Outer Space & Universe
Outer Space & Universe
Space, also known as outer space, is the near-vacuum between celestial bodies. It is where everything (all of the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects) is found.
On Earth, space begins at the Kármán line (100 km above sea level). This is where Earth's atmosphere is said to stop and outer space begins. This is not a firm boundary but is a convention used by scientists and diplomats.
Items in space are free to move back and forth; up and down; and left and right. These three dimensions are what make 3D space. Items also move forward through time, which is sometimes called the fourth dimension.
The majority of space contains very little matter and so most of it is a vacuum. Scientists do not know how big space is but we do know that space is extremely big, and is always expanding.
According to the big bang theory, all matter and energy in the Universe was compressed into a very small space. Then it exploded and started expanding. Space is still growing in size today; this means the distance from one galaxy to distant galaxies is getting longer.
Gravity is the force that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth and the planets in orbit around the Sun. Gravity can stretch and bend space similar to how a heavy ball placed on a stretched sheet of rubber will cause the rubber to stretch. The scientist who discovered that space can bend is named Albert Einstein. How gravity bends space is part of his theory of general relativity.
Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Taikonauts and Spationauts
An astronaut is any person who is trained by NASA to travel and perform tasks in space. Although the space traveler may not necessarily be a United States citizen, each astronaut does go through a rigorous training regiment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Other space travelers go by other names then astronaut depending on their country of origin.
In the United States, astronaut is derived from the Greek words ástron (star) and nautis (sailor). While, in Russia, a space traveler goes by the name космонавт (English: cosmonaut), which is derived from the Greek words kosmos (universe) and nautis (sailor). Westerners call a space traveler from China a taikonaut, based on the 1998 writings of Chiew Lee Yik and Chen Lan where the term tàikōng (great emptiness), Chinese for “space”. In China, the term yuháng yuán (universe navigator) is used for space traveler.
Only the United States of America (United States), Russia (earlier, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), and the People’s Republic of China (China) have sent manned spacecraft into space. Other countries have assisted these countries by sending their own space travelers on space missions. For instance, a French space traveler is called a spationaut (from the French word spationaute), which is derived from the Latin spatium (space) and Greek nautis (sailor). (plural in Greek nautes = sailors)
-
04:07
Meet NASA's new X-ray telescope launching on a SpaceX rocket
Added 103 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 9, 2021. Learn about the space telescope. Credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
-
03:14
Meet Nicole Mann, Crew-5 Commander
Added 87 Views / 0 LikesA Marine combat pilot, a mechanical engineer, and a first-time space flyer – just some of the ways to describe Nicole Mann, commander of NASA’s next SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station. Hear her describe her California childhood,
-
01:28
Meet Orbital ATK's Fleet of Rockets
Added 386 Views / 0 LikesFrom Minotaur to OmegA, the private spaceflight company has a wide array of space launch vehicles to meet a variety of payload needs. Credit: Space.com / Orbital ATK / produced and edited by Steve Spaleta http://www.twitter.com/stevespaleta
-
03:05
Meet Raja Chari, Crew-3 Commander
Added 139 Views / 0 LikesIt’s not every day that an astronaut commands a new spacecraft on his first-ever spaceflight, but NASA’s Raja Chari showed he was the man for the job. Watch as Chari tells his own story of an Iowa childhood and Air Force career that led him to become an a
-
01:52
Meet Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, Crew-8 Mission Specialist
Added 28 Views / 0 LikesRoscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin is a mission specialist for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. Grebenkin, who graduated from Irkutsk High Military Aviation School, Irkutsk, Russia, majoring in engineering, maintenance, and repair of aircraft radio navi
-
03:29
Meet Samantha Cristoforetti, Crew-4 Mission Specialist
Added 119 Views / 0 LikesFrom an adventurous childhood in the Italian Alps to her trailblazing role as one of the first women in the Italian air force, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has been exploring most of her life and is ready for more, as a mission s
-
02:51
Meet Satoshi Furukawa, Crew-7 Mission Specialist
Added 61 Views / 0 LikesMeet Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut from Kanagawa, Japan, making his second trip to space as a mission specialist on Crew-7. Furukawa was selected as a JAXA astronaut in 1999 and has 165 days aboard the space station
-
09:42
Meet SpaceX BFR's First Paying Customer - Yusaku Maezawa
Added 391 Views / 0 Likes"I choose to go to the moon" says Yusaku Maezawa, the first paying customer for the SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). Elon Musk introduced Maezawa at a press conference on Sept. 17, 2018. -- SpaceX Will Fly a Japanese Billionaire (and Artists, Too!) Around
-
01:10
Meet SpaceX Crew-5: Astronauts, launch date, training & more!
Added 125 Views / 0 LikesNASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station no earlier than Oct. 3, 2022. Learn more about SpaceX Crew-5: https://www.space.com/n
-
02:57
Meet Steve Bowen, Crew-6 Commander
Added 89 Views / 0 LikesThe first submarine officer ever selected to be a NASA astronaut, who flew on three space shuttle missions in less than two and a half years, is the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station. Meet Steve Bowen, a Massachu
-
01:37
Meet the 'best-known' black holes in our galaxy (and our neighbor)
Added 164 Views / 0 LikesNASA Goddard Space Flight Center runs down the "best-known" black holes in the Milky Way galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
-
03:10
Meet the Artemis 2 moon mission crew - Wiseman, Koch, Glover & Hansen
Added 84 Views / 0 LikesOn April 3, 2023, NASA announced that NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will fly on the Artemis 2 mission in 2024. The mission is expected to last between eight and 10 days and wi
-
04:56
Meet the astronauts flying on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission
Added 405 Views / 0 LikesNASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first humans to launch from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. They will be launching aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. -- Astronauts perfor
-
11:29
Meet the Canadian Space Agency's newest astronauts
Added 62 Views / 0 LikesThe Canadian Space Agency has announced that Jenni Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk have joined their astronaut ranks. Hear from them both here. Credit: CSA
-
02:35
Meet the dearMoon crew that will fly on SpaceX's Starship
Added 86 Views / 0 LikesYusaku Maezawa announced the 8 crew members and 2 backup crew members for a trip around the moon aboard SpaceX's Starship. Credit: dearMoon
-
09:50
Meet the First Commercial Crew Astronauts - NASA Announcement
Added 477 Views / 0 LikesNASA astronauts Sunita ("Suni") Williams, Robert Behnken, Douglas Hurley, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Josh Cassada, Victor Glover, and Michael Hopkins will fly either on SpaceX's Dragon or Boeing's Starliner spacecrafts.Credit: NASA
-
05:38
Meet the SpaceX Crew-1 'Resilience' astronauts
Added 283 Views / 0 LikesNASA's mission specialist Shannon Walker, pilot Victor Glover, commander Michael Hopkins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut and mission specialist Soichi Noguchi gave remarks at press conference on Sept. 29. 2020.Credit: NASA
