.6 kilograms per second.[147][148] The profiles
suggest that there may be two local source regions, the first centered near 30°N 260°W and the
second near 0°N 310°W.[147] It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 tonnes per year of
methane.[147][149]
Methane can exist in the Martian atmosphere for only a limited period before it is destroyed—
estimates of its lifetime range from 0.6–4 years.[147][150] Its presence despite this short lifetime
indicates that an active source of the gas must be present. Volcanic activity, cometaryimpacts,
and the presence of methanogenic microbial life forms are among possible sources. Methane
could be produced by a non-biological process called serpentinization[c] involving water, carbon
dioxide, and the mineral olivine, which is known to be common on Mars.[151]

Escaping atmosphere on Mars (carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen) by MAVEN in UV[152]

The Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in August 2012, is able to make measurements that
distinguish between different isotopologues of methane,[153] but even if the mission is to determine
that microscopic Martian life is the source of the methane, the life forms likely reside far below
the surface, outside of the rover's reach.[154] The first measurements with the Tunable Laser
Spectrometer (TLS)indicated that there is less than 5 ppb of methane at the landing site at the
point of the measurement.[155][156][157][158] On September 19, 2013, NASA scientists, from further
measurements by Curiosity, reported no detection of atmospheric methanewith a measured
value of 0.18±0.67 ppbv corresponding to an upper limit of only 1.3 ppbv (95% confidence limit)
and, as a result, conclude that the probability of current methanogenic microbial activity on Mars
is reduced.[159][160][161]
The Mars Orbiter Mission by India is searching for methane in the atmosphere,[162] while
the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, launched in 2016, would further study the methane as well as its
decomposition products, such as formaldehyde and methanol.[163]
On December 16, 2014, NASA reported the Curiosity rover detected a "tenfold spike", likely
localized, in the amount of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Sample measurements taken "a
dozen times over 20 months" showed increases in late 2013 and early 2014, averaging "7 parts
of methane per billion in the atmosphere." Before and after that, readings averaged around one-
tenth that level.[164][165]
Ammonia was tentatively detected on Mars by the Mars Express satellite, but with its relatively
short lifetime, it is not clear what produced it.[166] Ammonia is not stable in the Martian atmosphere
and breaks down after a few hours. One possible source is volcanic activity.[166]
In September 2017, NASA reported radiation levels on the surface of the planet Mars were
temporarily doubled, and were associated with an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed
earlier, due to a massive, and unexpected, solar storm in the middle of the month

Moons
Main articles: Moons of Mars, Phobos (moon), and Deimos (moon)

Enhanced-color HiRISE image of Phobos, showing a series of mostly parallel grooves and crater chains,
with Stickney crater at right

Enhanced-color HiRISE image of Deimos (not to scale), showing its smooth blanket of regolith

Mars has two relatively small (compared to Earth's) natural moons, Phobos (about 22 km (14 mi)
in diameter) and Deimos(about 12 km (7.5 mi) in diameter), which orbit close to the planet.
Asteroid capture is a long-favored theory, but their origin remains uncertain.[200] Both satellites
were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall; they are named after the characters Phobos(panic/fear)
and Deimos (terror/dread), who, in Greek mythology, accompanied their father Ares, god of war,
into battle. Mars was the Roman counterpart of Ares.[201][202] In modern Greek, though, the planet
retains its ancient name Ares (Aris: Άρης).[203]
From the surface of Mars, the motions of Phobos and Deimos appear different from that of
the Moon. Phobos rises in the west, sets in the east, and rises again in just 11 hours. Deimos,
being only just outside synchronous orbit – where the orbital period would match the planet's
period of rotation – rises as expected in the east but slowly. Despite the 30-hour orbit of Deimos,
2.7 days elapse between its rise and set for an equatorial observer, as it slowly falls behind the
rotation of Mars.[204]
Orbits of Phobos and Deimos (to scale)

