Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, has a 10-mile-thick mantle of pure diamond, according to NASA. The report, derived from data taken from the NASA MESSENGER probe that orbited the red-hot planet ...

(Left) A colorful view of Mercury produced using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER's primary mission (Right) what Mercury may look like were its outer layers stripped to ...

NASA is asking for the public's help, but there's a catch. Mercury's surface is seen in exaggerated color in this image provided by NASA. NASA/JHU APL/CIW — -- NASA is asking for the public's ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A layer of diamonds ...

Mercury is a mysterious world. As the closest planet to the sun, it’s a hard-to-reach destination for space missions. So far, only two have made it to Mercury—NASA’s Mariner 10 and MESSENGER ...

Though Mercury is the closest planet to Earth, it’s one of the hardest to reach. Any spacecraft heading inward must fight the ...

View of planet Mercury from space. Space, nebula and planet Mercury. This image elements furnished by NASA. A few evenings ago I found myself in a remote layby in Utah close to Canyonlands National ...

NASA has selected two science investigations that will aid in the interior examination of Mars and probe the tenuous atmosphere of Mercury. The projects, valued at approximately $38 million, also ...

The countdown to the first flyby of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft has begun. Sunday morning, MESSENGER will start recording the evidence of this historic event. At 8 a.m. EST on January 13 30 ...

Alan Shepard and John Glenn in the Mercury suit room. On the cusp of human space flight truly becoming commonplace in which hundreds even thousands of ordinary citizens will get to view our planet ...

The meteorites could open up a new avenue to understand Mercury, pictured, which is notoriously hard to study due to its proximity to the sun. NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics ...