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The Solar System
Inner Planets: Exploring Our Own Back Yard
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Our planet Earth belongs to the inner realm of the solar system, which it shares with planets similar in size and density. Yet each of these sister worlds is unique, and not as hospitable to life as our home sweet home. More »


Mercury
Tiny, cratered Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Tiny, cratered Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. More»		 Venus
Cloud-covered Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and passes closer to Earth than any other planet.
Cloud-covered Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and passes closer to Earth than any other planet. More»
Great Dates

1610
Galileo discovers that Venus shows phases like the Moon

1655
Jean-Dominique Cassini measures rotational speed of Mars and Venus

1877
Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos

1969
Neil Armstrong takes the first step on the Moon

1975
USSR's Venera 9 transmits first images from Venus' surface

1976
Viking 1 is first spacecraft to land safely on Mars

2002
Mars Odyssey discovers large amounts of water ice beneath surface of Mars

See Also...

FAQs about the solar system.

Featured images about the solar system.

Keywords about stars and nebulae.
Earth and Moon
.
We know our world as an abode for life. More»		 Mars
Mars inspires speculation like no other world in the solar system.
Mars inspires speculation like no other world in the solar system. More»
Explorations
Explorations of the inner planets.
Explorations of the inner planets. More»		  

This document was last modified: September 13, 2008

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