Because the orbit of Phobos is below synchronous altitude, the tidal forces from the planet Mars
are gradually lowering its orbit. In about 50 million years, it could either crash into Mars's surface
or break up into a ring structure around the planet.[204]
The origin of the two moons is not well understood. Their low albedo and carbonaceous
chondrite composition have been regarded as similar to asteroids, supporting the capture theory.
The unstable orbit of Phobos would seem to point towards a relatively recent capture. But both
have circular orbits, near the equator, which is unusual for captured objects and the required
capture dynamics are complex. Accretion early in the history of Mars is plausible, but would not
account for a composition resembling asteroids rather than Mars itself, if that is confirmed.
A third possibility is the involvement of a third body or a type of impact disruption.[205] More-recent
lines of evidence for Phobos having a highly porous interior,[206] and suggesting a composition
containing mainly phyllosilicates and other minerals known from Mars,[207] point toward an origin
of Phobos from material ejected by an impact on Mars that reaccreted in Martian orbit,[208] similar
to the prevailing theory for the origin of Earth's moon. Although the VNIR spectra of the moons of
Mars resemble those of outer-belt asteroids, the thermal infrared spectra of Phobos are reported
to be inconsistent with chondrites of any class.[207]
Mars may have moons smaller than 50 to 100 metres (160 to 330 ft) in diameter, and a dust ring
is predicted to exist between Phobos and Deimos.

Exploration
Main article: Exploration of Mars

Panorama of Gusev crater, where Spirit rover examined volcanic basalts

Mars Science Laboratory under parachute during its atmospheric entry at Mars

Dozens of crewless spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been sent to Mars
by the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and India to study the planet's surface, climate,
and geology.
As of 2018, Mars is host to eight functioning spacecraft: six in orbit—2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars
Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, Mars Orbiter Mission and ExoMars Trace Gas
Orbiter—and two on the surface—Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Mars Science
Laboratory Curiosity. Observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible
flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.[209] In 2013, NASA's Curiosity rover discovered
that Mars's soil contains between 1.5% and 3% water by mass (albeit attached to other
compounds and thus not freely accessible).[210] The public can request images of Mars via
the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiWish program.
The Mars Science Laboratory, named Curiosity, launched on November 26, 2011, and reached
Mars on August 6, 2012 UTC. It is larger and more advanced than the Mars Exploration Rovers,
with a movement rate up to 90 m (300 ft) per hour.[211] Experiments include a laser chemical
sampler that can deduce the make-up of rocks at a distance of 7 m (23 ft).[212] On February 10,
2013, the Curiosity rover obtained the first deep rock samples ever taken from another planetary
body, using its on-board drill.[213]
On September 24, 2014, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched by the Indian Space Research
Organisation, reached Mars orbit. ISRO launched MOM on November 5, 2013, with the aim of
analyzing the Martian atmosphere and topography. The Mars Orbiter Mission used a Hohmann
transfer orbit to escape Earth's gravitational influence and catapult into a nine-month-long
voyage to Mars. The mission is the first successful Asian interplanetary mission.[214]
The European Space Agency, in collaboration with Roscosmos, launched the ExoMars Trace
Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli lander on March 14, 2016.[215] While the Trace Gas Orbiter
successfully entered Mars orbit on October 19, 2016, Schiaparelli crashed during its landing
attempt.[216]

Future
Main article: Exploration of Mars § Timeline of Mars exploration
Concept for a Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Transfer Vehicle in low Earth orbit

Planned for May 2018 is the launch of NASA's InSight lander, along with the
twin MarCO CubeSats that will fly by Mars and provide a telemetry relay for the landing. The
mission is expected to arrive at Mars in November 2018.[217] NASA plans to launch its Mars
2020astrobiology rover in July or August 2020.[218]
The European Space Agency will launch the ExoMars rover and surface platform in July 2020.[219]
The United Arab Emirates' Mars Hope orbiter is planned for launch in 2020, reaching Mars orbit
in 2021. The probe will make a global study of the Martian atmosphere.[220]
Several plans for a human mission to Mars have been proposed throughout the 20th century and
into the 21st century, but no active plan has an arrival date sooner than the
2020s. SpaceX founder Elon Musk presented a plan in September 2016 to, optimistically, launch
space tourists to Mars in 2024 at an estimated development cost of US$10 billion.[221] In October
2016, President Barack Obama renewed U.S. policy to pursue the goal of sending humans to
Mars in the 2030s, and to continue using the International Space Station as a technology
incubator in that pursuit.[222][223] The NASA Authorization Act of 2017 directed NASA to get humans
near or on the surface of Mars by the early 2030s

Hubble Space Telescope

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hubble" redirects here. For other uses, see Hubble (disambiguation).

