Editing Solar wind (section)

===Moons and planetary surfaces===
[[File:Aldrin Next to Solar Wind Experiment - GPN-2000-001211.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Apollo's [[Solar Wind Composition Experiment|SWC]] experiment]]
[[File:AS11-40-5916.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Apollo's [[Solar Wind Composition Experiment]] on the Lunar surface]]
[[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], the nearest planet to the Sun, bears the full brunt of the solar wind, and since its atmosphere is vestigial and transient, its surface is bathed in radiation.

Mercury has an intrinsic magnetic field, so under normal solar wind conditions, the solar wind cannot penetrate its magnetosphere and particles only reach the surface in the cusp regions. During coronal mass ejections, however, the magnetopause may get pressed into the surface of the planet, and under these conditions, the solar wind may interact freely with the planetary surface.

The Earth's [[Moon]] has no atmosphere or intrinsic [[Magnetosphere|magnetic field]], and consequently its surface is bombarded with the full solar wind. The [[Apollo program|Project Apollo missions]] deployed passive aluminum collectors in an attempt to sample the solar wind, and lunar soil returned for study confirmed that the lunar [[regolith]] is enriched in atomic nuclei deposited from the solar wind. These elements may prove [[Lunar resources|useful resources]] for future lunar expeditions.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Starukhina | first1 = L. V. | doi = 10.1016/j.asr.2005.04.033 | title = Polar regions of the moon as a potential repository of solar-wind-implanted gases | journal = Advances in Space Research | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | pages = 50–58 | year = 2006 |bibcode = 2006AdSpR..37...50S }}</ref>