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)
-
01:34
SpaceX Starship SN6 prototype takes 150 meter hop
Added 240 Views / 0 LikesSpaceX' Starship SN6 prototype took a hop on Sept. 3, 2020 from the private spacefight company's Boca Chica, Texas facility. Credit: SPadre Cam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCnl4IZOPe0) - mash mix by Space.com's Steve Spaleta (http://www.twitter.com/s
-
18:16
SpaceX Crew-1's return to Earth - See the highlights
Added 240 Views / 0 LikesSpaceX Crew-1 astronauts Victor glover, Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi are back on Earth after 167 days in space. See the highlights of their return from hatch close to splashdown. Credit: NASA
-
00:21
Artist’s Impression of the Hypothesized “Planet Nine”
Added 240 Views / 0 LikesAn 11-Jupiter-mass exoplanet called HD106906 b occupies an unlikely orbit around a double star 336 light-years away and may be offering clues to something that might be much closer to home: a hypothesized distant member of our Solar System dubbed “Planet
-
04:28
Crew-2 Mission Overview
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesNASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station is ready to launch. Join NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) as they tal
-
01:01
Watch M87's black hole evolve in animation created from numerical simulations
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesThe first ever image of a black hole made waves in 2019. Now numerical simulations of M87* have been used to create a one-year animation of the black hole. -- Surprise! The ring around M87 galaxy's monster black hole wobbles over time: https://www.space.c
-
02:16
Perseverance's first pics of Mars - What are we seeing?
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesMars 2020 project scientist Ken Farley gives NASA early take on what we're seeing with the first images from Perseverance of the Martian surface. Credit: NASA
-
01:24
Perseverance sees Sun and more in latest pics from Mars
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesSee some of the imagery acquired from Perseverance on Feb. 28, 2021, the rover's Martian sol 9. -- 'Harbor Seal Rock' on Mars and other new sights intrigue Perseverance rover scientists: https://www.space.com/mars-harbor-seal-rock-perseverance-rover-panor
-
01:43
Perseverance sees sun, rover tracks and more in latest pics from Mars
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Perseverance rover continues to deliver amazing imagery from Jezero Crater on the Red Planet. See some of the pictures acquired from the rover on March 7, 2021 (Sol 16). -- See Perseverance flexes its arm on Mars for 1st time: https://www.space.com
-
02:32
Tsunami warning for Tonga after Massive Volcano eruption! Major fires in New Jersey & Oklahoma!
Added 239 Views / 0 LikesIt has been an explosive day.God bless everyone,T LEWISON5430 BIRDWOOD RD. #416HOUSTON TEXAS 77096https://www.paypal.me/THORnewshttps://venmo.com/TEric-Lewison$THORnews on CashApphttps://www.patreon.com/thornewsJanuary 2022 THORnews fundraiser
-
09:10
Major Guatemala Volcano eruption! Chinese Rocket tumbling to Earth! 3 Solar flares! Elon SNL Doge!
Added 238 Views / 0 Likesstrange days, indeed.God bless everyone,T LEWISON5430 BIRDWOOD RD. #416HOUSTON TEXAS 77096https://www.paypal.me/THORnewshttps://www.patreon.com/thornews
-
02:43
Space to Ground: A Crew of Ten: 04/09/2021
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. Got a question or comment? Use #AskNASA to talk to us.Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:https://www.nasa.gov/iss-scien
-
01:19
Fire in space! Cloth set aflame aboard Cygnus spacecraft
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesThe Saffire IV experiment aboard Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft "burned a sample of SIBAL cloth, a composite of 75% cotton and 25% fiberglass," according to NASA. Multiple sensors captured data on the behavior of the fire in space. -- See a previous
-
03:51
Down to Earth – Reach for the Stars
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesIn celebration of the upcoming #SpaceStation20th anniversary, Spaceflight Participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori from the United Arab Emirates, who recently flew in space with other International Astronauts, shares his thoughts on his journey to reach the star
-
01:19
Hurricane Hanna seen by space station and satellite
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesNOAA's GOES-East satellite and captured imagery of Hurricane Hanna as it made landfall over Texas and Mexico. SpaceX Demo-2 and NASA astronaut Doug Hurley also snapped imagery of the storm from the International Space Station.Credit: CIRA/NOAA / mash mix
-
09:20
Get ready for TS/Hurricane Isaias Landfall & Impacts up the Eastern Seaboard!
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesLandfall estimated at Midnight!God bless everyone,T LEWISON5430 BIRDWOOD RD. #416HOUSTON TEXAS 77096https://www.paypal.me/THORnewshttps://venmo.com/TEric-Lewison$THORnews on CashApphttps://www.patreon.com/thornews
-
06:32
Why 2020's Atlantic hurricane season will be more active, NOAA explains
Added 238 Views / 0 LikesNOAA National Weather Service Scientist Jim Yoe talks to Space.com's Chelsea Gohd about the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and the satellites that are monitoring it. -- How Earth-orbiting satellites are tracking the 2020 hurricane season: https://www.spac
