Have you ever looked up in the sky and thought about how amazing it is
that we live on this beautiful planet that's unlike any other in our
solar system? The sheer vastness of space can be intimidating and at
times very hard for us to comprehend.
On this page, you will find some aweinspiering facts about Space.
Whether it's for kids looking to learn something new, or curious adults
seeking more information, this page is for you!
Space facts:
SPACE IS COMPLETELY SILENT 🤫
There is no atmosphere in space, which means that sound has no medium
or way to travel to be heard. Astronauts use radios to stay in
communication while in space, since radio waves can still be sent and
received.
ONE DAY ON VENUS IS LONGER THAN ONE YEAR ⏳
Venus has a slow axis rotation which takes 243 Earth days to complete
its day. The orbit of Venus around the Sun is 225 Earth days, making a
year on Venus 18 days less than a day on Venus.
THERE WAS LIFE ON MARS 🌱
(billions of years ago).
Of all the planets in our solar system (apart from Earth), Mars is the
one most likely to be hospitable to life. In 1986, NASA found what
they thought may be fossils of microscopic living things in a rock
recovered from Mars.
IF TWO PIECES OF THE SAME TYPE OF METAL TOUCH IN SPACE THEY WILL
PERMANENTLY BOND 😱
This incredible fact is also known as cold welding and it happens
because the atoms of two pieces of metal have no way of knowing they
are separate. This doesn’t happen on Earth because of the air and
water found between the pieces.
THE FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON WILL BE THERE FOR 100 MILLION YEARS 🦶🏼
The Moon has no atmosphere, which means there is no wind to erode the
surface and no water to wash the footprints away. This means the
footprints of the Apollo astronauts, along with spacecraft prints,
rover-prints and discarded material, will be there for millions of
years.
THE SUN’S MASS TAKES UP 99.86% OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM 🌞
Made of three quarters hydrogen and helium for most of its remaining
mass, the Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our solar system with
a mass of around 330,000 times that of Earth.
THERE IS A VOLCANO ON MARS THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF EVEREST 🌋
At 600 km wide and 21 km high, Olympus Mons is a volcano on Mars that
may still be active, according to scientists. It is the tallest peak
of any planet. However, the Rheasilvia central peak on the asteroid
Vesta is taller at 22 km.
THERE IS FLOATING WATER IN SPACE 💦
Astronomers have found a massive water vapor cloud which holds 140
trillion times the mass of water in the Earth’s oceans somewhere
around 10 billion light years away – making it the largest discovery
of water ever found.
THE MOON WAS ONCE A PIECE OF THE EARTH 🌓
The theory is that when Earth was a relatively young planet, it was
struck by a giant object and this collision broke a piece of the Earth
away to create the moon. This piece then began to orbit the Earth as a
result of its gravitational pull.
IN 3.75 BILLION YEARS THE MILKY WAY AND ANDROMEDA GALAXIES WILL
COLLIDE 🌌
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way – where our solar
system is – at rate of around 110 kilometres per second (68 mi/s) and
eventually the two will collide to form a giant elliptical galaxy.
