Apollo

Dar'n hot Planet! 

In Roman mythology Mercury is the god of commerce, travel and thievery, the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the Gods. The planet probably received this name because it moves so quickly across the sky. 
Mercury has been known since at least the time of the Sumerians (3rd millennium BC). It was given two names by the Greeks: Apollo for its apparition as a morning star and Hermes as an evening star. Greek astronomers knew, however, that the two names referred to the same body. Heraclitus even believed that Mercury and Venus orbit the Sun, not the Earth. 

Mercury has been visited by only one spacecraft, Mariner 10. It flew by three times in 1974 and 1975

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2-Venus  is the second planet from the Sun and the sixth largest. Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of that of any planet, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. 

May be a suitable planet for Terra when we have the technology, it will be a terrible hot place to occupy!

orbit: 108,200,000 km (0.72 AU) from Sun
diameter: 12,103.6 km
mass: 4.869e24 kg
moon/satellites: Non! 

Venus (Greek: Aphrodite; Babylonian: Ishtar) is the goddess of love and beauty. The planet is so named probably because it is the brightest of the planets known to the ancients. (With a few exceptions, the surface features on Venus are named for female figures.) 
Venus has been known since prehistoric times. It is the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and the Moon. Like Mercury, it was popularly thought to be two separate bodies: Eosphorus as the morning star and Hesperus as the evening star, but the Greek astronomers knew better. 

Since Venus is an inferior planet, it shows phases when viewed with a telescope from the perspective of Earth. Galileo's observation of this phenomenon was important evidence in favor of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the solar system. 

The first spacecraft to visit Venus was Mariner 2 in 1962. It was subsequently visited by many others (more than 20 in all so far), including Pioneer Venus and the Soviet Venera 7 the first spacecraft to land on another planet, and Venera 9 which returned the first photographs of the surface (left). Most recently, the orbiting US spacecraft Magellan produced detailed maps of Venus' surface using radar (above). 

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3-Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest:

This planet is inhabited by a race who call them self "Human" i am not sure what the difference is between the "Animals" and the "Humans" but one thing is for sure, some of them kill to survive, other just do it for fun or greed!
Just bypass this planet it's not ready for contact  or interference at this time, perhaps in the future or for about one hundred year from no. Survival chance for the next millenium: 30%

orbit: 149,600,000 km (1.00 AU) from Sun
diameter: 12,756.3 km
mass: 5.9736e24 kg
moon/satellites: Moon

Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic. There are, of course, hundreds of other names for the planet in other languages. In Roman Mythology, the goddess of the Earth was Tellus - the fertile soil (Greek: Gaia, terra mater - Mother Earth). 
It was not until the time of Copernicus (the sixteenth century) that it was understood that the Earth is just another planet. 

Earth, of course, can be studied without the aid of spacecraft. Nevertheless it was not until the twentieth century that we had maps of the entire planet. Pictures of the planet taken from space are of considerable importance; for example, they are an enormous help in weather prediction and especially in tracking and predicting hurricanes. And they are extraordinarily beautiful.

 
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4-Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the seventh largest: 

A once so beautifully green and inhabitated Mars before the
human race ever existed was hit by a meteor, and all the surviving inhabitants
escape to another place in the galaxy, our mother was left behind. Just to tell us
when the time is right whom our ancestors were!

orbit: 227,940,000 km (1.52 AU) from Sun
diameter: 6,794 km
mass: 6.4219e23 kg
Moon/satellites: Phobos and Deimos

Mars (Greek: Ares) is the god of War. The planet probably got this name due to its red color; Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. (An interesting side note: the Roman god Mars was a god of agriculture before becoming associated with the Greek Ares; those in favor of colonizing and terraforming Mars may prefer this symbolism.) The name of the month March derives from Mars. 
Mars has been known since prehistoric times. It is still a favorite of science fiction writers as the most favorable place in the Solar System (other than Earth!) for human habitation. But the famous "canals" "seen" by Lowell and others were, unfortunately, just as imaginary as Barsoomian princesses. 

The first spacecraft to visit Mars was Mariner 4 in 1965. Several others followed including Mars 2, the first spacecraft to land on Mars and the two Viking landers in 1976 (left). Ending a long 20 year hiatus, Mars Pathfinder landed successfully on Mars on 1997 July 4 (right). 

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5-Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined (318 times Earth).

The Huge Giant!
 
orbit: 778,330,000 km (5.20 AU) from Sun
diameter: 142,984 km (equatorial)
mass: 1.900e27 kg
moon/satellites: Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, 
(known in many Science Fiction books-Ganymede, Callisto), Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae and Sinope 

Jupiter (a.k.a. Jove; Greek Zeus) was the King of the Gods, the ruler of Olympus and the patron of the Roman state. Zeus was the son of Cronus (Saturn). 
Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus; at some times Mars is also brighter). It has been known since prehistoric times. Galileo's discovery, in 1610, of Jupiter's four large moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (now known as the Galilean moons) was the first discovery of a center of motion not apparently centered on the Earth. It was a major point in favor of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the motions of the planets; Galileo's outspoken support of the Copernican theory got him arrested by the Inquisition. He was forced to recant his beliefs and was imprisoned for the rest of his life. 

