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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03:08
Star Trek Galileo Shuttlecraft To Land At Space Center Houston
Added 850 Views / 0 LikesStar Trek's original prop shuttlecraft will be heading to the Johnson Space Center's visitors attraction, once its restoration team is done. SPACE.com found project leader Adam Schneider and crew in the ship's Atlantic Highlands, NJ "space-dock."
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01:07
Xombie Rocket Demonstrates 'Sky-Walking' and Landing
Added 580 Views / 0 LikesThe Masten Space Systems suborbital rocket executed a successful lift off, horizontal flight (sky-walking) of 50 meters down range and landing at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Feb. 2, 2012.
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04:44
Animated Look at Juno's Jupiter Mission
Added 756 Views / 0 LikesFind out about the spacecraft that will give us the best look to date at our solar system's largest planet and the science it will provide. Includes animations of the launch and its 5 year flight.
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01:23
'Dream Chaser' Landing Gear Fails To Deploy On Test | Video
Added 835 Views / 0 LikesLearn more about the Dream Chaser: http://goo.gl/4b9Umk The Sierra Nevada Corp's orbital vehicle prototype failed to deploy one of its wheels during a drop test on 26 October 2013. In publishing this video, the company elected not to show the resultant da
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02:25
High, Fast&Scary: Upcoming Orion Capsule Test
Added 821 Views / 0 LikesNASA will conduct its first test flight of its Orion Spacecraft - named Exploration Test Flight-1 (EFT-1) in 2014. The capsule will be launched to the altitude higher than any human-rated spacecraft has reached since 1973.
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00:33
SpaceShipTwo Rises On A Tail Of Fire | Video
Added 677 Views / 0 LikesVirgin Galactic's suborbital vehicle makes its first powered ascent on April 29, 2013. Exceeding Mach 1, but not (yet) trying for 'space' altitude, the test was deemed successful by the shipbuilder Scaled Composites.
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03:58
'Mini-Space Shuttle' Concept - Launch To Landing | Animated Video
Added 778 Views / 0 LikesSierra Nevada's Dream Chaser is one of three programs seeded by NASA for commercial crew transport to Space Station. Now in early testing, this reusable vehicle's aerodynamic shape is a descendant of NASA's X-24A lifting body flown from 1969 to 1971.
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01:03
Experimental X-51A Scramjet Breaks Record | Video
Added 761 Views / 0 LikesThe X-51A Waverider scramjet completed its longest ever test flight, reaching speeds of Mach 5.1 on May 1st. It also broke the over all record for longest air-breathing hypersonic flight.
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05:30
End of the Space Shuttle Ferry Era - Final Flights | Video
Added 741 Views / 0 LikesA pair of retrofitted jumbo 747's carried the orbiters cross country on many occasions. With the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, they'll make their final deliveries of Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise to their new museum homes.
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06:47
Lift-Off! SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space Station | Video
Added 830 Views / 0 LikesThe historic first commercial spacecraft to supply the International Space Station launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on May 22th, 2012. If it passes all on-orbit demonstrations, it will dock with ISS on May 25th.
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01:18
Secretive Air Force Space Plane X37B Lands | Video
Added 810 Views / 0 LikesAfter a mission of unknown purpose, unmanned X-37B spacecraft, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2 (OTV-2), glided back on auto-pilot, touching down at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 a.m. PDT on 16 June 2012. [Infrared and visible.]
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01:36
SpaceX Grasshopper Jumps Over 1000 Feet - Hexacopter Video
Added 742 Views / 0 LikesSpaceX's reusable Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) test vehicle made its highest jump yet, flying 1066 feet (325 meters) in June 2013 and landed safely under near-perfect control.
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02:21
How Do You Work Out Without Gravity? Astronaut Workout | Video
Added 766 Views / 0 LikesAstronaut Mike Hopkins is using the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device aboard the International Space Station to perform 100 Pull Ups, Push Ups, Sit Ups and Air Squats.
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03:25
Dan Rather Hosts Latest Space Station Update Video
Added 671 Views / 0 LikesIn the latest episode of Space To Ground, the legendary anchor -- and son of Texas -- steps in to talk cargo crafts, the Olympic torch and station science.
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02:18
Space Station Bedroom Is 'Telephone Booth Tiny' | Video
Added 718 Views / 0 LikesJAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata takes you on a tour of the compact quarters aboard the International Space Station.
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06:17
Cosmonauts Break Spacewalk Record Attempting To Install Cameras | Video
Added 800 Views / 0 LikesTwo Russian Cosmonauts installed a pair of high-fidelity cameras outside the International Space Station but had to remove them after telemetry problems, resulting in a new record for the longest Russian space walk at 8 hours and 7 minutes.
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03:27
Space Station Treadmill - Running In Place On Orbit | Video
Added 709 Views / 0 LikesNASA astronaut Karen Nyberg demonstrates how the COLBERT treadmill works on the International Space Station.
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05:08
Help An Astronaut Make A Space Quilt | Video
Added 739 Views / 0 LikesNASA Astronaut Karen Nyberg is inviting quilters to create star inspired quilting squares like the one she made on the International Space Station. More from Karen Nyberg http://goo.gl/59uFSE
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01:35
Astronaut Uses Single Hair To Show Newton's Laws | Video
Added 785 Views / 0 LikesOn-orbit astronaut Karen Nyberg proves Cady Coleman told 'Gravity's Sandra Bullock the truth: a single strand of human hair pushed against a handrail aboard the ISS sprang Nyberg backwards in microgravity.
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02:35
Why Did Spacesuit Helmet Leak? - ISS Astronaut Explains | Video
Added 806 Views / 0 LikesNASA astronaut Chris Cassidy shows where water leaked, soaking spacewalker Luca Parmitano's head, during his July 16th, 2013 EVA. The event frightened the astronauts and mission controllers. NASA is still investigating the exact cause.