Gravity is weak. A human weighing 100 pound on Earth will weigh only 38 pounds on Mercury. The distance from Mercury to the sun is 36,000,000 miles. The planet rotates slowly. A mercury day is long, about 59 Earth days.
Mercury moves swiftly around the sun.
One revolution, a mercury year is only 88 Earth days. Due to the amount of heat and radiation from the sun, the landscape may be glazed with cinders. Landforms help scientists to tell some of the history of Mercury. The planet is covered with deep craters created when large meteorites crashed into it billions of years ago. The largest crater is the Caloris Basin, a low-lying area about 800 miles across and ringed with mountains.