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Inner Planets

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Mercury. Mercury means: In astronomy mythology, Mercury was the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes.

Mercury

He was the messenger for the other gods, and for this reason Mercury is often depicted in pictures with winged sandals. In addition to delivering messages, he was also the protector of travelers and merchants. How much would you weigh on Mercury? If you moved to Mercury you would not weigh as much as you do on Earth. Not because you would lose weight on the spaceship, but because Mercury is smaller, and so has less gravity.

The Planet The planet Mercury is the closest of the planets to the Sun. This planet is often called a morning star. Mercury is Heavy Because of its proximity to the Sun, Mercury's evolution took a slightly different course than that of the other planets. Mercury Has Wrinkles As Mercury's iron core cooled it contracted, or shrunk. Mercury is Scarred The surface of the planet Mercury is covered with craters. Moons: Mercury has no moons. Venus. Venus means: In astronomy mythology, Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty.

Venus

In Greek, her name was Aphrodite. How much would you weigh on Venus? Because Venus and the Earth are almost the exact same size, you would weigh almost exactly the same on either planet. If you weighed 70 pounds (32 kg) on Earth, you would weigh 63 pounds (29 kg ) on Venus. The Planet The planet Venus has long been one of the most misunderstood of all the inner planets. There is much we still do not know about how this planet looks and what it is like. The Earth Has a Sister Venus is in many ways Earth's sister planet. However, if they are twins, then Venus is the evil twin; she is the Earth gone wrong, very wrong. Global Warming In the early days of Venus' 4 billion year long life, it would have appeared very similar to the Earth. Venus lies much closer to the Sun than does our planet.

Today it is likely that all of Venus' water has evaporated into the atmosphere. Moons: Venus has no moons. Earth. Earth means:In astronomy mythology, her Greek name was Gaea.

Earth

Earth was the mother of the mountains, valleys, streams and all other land formations. She was married to Uranus. How Big is the Earth? The Earth is the biggest of all the terrestrial planets. A terrestrial planet is a dense planet found in the inner Solar System. The Planet Our planet is an oasis of life in an otherwise desolate universe. To learn more about Earth, please visit our Earth Sciences website. Moons: The Earth has one moon. Mars. Mars means: Mars was the Roman god of war and agriculture.

Mars

It may not seem like these two things go together, but they do. Mars protected those who fought for their communities, and stayed home to raise crops for food. In Greek, Mars was known as Ares. How much would you weigh on Mars? If you weighed 70 pounds (32 kg) on the Earth, you would weigh about 27 pounds (12 kg) on Mars. The Planet Mars excites scientists because its mild temperament is more like the Earth's than any of the other planets. You may sometimes hear Mars referred to as the "Red Planet. " Exploration At first, the only way modern explorers could study Mars was with satellites that would fly close to the surface of Mars and take pictures as it did so.

As scientific technology became more advanced, scientists were able to put spacecraft into orbit around the Red Planet. Then, as technology advanced even more, scientists and researchers were able to actually land spacecraft on the surface of Mars.