Mercury Has Plenty In Common With Earth

NASA's MESSENGER probe is providing a closer-than-ever look at the planet Mercury. It turns out, Mercury has plenty in common with Earth, such as lava flows, hills and valleys. But Mercury is pretty weird, too. Even though there are lava flows, no volcanoes are visible. Scientists believe the source of the lava is buried under the flow. MESSENGER — which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft — looped around the inner solar system 15 times over six years before beginning its orbits around the planet on March 18.

Click here for pictures.