Mercury

Closest planet to Sol

The sun was swollen behind the tinted dome, hanging motionless in the middle of the sky. Outside it was boiling hot, inside it was cool enough to survive.

Mercury is the innermost planet of The Sol System and has an elliptical orbit and a tilt of 1/30°. It has a global population of 1.2 million spread across ??? nations, with its cities built within pressurised domes due to the low atmospheric pressure. Outside the pressurised domed cities, temperatures range from -173° to 427°, making life outside impossible. 62% of Mercury's gravity is artificially generated. Mercury is a dense but small planet. It is slightly less dense than Terra , but the only other planets it is larger than are Ceres and Pluto. It has an atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, oxygen sodium, calcium and potassium. This is unbreathable, meaning that air has to be filtered. The planet also experiences a lot of extreme weather and winds Water needs importing, as there is none naturally. Commercial shuttle ports are located in each dome for this reason. 67% of Mercury's energy is solar based and 12% comes from kinetic sources, whilst 21% is imported from Mars . Its major industries are mineral extraction and metal mining. Most intradome transportation is achieved with hovervehicles, whilst interdome transport is achieved via shuttleports. It is a popular tourist destination due to its towering cliffs and mountains. People from Mercury are called Mercurians, whilst products from Mercury are described as Mercurial. Terraformers have experienced setbacks due to the proximity of the planet to Sol and Mercury's relatively massive magnetosphere tornadoes allowing a lot of solar radiation to enter. Solutions have been proposed, including a solar shield.

Geography

Mercury has a variety of craters and large cliffs, with a few mountains and valleys. Mercury also has some plains.

Fauna & Flora

Within the domes, alpine plants have been grown with some success. Some grasses have also been introduced.

Natural Resources

Metals and silicates. Solar energy can also be harvested quite easily.

History

Mercury was first colonised in 21??. The project of colonising Mercury was going to be suspended until it had been proven that Venus' colonisation and terraforming was viable, due to Mercuries proximity to the sun. The American company ???? pushed for the colonisation to go forward sooner than originally planned, and gave $3.8 billion to the cause. The project started with the formation of the first base on Mercury. ???? wanted to set up the base so as to start a mining industry. Most of the Mercurian 'nations' are American mining colonies. It's worth noting that America is one of the few nations that still uses a capitalist economic system, so this money that 'grows the American economy' really only grows the amount of money of some of the richest people in the solar system.

Alternative Name(s)

Sol I

Type

Planet

Location under

The Sol System

Included Organizations