Jupiter was first visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973 and later by Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Ulysses. The spacecraft Galileo is currently in orbit around Jupiter and will be sending back data for at least the next two years. 

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6-Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest: 

orbit: 1,429,400,000 km (9.54 AU) from Sun
diameter: 120,536 km (equatorial)
mass: 5.68e26 kg
moon/satellites:Pan, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Enceladus 
Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion,
Iapetus and Phoebe 

In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of agriculture. The associated Greek god, Cronus, was the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English word "Saturday" (see Appendix 4). 
Saturn has been known since prehistoric times. Galileo was the first to observe it with a telescope in 1610; he noted its odd appearance but was confused by it. Early observations of Saturn were complicated by the fact that the Earth passes through the plane of Saturn's rings every few years as Saturn moves in its orbit. A low resolution image of Saturn therefore changes drastically. It was not until 1659 that Christiaan Huygens correctly inferred the geometry of the rings. Saturn's rings remained unique in the known solar system until 1977 when very faint rings were discovered around Uranus (and shortly thereafter around Jupiter and Neptune). 

Saturn was first visited by Pioneer 11 in 1979 and later by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Cassini, now on its way, will arrive in 2004. 

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7-Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest (by diameter). 

orbit: 2,870,990,000 km (19.218 AU) from Sun
diameter: 51,118 km (equatorial)
mass: 8.683e25 kg
moon/satellites: Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia,
Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon 
Caliban, Sycorax.


Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. Uranus was the son and mate of Gaia the father of Cronus (Saturn) and of the Cyclopes and Titans (predecessors of the Olympian gods). 

Uranus, the first planet discovered in modern times, was discovered by William Herschel while systematicly searching the sky with his telescope on March 13, 1781. It had actually been seen many times before but ignored as simply another star (the earliest recorded sighting was in 1690 when John Flamsteed cataloged it as 34 Tauri). Herschel named it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of his patron, the infamous (to Americans) King George III of England; others called it "Herschel". The name "Uranus" was first proposed by Bode in conformity with the other planetary names from classical mythology but didn't come into common use until 1850. 

Uranus has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2 on Jan 24 1986. 

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8-Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth largest (by diameter). Neptune is smaller in diameter but larger in mass than Uranus.
 
orbit: 4,504,000,000 km (30.06 AU) from Sun
diameter: 49,532 km (equatorial)
mass: 1.0247e26 kg
moon/satellites: Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton and Nereid 


In Roman mythology Neptune (Greek: Poseidon) was the god of the Sea. 
After the discovery of Uranus, it was noticed that its orbit was not as it should be in accordance with Newton's laws. It was therefore predicted that another more distant planet must be perturbing Uranus' orbit. Neptune was first observed by Galle and d'Arrest on 1846 Sept 23 near to the locations independently predicted by Adams and Le Verrier from calculations based on the observed positions of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. An international dispute arose between the English and French over priority and the right to name the new planet; they are now jointly credited with Neptune's discovery. Subsequent observations have shown that the orbits calculated by Adams and Le Verrier diverge from Neptune's actual orbit fairly quickly. Had the search for the planet taken place a few years earlier or later it would not have been found anywhere near the predicted location. 

Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2 on Aug 25 1989. Almost everything we know about Neptune comes from this encounter

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9-Pluto   Degradation as a planet,  the new name -134340 is the farthest "planet-object"  from the Sun but not the smallest. Pluto is smaller than seven of the solar system's moons (the Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton). 

orbit: 5,913,520,000 km (39.5 AU) from the Sun (average)
diameter: 2274 km
mass: 1.27e22 kg
moon/satellites: ?

In Roman mythology, Pluto (Greek: Hades) is the god of the underworld. The planet received this name (after many other suggestions) perhaps because it's so far from the Sun that it is in perpetual darkness and perhaps because "PL" are the initials of Percival Lowell. 
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by a fortunate accident. Calculations which later turned out to be in error had predicted a planet beyond Neptune, based on the motions of Uranus and Neptune. 

After the discovery of Pluto, it was quickly determined that Pluto was too small to account for the discrepancies in the orbits of the other planets. The search for Planet X continued but nothing was found. Nor is it likely that it ever will be: the discrepancies vanish if the mass of Neptune determined from the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune is used. There is no tenth planet.

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10-Unknown, There is no 10't planet! Or is it? I think there is!?