Mercury

Mercury is a small, dense, airless world in the deep inner Sol system, the closest planet to its sun and consequently a world of thermal extremes. Because of its 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, Mercury's day is over 4200 metric hours long, meaning that any point of the surface is exposed to sunlight for 2100 hours or more. The only long-term habitable areas of Mercury are near the poles or deep underground; these factors all equate to the planet being a sparsely-populated mining hub. Most of its 19.4 million inhabitants are concentrated in Mercury's capital city of Lóng Cháo, embedded into and under the surface of Rachmaninoff Crater. Its orbital space, however, is busier, serving as a hub for non-torch vessels making the arduous journey from one side of the solar system to the other.

Geography

Mercury is the first planet in the Sol system, closest to the sun at a mere 0.4 AU. It is also among the smallest; much larger than Ceres and the outer dwarfs but smaller than Mars. Its geology suggests that it was once much larger, during the formation of the system, but a giant impact event stripped Mercury of most of its outer material, leaving the dense inner layers intact. Thus, despite its small size, its surface gravity is actually almost identical to that of Mars. The surface of Mercury is littered with craters and fault lines, with equatorial highlands and deep polar basins. Most of the settlements on Mercury lie within the latter, though some are built into deep craters closer to the equator.

Natural Resources

Although the core of Mercury is mostly iron, its surface is actually rather iron-poor, instead composed of silicates, carbonates, and light metals like magnesium and calcium. Mercury's crust also has an unusually high abundance of sulfur and phosphorous- two elements essential to most forms of life. Because of this, the planet's primary industry is mining, though solar power is also a key export.

Mercury from orbit, with city lights visible.

Archive Data

HAZARDS

ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS

System

Sol

Parent body

Sol

Perihelion

0.31 AU

Aphelion

0.47 AU

Semi-major axis

0.39 AU

Eccentricity

0.2

Inclination

3.38°

Orbital period

87.97 days

Rotation period

1407.5 hours

Solar day

4224 hours

Obliquity

0.03°

Notable satellites

• Stilbon Station (low orbit)
• Icarus Solar Array (L4 + L5)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Class

hot subselena (S)

Radius

2440 km

Surface area

7.5e+7 km²

Volume

6.08e+10 km³

Mass

3.3e+23 kg

Gravity

3.7 m/s²

Average temperature

67°C

Max temperature

427 °C

Min temperature

-173 °C

HABITATION INFORMATION

Tech level

15

Population

19.4 million

Demonym

Mercurian

Administrated by

Territory of Mercury

Member of

Inner System Territories

Jurisdiction of

United Sol System