179121479125786First_Children__s_Encyclopedia

Our place in space Our Sun O u r h o m e i n s p a ce s u pp or ts tr ill ion s^ o f^ liv ing^ things. The Milky Way Our solar s ...

Our solar system is a tiny – tiny! – part of a gigantic spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. This is made up of billions of stars, whic ...

The Milky Way They lie towards its centre, often in giant balls called globular clusters.^275 Astronomers think the Milky Way is ...

How many tests were needed for the engine that powered the first stage of Ariane 5? 276 The universe Rockets carry satellites an ...

Rockets Around 300 tests were done.^277 Saturn V were the largest rockets ever built. They were used to launch all the moon land ...

During the 1960s there was a race between the USA and the former Soviet Union to put a man on the moon. The USA landed the first ...

Moon journey Twelve^279 The three astronauts worked and slept in the command module. Mission commander Neil Armstrong struggled ...

The lunar module was nicknamed the Eagle. Why is there no blue sky on the moon? 280 The universe On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong ...

Men on the moon Because the moon has no atmosphere.^281 Neil Armstrong Here comes Earth Instead of the moon rising, the astronau ...

A partly reusable craft built by the US to send astronauts into space, the shuttle was first launched in April 1981. Space shutt ...

A safe landing Shuttles glide down, belly first. Once the orbiter touches the runway, it releases a 12 m (40 ft) drag chute to s ...

We have all seen workers on a construction site, hammering and drilling. Imagine a construction site floating in space high abov ...

Working in space ExtraVehicular Activity. It means space walking!^285 A piece of history The first ever spacewalk was performed ...

Spacecraft have flown past Mars, orbited it, and landed on its surface. One day, we may even build a base on Mars. It may be col ...

Exploring Mars Approximately US$ 800 million.^287 Living on Mars If we do establish a base on Mars, it will have to be a self-co ...

Our Sun is a star, but it is closer to us than any other star. Like all stars, it is a massive ball of burning gas, fed by const ...

The Sun Yes, it does. It spins on its axis, like the planets of the solar system.^289 Solar flares Blasts of hot gas sometimes f ...

Clusters of stars are constantly being born from clouds of dust and gas thousands of times the size of our solar system, in a pr ...

A star is born The Pleiades, because you can see seven of its stars without a telescope. Cat’s Eye nebula Young solar systems Le ...

Most scientists now believe that the Universe was born from a hot, dense spot more than 13 billion years ago. They call this eve ...