Mercury
Discover amazing facts about Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system and the closest one to the Sun
Mercury's surface is covered in craters from billions of years of asteroid impacts
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and the one closest to the Sun! This tiny world is only a little bit bigger than Earth's Moon, but it's a fascinating place with some incredible secrets. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, it races around its orbit faster than any other planet – that's why it's called the "speedy planet."
Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, it's not the hottest planet (that's Venus!). Mercury has no atmosphere to trap heat, so while the sunny side gets incredibly hot, the dark side becomes freezing cold. Imagine a place where one side is hot enough to melt lead, while the other side is colder than Antarctica!
Scientists have been studying Mercury for many years to understand how planets form and change over time. The MESSENGER spacecraft spent four years orbiting Mercury, taking thousands of photos and measurements. Even though Mercury is our neighbor, it's still full of mysteries waiting to be discovered by future space missions!
Right now, there's an exciting mission called BepiColombo on its way to Mercury! This amazing spacecraft was built by scientists from Europe and Japan working together. It's taking a very long journey through space and will arrive at Mercury in 2025. BepiColombo is actually two spacecraft joined together, and they need special heat shields to protect them from the Sun's intense heat. When they arrive, they'll study Mercury's surface, find out what's inside the planet, and maybe even discover why Mercury has such a big iron core!
