Dick Mooradian, age 10, of Nassau, N.Y., for his question:
What is the weather like on other planets?
When spaceships are ready to take us on planetary vacations we shall have more details about what to take. So far, we have only telescope studies and these suggest that weather conditions are vastly different on each of the planets. Also, naturally, those nearer the sun get lots more heat and light than those out in the faraway frigid cold. Weather, of course, is caused by atmosphere. Not all the planets have an atmosphere and some of their atmospheres are composed of gases we cannot breathe,
Mercury, nearest the sun, has no atmosphere and therefore no weather. However, one side is hot enough to melt lead and the other side is perhaps hundreds of degrees below freezing. A visit to Mercury calls for an oxygen supply, plus a heating or a cooling unit depending upon where you land.
Venus, our sister planet, is shrouded in a dense, deep atmosphere. Even our telescopes cannot pierce it to study the surface. The climate may be as warm and weathery as our own and with all that atmosphere the chances of rain are more than likely. G visit to Venus calls for rain clothes, hip boots and maybe a rowboat to be on the safe side.
The climate of Mars is much cooler than ours. Being further from the sun it gets less heat. The air is very thin and most likely short of oxygen. There may be desert winds and storms and the winters are certainly colder than the summers, each of which is equal to one earth year. A visit to Mars calls for warm clothing and almost certainly an oxygen supply.
The climate of Jupiter is impossible for human comfort. The cloudy atmosphere is mostly methane and ammonia, both gases poisonous to our lungs. The gravity of this, the biggest planet is also very uncomfortable. Your body would weigh more than two and a half times what it weighs on earth. The big planet has seasons but summer is little better than winter and each last six earth years. li vacation on Jupiter is not recommended.
Saturn, still further from the sun is even colder. We suspect that its surface is buried under thick icefields. Its atmosphere is unbreathable rind clouds suggest that it is subject to winds and storms. Thc:ugh Saturn itself is no place to visit, one of its moons may one day be a vacation spot. The satellite named Titan has an atmosphere, though we do not yet know whether it is breathable. It is less than half the size of earth and way out in the cold. But we may someday visit it for a close‑up view of the dazzling rings of Saturn. Such a visit calls for warm clothing, heating units and maybe oxygen.
Uranus, Neptune and little Pluto are so far from the sun that they get little warmth. They are buried deep under ice and their long, long summers are not better than their long, long winters. Storms may come and go; but there is no breathable air there for us. Even if we could visit the frigid remote planets, out first wish would. be to go home to our earth, even if it does blow up a few hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards.