NASA NASA is a space organization. It is an agency of the United States government. NASA is responsible for the whole worlds space program. It was formed on July 29 th 1958; 55 years ago. A man named Charles Bolden is the current administer of NASA he is responsible for all the research they do on aeronautics and aerospace. NASA tries to explore space and has done many exploration projects such as: Apollo moon landing missions, space shuttle and the Skylab space station. NASA was responsible for the landing of the first human on Earths moon. The first humans to land on the moon were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It happened on July 20 th NASA has achieved so many great things in its time which have changed the world of science.

This is a picture of Neil Armstrong on the moon on July 20 th 1969.

John Harrison John Harrison invented the first clock that was accurate enough to be used as a portable time source. It was invented in 1737 and named a marine chronometer. John Harrison was born on the 24 th March 1693 in West Yorkshire. He was a self educated carpenter and the later on became a clock maker. The clock was used to figure out the problem of the East – West position of a ship at sea. People had tried to find a solution to this problem for years and the British parliament offered a prize of 20,000 pounds (which is 2.66 million pounds in modern currency) to who ever found the solution to this problem. Harrison was only 20 when he invented the clock so he became very rich. He invented 2 clocks before the marine chronometer which are now in the science museum. When John Harrison was 6 he was ill with small pox and he was given a watch to entertain himself with and he spent hours listening to and studying the moving parts. John Harrison died on 24 th March (his birthday!) 1776 at the age of 83 in London. In 2002 Harrison came 39 th in the BBC’s poll if the 100 greatest Britons.

John Harrisonmarine chronometer

The solar system Mercury is the planets closest to the sun. It is a ball of iron and it spins very slowly. Mercury is the smallest planet it is as small as earths moon. Mercury doesn't have a moon. Venus is the same size as the Earth but it spins the opposite way from Earth. Venus also spins very slowly. It has no water but it has mountains and volcano's. Earth is the only planet in the solar system where there are signs of life. Life on Earth depends on the sun. Earth has a moon and a sun and land and lots of sea and that’s why it looks blue. Mars is a big red planet. It is very rocky and has many desserts and lots of ice. Mars also has the highest mountains in the solar system. And it has 2 moons. Jupiter is made of gas and very large. Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system and spins the fastest. It has the biggest moon in the solar system as well. Saturn is also made of ice and very large. It has rings made of ice and dust and rocks. Saturn's biggest moon is called Titan. Uranus is made of ice and gas and it is large. It is the coldest planet in the solar system. Uranus lies on its side. Neptune is made of gas and ice and is large. Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun so it is clod and dark and has lots of storms. All planets orbit the sun and they are all different sizes apart from Venus and Earth which are the same size. The sun is the centre of the solar system.