the solar system missions. the missions

The Solar System Missions

The Missions

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/index.cfm

planets not shown to scale >>

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Mean Distance from the Sun (AU) 0.3871 0.7233 1 1.524 5.203 9.539 19.19 30.06

Sidereal period of orbit (years) 0.24 0.62 1 1.88 11.86 29.46 84.01 164.79

Mean Orbital Velocity (km/sec) 47.89 35.04 29.79 24.14 13.06 9.64 6.81 5.43

Orbital Eccentricity 0.206 0.007 0.017 0.093 0.048 0.056 0.046 0.010

Inclination to ecliptic (degrees) 7.00 3.40 0 1.85 1.30 2.49 0.77 1.77

Equatorial Radius (km) 2439 6052 6378 3397 71490 60268 25559 25269

Polar Radius (km) same same 6357 3380 66854 54360 24973 24340

Mass of planet (Earth=1) 0.06 0.82 1 0.11 317.89 95.18 14.53 17.14

Mean density (grams/centimeter³ ) 5.43 5.25 5.52 3.95 1.33 0.69 1.29 1.64

Body rotation period (hours) 1408 5832 23.93 24.62 9.92 10.66 17.24 16.11

Tilt of equator to orbit (degrees) 2 177.3 23.45 25.19 3.12 26.73 97.86 29.6

Number of observed satellites 0 0 1 2 >28 30 24 8

Mercury is the planet nearest to the sun. It is difficult to observe from the Earth because it rises and sets within two hours from the sun. It is estimated that Mercury was formed about 4 billion years ago. Scientist are still not exactly sure because very little was know about it until about 1974. The estimate was based on the craters on Mercury's surface. It is said that the older the planet is the more craters the surface has. Mercury has a very dense and thin atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, potassium and sulfur surrounds the planet. Mercury revolves around the Sun of 87.97 Earth days.

Mercury

Mercury

Mercury

Mercury's successive positions during March of 2004. Each picture was taken from the same location in Leeds, England exactly 33 minutes after sunset.

Mercury Facts Sheet:

Type: Terrestrial

Mass of planet (Earth=1) =0.06Mean density (grams/centimeter³ ) = 5.43

Interior: Metallic core about ¾ of the planet’s radius, rocky mantle and crust

Surface: heavily cratered

Water: Frozen ice in permanently shadowed portion of north and south poles

Atmosphere: No significant atmosphere

Moons: 0

Mercury

Venus

Venus is the closest planet to the Earth, it is also most similar to Earth in mass, size and density. Venus rotates once every 243 days in a retrograde motion- which means that it rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation of the other planets. (Clockwise when viewed from above the Earth's North Pole). When Earth and Venus meet in their orbit around the Sun, Venus is always facing Earth with the same side. Venus atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide. The surface temperature is about 450 C which is even hotter than Mercury's "noon" temperature. Scientists believe that Venus is only about 400 million years old.

Venus was a very special goddess in Greek and Roman mythology. She is named after a woman, and her symbol represents a hand mirror. Venus was named after the goddess of love and beauty. In Greek, her name was Aphrodite. The Chinese called Venus Tai-pe, which means "the beautiful white one", the Babylonians called Venus Ishtar, which means "the bright torch of heaven". Venus was born in the sea and was carried to the Greek island of Cyprus. Venus was so beautiful that the gods of Olympus each presented her with a gift to marry him. Jupiter put Venus with the ugly and lame god, Vulcan, who made a magic girdle for her that made her irresistible. Venus fell in love with Mars instead. She had a child Cupid or Eros, who is the god of love. Venus also had many lovers and children. Venus loved the glamour of love. Her son, Cupid married Psyche, a daughter of a king. Venus originally came from Western Asia into Greek mythologies. Her planet has two names: Phosperous "Morning Star" and Hesperus "Evening Star". Some symbols of Venus are the myrtle tree, the swan, sparrow, dove, turquoise and the emerald. Venus represents femininity, love, aesthetics, grace and beauty in astrology.

