Terrestrial planet Terrestrial planet A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The terms "terrestrial planet" and "telluric planet" are derived from Latin words for Earth ("Terra" and "Tellus"), as these planets are, in terms of structure, "Earth-like". Terrestrial planets have a solid planetary surface, making them substantially different from the larger giant planets, which are composed mostly of some combination of hydrogen, helium, and water existing in various
The Sun Saboteurs The action is mostly in a minor key, and the entire feel is both sad and bitterly cynical." The Sun Saboteurs The Sun Saboteurs is a 1961 science fiction novel by American writer Damon Knight. Its topic is expatriate Earthmen living on an alien planet, and their daily hardships in dealing with their status as a minority group among aliens. The story first appeared in 1955 in the form of a novella, entitled "The Earth Quarter", in "If" magazine . An expanded version was published by Ace in 1961, bound dos-à-dos with G. McDonald Wallis's "The Light of Lilith" as