Your mission: Explore the Solar System

Mercury A year in Mercury is equal to Earth Days Mercury’s maximum distance from the Sun = 70 million km The only visit to Mercury was a flyby made by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974.

Mercury is named after the Roman messenger god. You can find out more about him herehere

Missions to Mercury No mission has ever landed on mercury, however in 1974 the Mariner 10 did three fly bys of Mercury, during which it mapped half the planets surface and discovered a thin atmosphere and magnetic field.

Venus The interior of Venus is composed of a central iron core and a molten rocky mantle, similar to the composition of Earth. Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, next to the Sun and Moon.

If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Venus would be 88 lbs. Find out what you would weigh on other planets herehere

Missions to Venus There have been many missions to Venus, you can find out more about them herehere

Earth Earth is the only habitable planet in the solar system. For a planet to be habitable it needs to have water, an atmosphere and moderate temperatures. You can have a go at making a habitable planet herehere

Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek or Roman mythology. The name comes from Old English and Germanic language. There are, of course, hundreds of other names for the planet in other languages. Temperatures at the Earth's core may be as high as C - That's hotter than the surface of the Sun!

Mars One of Mars' moons, Phobos, is moving closer and closer to Mars. Scientists think that one day it will crash into Mars. Mars has the tallest Volcano in the Solar System named Olympus Mons and it is 15 miles high – 3 times the height of Mount Everest.

Mars is named after the roman god of war because of its red colour. Mars appears red because of the high levels of iron oxide (the stuff that makes rust red) in the soil.

In 1996 NASA, while studying the ALH meteorite of Martian origin found in Antarctica in 1984, announced that fossilized micro- organisms from Mars might be present in it. You can find out more about this herehere What do you think? Is the bacteria from mars?

Missions to mars Many missions have been made to reach mars but not all have succeeded. You can read about both the successes and the failures herehere

Jupiter Jupiter has 63 know satellites including the four large moons. Jupiter was the king of the gods in Roman mythology

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system- it is larger even than Mercury and Pluto. Jupiter also has 3 rings.

Saturn Saturn is the lightest planet in our solar system if you could find a bath tub big enough it would float in water. You can compare the weight of the planets herehere Saturn's rings can be seen with even a small telescope. A larger telescope show that there are multiple rings

Saturn is named after the father of the roman gods The colourful rings are made up of ice and dust. You can find out more herehere

Uranus Even though Neptune is further from the sun, Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system. A year on Uranus is 30,685 Earth days long

Uranus was visited by the voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 you can find out more about it herehere

Neptune Scientists predicted the existence of Neptune due to irregularities in the orbit of Uranus. Neptune gets its name from the roman god of the sea due to its colour.

Neptune can be seen with binoculars (if you know exactly where to look) but a large telescope is needed to see anything other than a tiny disk.

Neptune has only been visited by the voyager 2 in 1989.

What to do… 1. look through powerpoint and answer questions (some of the answers are in the links) 2. research extension questions and/or start researching your planet. 3. share any interesting information on wallwisher (