FACTS:

Satellites: 0 moons


  • Mercury has been known since at least the time of the Sumerians (3rd millennium BC).

  • Mercury was given two names by the Greeks: Apollo at sunrise and Hermes at sunset.

  • Mercury has been visited by two spacecraft, Mariner 10 in 1974/1975 and the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008. Together they have only mapped about 75% of Mercury's surface.

  • Mercury is in many ways similar to the Moon: its surface is heavily cratered and very old; it has no plate tectonics. On the other hand, Mercury is much denser than the Moon.
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MERCURY

INFORMATION:

  • MASS: ≈ 3.3022×1023 kg    (About 1/3 the size of Earth!)
  • DIAMETER: ≈ 3,031 miles
  • TEMPERATURE: ≈ 800° F (surface)
Earth