Space is an incredibly vast and mysterious place, full of fascinating facts and stories. We’ll be exploring the top 10 facts about space. From planets, the Moon, Sun and stars, these facts will give you a better understanding of our place in the universe. So, if you’re ready to take a journey through the stars, let’s get started!
1. The first person on the moon was Neil Armstrong.
The first ever man to step foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong.
It was during the Apollo 11 mission where they were going to attempt to land two men on the moon.
Alongside Neil Armstrong was Buzz Aldrin. They first stepped on the moon on 20th July, 1969.
Neil Armstrong said the famous words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” as he step foot on the moon.
2. The first person in space was Yuri Gagarin.
It must have been very scary to be the first person in space, ever!
The first person to go to space was a man called Yuri Gagarin. He was from Russia.
He went up into space on 12th April, 1961.
Yuri circled the Earth for 108 minutes!
3. For a rocket to get into orbit around Earth, it needs to travel 17,600 miles per hour!
Have you ever seen a rocket take off to go into space?
It has to go REALLY fast!
The rocket will travel 17,600 miles per hour to enable it to orbit around the Earth.
However if you wanted to go even further into space, out of Earth’s gravity, then you would need to travel even faster.
Sometimes up to 25,000 miles per hour!
4. You could fit 1.3 million Earths into the Sun!
The Sun is huge!
In fact, it’s so big you could fit 1.3 million planet Earths inside it!
Watch this video from Deep Space High to find out what space is made of…
5. Space is a very cold place at –270.45 Celsius!
Space is very cold and is around -270.45 Celsius.
Luckily space suits are very well insulated to keep the astronauts warm in the cold conditions.
They absorb body heat and then when the body needs warmth, it will release heat. Clever!
6. The Moon reflects light from the Sun.
During the night, the Moon looks really bright!
The light isn’t actually coming from the moon.
The moon reflects the light from the Sun which is why we can see it so clearly.
7. In our solar system there are 8 planets.
In total there are 8 planets. Find out about The Solar System here.
They are Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.
Pluto used to be a planet but it got demoted in 2006 and is now known as a dwarf planet.
8. The longest time an astronaut has spent in space is 437 days!
The longest time spent in space is a whole 437 days.
That’s more than a year!
Valery Polyakov holds the record and was up in space from January 1994 until March 1995.
He orbited the Earth 7,000 times and spent his days doing experiments and scientific research.
9. It is completely silent in space.
Did you know that it is completely silent in space?
There is no way for sound to travel.
Luckily, astronauts can speak using their radios as the radio waves are still able to travel. Phew!
That would be a long few months if they couldn’t speak!
10. A star is a ball of very hot gases.
A star is made up of very hot gases. They are mainly made of hydrogen.
The middle of a star is very, very hot and it gets squeezed by the pressure.
This pressure then makes the hydrogen turn into helium. It makes the star shine really bright.
Did you know the Sun is a star?
It’s just the closest one to Earth which is why it is so big and hot!
On the 21st February 2022 we sent YOUR voices to space as part of Mission Transmission.
You can listen to Mission Transmission – our radio broadcast to deep space featuring YOUR voices here.
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