BepiColombo, artist's view

Mercury: the nearest planet to the Sun

Because of its proximity to the Sun and its extreme temperatures, Mercury remains the most mysterious and unexplored of the Earth-like planets. Its surface looks similar to our moon: rocky and cratered.

The absence of any significant atmosphere and liquid water together with extremely strong solar radiation make it unlikely for us to find life on Mercury.

In 2013 ESA’s BepiColombo will take off on a journey to explore Mercury’s surface and interior to find out how planets close to stars form, in such harsh environments where the surface heats up to several hundred degrees and cools down to temperatures normally only found in deep space.

For more information on this image, please click on the following link: BepiColombo.