Prelude
The two innermost worlds in the Solar System are the highly inhospitable terrestrial planets, Mercury and Venus. While both have been visited by unmanned probes, no manned missions have occurred. Resembling Earth's Moon, little is known of Mercury's history. Venus is similar to Earth in size, but is radically different in many other ways, including its thick CO2-rich atmosphere. Most of what we know of the surface of Venus comes from cloud-penetrating radar study. Like Mercury, little is known about the distant geologic history of Earth's "sister" planet.
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Figure 9-1. The two innermost planets of our Solar System. Mercury (left) and Venus (right) viewed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974 (NASA/JPL). Remember to click on the highlighted images to see larger versions. |
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What Will You Do Today?
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Study the two planets of the inner Solar System: Mercury and Venus |
A. Inner Planets Basics - Review some fundamental planetary data about the two innermost planets in our Solar System
B. Inner Solar System Exploration - Past, present and future spacecraft missions to Mercury and Venus
C. Geology of Mercury - Learn about the Moon-like geology of Mercury
D. Geology of Venus - Read and interpret a geologic map of Venus