The Solar System Missions

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The Solar System Missions
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The Missions
http//www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/index.cfm
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planets not shown to scale gtgt                                                                                                                                           
planets not shown to scale gtgt 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 (Earth1) 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 gt28 30 24 8
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Mercury
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.
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Mercury
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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.
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Mercury
Mercury Facts Sheet Type Terrestrial Mass of
planet (Earth1) 0.06 Mean density
(grams/centimeter³ ) 5.43 Interior Metallic
core about ¾ of the planets 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
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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.  
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Venus
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Venus
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Venus Goddess of Love and Beauty
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.
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Venus
Venus Facts Sheet Type Terrestrial Mass of
planet (Earth1) 0.82 Mean 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
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Venera Lander (USSR)
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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.
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Earth Goddess of Death
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.
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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)
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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
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This is a picture of the Colorado River. Aris
Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. 1994
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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.
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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.  
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Mars
Mars Facts Sheet Type Terrestrial Mass of
planet (Earth1) 0.11 Mean density
(grams/centimeter³ ) 3.95 Interior
rocky Surface volcanic, cratered, evidence of
river systems Water ???? Atmosphere Primarily
Carbon Dioxide, clouds consist of water ice
condensed on dust Moons 2
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HST
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Olympus Mons
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Viking Landing Site
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South Candor Chasm
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South Polar Ice Cap
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Spirit and Opportunity
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.
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The Question of Water
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Mars Hot off the Presses 2005
'Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars 1148 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.
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Mars Hot off the Presses 2009 Recent Running
Water
This Chasm is about 1.25 M years old, and is
believed to have contained running water
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Mars Hot off the Presses March 2009 Water
Several photographs taken by NASAs Phoenix Mars
spacecraft show what look like water droplets
clinging to one of its landing struts.
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Mars Hot off the Presses 2009 Recent Running
Water
1.25 M years ago, who on Earth cares????
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And, of course, the Faces on Mars
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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.  
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Jupiter Lord of the Sky
Jupiter 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.
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Jupiter
Jupiter Facts Sheet Type Jovian Mass of
planet (Earth1) 317.89 Mean density
(grams/centimeter³ ) 1.33 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 gt 28
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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.
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Whats New???
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
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Saturn
Saturn is very similar to Jupiter. It is composed
of 97 hydrogen, 3 helium and 0.5 methane.
There is no solid. Saturns 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.
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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.
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Saturn
Saturn Facts Sheet Type Jovian Mass of planet
(Earth1) 95.18 Mean density
(grams/centimeter³ ) 0.69 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
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This is an image of a storm on Saturn taken by
the Hubble Space Telescope. (Courtesy of Reta
Beebe (New Mexico State
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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.
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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
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Whats New???
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 .
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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.
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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.
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Uranus
Uranus Facts Sheet Type Jovian Mass of planet
(Earth1) 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
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Miranda
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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.
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Neptune God of the Sea
Neptune 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.
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Neptune
Neptune Facts Sheet Type Jovian Mass of
planet (Earth1) 17.14 Mean density
(grams/centimeter³ ) 1.64 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
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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.