article_snippet.sent: True or False, Mercury is: .
article_snippet.sent: The planet closest to the sun in our solar system .
article_snippet.sent: A planet you don't think about very often .
article_snippet.sent: If you flunked the test, the test might be because Mercury (the planet) suffers from bad (or very little) press.
article_snippet.sent: Mercury orbits about 35,983,125 miles from the sun in our solar system.
article_snippet.sent: Compare that to Earth -- our're about 93 million miles from the sun in our solar system.
article_snippet.sent: Mercury's closeness to the sun in our solar system makes it hard to see except at dawn and twilight.
article_snippet.sent: Venus, on the other hand, the planet between Earth and Mercury, appears to be the brightest planet in the sky.
article_snippet.sent: For the first time in history we now have real knowledge about the planet Mercury that shows it to be a fascinating world as part of we diverse solar system," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
article_snippet.sent: One of MESSENGER's big findings: It sent back data indicating that ice in the planet Mercury's shadowed polar regions, if spread over an area the size of Washington, would be more than two miles thick, the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said.
article_snippet.sent: And if you want to see the planet Mercury with your own eyes, you may be in luck if you can find an area with dark skies.