Ellie's

Job: Destination

My job is to collect data about the destination; Mercury. This will include
 * Size of Planet: Diameter, Mass
 * Revolution/Rotation
 * Atmospheric Composition
 * Number of moons or rings (if related to planet).

Collected information, along with the link of the website.
 * Mercury has no rings, or moons. []
 * Until recently, scientists thought that the same side of Mercury always faced the sun. Now we know that it rotates three times every two orbits. The planet orbits around the sun in just 88 days. The length of one Mercury day is equal to 58.646 Earth days. []
 * The temperature of Mercury can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit, or 430 degrees Celsius. Nighttime temperatures can drop to -280 degrees Fahrenheit, or -170 degrees Celsius. This is because the planet has no atmosphere. []
 * Instead of having an atmosphere, Mercury has a thin exosphere which is made up of atoms blasted off the surface by solar wind and striking micrometeoroids (which are basically small versions of meteoroids). Because of the planet's extreme surface temperature, the atoms quickly escape into space. With the thin exosphere, there has been no wind erosion of the surface and meteorites do not burn up due to friction as they do in other planetary atmospheres.[]
 * Mercury's surface resembles that of Earth's moon, scarred by many impact craters resulting from collisions with **meteoroids** and **comets**. While there are areas of smooth terrain, there are also lobe-shaped scarps or cliffs, some hundreds of miles long and soaring up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) high, formed by early contraction of the crust. []
 * Mercury is the second smallest planet in the solar system, larger only than previously measured planets, such as Pluto. Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth, with a large iron core having a radius of 1,100 to 1,200 miles (1,800 to 1,900 kilometers), about 75 percent of the planet's radius. Mercury's outer shell, comparable to Earth's outer shell (called the mantle), is only 300 to 400 miles (500 to 600 kilometers) thick. Mercury's **magnetic field** is thought to be a miniature version of Earth's, but scientists are uncertain of the strength of the field.[]
 * Physical Properties: Equitorial Radius:1516 miles, 0.38251 R Mass: 3.3302 x 10^23kg []-

Link of picture to put in first post: []

Link of picture to put in second post: [] put something like "this is a picture that I took of the planet as we passed by it in the Galileo to Mercury"

Draft of Post One: We are traveling to the planet Mercury. It is my job to tell you all about the final destination: the planet itself. Mercury is a fascinating planet, with deep craters and explosive volcanoes spread all over the surface of the planet. In fact, Mercury's surface closely resembles our moon, and although it is scarred with many craters, it also has areas of smooth terrain. The craters in the surface are caused by meteors and asteroids slamming into the planet. Also, there are some lobe-shaped sharps or cliffs, which can be hundreds of kilometers long and 1.6 kilometers (one mile) high. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun, but Venus is actually the hottest planet. Mercury is the second hottest planet, though. It's temperatures during the day can reach up to 430 degrees Celsius (800 degrees Fahrenheit), and can drop to -170 degrees Celsius (-280 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperatures are this extreme because, in fact, Mercury has no atmosphere! Also, Mercury has no moons, or rings either. Mercury is actually the second densest planet, second only to Earth. The diameter of the planet is 4 879.531 008 kilometers (3032 miles). The mass is 3.3302x10^23kg. Until recently, scientists though that the same side of Mercury always faced the sun, but that is not true. We now know that the planet rotates three times every two orbits around the sun. One orbit is just 88 days! Also, one Mercury day is equal to 56.646 Earth days. Well, this is just some of the information known about Mercury. More information will be coming soon when we can see the planet itself!

Draft of Post Two: We have reached the planet! We can't land on it, of course, because it is so hot. Above is a picture I took while we were passing by. As I posted before, Mercury has no atmosphere. Instead, it has a thin exosphere made up of atoms blasted off the surface of the planet by solar winds and striking micrometeoroids (basically small meteors). Since the planet is so hot, the atoms quickly escape into space. With the exosphere is so thin, meteoroids entering the planets general area do not burn up as they do in other planetary atmospheres. While Earth's and Venus' atmosphere's are constant, Mercury's is being constantly replenished. As I also mentioned before, Mercury rotates three times every two orbits. For those of you who don't speak "space talk", an orbit is when the planet rotates all the way around the sun one time. For Earth, this is known as a year. A rotation is when it spins one time around itself. For Earth, this is known as one day. There are also 88 days/rotations per year/orbit. Well, this will be my last blog post. I hoped you learned a lot about Mercury!

__Bibliography__ National Geographic. "Solar System, Solar System Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic." //Science and Space Facts, Science and Space, Human Body, Health, Earth, Human Disease - National Geographic//. National Geographic, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. . __ National Geographic. "Mercury, Planet Mercury Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic." //Science and Space Facts, Science and Space, Human Body, Health, Earth, Human Disease - National Geographic//. National Geographic, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. . __ Wolfram Alpha. "Mercury - Wolfram|Alpha." //Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine//. Wolfram Alpha, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. . __
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