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Your STAR Place in Space
       
Your Home in our
Solar System
Space Travel in the Solar System
Humans have always wanted to explore the unknown. The ocean and
space are the last 2 "frontiers" that need to be explored.
Before any Humans went into space animals were used to see how
safe it would be.
Since the first rockets were sent into space, Humans have walked
on the moon, created a reusable spaceship (the Shuttle) and sent
probes to Mars. Humans have been exploring space since the
late 1950's with the first Humans successfully landing on the
moon in 1969.
Neil Armstrong was the first Human to walk on the moon and his
famous quote "One small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind" has been a saying for anyone doing something one would
have thought impossible.
One of the tragic events in the space exploration history
happened on January 28th, 1986. Space flight and exploration
continues today.
The Sun
The Sun is a large bright star and is approximately 150 million
Km away from Earth. The sun is the centre of our solar system
and all the planets orbit around it. The sun is made from hot
gasses that give off light and heat energy. The light travels
through space to Earth. When the light from the sun hits the
Earth, it turns to heat; this heat then warms the air around the
Earth.
Mercury
Mercury is the closest plant to the sun and is about 59 million
Km away. It is small about the size of Earth’s moon and mostly
made of rock. It is also covered in craters caused by volcanoes.
The planet has no moon or rings. A day on mercury lasts 59 earth
days and the temperature is very hot but at night also 59 earth
days the temperature gets very cold.
Venus 
Venus is the second plant from the sun. Venus is 108 million km
from the sun and has no moons or rings. It is about the same
size of earth and mostly made up of rock. Venus is covered in
thick clouds that trap heat; this makes Venus the hottest planet
in the solar system. This planet is also the second brightest
object in our night sky.
Earth 
Earth is the third planet from the sun. Like the other planets
closest to the sun it is mostly made up of rocks, however earth
is also covered in water. Earth is the only planet with air and
water and scientist believe Earth is the only planet with living
things. Earth has one moon and no rings. Earth rotates once
every 24 hours making the day and night and revolves around the
sun every 365.24 days making up the year.
The
Moon
The
moon is the closest object to the Earth. It has no life on it as
well as no air or water like Earth. The surface is covered
with rocks and dust and many craters. Like the Earth it
has tall mountains and flat plains.
The moon revolves around the Earth. It takes one month to
revolve around the Earth. The word Month came from “Moonth”
meaning one revolution of the Moon around the Earth. The
moon also rotates (spins around like a top) as it revolves
around the Earth. It also takes one month to rotate.
Since the moon rotates and revolves around the Earth at the same
speed, the same side of the moon always faces the Earth.
There is usually only 1 full moon per month.
The moon is the only planet that humans have visited and
landed on to present.
Mars 
The fourth planet from the sun is Mars. Mars is 228 million km
from the sun and has no rings and 2 moons. Each day on
Mars is 24 hours, like Earth's day. The year on Mars is
687 days; it takes this long for Mars to revolve around the sun.
Mars is covered with craters, canyons, mountains and the largest
volcano in the solar system. The north and south poles of Mars
are covered by ice.
Asteroid Belt
Asteroids are objects left over from the formation of the Solar
System. While some have suggested that the Asteroid Belt is the
remains of a proto planet that was destroyed in a massive
collision long ago, the prevailing view is that asteroids are
leftover rocky matter that never successfully coalesced into a
planet.
Most planetary astronomers still believe that the planets of the
Solar System formed from a nebula of gas and dust and ices that
formed into a dusty disk around the developing Sun. However,
beyond the orbit of Mars gravity interference from Jupiter's
huge mass prevented proto planet bodies from growing larger by
sweeping many into collisions as well as out into the Solar
System or beyond the Sun's gravity reach altogether.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It is also the largest
planet in the solar system. There is a thin ring of dust around
Jupiter, it has 16 moons and is 778 million Km from the sun.
Jupiter is made mostly of frozen gases making it unable for
spaceships to land. Jupiter has a large red spot on the surface.
This red spot is a wind storm which has been going on for over
300 years. It takes 10 Earth hours for Jupiter to rotate on its
axis making up one day. A year on Jupiter is almost 12 Earth
years.
Saturn
The sixth planet is Saturn. It is the second largest
planet and is over 1 billion Km away from the sun. Like Jupiter,
Saturn is also made mostly of frozen gases. The planet is known
for its seven wide rings that surround it, made of ice and dust.
Saturn has 18 known moons but scientist think there are
more. The day on Saturn is 10 Earth hours and a year is about 29
Earth years.
Uranus
The seventh planet is Uranus; it is made of frozen gasses and is
much bigger than earth. Uranus also is surrounded by rings and
has over 20 moons. An interesting fact about Uranus is that it
rotates on its side, possibly because a large object may have
once crashed into it. A day on Uranus lasts 18 Earth hours. The
year on Uranus is 84 Earth years.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet form the sun about 5 billion Km
away. Neptune is also made up of frozen gases and similar in
size to Uranus. There are strong winds and storms blowing around
the planet. It does have rings but they are very thin and
hard to see. The planet also has 8 moons. The Neptune day last
19 Earth hours and the Neptune year last 165 Earth years.
Pluto
The last planet in the solar system is Pluto and is about 6
billion Km away from the sun. As the planet is so tiny (smaller
than the Earth’s moon) and very far away little is know about
Pluto. Scientists think that Pluto may be made of ice and rock.
There are even suggestions that Pluto may not actually be a
planet but a different form of moon. A Pluto day is 6 Earth days
and the Pluto year is 248 Earth years.
The Milky Way
Our planet Earth and our whole Solar System live in the Galaxy
called The Milky Way. The Milky Way is one of many Galaxy's in
the Universe. The The Milky Way Galaxy is shaped as a spiral and
contains billions of Solar Systems like the one Earth is in.
Earth is located on an outer edge of the Milky Way, which means
if a spacecraft tried to travel across our galaxy it would take
many light-years of space travel.
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