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Mercury
Mercury
Mercury Facts
Inclination of axis: 2
10,000 pictures with 57% planet coverage reveal an intensely cratered, Moon-
like surface and a faint atmosphere of mostly helium, resulting from solar wind
bombardment.
Incoming View of
Mercury
This photomosaic of
Mercury was
constructed from
photos taken by
Mariner 10 six hours
before the spacecraft
flew past the planet on
March 29, 1974. These
images were taken
from a distance of
5,380,000 kilometers
(3,340,000 miles).
Close
Encounter
This two-image
mosaic of Mercury
was constructed
from photos taken
by Mariner a few
hours before the
spacecraft's
closest and first
encounter with the
planet on March
29, 1974.
Outgoing View
of Mercury
This mosaic of
Mercury was created
from more than 140
images taken by the
Mariner 10
spacecraft on March
29, 1974. The
images were
acquired after the
spacecraft exited
Mercury's shadow.
Mercurys Atmosphere
Like the Earths Moon, Mercury has a very volatile atmosphere. What
little atmosphere exists is made up of atoms or ions blasted off its
surface by the solar wind and has less than a million-billionths the
pressure of Earth's atmosphere at sea level. It is composed chiefly of
oxygen, sodium, and helium.
Mercury may have water ice at its north and south poles. The ice exists
inside deep craters. The floors of these craters remain in perpetual
shadow, so the Sun cannot melt the ice.
Asteroid-size impactor
early in solar system
history
ESA-ISAS Mission to
Mercury