NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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  1. Question

    how did scientist find the radius of the planets

    The traditional way to determine the size of a planet is to measure its distance and its apparent size as seen in a telescope. A bit of arithmetic then yields the true size of the planet. More recently, radar has also been used. The most accurate determinations of the size and topography of the Moon, Venus and Mars are all from radar carried aboard orbiting scientific satellites.
    December 2, 2002