Venus

Goddess of Love and Beauty

Venus

Venus Facts Sheet:

Type: Terrestrial

Mass of planet (Earth=1) = 0.82Mean density (grams/centimeter³ ) = 5.25

Interior: Iron core about 3000 km radius, rocky mantle and crust

Surface: volcanic and cratered

Water: Probable in the past

Atmosphere: Very thick, primarily Carbon Dioxide, clouds of sulfuric acid

Moons: 0

Venera Lander (USSR)

Earth

Earth is the only planet known to have the right temperature and the right atmosphere to support the kind of life humans know. Some scientists believe that millions of planets in the Milky Way, (the galaxy that contains the Earth), maybe able to support life, yet no one can predict anything. Many plants and animals have developed on Earth.. Many people believe that Earth is the only planet in the solar system that can support life. The Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun. Most of the earth is composed of water. Only about 1% of that is good for human-kind to drink.

Earth is known as Terra Mater in Roman and Gaea in Greek. Her symbol is a sphere or the earth. She was the first goddess on earth. She gave birth to Uranus, whoís also known as ìfather skyî. Gaea and Uranus had children, the hundred-headed, the Cyclops and then the Titans who were very powerful. Since Uranus thought that his children were ugly, he was very cruel to them. Gaea got angry and told one of the Titans to overthrow their father with a scythe. He created the giants, Erinnyes and the beautiful Venus with his blood. Cronus, the Titan, ruled the universe. He had children with his sister, and had children, which included Jupiter, Demeter, Pluto, Neptune, Hera, etc. Jupiter and his sisters and brothers had a war with their father for trying to eat them, but legend says that the one who overthrows his father, their children will overthrow them. Gaea gave birth to another monster called Typhon, which Jupiter easily defeated with his lighting and bolt. Gaea is known as the Goddess of Death because she is like the Earth which eventually brings the dead back to life.

Earth

Goddess of Death

This photo was taken in December 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew. The spacecraft was traveling between the Earth and the Moon. The redish landmass is Africa and Saudi Arabia which is desert. The white is both clouds and the ice covering Antarctica. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)

This is a satellite image taken of Mount St. Helens Volcano on October 16, 1994 from STS-64. This volcano erupted on May 18, 1980 in Washington. Corel Photography

This is a picture of the Colorado River. Aris Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. 1994

Mars

Since ancient times Mars has been an interest to astronomers. Mars is about half the size of Earth. Its atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide. Liquid water does not exist on Mars because of low temperature and pressure. Water exists only at ice form on the poles of Mars. Another thing about Mars is that it has the largest volcano in our solar system, Olympus Mons. At a height of 27 kilometers, the volcano is 3 times higher than Mount Everest and it covers an area the size of Arizona.

Mars

God of War

Mars is the god of war. His Greek name is Ares and the son of Jupiter and Hera. Mars never married but had three children with Venus. Mars loved war and battle, so many people saw him as a violent god. His animal is the vulture and the tree but it was said to be a dog. Mars is the opposite of Venus and his sign is the male symbol, which represents a shield and a spear. In astrology, Mars shows your energy, strength, courage and passion.

Mars

Mars Facts Sheet:

Type: Terrestrial


Interior: rocky

Surface: volcanic, cratered, evidence of river systems

Water: ????

Atmosphere: Primarily Carbon Dioxide, clouds consist of water ice condensed on dust

Moons: 2

Olympus Mons

Viking Landing Site

South Candor Chasm

South Polar Ice Cap

This stunning image features the heat shield impact site of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. This is an approximately true-color mosaic of panoramic camera images taken through the camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters.

Spirit and Opportunity

The Question of Water

'Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars11:48 21 February 2005 NewScientist.com news service Kelly Young A frozen sea, surviving as blocks of pack ice, may lie just beneath the surface of Mars, suggest observations from Europe's Mars Express spacecraft. The sea is just 5° north of the Martian equator and would be the first discovery of a large body of water beyond the planet's polar ice caps.Images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express show raft-like ground structures - dubbed "plates" - that look similar to ice formations near Earth's poles, according to an international team of scientists. But the site of the plates, near the equator, means that sunlight should have melted any ice there. So the team suggests that a layer of volcanic ash, perhaps a few centimetres thick, may protect the structures."I think it's fairly plausible," says Michael Carr, an expert on Martian water at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, who was not part of the team. He says scientists had previously suspected there was a past water source north of the Elysium plates. "We know where the water came from," Carr told New Scientist. "You can trace the valleys carved by water down to this area." He says the evidence is "compelling" for past flooding near the plates. "Maybe the ice is still there in the ground, protected by a volcanic cover, as they suggest," he says.There is abundant evidence for the past presence of water on Mars but today it appears relatively dry, with water ice confined to the planet's polar caps. Remote observations of hydrogen atoms by NASA's Odyssey spacecraft in 2002 hinted that ice might be locked in the top metre of soil at lower latitudes. But the evidence was inconclusive as the signal could have come from minerals exposed to water in the past.

