I just read an article about the NASA space probe, currently approaching Mercury.
Hey, I'm with you. Other than knowing it's a planet, I'm pretty stumped about Mercury.
As the official geofffox.com meteorologist, I should add, temperatures on Mercury range from -292° F to 806° F!¹
Mercury is not a hospitable place. And, it's so close to the Sun, temperature would be the least of your problems. There's enough solar radiation to turn you into a Hot Pocket.
Back to the probe.
It's quite an ambitious undertaking, sending this 2,400 pound, car sized lab out into space. MESSENGER (that's it's name) was launched in 2004. It will map and otherwise probe Mercury.
This would be really cool, if it was free. Unfortunately, Reuters says MESSENGER will cost around a half billion dollars!
Oh sure, you think that's a lot of money. You're not NASA.
I'm a science guy. I love discovery. This is ridiculous. The $446,000,000 could be better spent where the outcome might conceivably lead to a practical application.
NASA seems to do this all the time.
¹ - When temperatures are converted from one scale to another (Celsius to Fahrenheit), round numbers often become exact numbers. I believe the stated upper and lower limits of Mercurian temperature are estimates. Your mileage may vary.
I think you're a little off in attacking NASA for spending 0.5 billion to get to Mercury -- I mean, as a weatherman your number one job is to tell people the temperature, and how could you tell the temperature without the mercury that they need for thermometers?
Just kidding!