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope as seen from the departing Space Shuttle Atlantis,
flying Servicing Mission 4 (STS-125), the fifth and final Hubble mission

Mission type Astronomy

Operator NASA · ESA · STScI

COSPAR ID 1990-037B

SATCAT no. 20580

Website nasa.gov/hubble

hubblesite.org

spacetelescope.org

Mission duration Elapsed: 28 years, 3 days

Spacecraft properties

Manufacturer Lockheed (spacecraft)

Perkin-Elmer (optics)

Launch mass 11,110 kg (24,490 lb)[1]

Dimensions 13.2 m × 4.2 m (43.3 ft × 13.8 ft)[1]

Power 2,800 watts

Start of mission

Launch date April 24, 1990, 12:33:51 UTC[2]

Rocket Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31)

Launch site Kennedy LC-39B

Deployment date April 25, 1990[1]

Entered service May 20, 1990[1]

 End of mission

Decay date estimated 2030–2040[3]

Orbital parameters

Reference system Geocentric

Regime Low Earth

Semi-major axis 6,917.5 km (4,298.3 mi)

Eccentricity 0.000287

Perigee 537.4 km (333.9 mi)

Apogee 541.4 km (336.4 mi)

Inclination 28.47°

Period 95.47 minutes 1.35.25.83

RAAN 176.23°

Argument of perigee 82.61°

Mean anomaly 319.41°

Mean motion 15.09 rev/day

Velocity 7.59 km/s (4.72 mi/s)

Epoch December 26, 2017, 13:18:33 UTC[4]

 Revolution no. 31,936

Main telescope

Type Ritchey–Chrétien reflector

Diameter 2.4 m (7.9 ft)

Focal length 57.6 m (189 ft)

Focal ratio f/24

Collecting area 4.5 m2 (48 sq ft)[5]

Wavelengths Near-infrared, visible light, ultraviolet

[show]Instruments

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth
orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of
the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public
relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one
of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra
X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.[6]
With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near
ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's
atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images, with substantially
lower background light than ground-based telescopes. Hubble has recorded some of the most
detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep view into space and time. Many Hubble
observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate
of expansion of the universe.
The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from
the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble's
targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the
spacecraft.[7]
Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a
proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and
the Challenger disaster (1986). When finally launched in 1990, Hubble's main mirror was found
to have been ground incorrectly, compromising the telescope's capabilities. The optics were
corrected to their intended quality by a servicing mission in 1993.
Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. After launch
by Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990, five subsequent Space Shuttle missions repaired,
upgraded, and replaced systems on the telescope, including all five of the main instruments. The
fifth mission was initially canceled on safety grounds following the Columbia disaster (2003).
However, after spirited public discussion, NASA administrator Mike Griffin approved the fifth
servicing mission, completed in 2009. The telescope is operating as of 2018, and could last until
2030–2040.[3] Its scientific successor, the James Webb Space Telescope(JWST), is scheduled
for launch in May 2020.

Conception, design and aim[edit]

Proposals and precursors[edit]

Astronaut Owen Garriott works next to Skylab's manned solar space observatory, 1973

In 1923, Hermann Oberth—considered a father of modern rocketry, along with Robert H.

