Mercury (planet) diagram on the right illustrates the effects of the eccentricity, showing Mercury's orbit overlaid with a circular orbit having the same semi-major axis. Mercury's higher velocity when it is near perihelion is clear from the greater distance it covers in each 5-day interval. In the diagram the varying distance of Mercury to the Sun is represented by the size of the planet, which is inversely proportional to Mercury's distance from the Sun. This varying distance to the Sun leads to Mercury's surface being flexed by tidal bulges raised by the Sun that are about 17 times stronger than the Moon's
Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet is a children's literature book by science writer June A. English and astronaut Thomas David Jones that was published in 1996 by Scholastic. Jones was among the crew members of the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" during an eleven-day mission in space, which was launched in April 1994 to study the ecological well-being of Earth using specialized radar technology. The book, which is illustrated with radar images and picturesque photographs, chronicles the mission and Jones' experiences of it. "Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet" received a generally