How much do you know about space?

There is a lot to wonder about space. We know it is beautiful and is a size we can’t really understand. Humans only started going into space in the twentieth century and it is true to say we still have so much to learn. Here are some interesting facts about what is beyond our own planet.

There are thousands of other planets out there.

We have eight planets in our Solar System. However, outside of our Solar System there are thousands of other planets. The extra-solar planets or exo-planets are in orbit around another star. So far we have almost 1800 confirmed new worlds, with another 3000 awaiting confirmation. Astronomers are looking for planets that may be habitable, just like the Earth. The majority of planets discovered so far are hot gas giant planets.

In space the skin on your feet peels off!

This is a pretty gross fact but in the micro-gravity environment, astronauts are not using their feet to walk. Therefore the skin on their feet starts to soften and flakes off. As laundry facilities do not exist in space, astronauts will wear the same underwear and socks for a few days. Those socks then need to be taken off very gently. If not those dead skin cells will float around in the weightless environment.

One million Earths can fit inside the Sun.

Ancient astronomers once believed the Earth was at the centre of the Universe but now we know that the Sun is at the centre of our Solar System and our planets orbit the Sun. The Sun makes up 99.8% of the entire mass of the whole Solar System. One million Earths would be needed to be the same size as the Sun.

You become taller in Space.

Another change to the human body in micro-gravity is that your spine straightens out, as gravity is not pushing you down. In fact you can be up to as much as 5cm taller in the Space Station.

Extreme weather warning!

Some times on the Earth, the weather can be rubbish! However, our weather is awesome compared to some of the other planets. Jupiter has fast winds and the Great Red spot, a massive hurricane style storm, has raged there for the last 300 years. Mercury and Mars have extreme temperature changes in the same day. Venus is a scorching five times hotter than boiling water. Saturn and Uranus also have extremely fast winds. However Neptune has the fastest ever wind speeds reaching a staggering 1600mph!