the decay of which is all-important in providing planets
with a continued source of internal heat. The Moon and Mercury have
cooled to form thick solid crusts. While their interiors may be
molten, the magma is trapped beneath a deep rigid crust and is sealed
in forever.

NASA

Io
- the most volcanically active place in the solar system.

Erupting moons

To the surprise of many scientists,
the spacecraft armada has revealed that volcanism is not confined
to the rocky planets of the inner Solar System. One of the highlights
of the Voyager missions to Jupiter in 1979 and 1980 was the discovery
of active volcanism on its moon Io. Navigation engineer Linda Morabito
was running a image processing technique to brighten an image returned
from the Voyager 1 spacecraft, when she was greeted by a huge semicircular
plume extending outward some 280 kmstrength necessary to drag the helicopter over 10 metres (32 feet 9 inches) - beating his intended target of 8 metres (26 feet 3 inches).

(Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire)

He was then given his world record certificate by officials representing the World Record Academy.

Ye is from the city of Zibo in East China's Shandong Province, where he has been practicing "zen tai chi" for over 30 years, but the feat was conducted in Fangshan District in Chinese capital Beijing.

Speaking after his successful attempt, Ye Wei said: "I don't know why I struggled in the beginning. I felt a bit nervous and unsure.

"But I mustered up the energy needed and started the helicopter moving."

(Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire)

He added proudly: "I will continue practicing so I can break new records