inner planets

"Stargazers have observed Mercury, Venus, and Mars--the other small, rocky planets in our solar system besides Earth--for thousands of years. More recently, we have begun to explore our neighbors in outer space via flyby spacecraft, probes, and rovers. Readers will learn how these expeditions have expanded our knowledge of these planets' atmosphere, surface, features, and even potential for life. A must read for anyone interested in discovering more about space exploration's past, present, and future"--.

Explains what the inner planets are made of, discusses how they formed, and describes the orbit, rotation, environment, makeup, and moons of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Explains what scientists believe about the origins of the solar system and the inner planets, presents descriptions of Mercury, Venus, the Earth-moon system, and Mars, and discusses the pleasures of planet watching.

A comprehensive guide to the universe that focuses on the inner planets, which includes Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth, and discusses the major processes of planetary formation and evolution, such as cratering, volcanism, tectonics, and more.

Presents facts on Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, describes the surface of each, and discusses missions to explore them.

Travels to each of the inner planets in turn and details the physical characteristics as well as the exploration efforts made in order to learn more about our closest planetary neighbors.

Text and illustrations present what astronomers now know about the "nuclear powerhouse" that dominates our solar system.

Text and pictures describe the four inner planets of the Solar System.

Looks at some of the natural wonders that exist on the solar system's rocky planets and their moons, and explains how they were discovered.