Goddard and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky—published Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ("The
Rocket into Planetary Space"), which mentioned how a telescope could be propelled into Earth
orbit by a rocket.[9]
The history of the Hubble Space Telescope can be traced back as far as 1946, to
the astronomer Lyman Spitzer's paper "Astronomical advantages of an extraterrestrial
observatory".[10] In it, he discussed the two main advantages that a space-based observatory
would have over ground-based telescopes. First, the angular resolution (the smallest separation
at which objects can be clearly distinguished) would be limited only by diffraction, rather than by
the turbulence in the atmosphere, which causes stars to twinkle, known to astronomers
as seeing. At that time ground-based telescopes were limited to resolutions of 0.5–
1.0 arcseconds, compared to a theoretical diffraction-limited resolution of about 0.05 arcsec for a
telescope with a mirror 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in diameter. Second, a space-based telescope could
observe infrared and ultraviolet light, which are strongly absorbed by the atmosphere.
Spitzer devoted much of his career to pushing for the development of a space telescope. In
1962, a report by the US National Academy of Sciences recommended the development of
a space telescope as part of the space program, and in 1965 Spitzer was appointed as head of a
committee given the task of defining scientific objectives for a large space telescope.[11]
Space-based astronomy had begun on a very small scale following World War II, as scientists
made use of developments that had taken place in rocket technology. The first
ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun was obtained in 1946,[12] and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) launched the Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO) to obtain UV, X-ray, and
gamma-ray spectra in 1962.[13] An orbiting solar telescope was launched in 1962 by the United
Kingdom as part of the Ariel space program, and in 1966 NASA launched the first Orbiting
Astronomical Observatory (OAO) mission. OAO-1's battery failed after three days, terminating
the mission. It was followed by OAO-2, which carried out ultraviolet observations
of stars and galaxies from its launch in 1968 until 1972, well beyond its original planned lifetime
of one year.[14]
The OSO and OAO missions demonstrated the important role space-based observations could
play in astronomy, and in 1968, NASA developed firm plans for a space-based reflecting
telescope with a mirror 3 m (9.8 ft) in diameter, known provisionally as the Large Orbiting
Telescope or Large Space Telescope (LST), with a launch slated for 1979. These plans
emphasized the need for manned maintenance missions to the telescope to ensure such a costly
program had a lengthy working life, and the concurrent development of plans for the
reusable space shuttle indicated that the technology to allow this was soon to become
available.[15]

Quest for funding[edit]

The continuing success of the OAO program encouraged increasingly strong consensus within
the astronomical community that the LST should be a major goal. In 1970, NASA established two
committees, one to plan the engineering side of the space telescope project, and the other to
determine the scientific goals of the mission. Once these had been established, the next hurdle
for NASA was to obtain funding for the instrument, which would be far more costly than any
Earth-based telescope. The U.S. Congress questioned many aspects of the proposed budget for
the telescope and forced cuts in the budget for the planning stages, which at the time consisted
of very detailed studies of potential instruments and hardware for the telescope. In 1974, public
spending cuts led to Congress deleting all funding for the telescope project.[16]
In response to this, a nationwide lobbying effort was coordinated among astronomers. Many
astronomers met congressmen and senators in person, and large scale letter-writing campaigns
were organized. The National Academy of Sciences published a report emphasizing the need for
a space telescope, and eventually the Senate agreed to half of the budget that had originally
been approved by Congress.[17]
The funding issues led to something of a reduction in the scale of the project, with the proposed
mirror diameter reduced from 3 m to 2.4 m, both to cut costs [18] and to allow a more compact and
effective configuration for the telescope hardware. A proposed precursor 1.5 m (4.9 ft) space
telescope to test the systems to be used on the main satellite was dropped, and budgetary
concerns also prompted collaboration with the European Space Agency. ESA agreed to provide
funding and supply one of the first generation instruments for the telescope, as well as the solar
cells that would power it, and staff to work on the telescope in the United States, in return for
European astronomers being guaranteed at least 15% of the observing time on the
telescope.[19] Congress eventually approved funding of US$36 million for 1978, and the design of
the LST began in earnest, aiming for a launch date of 1983.[17] In 1983 the telescope was named
after Edwin Hubble,[20] who made one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century
when he discovered that the universe is expanding.[21]

Construction and engineering[edit]

