IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It’s just a little bigger than Earth’s Moon.
Mercury itself, though, doesn’t have any moons. It is the closest planet to the Sun, but it’s
actually not the hottest. Venus is hotter.

This small planet spins around slowly compared to Earth, so one day lasts a long time. It
takes 59 Earth days to make one day (or one full rotation) on Mercury. However, a year on
Mercury goes by fast! Because it’s the closest planet to the Sun, it doesn’t take very long to
go all the way around. It completes one revolution around the Sun in just 88 Earth days. If
you lived on Mercury, you’d have a birthday every three months!

Structure and surface

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.
Mercury’s surface can be as hot as 800 degrees F during the daytime and as cold as -300
degrees F during the nighttime. (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system.
The hottest planet is Venus.)
Mercury’s poles have water-ice.

Time on mercury
A day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days.
A year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth days.

Mercury does not have any moons.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Venus is Mercury’s neighboring planet.

History
Mercury has been known since ancient times because it can be seen without advanced
telescopes.
Because it is so close to the Sun, Mercury is hard to study from Earth. No people have ever
gone to Mercury, but two robotic spacecraft have visited. The spacecraft were called Mariner
10 and MESSENGER.
MESSENGER mapped Mercury by taking pictures of the planet's surface, including some
areas that had not been seen before. It also collected information about what the surface
and insides of Mercury are made of.

Mercury's environment is not conducive to life as we know it. The temperatures and solar
radiation that characterize this planet are most likely too extreme for organisms to adapt to.
HISTORY

We don’t know who discovered mercury. This discovery was confirmed when Galileo first
turned his telescope on the planets and realized they matched predictions made by
Copernicus.

Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft sent to the planet Mercury; the first mission to explore
two planets (Mercury and Venus) during a single mission; the first to return to its primary
destination for another look; and the first to use a gravity assist to change its flight path.

MISSIONS

Mariner 10: The first spacecraft sent to study Mercury.

Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft sent to the planet Mercury; the first mission to
explore two planets (Mercury and Venus) during a single mission; the first to return
to its primary destination for another look; and the first to use a gravity assist to
change its flight path.

On Feb. 5, 1974, the spacecraft began returning images of Venus,

First spacecraft sent to study Mercury

First spacecraft to use the gravity of one planet (in this case, Venus) to reach
another
First spacecraft to return data on a long-period comet
First mission to explore two planets (Mercury and Venus) during a single mission
First spacecraft to use a gravity assist to change its flight path
The first spacecraft to return to its target after an initial encounter
First probe to use the solar wind as a major means of spacecraft orientation during
flight

Mariner 10 returned over 2,700 pictures during its three Mercury flybys that covered
nearly half of the planet’s surface.

The mission was the last visit to Mercury by a robotic probe for more than 30 years.

MESSENGER: The first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.

OBJECTIVE: Mapping and Science Discoveries

Aug. 3, 2004: Launch

Mar. 11, 2011: MESSENGER finally entered orbit around Mercury nearly seven years after
launch
Apr. 30, 2015: MESSENGER plunged into Mercury at end of is mission
BepiColombo: An international mission comprised of two spacecraft.

BepiColombo is an international mission comprised of two spacecraft riding together to

Mercury to orbit and to study the planet from unique vantage points. The European Space
Agency (ESA) provided one orbiter. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
supplied the second orbiter.

Oct. 20, 2018 | 01:45:28 UT: Launch

April 13, 2020: Earth flyby
Oct. 16, 2020: Venus flyby
Aug. 11, 2020: Venus Flyby
Oct. 1, 2021: First Mercury flyby
June 23, 2022: Mercury flyby
June 20, 2023: Mercury flyby
Sept. 5, 2024: Mercury flyby
Dec. 2, 2024: Mercury flyby
Jan. 9, 2025: Mercury flyby
Dec. 5, 2025: Mercury orbital insertion

WHY WE CAN’T LIVE THERE?:

The temperatures and solar radiation that characterize this planet are most likely too
extreme for organisms to adapt to.

Mercury has a very thin layer of atmosphere. Its surface has holes where objects such as
meteorites and asteroids impact.