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)
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03:17
Interstellar Space, Launches and More: NASA's 2013 Highlights Video
Added 659 Views / 0 LikesNew satellites, Voyager, SpaceX and more took center stage - take a look back at all the space agency accomplished in this highlight video.
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00:53
European Spacecraft To Land On Comet In 2014 - Animation
Added 682 Views / 0 LikesESA's Rosetta spacecraft will deploy its Philae lander to land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Nov. 2014. Its expected to deliver for several weeks to several months, depending on how long it takes the solar cells to be covered in dust.
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01:47
Holiday Season Spacewalks O-Plenty - ISS Update Video
Added 585 Views / 0 LikesIn the latest episode of 'Space To Ground, NASA's Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters talks about spacewalks to repair the stations cooling system and add Earth-observing cameras to the stations exterior. Also, how to spot the ISS in the night sky.
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01:22
Big Iowa Fireball Snapped By Amateur Astronomer | Video
Added 656 Views / 0 LikesTim Cline (timcline.org) captured the meteor streaking across the night sky on Dec. 26th, 2013. (upper right corner of the video).
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01:09
Newly Discovered 400-Foot Asteroid To Zip Past Earth | Orbit Animation
Added 602 Views / 0 LikesThe space rock was discovered on Dec. 23rd, 2013 and will be makes its closest approach to Earth (3.6 lunar distance) on Jan. 3rd, 2014. Its is estimated to be 102 meters or 400 feet-wide.
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02:30
Jupiter's 92 Million Miles Closer To Earth - January 2014 Skywatching Video
Added 675 Views / 0 LikesThe Gas Giant is 83 Million miles away on average. In January it will be 391 million miles away when its reaches opposition. Venus is the only object that will be brighter than Jupiter. Need a telescope? - Click the blue 'SHOP' link above.
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06:31
January 2014 Skywatching - When, Where&How Video
Added 678 Views / 0 LikesA crescent Venus, Jupiter at opposition, Taurus constellation and its Red-Giant 'eye' and the Quadrantid meteor shower makes for quite a skywatching show. In the market for a telescope? - Click the blue 'SHOP' link above.
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01:15
New Space Station HD Cameras: Where They Will 'Snap' From | Animation
Added 611 Views / 0 LikesCanadian company UrtheCast made an agreement with Russia's Federal Space Agency to mount Earth-watching cameras to the hull of the International Space Station. Also, animation of imagery it will provide is shown.
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01:29
Virgin Galactic Celebrates 2013 Milestones | Video
Added 575 Views / 0 LikesRichard Branson's Virgin Galactic celebrated a year of new rocket technologies, space ships, certifications, and construction of the first ever spaceport for tourists.
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00:50
Happy New Year From Space - ISS Crew Greets Times Square | Video
Added 671 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wish Earth a Happy New Year. This video message was played in Times Square on New Year's Eve 2013.
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01:01
Solar Fireworks Ring In The New Year With Near X-Class Solar Flare | Video
Added 705 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Solar Dynamics Laboratory captured this explosive M9-class solar flare on January first, ringing in the New Year with a flare that was almost but not quite X-class.
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06:35
Rare Black Hole May Lurk In Star Cluster, Hubble Shows | Video
Added 682 Views / 0 LikesThe Space Telescope has examined many intricate 'cities of stars' over two decades. In the best-ever image of the Milky Way's globular cluster Messier 15, (100,000+ stars) evidence of an exotic type black hole surfaces.
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02:18
Curiosity's 'Road' On Mars: Where It's Been and Where It's Going | Video
Added 507 Views / 0 LikesThe path the Mars Science Laboratory has taken, started in the plains of the Gale crater and ultimately will makes its way through rough roads on the way to a Mount Sharp climb. Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger explains.
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01:53
'4-Billion-Year Old' Mars Fly-Over Shows Water and Blue Skies | Video
Added 715 Views / 0 LikesFeatures on the Red Planet of today suggest that oceans of liquid water once traversed parts of the planet. This animation imagines how it could of looked and its current state. Read more here: http://goo.gl/2Qnv4X Credit: NASA
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02:29
LeVar Burton On MAVEN: Star Trek Star Explains New Mars Mission | Video
Added 769 Views / 0 LikesIn a public service announcement, LaVar Burton (Geordi La Forge / Star Trek: The Next Generation) talks about the new mission that will study the Martian atmosphere.
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02:38
MAVEN Timelapse: Ready For Mars In Mere Minutes | Video
Added 530 Views / 0 LikesIt took NASA weeks of processing to ready the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft for launch to the red planet, but this timelapse condenses that into less than 3 minutes.
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03:48
Two Comets To Fly-By Mercury, Probe To Watch | Video
Added 619 Views / 0 LikesNASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will have its eyes set on Comet's ISON and Encke as they fly-by Mercury on Nov 18 and 19th, 2013. The Mercury probe will analyze the chemical makeup of the comets and snap pictures.
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06:12
Blast-Off! MAVEN Launches To Mars | Video
Added 644 Views / 0 LikesNASA's next mission to the Red Planet is underway as an Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Nov. 18th, 2013. The rocket carried NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
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04:49
New Mars Probe 'Progression' To Manned Mission - NASA Administrator Interview
Added 601 Views / 0 LikesThe MAVEN mission to study the Red Planet's atmosphere launched on Nov. 18th, 2013, NASA administrator Charles Bolden talks to SPACE.com's @tariqjmalik about the mission and answers reader questions.
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01:14
New Rocket Engine Burns Wax&Laughing Gas | Video
Added 529 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Peregrine Hybrid Sounding Rocket motor was hot-fire tested at Ames Research Center on Nov. 12, 2013. It uses paraffin-based fuel and nitrous oxide as the oxidizer for highly efficient combustion. (looped)