Grinding of Hubble's primary mirror at Perkin-Elmer, March 1979

Once the Space Telescope project had been given the go-ahead, work on the program was
divided among many institutions. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was given responsibility
for the design, development, and construction of the telescope, while Goddard Space Flight
Center was given overall control of the scientific instruments and ground-control center for the
mission.[22] MSFC commissioned the optics company Perkin-Elmer to design and build the
Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and Fine Guidance Sensors for the space
telescope. Lockheed was commissioned to construct and integrate the spacecraft in which the
telescope would be housed.[23]

Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA)[edit]

Optically, the HST is a Cassegrain reflector of Ritchey–Chrétien design, as are most large
professional telescopes. This design, with two hyperbolic mirrors, is known for good imaging
performance over a wide field of view, with the disadvantage that the mirrors have shapes that
are hard to fabricate and test. The mirror and optical systems of the telescope determine the final
performance, and they were designed to exacting specifications. Optical telescopes typically
have mirrors polished to an accuracy of about a tenth of the wavelength of visible light, but the
Space Telescope was to be used for observations from the visible through the ultraviolet (shorter
wavelengths) and was specified to be diffraction limited to take full advantage of the space
environment. Therefore, its mirror needed to be polished to an accuracy of
10 nanometers (0.4 microinches), or about 1/65 of the wavelength of red light.[24]On the long
wavelength end, the OTA was not designed with optimum IR performance in mind—for example,
the mirrors are kept at stable (and warm, about 15 °C) temperatures by heaters. This limits
Hubble's performance as an infrared telescope.[25]

The backup mirror, by Kodak; its inner support structure can be seen because it is not coated with a
reflective surface

Perkin-Elmer intended to use custom-built and extremely sophisticated computer-controlled

polishing machines to grind the mirror to the required shape.[23] However, in case their cutting-
edge technology ran into difficulties, NASA demanded that PE sub-contract to Kodak to construct
a back-up mirror using traditional mirror-polishing techniques.[26] (The team of Kodak
and Itek also bid on the original mirror polishing work. Their bid called for the two companies to
double-check each other's work, which would have almost certainly caught the polishing error
that later caused such problems.[27]) The Kodak mirror is now on permanent display at
the National Air and Space Museum.[28][29] An Itek mirror built as part of the effort is now used in
the 2.4 m telescope at the Magdalena Ridge Observatory.[30]
Construction of the Perkin-Elmer mirror began in 1979, starting with a blank manufactured
by Corning from their ultra-low expansion glass. To keep the mirror's weight to a minimum it
consisted of top and bottom plates, each one inch (25 mm) thick, sandwiching
a honeycomblattice. Perkin-Elmer simulated microgravity by supporting the mirror from the back
with 130 rods that exerted varying amounts of force.[31]This ensured that the mirror's final shape
would be correct and to specification when finally deployed. Mirror polishing continued until May
1981. NASA reports at the time questioned Perkin-Elmer's managerial structure, and the
polishing began to slip behind schedule and over budget. To save money, NASA halted work on
the back-up mirror and put the launch date of the telescope back to October 1984.[32] The mirror
was completed by the end of 1981; it was washed using 2,400 US gallons (9,100 L) of
hot, deionized water and then received a reflective coating of 65 nm-thick (2.6 μin) aluminum and
a protective coating of 25 nm-thick (0.98 μin) magnesium fluoride.[25][33]
The OTA, metering truss, and secondary baffle are visible in this image of Hubble during early construction.

Doubts continued to be expressed about Perkin-Elmer's competence on a project of this

importance, as their budget and timescale for producing the rest of the OTA continued to inflate.
In response to a schedule described as "unsettled and changing daily", NASA postponed the
launch date of the telescope until April 1985. Perkin-Elmer's schedules continued to slip at a rate
of about one month per quarter, and at times delays reached one day for each day of work.
NASA was forced to postpone the launch date until March and then September 1986. By this
time, the total project budget had risen to US$1.175 billion.[34]

