NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft aims to unravel the history and evolution of the planet nearest the Sun, Mercury. It is the first to orbit Mercury, and its instruments are returning images that are being used to map the planet's surface. You and your audiences may enjoy perusing the gallery of MESSENGER images at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/ or watching a documentary about the MESSENGER mission at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLstq-vuppQ.
Explore Mercury in your programs with the following activities:
What’s a Planet?, Mercury on a String, Impact Craters!, and Living on Mercury
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/space ... s/mercury/
Ages 5-8
Jump Start: Jupiter! (a scale model of the planets in our solar system, including tiny Mercury and mighty Jupiter) http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explo ... jumpStart/
Ages 8-13
Or, for younger children, Hopping Across the Solar System: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skyte ... ping.shtml
