In 2007 Japan plans to launch a space probe to Venus. This spacecraft will be the first of its kind. It will be unmanned, and is predicted to start orbiting Venus in 2009. Japan will be the third country to send a probe to Venus, following the United States and former Soviet Union. The Japanese [...]

This is a beautiful and interesting video on the history of science.

The planet Mercury is the first in the Solar System line-up, meaning it is closet to the Sun.  It moves very quickly across the sky and so was named Mercury, which in Roman mythology was the god of commerce, travel, and thievery. 
Mercury is small and rocky and makes its trip around the Sun once every [...]