Spacecraft systems[edit]
The spacecraft in which the telescope and instruments were to be housed was another major
engineering challenge. It would have to withstand frequent passages from direct sunlight into the
darkness of Earth's shadow, which would cause major changes in temperature, while being
stable enough to allow extremely accurate pointing of the telescope. A shroud of multi-layer
insulation keeps the temperature within the telescope stable and surrounds a light aluminum
shell in which the telescope and instruments sit. Within the shell, a graphite-epoxyframe keeps
the working parts of the telescope firmly aligned.[35] Because graphite composites
are hygroscopic, there was a risk that water vapor absorbed by the truss while in Lockheed's
clean room would later be expressed in the vacuum of space; resulting in the telescope's
instruments being covered by ice. To reduce that risk, a nitrogen gas purge was performed
before launching the telescope into space.[36]
While construction of the spacecraft in which the telescope and instruments would be housed
proceeded somewhat more smoothly than the construction of the OTA, Lockheed still
experienced some budget and schedule slippage, and by the summer of 1985, construction of
the spacecraft was 30% over budget and three months behind schedule. An MSFC report said
that Lockheed tended to rely on NASA directions rather than take their own initiative in the
construction.[37]

Computer systems and data processing[edit]

DF-224 in Hubble, before it was replaced in 1999

The two initial, primary computers on the HST were the 1.25 MHz DF-224 system, built by
Rockwell Autonetics, which contained three redundant CPUs, and two redundant NSSC-
1 (NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer, Model 1) systems, developed by Westinghouse and
GSFC using diode–transistor logic (DTL). A co-processor for the DF-224 was added during
Servicing Mission 1 in 1993, which consisted of two redundant strings of an Intel-based 80386
processor with an 80387 math co-processor.[38] The DF-224 and its 386 co-processor were
replaced by a 25 MHz Intel-based 80486 processor system during Servicing Mission 3A in
1999.[39]
Additionally, some of the science instruments and components had their own embedded
microprocessor-based control systems. The MATs (Multiple Access Transponder) components,
MAT-1 and MAT-2, utilize Hughes Aircraft CDP1802CD microprocessors.[40] The Wide Field and
Planetary Camera (WFPC) also utilized an RCA 1802 microprocessor (or possibly the older 1801
version).[41] The WFPC-1 was replaced by the WFPC-2 during Servicing Mission 1 in 1993, which
was then replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) during Servicing Mission 4 in 2009.

Initial instruments[edit]

Exploded view of the Hubble Space Telescope

Main articles: Wide Field and Planetary Camera, Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, High
Speed Photometer, Faint Object Camera, and Faint Object Spectrograph
When launched, the HST carried five scientific instruments: the Wide Field and Planetary
Camera (WF/PC), Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), High Speed Photometer
(HSP), Faint Object Camera (FOC) and the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS). WF/PC was a
high-resolution imaging device primarily intended for optical observations. It was built by
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and incorporated a set of 48 filters isolating spectral lines of
particular astrophysical interest. The instrument contained eight charge-coupled device (CCD)
chips divided between two cameras, each using four CCDs. Each CCD has a resolution of 0.64
megapixels.[42] The "wide field camera" (WFC) covered a large angular field at the expense of
resolution, while the "planetary camera" (PC) took images at a longer effective focal length than
the WF chips, giving it a greater magnification.[43]
The GHRS was a spectrograph designed to operate in the ultraviolet. It was built by the Goddard
Space Flight Center and could achieve a spectral resolution of 90,000.[44] Also optimized for
ultraviolet observations were the FOC and FOS, which were capable of the highest spatial
resolution of any instruments on Hubble. Rather than CCDs these three instruments
used photon-counting digicons as their detectors. The FOC was constructed by ESA, while
the University of California, San Diego, and Martin Marietta Corporation built the FOS.[43]
The final instrument was the HSP, designed and built at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It
was optimized for visible and ultraviolet light observations of variable stars and other
astronomical objects varying in brightness. It could take up to 100,000 measurements per
second with a photometric accuracy of about 2% or better.[45]
HST's guidance system can also be used as a scientific instrument. Its three Fine Guidance
Sensors (FGS) are primarily used to keep the telescope accurately pointed during an
observation, but can also be used to carry out extremely accurate astrometry; measurements
accurate to within 0.0003 arcseconds have been achieved.