Mercury
By: Julia Bailey
Facts About Mercury:
- Mercury Lies closer to the Sun than any other planet
- Mercury has a Diameter of 3,031 Miles
- Mercury is apart of the inner planets
- Mercury is 36 miles from the Sun
- Mercury is the smallest planet
- Mercury takes 59 days for one complete rotation
- MESSENGER ran out of fuel in April 2015 & crashed into Mercury
- Mercury Lies Inside of Earths orbit
- Mercury is 800 Degrees During the Day
The Mercury Flights:
Mercury Flight: 1
Mission Name: Mercury-Redstone 3
Astronaut: Alan Shepard
Capsule: Freedom 7
Mercury Flight: 2
Mission Name: Mercury-Redstone 4
Astronaut: Gus Grissom
Capsule: Liberty Bell 7
Mercury Flight: 3
Mission Name: Mercury-Atlas 6
Astronaut: John Glenn
Capsule: Friendship 7
Mercury Flight: 4
Mission Name: Mercury-Atlas 7
Astronaut: Scott Carpenter
Capsule: Aurora 7
Mercury Flight: 5
Mission Name: Mercury-Atlas 8
Astronaut: Wally Schirra
Capsule: Sigma 7
Mercury Flight: 6
Mission Name: Mercury-Atlas 9
Astronaut: Gordon Cooper
Capsule: Faith 7
Mercury:
- Mercury was known since at least Sumerian times roughly 5,000 years ago, where it was often associated with Nabu, the god of writing
- Mercury is one of a handful that can be viewed without the aid of a telescope
- With a mean radius of 2440 km and a mass of 3378.1506 kg, Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System
- Mercury is in size to 0.38 Earths. And while it is smaller than the largest natural satellites in our system it is more massive. In fact, Mercury’s density is the second highest in the Solar System, only slightly less than Earth’s
- Mercury also has the most eccentric orbit of any planet in the Solar System
Why was Studying Mercury Important to the Space Exploration???
NASA learned a lot from Project Mercury. The agency learned how to put astronauts in orbit around Earth. It learned how people could live and work in space. It learned how to operate a spacecraft in orbit. These lessons were very important. NASA used them in later space programs.
What was the purpose of Studying Mercury???
What was discovered in Mercury???
These are just a few of the new discoveries by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, which flew past Mercury on January 14, 2008. A color image of the Caloris basin and adjacent regions. Orange hues just inside the Caloris basin rim mark the locations of features thought to be volcanic.
Who were the important people/animals or devices in studying Mercury???
There were no animals that helped study Mercury.
The important people was NASA and their crew.