Mars – Hot off the Presses 2005


Recent Running Water

This Chasm is about 1.25 M years old, and is believed to have contained running water

Mars – Hot off the Presses March 2009

Water

Several photographs taken by NASA’s Phoenix Mars spacecraft show what look like water droplets clinging to one of its landing struts.


Recent Running Water

1.25 M years ago, who on Earth cares????

And, of course, the Faces on Mars

Jupiter

Jupiter is larger than all the other planets combined. It gives off nearly twice as much energy as it receives. Jupiter also has the strongest magnetic field of all the planets. Jupiter is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. It has no solid surface, only layers of gaseous clouds. The diameter of Jupiter is 142,800 kilometers. It revolves around the Sun in 11.86 Earth years.

Jupiter

Lord of the SkyJupiter or Zeus in Greek, is considered the most powerful god. He is the son of Cronus, a Titan, along with his other brothers and sisters. After a long war with his father, Jupiter and his brothers Neptune and Pluto each rolled a dice to see what area of the earth they shall rule. Jupiter got the heavens, Neptune, the sea, and the unlucky Pluto, the underworld. Jupiter married his sister Hera, who was always jealous of Jupiter and his many wives. He is the god with the most wives. Jupiter usually fell in love with nymphs, mortals and sometimes, goddesses. He can transform himself into animal he wishes to kidnap someone he loves. There are other names for Jupiter, such as Lord of the Sky, the Rain God, and the Cloud Gatherer. The bird sacred to him is the eagle and the oak tree. In astrology, Jupiter represents physical, intellectual, luck, success and power.

Jupiter

Jupiter Facts Sheet:

Type: Jovian


Interior: primarily that of simple molecules such as hydrogen and helium, which are liquids under the high pressure environments found in the interiors of Jupiter.

Surface: None

Water:

Atmosphere: ammonia, methane, helium, hydrogen, and sulfur.

Moons: > 28

This composite of the Galilean Satellites shows images of the moons taken by the Galileo spacecraft, as well as details from the surfaces of the moons.

The Galileo spacecraft photographed volcanoes on the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons. Scientists believe there are at least 300 volcanoes on the moon. These volcanoes are somewhat different than those on Earth. The small ones can erupt and then quickly turn dorment in weeks. Other ones stay active for many years at a time. Last month, Galileo spotted large clouds of sulfur gas in the atmosphere and yellow snow that precipitated down from them. Galileo will continue to study Jupiter and its satellites, turning next to the moon Ganymede and Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

This shows an active volcanic region on Io. The yellow and orange area is newly formed lava, and the dark areas show lava that has cooled down.Courtesy of NASA

What’s New???

Saturn

Saturn is very similar to Jupiter. It is composed of 97% hydrogen, 3% helium and 0.5% methane. There is no solid. Saturn’s diameter in kilometers is 120,660. Its rotation period takes about 10.2 Earth hours. Saturn completes its revolution around then Sun for 29.46 Earth years.

Saturn

Saturn is also known Cronus; he is one of Titans to overthrow father sky or Uranus with a scythe and throwing his body parts into the sea, which created Venus, Furies, and some giants and nymphs. Cronus and Rhea (Cronusís sister) had six children. Cronus was afraid that his own children would overthrow him just like his father, so he decided to swallow them immediately, except the child Jupiter. Rhea decided to wrap cloths around a stone for Cronus to swallow, and put Jupiter with two nymphs and a goat to take care of him. When he was old enough, he thanked the two nymphs by taking the goatís horn and turned it into a cornicopia, (named after the goat) with fruits inside and putting the goatís image among the stars as the constellation Capricorn. Later, his mother helped Jupiter take out all the children that Cronus had eaten, Jupiter, along with his sisters and brothers fought Cronus and the other Titans and put them in the underworld to live forever except his mother, Rhea as thanks. In astrology, Neptune, is known as the grim reaper and symbolizes responsibilities, restrictions and limitations. He also represents peace and his symbol represents a scythe.

