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5. Mercury was named after the messenger of the Roman gods.

Mercury, who is also known as Hermes in Greek mythology. It is thought the reason behind this is because of the speed that the planet orbits the sun. 

Did you know?
Earth is the only planet in the solar system that is not named after a Roman or Greek god.


Only two spacecraft have ever visited Mercury.

It is very difficult to reach Mercury due to its proximity to the sun. Spacecraft would need to travel 91 million kilometers into the suns gravitational field as well.
  • In 1974-75 The Mariner 10 flew by Mercury three times. It managed to map half of its surface.
  • In 2004 the MESSENGER probe was launched to explore Mercury's geological profile, magnetic fields and more.
  • 20 October 2018, BepiColombo was launched by joint mission ESA and JAXA. It is expected to reach Mercury in late 2025. You can follow BepiColombo progress here: https://twitter.com/BepiColombo
Did you know?
The Mariner 10 ran out of fuel on March 24th 1975 and is still believed to be orbiting the sun.


7. Mercury has a very weak magnetic field.

The magnetic field on Mercury is about 1% of Earths.

Did you know?
Earth's magnetic field is measured in microteslas. At the surface it ranges from 25-65 microteslas. 


9. Mercury has a very thin atmosphere.

According to NASA, Mercury's atmosphere is made up of:
42% Oxygen, 29% Sodium, 22% Hydrogen, 6% Helium, 0.5% Potassium and trace amounts of Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Water, Nitrogen, Xenon, Krypton, Neon, Calcium and Magnesium.

Did you know?
The Earth's atmosphere is made up of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and trace amounts of other gases including Argon and Carbon Dioxide.


9. Mercury has just 38% of the gravity on Earth.

Due to the lack of gravity, Mercury isn't able to hold the atmosphere it has and it gets blown away by solar winds. The atmosphere is also replenished by those same solar winds bringing in new gases, radioactive decay and dust from micrometerorites.

Did you know?
You can work out how much you would weigh on Mercury by dividing your weight by 100 and multiplying by 38. For example, if you weighed 10 stone on Earth, you would weigh 3.8 stone on Mercury.


10. The outershell of Mercury is only 310 - 375 miles thick.

Example

Did you know?
Earths outershell excluding mantle and shell is on average 1819 miles thick. This is 4.85 times thicker than Mercury.


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