COULD HUMANS LAND ON MERCURY?

Humans are looking to Mars, and it seems that a mission to the Red Planet is only a matter of time. But could we visit other hard planets in the solar system? Is it possible to land on Mercury?

To many, this question will seem to have an obvious answer – no.

After all, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. A year here lasts only 88 Earth days. The Sun in Mercury’s sky would appear 3 times larger than it does to us on Earth, but the radiation level would be 7 times higher. The temperature on the surface of Mercury reaches 400 degrees Celsius, but since this planet has practically no atmosphere, it falls below -180 degrees at night. In the craters, which are always covered by shadows, this temperature remains constant, so it would be difficult to hide here from the blazing Sun.

But is it possible? After all, humanity is developing technology and material science is running forward in leaps and bounds.

Technically, if our spacecraft could reach Mercury, man could land on the planet’s surface. Mercury rotates very slowly – one day here lasts 59 Earth days. So, people should disembark in the sunset zone where the temperature is bearable by wearing special suits. Since Mercury spins so slowly on its axis, it shouldn’t be too difficult for astronauts to stay in that sunset zone.

It’s true, no one says it’s easy. Mercury doesn’t have an atmosphere to slow down a squatting spacecraft capsule. In addition, the astronauts here would be exposed to enormous radiation from the Sun, so all the equipment would have to be extremely well protected.

But it would be technically possible if we could just get there precisely. Meanwhile, landing on Venus now seems like an impossible challenge due to the enormous pressure on that planet’s surface.