Page 56 - The Glory in the Heavens

a concentrated layer of carbon dioxide. Besides that,

the atmosphere of Venus contains layers of acid sever-

al kilometres deep. No organism could survive in such

a place for a second.
Speeding away from Venus, we reach Mercury,

the planet closest to the sun. Its rotation has been so

slowed down by its proximity to the Sun that the plan-

et makes only three full turns in the time it takes to

revolve twice around the sun. That is why one side of

Mercury is extremely hot while the other is extremely

cold. The difference between the day and night sides

of Mercury is as much as 1,000°C (1,800°F). Of course
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such an environment cannot support life.
Our search so far reveals that except for Earth,

none of the planets in the Solar System offers anything

that might serve as a haven for life. Each of them is a

lifeless and silent body. Our world, however, is a plan-

et that provides everything necessary for life. With its

green forests and blue oceans, it looks beautiful from

space. The first astronauts on the Moon were aston-

ished by the colourful and bright view they had of

Earth.