You are here: Home / Archives for Space

Want to Be an Astronaut? Check Out These Five Facts!

August 12, 2016 by

Does the kid in you still dream about being an astronaut? If you're still dreaming of walking on the moon, check out these facts from NASA about space suits and walking in space!

1) The temperature in space varies drastically, so it's important that astronauts wear specially designed space suits. The temperature can get as hot as 250 degrees Fahrenheit and just as cold.

2) Without the astronauts in them, a space suit weights 280 pounds on earth, while in space, the suits are weightless. Space suits are custom-made for each astronaut, but there is no difference between male and female suits, except for size.

3) It takes 45 minutes to put on a space suit. Then, an astronaut must wait up to an hour, breathing in pure oxygen, to let the body adjust before going on a space walk.

4) To get used to the weightless feeling of outer space, astronauts practice in their suits in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a pool filled with 6.2 million gallons of water.

5) Space walks are called EVA, which stands for extravehicular activity. The first EVA by an American took place in June of 1965. The longest EVA to occur was almost nine hours long!

Visit NASA's website for more information.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Four Fascinating Facts About Humans in Space

November 19, 2015 by

Are you fascinated by space exploration? Do you dream of joining the 12 people in history who've walked on the moon? Before you don your space suit, check out these interesting facts about humans in space!

1) Before you can even think about becoming an astronaut, you must log at least 1,000 hours of flying in a jet aircraft. This will prepare you, at least somewhat, to go from zero to 17,000 miles per hour in less than nine minutes on the Space Shuttle.

2) Once you've been launched into space, astronauts receive 3.8 pounds of food a day. Most of the food is precooked and processed so that it doesn't require refrigeration. Some fresh fruits and vegetables are on board, but they must be consumed within the first couple days. Astronauts can season their meals with ketchup, mustard, and taco sauce, among other condiments provided on the Space Shuttle.

3) The food consumed during Apollo 11 included bacon squares, sugar cookie cubes, beef stew, and fruit cake. The astronauts quenched their thirst with coffee, fruit juice, and orange drink.

4) On Earth, space suits weigh a whopping 280 pounds. It takes the better part of an hour to put on a space suit, and each astronaut wears special undergarments.

For more interesting space facts, check out NASA's website.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Test Your Knowledge About the Moon With These Fun Facts

March 20, 2015 by

You see the moon on a daily basis, but how knowledgeable are you about Earth's only natural satellite? NASA's Common Moon Misconceptions page is setting the record straight about the moon. Here are a few common moon misconceptions:

False: The moon makes its own light.
True: The moon simply reflects light from the sun.

False: The moon travels around Earth every 24 hours.
True: It takes the moon 27.3 days to complete a revolution around our planet. It completes a full rotation on its axis in the same amount of time.

False: One side of the moon never sees light.
True: Because the moon constantly rotates, there is no "dark side" of the moon; there is simply a side we cannot see. It's more accurately referred to as the moon's "far side."

False: There's no gravity on the moon.
True: The moon does have gravity, but it's less than we're used to on Earth: about 1/6 of Earth's gravity!

Learn more about the moon on NASA's website.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Six Fascinating Facts About the Solar System

February 19, 2015 by

Dark, mysterious, and rarely traveled, outer space piques the curiosity of people young and old. If your daydreams take you on intergalactic adventures, check out NASA's facts about the planets:

1) The average temperature on Venus is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Some areas on this planet are hot enough to melt lead. Likely due to Venus's extreme temperatures, no evidence of life has ever been found on the planet.

2) Mercury is the fastest planet in the solar system: A year on Mercury is equal to 88 days on Earth! Mercury is also the smallest planet in our solar system; it's a little smaller than Earth's moon.

3) Mars is cold and desert-like. It has seasons; however, the conditions of its atmosphere does not allow its surface to retain liquid water for long.

4) Enveloped by rings of ice and rock, Saturn is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. The planet has three orbiting moons.

5) The winds on Neptune can reach up to 1,600 miles per hour, making Neptune the windiest planet in the solar system.

6) Jupiter has plenty of moons with different climates. One of the four largest moons is covered in ice, while another one of Jupiter's moons is the most volcanically active in the solar system.

Learn more about our solar system by visiting the Solar System 101 page on NASA's website.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Pin It on Pinterest