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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09:41
Real 'Death Star' Fires High-Energy Particle Beam At Sister Star | Video
Added 3,466 Views / 0 LikesA rare black widow binary star system consists of one of heaviest neutrons stars (~2X Sun Mass) known and a small companion star (12X Jupiter Mass) in the tightest orbit ever seen. High-energy particles from the former are obliterating its companion.
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00:59
Strong Solar Flare Eruption Caught on Video
Added 669 Views / 0 LikesOn January 28th, 2014, NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) witnessed an M-class flare, the strongest its seen since it was launched. The spacecraft studies the Sun's chromosphere.
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05:31
Why Did COSMOS Dock To FOX? Neil deGrasse Tyson Answers | Video
Added 717 Views / 0 LikesHow did 'COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY' come to premiere on a network not normally associated with science literacy? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ann Druyan&Mitch Cannold share perspectives on science and censorship with Space.com's @DavidSkyBrody.
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03:26
Clean-Burning 'Fire Water' Tested On Space Station | Video
Added 1,057 Views / 0 LikesAstronauts have been experimenting with supercritical water that can aid ignition of fire in microgravity. It has down to Earth applications for municipal waste disposal and saltwater purification. Fire Burns Differently in Space, read more here: http://g
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00:46
'Einstein Lens' Bends Blazar Burst For A One-Two Punch | Video
Added 800 Views / 0 LikesNASA Fermi observatory makes the first gamma-ray measurements of a gravitational lens with an observation of Blazar B0218+357 behind a massive spiral galaxy. The gravity of the galaxy bends and amplifies the light of the blazer.
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02:47
Lift-Off! SpaceX Launches Thaicom 6 Satellite | Video
Added 724 Views / 0 LikesThe commercial space company has launched a second satellite in 2 months aboard an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. It launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 6th, 2014. Photos here: http://goo.gl/xDvJFn Credit: SpaceX
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02:27
4 Hours On Space Station - 3 Sunrises, 2 Sunsets | Time-Lapse Video
Added 576 Views / 0 LikesFrom 11:43 to 15:49 GMT on January 3rd, 2013, a camera was pointed out a window of the International Space Station for two Earth orbits. North-western Australia starts the video and eastern Quebec ends it. The Moon makes an appearance as well.
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01:21
X-Flare Exploded From Massive Earth-Facing Sunspot | Video
Added 766 Views / 0 LikesAn X1-class flare erupted from sunspot AR1944 on Jan. 7th, 2014. A geomagnetic storm may affect Earth, possibly resulting in radio interference, or even electrical blackouts. Earlier in the day, a less powerful M-class flare was recorded as well.
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02:37
Mars Rover's '90 Day Mission' Now In 10th Year | Vide
Added 773 Views / 0 LikesNASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet 10 years ago. Spirit 'lights' went dim in 2010 but Opportunity is still returning science. NASA administrator Charles Bolden talks about the rovers and the NASA's future on Mars. -- Latest Rove
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02:09
Blind People Could See 3D-Printed Celestial Objects, Say Hubble Scientists | Video
Added 751 Views / 0 LikesAstronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute (StSci) are experimenting with 3D printers to deliver Hubble imagery to the vision impaired. It is also useful as a learning tool for sighted people.
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01:07
Black Hole Blasts Bright X-Rays | 6-Year Time-Lapse Video
Added 795 Views / 0 LikesThe supermassive singularity at the center of our galaxy (Sgr A*) flares in X-ray radiation every 5 - 10 days. Astronomers swing NASA's Swift XRT spacecraft to spy on the 4 million solar mass black hole every few days. -- Another Black Hole Swallows Star,
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01:39
Spiral Galaxy With '2 Hearts' Spied By Hubble | Video
Added 778 Views / 0 LikesSome 15 million light years away, lies the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 83) and its 'double' nucleus. It is believed that it may contain a single supermassive black hole that has a lopsided disc of star orbiting it, creating the appearance.
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04:38
Blast-Off! Cygnus Lauches On 2nd Space Station Cargo Run | Video
Added 760 Views / 0 LikesThe Orbital Sciences' rocket launched from NASA's Wallops in Virginia on January 9th, 2014. It is delivering supplies and experiments to the ISS.
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07:09
Students Send Ants To Space Station | Video
Added 605 Views / 0 LikesNASA Associate ISS Program Scientist Tara Ruttley talks about the experiment and other science on the latest Orbital Sciences cargo run.
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01:28
Robonaut 'Waltz': Space Station Droid's Legs Get Movin' | Video
Added 578 Views / 0 LikesNew limbs of the robotic ISS crew member, Robonaut 2 (R2), are demonstrated to the 'Waltz of the Blue Danube' music. Legs will increase the mobility of the robot for work in and out of the Space Station. Read More about Robonaut here: http://goo.gl/fFGx2y
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02:24
What Comet Probe 'Rosetta' Did Before It Hibernated | Video
Added 803 Views / 0 LikesThe European built probe is the most complex mission to a comet. Since its launch in March 2004, it has flown by Earth 3 times, snapped images of asteroids and more. It has been hibernating since 2011 and will be awoken in Jan. 2014.
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02:48
RoboSimian: Four-Footed Robot Competes at DARPA Challenge | Video
Added 576 Views / 0 LikesThe Jet Propulsion Laboratory's entry performs in the disaster-response competition at the DARPA Robotics Challenge in December 2013.
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04:54
Where Flood Waters Flowed On Mars - Spacecraft Images Animated
Added 634 Views / 0 LikesThe Kasei Valles outflow channel system extends ~1865 miles (3000 km). ESA's Mars Express photographed the area in 2004. A 67-image mosaic was used to create this animation.
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02:04
Commercial Human-Rated Spacecraft: Prototype Tests Continue | Video
Added 744 Views / 0 LikesNASA Commercial Crew Program partners Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corporation and SpaceX are on-track to provide astronauts with rides into orbit at much less cost than government-built vehicles.
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05:00
Planet Orbiting Sun's Twin Discovered In Star Cluster | Video
Added 865 Views / 0 LikesExoplanets have been found in star clusters but this is the 1st orbiting a star almost exactly like the Sun. ESO's HARPS planet hunter instrument, mounted on a Chilean telescope, found the hot gas world in long-lived cluster Messier 67. -- Read more here: