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๐Ÿช Space and stars ๐Ÿ”ญ Space travel and observatories

Space travel

The space shuttle at liftoff. What the Earth looks like from the Moon: the Apollo 8 astronauts took this photo while orbiting the Moon, less than 160 km from it and more than 386000 km from Earth. Africa can be seen at the bottom of the lit part of the Earth.
The space shuttle at liftoff. What the Earth looks like from the Moon: the Apollo 8 astronauts took this photo while orbiting the Moon, less than 160 km from it and more than 386000 km from Earth. Africa can be seen at the bottom of the lit part of the Earth.

๐Ÿ“– In short

Space travel began because people wanted to know what lies beyond the Earth: the Moon, the planets and the stars. They sent satellites, then animals, then astronauts, then robot probes to faraway planets.

๐Ÿคฉ Did you know?

  • The first satellite was launched in 1957.
  • An American probe visited Pluto in 2015 and photographed its surface.
  • In space, Gemini 6 and 7 came within about 30 centimeters of each other.
  • A trip to Mars takes about 7 months.

๐Ÿ”Ž Find out more

๐ŸŒŸ Getting started

In 1957 the first satellite, called โ€œSputnikโ€, was launched, a little metal ball that beeped. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth.

๐Ÿ” Walking on the Moon

In 1969 the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong walked on its surface, saying: โ€œThat's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.โ€

๐Ÿ’ก Space stations

People have built stations that orbit the Earth, where astronauts live for months and do experiments. The International Space Station is the biggest home people have built in space.

๐ŸŽฏ To faraway planets

Robot probes have visited every planet in the solar system, and the Emirati probe โ€œHopeโ€ reached Mars in 2021, the first Arab probe to another planet.

๐Ÿ“ธ More pictures

The space shuttle at liftoff. What the Earth looks like from the Moon: the Apollo 8 astronauts took this photo while orbiting the Moon, less than 160 km from it and more than 386000 km from Earth. Africa can be seen at the bottom of the lit part of the Earth.
The space shuttle at liftoff. What the Earth looks like from the Moon: the Apollo 8 astronauts took this photo while orbiting the Moon, less than 160 km from it and more than 386000 km from Earth. Africa can be seen at the bottom of the lit part of the Earth.
A photo of the Earth taken from 35900 km up, showing cloud patterns. The big landmass at the top is North America.
A photo of the Earth taken from 35900 km up, showing cloud patterns. The big landmass at the top is North America.
The orbiter returns to Earth by firing two engines that slow it down; it enters the atmosphere at more than 25800 km/h and maneuvers towards the landing site. It touches down on a runway at about 320 km/h.
The orbiter returns to Earth by firing two engines that slow it down; it enters the atmosphere at more than 25800 km/h and maneuvers towards the landing site. It touches down on a runway at about 320 km/h.

๐Ÿงฉ Test yourself

1 Who was the first person to orbit the Earth?

2 What is the Arab probe that reached Mars called?

3 A trip to Mars takes about ?? months.

4 Which picture shows โ€œSpace travelโ€?

๐Ÿช Discover more