SPACE BY Sophie fisher

planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

Why does a astronaut where a space suit? Space is a very challenging place to explore. There is no air in space, so there is nothing to breathe. It is very cold, unless the sun is shining onto you - and then, without air to protect you, the rays of the sun would soon burn you! To survive in space you need a suit that protects your body from the heat and cold, and surrounds you with air to breathe. A space suit is like a tiny spaceship for one. It is a very complicated machine, with air conditioning, heating, air to breathe and water to drink. It even has a built in toilet!

The first space suites Spacesuits were first invented around 80 years ago, for early pilots who wanted to fly super high. As pilots fly higher and higher, the air becomes thinner, so they need air to breathe and to support their bodies. The earliest suits were made of rubber and cloth and where hard to move around in. In the 1950s and 1960s, Russia and America got into a race to be the first into space. Although the earliest astronauts stayed inside their spacecraft, scientists knew they needed protection, and so started work on better space suits for these missions.

What does it take to be an astronaut? The first astronauts were military fast jet and test pilots. They were chosen for their quick reactions, and experience in flying difficult, experimental aeroplanes. Yuri Gagarin, first man in space was a jet fighter pilot, as were all seven of the first NASA astronauts. They were used to speed and danger, and enjoyed the challenges of trying things nobody had ever done before.

How big is space? How big is space? That is a question man has been asking since the beginning of time. When your grandparents were in school, it was thought that the Universe was very small, perhaps only 5000 light years across. 500 years ago it was thought that the Universe was only a little bit bigger than the Earth. In modern times, with the power of technology, we are finally starting to grasp the immense size of the Universe, and it is much bigger than anyone could have ever imagined.

What are stars made of ? Basically, stars are big exploding balls of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. Our nearest star, the Sun, is so hot that the huge amount of hydrogen is undergoing a constant star-wide nuclear reaction, like in a hydrogen bomb. Even though it is constantly exploding in a nuclear reaction, the Sun and other stars are so large and have so much matter in them that it will take billions of years for the explosion to use all the "fuel" in the star.

What do astronauts eat in space ? The first meals eaten in space were soft, gooey foods a lot like baby food, packed in tubes like toothpaste. The astronaut squeezed these meals into their mouths! The first meal an American astronaut ate was apple-sauce. Apple sauce is made by cooking down apples with water or apple cider.

What I think about space I think space is a very astonishing place and it is truly interesting because you can ask lots of quotations about space because it is a very big space and there are millions of magnificent stars. So I think space is remarkable place.