Saturn

Saturn Facts Sheet:

Type: Jovian


Interior: Saturn's interior composition is primarily that of simple molecules such as hydrogen and helium, which are liquids under the high pressure environments found in the interiors of the outer planets, and not solids.

Surface: None

Water:

Atmosphere: ammonia, methane, helium, hydrogen, and sulfur.

Moons: 30

This is an image of a storm on Saturn taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Courtesy of Reta Beebe (New Mexico State

This is a color image of Saturn's satellite Mimas taken by Voyager 1 on November 12, 1980. The circular object is a massive crater on Mimas.

Saturn's moon Mimas (left) compared to the fictional 1977 Star Wars 'Death Star', (right) which used its large depression as a 'superlaser focus lens' to exact planet-scale revenge. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Original Caption Released with Image: This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows a full 360-degree view around Huygens. The left-hand side, behind Huygens, shows a boundary between light and dark areas. The white streaks seen near this boundary could be ground 'fog,' as they were not immediately visible from higher altitudes. As the probe descended, it drifted over a plateau (center of image) and was heading towards its landing site in a dark area (right). From the drift of the probe, the wind speed has been estimated at around 6-7 kilometers (about 4 miles) per hour. These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) with a resolution of about 20 meters (about 65 feet) per pixel. The images were taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Descent Imager/Spectral team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm .

What’s New???

Uranus

Its denser than Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is composed of hydrogen, helium, substantial amounts of water, and some methane, ammonia, rock and metal. The amounts of methane in its upper atmosphere give the planet its blue-green color. The core of Uranus is mostly rock and metal. It rotates clockwise every 17 hours. Uranus revolves around the Sun in 84 Earth years.

Uranus

Father Sky

Uranus is also known as Father Sky and the son of Gaea. He and Gaea had many children including Cyclops, the hundred-headed, and the Titans. Since Uranus didnít like the way they looked, he treated them very badly and locked them deep inside the earth. Gaea was very mad and asked one of the Titans to overthrow their father with a scythe. Uranus is known as the father of the sky and sometimes the universe. He symbolizes science, media, computers and technology. Most of Uranusís moons are named after mythology or Shakespearean characters.

Uranus

Uranus Facts Sheet:

Type: Jovian

Mass of planet (Earth=1) = 14.53 Mean density (grams/centimeter³ ) = 1.29

Interior: Uranus's interior composition is primarily that of methane ice.

Surface:

Water:

Atmosphere: The uniformity of the planet's appearance confirms that the planet's atmosphere is composed almost solely of one element, methane gas.

Moons: 24

Miranda

Neptune

Like other gaseous planets, Neptune rotates rapidly once every 16.1 Earth hours. It takes 164.8 Earth years for Neptune to revolve around the Sun. Neptune is composed of 74% hydrogen, 25% helium and 1% methane at the depth of the planet. Its diameter is 49,528 kilometers.

Neptune

God of the SeaNeptune is the god of the sea and his Greek name is Poseidon. His symbol is a trident or a fishing spear. He uses the trident. He is the son of Cronus and Rhea and brothers with Jupiter and Neptune. Neptune ruled a beautiful palace under the sea. Neptune had many children and lovers, including the Cyclopes. He has a throne on Mount Olympus. The trident he carries can create terrible sea storms and also was used in the battle against the Titans and is often called the ìEarth-Shakerî. Neptune is believed to have created the horse, and it is associated with Neptune. In astrology, Neptune represents spirituality, and imagination.

Neptune

Neptune Facts Sheet:

Type: Jovian


Interior: Neptune's interior composition is primarily that of methane ice, just as Uranus' is.

Surface:

Water:

Atmosphere: The composition of Neptune clouds is thought to be methane crystals.

Moons: 8

This is a closer view of the Great Dark Spot and the Scooter. The Scooter is small and bright and to the left of the dark spot. This image was taken on the Voyager Mission in August 1989.

the solar system missions. the missions

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