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Mercury, being the closest to the Sun, with a weak magnetic field and the smallest mass of the recognized terrestrial planets, has a very tenuous and highly variable atmosphere (surface-bound exosphere) containing hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, potassium and water vapor, with a combined pressure level of about 10 −14 bar (1 nPa). [2]
Mariner 10 was a NASA probe whose primary objective was to observe the atmosphere, surface, and physical characteristics of Mercury and Venus.It was a low-cost mission completed for under $98 million. [7]
Once the MTM delivers the MPO and MMO to Mercury orbit, the two orbiters will have the following objectives: to study Mercury's form, interior structure, geology, composition, and craters; to study the origin, structure, and dynamics of its magnetic field; to characterize the composition and dynamics of Mercury's vestigial atmosphere; to test ...
Before 1974, it was thought that Mercury could not generate a magnetic field because of its relatively small diameter and lack of an atmosphere. However, when Mariner 10 made a fly-by of Mercury (somewhere around April 1974), it detected a magnetic field that was about 1/100 the total magnitude of Earth's magnetic field .
Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and the smallest in the Solar System. In English, it is named after the ancient Roman god Mercurius , god of commerce and communication, and the messenger of the gods. Mercury is classified as a terrestrial planet, with roughly the same surface gravity as Mars.
Reprocessed Mariner 10 data was used to produce this image of Mercury. The smooth band is an area of which no images were taken. Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus.
Mercury is difficult to spot from Earth because of its close proximity to the sun. As NASA explains, the planet is only viewable at dawn or twilight when the sun's brightness doesn't outshine it.
MESSENGER was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. [9] [10] The name is a backronym for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, and a reference to the messenger god Mercury from Roman mythology.