Most of us have been filled with wonder at one point or another about space, which sadly begins to fade as we grow older and realize that there is so much we don’t and will never know. Luckily, there are those who never lost that enthusiasm for the cosmos and work hard to find answers. Here are 20 facts about space you should know.
1. According to astronauts who have returned from space missions, space smells like a mixture of hot metal, welding fumes and seared steak.
2. There is a phenomenon that scientists call bizarreness gravitational lensing which happens whengravity bends light to the point that objects appear in a different location to where they actually exist.
3. Due to an amazing coincidence of the Moon being 400 times smaller, and 400 times closer than the Sun, they both appear to be the same size.
4. At $150billion, the International Space Station is the most expensive object ever built.
At the size of a football field, The International Space Station is only as roomy as a five-bedroom house, and travels at a speed of 17,500 mph. This means that Astronauts onboard the International Space Station view fifteen sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. One interesting fact is that the station has a special water treatment plant that turns urine into drinking water. In such a hostile environment self-sustainability is one of the key considerations astronauts have to keep in mind.
5. Astronauts typically gain two inches in height while in space.
Due to the lack of gravity, the spines of astronauts elongate by up to three percent while they are in space. This is a similar effect to what happens while you sleep as less gravitational force is being applied to your spine while you lie down which is why we are fractionally taller when we wake up as opposed to going to bed.(source)
6. Two teams of astronauts have discovered a large reservoir of water floating in space that is the equivalent to 140 trillion times the water of our ocean.
7. In space the Sun appears white as opposed to yellow here on earth.
Due to Earth’s atmosphere, shorter and more energetic wavelength photons of light are scattered and deflected before they reach the ground. This means that we usually only see particles with longer wavelengths such as yellow, orange and red. This explains why to our eyes, the Sun appears yellow instead of white.(source)
8. On Venus, it snows metal galena and bismuthinite.
9. Stars have been discovered by NASA that are cool enough to touch.
10. Did you know that if the Sun were the size of a beach ball, Jupiter would be the size of a golf ball and Earth would be the size of a pea?
11. A visible halo around the Sun or Moon means a storm is soon to come.
The halo that is visible on occasion around the Sun or Moon is caused by ice crystals from high cirrus clouds. There is an old saying that says “ring around the moon means rain soon” and there is truth to this as high cirrus clouds often proceed a storm.(source)
12. Most typical asteroids (such as Eros) contain precious metals worth more than $20trillion.
13. Earth can be seen as a pale blue dot in the picture below – 3.7 billion miles away.
This photograph was taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 at a distance of 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) away. In the picture above, Earth is sized at a fraction of a pixel (0.12) against the vastness that is space. Even from within our own solar system, this picture provides some insight into how small we are in the cosmos. (source)
14. A Moon-sized diamond estimated at close to 10 billion trillion trillion carats has been found in space. It has been named “Lucy” in reference to the Beatles’ classic, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
15. Did you know, this year NASA plans to grow plants on the Moon?
16. The dwarf planet “Ceres” between Mars and Jupiter has never been visited by a spacecraft or photographed in detail. What makes this puzzling is that Earth-bound telescopes have revealed two large bright shining spots on the surface within a crater.
17. If humans could survive on Titan, they could fly around by flapping wings attached to their arms. This is because the atmosphere is so thick and the gravity so low.
18. A Russian report of 33 cockroaches conceived in space has shown that they are tougher, stronger, faster and quicker than cockroaches on Earth.
Cockroaches have always been known to be tough and perhaps the only organisms to be able to survive a nuclear war. However, it has been shown that cockroaches raised in space gain super abilities compared to their earthbound brethren.(source)
19. The Moon is slowly leaving us behind at a rate of 3.78 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year.
The Moon has always played an important role in the collective cultures of earth. Even before humans, it served to protect the World from dangerous asteroids, and today has a direct effect on the Earth’s axis and the ocean’s tides. Sadly, this close relationship will one day come to an end as the Moon is gradually moving away from us at a rate of 3.78 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year.(source)
20. According to Stephen Hawking, humanity won’t survive without leaving the Earth. If what he says is true, we may have less than 200 years to conquer the final frontier.
In an interview several years ago, Stephen Hawking expressed his concern that humanity is at risk of two different kinds of catastrophes. The first may be inflicted on ourselves, whether from climate change, nuclear or biological war; and second, by the cosmos, whether from an asteroid, supernova or gamma-ray burst, or perhaps less likely, by alien invasion. Sadly, whether we agree with him or not, it will take a long time for humanity to take the next step.
