Mercury

Closest planet to Sol, surface temperature ranges from 427 °C in the day, to −173 °C at night. Long thought to be tidally locked, the small planet actually has a very strange day owing to its eccentric and fast orbit, and its long day. The planet's core has cooled and subsequently collapsed, producing slopes and uneven terrain. Apart from a handful of research outposts there is no significant human presence on this barren planet. There have been serious consideration given to the feasibility of terraforming Mercury, but so far none of these plans has panned out.

Geography

One unusual feature of Mercury's surface is the numerous folds and slopes that crisscross the flat plains that otherwise cover much of the planet. As Mercury's core has cooled overtime, it collapsed and the surface began to deform, creating wrinkles and collapsed faults lined with cliffs. The cliffs can reach lengths of 1000 km and heights of 3 km. Mapping of the features indicates that Mercury's radius has reduced by about 4 km. Smaller cliffs have been found that are tens of metres in height with lengths in the range of a few kilometres, these cliffs appear to be less than 50 million years old, indicating that collapse of the interior and consequent slumping and collapsing of the surface continues to the present.

Natural Resources

The mineral resources of Mercury are largely the same as with any other airless rocky planet. As the planet's core is so large relative to its size, there are significant surface deposits of iron and various alloys, however, it is far easier and less resource-intensive to mine asteroids, so there is little interest in mining here.

Type

Planet

Location under

The Sol System