Space
Discover Space
Space tourism has been a dream of humanity for millennia. While in orbit or in free fall near Earth, you can float inside a spacecraft and view the planet from a unique vantage point. Though commercial space tourism has arrived, it is only for a privileged few. However, with recent innovations, it may be accessible to many soon. While very few can go to space, anyone with good eyes can see it for free. They can also do amateur astronomy, visit spaceflight sites, or learn about it. Outer space or simply space is the great empty above us. The most common definition is that space begins just 100 km (62 mi) above Earth's sea level, a boundary known as the Kármán line. Above that height, tourists need space technology to get there and to survive, as even high-altitude aviation technology won't suffice. The trick with spaceflight is that it's not about going high... it's about going fast. In low Earth orbit, that means speeds around 7.8 km/s (28,000 km/h or 17,000 mph), enough to circle the entire globe in about 90 minutes. Space is characterized by near-vacuum, with the atmosphere dwindling to a few atoms per cubic meter in interplanetary space. As the spacecraft moves along gravity in freefall, astronauts can feel the sensation of weightlessness, or microgravity.
Taste of Space...
Although space food has come a long way in terms of appeal and variety, the quality and flavor are still not up to standards of most connoisseurs of fine cuisine. Your transportation provider may offer some choice in the foods available, but you will be limited by their willingness to indulge you. Real space food has to be carefully tested to make sure it's nutritionally balanced, can be stored for months without refrigeration, and is suitable for a zero-gravity environment. Food that would leave crumbs, for example, is problematic. The menu on the International Space Station generally consists of American and Russian staples along with other meals and international cuisines that have been requested and developed. The freeze-dried "astronaut ice cream" sometimes sold on Earth as a novelty item is a misnomer; it has never actually been served on any manned space mission, and the texture is as off-putting to astronauts as it is to everyone else. However, real ice cream has occasionally been eaten in space by astronauts aboard Skylab, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station (usually when frozen components for scientific experiments are being sent up and there's some space remaining). Unfortunately, even with extensive research and development, astronauts find much food in space to be bland and often don't have much of an appetite.
A Rich Past
Explore the historical roots that shaped Space into what it is today.
Outer space was not well understood for millennia. People believed that the atmosphere extended upwards indefinitely, and if people could rise high enough on balloons or flying contraptions, they would eventually reach the moon and the stars. Only in the 17th century, did advances in math, physics, and technology begin to reshape our understanding. Telescopes show what lay beyond our own world, such as the moons of Jupiter. Through the theory of gravity and Newtonian physics, we discovered that outer space is a vacuum and how stars, planets, and moons orbit each other. In the 20th century, Russian teacher Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published landmark papers, and American scientist Robert Goddard experimented with rocket designs. While early 20th-century rocketry pioneers had their eyes on the stars, rockets had not yet escaped their military origins. By 1944 Germany had built the V-2, the first ballistic missile, to rain down on targets at speeds that made it invulnerable to anti-aircraft guns and fighters. The development of long-range ICBMs led to the Space Race during the Cold War – both the United States and the Soviet Union were now competing for the "firsts" in spaceflight. Under the leadership of engineer Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Union got this first on 4 October 1957 when Sputnik 1 orbited the Earth for 21 days. On 3 November 1957, the Soviet Union succeeded in putting Laika the dog into space aboard Sputnik 2, making her the first animal to orbit the Earth....
Festivals & Events
Experience the vibrant festivals and cultural celebrations of Space.
Like polar bases and other multinational ventures, space travel uses the languages of the craft's operators. English is the working language of space, used for many space operations and international coordination on the ground. Russian is the secondary language, as Soyuz missions use exclusively Russian until reaching the International Space Station. Sometimes, signs and labels on the station are bilingual. Naturally, Mandarin is spoken on Chinese missions to space. English is generally the working language in the International Space Station, though usually, crews are fluent in both English and Russian. Space tourists on the International Space Station must learn enough English. They also need to know basic Russian (250 hours of language training during 6 months of study, or about 2 hours per day). There is a lot more jargon in spaceflight than in many other places, partly because most people are technical-minded.
Climate
Since there is no atmosphere in space, spacecraft must create one for the astronauts to survive. Therefore, the atmosphere composition can vary widely. In the past, spacecraft used pure oxygen for convenient atmosphere storage, but nowadays it matches much more like Earth. Onboard the International Space Station, the temperature can range from 18 to 26 °C (64 to 79 °F), with humidity at around 60%. Therefore, it is wise to wear a light jacket to keep your body comfortable. In a spacesuit, the climate can be controlled more easily. In that case, comfortable and tight inner clothes would be the best fit, as the suit is very stiff. In practice, outer space doesn't have a "temperature", since there is very little matter around. These temperatures more often refer to the surface temperature, which can be misleading as an object in different orientations would receive heat from the Sun differently. Without sunlight, the temperature is around −270.5 °C (−454.9 °F), 2.
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsOnly the United States, Russia, and China can send people into space as of date. Nine other countries and one organization named the European Space Agency has launched objects to space using their domestic launch vehicles. The other independent countries that have launched satellites into space and have active space programs are Japan, India, Israel, Iran, New Zealand, North Korea, South Korea, and Ukraine. However, Ukraine has never put its own satellites into orbit. The European Space Agency includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. As of February 2022, nine countries are actively working on placing satellites in orbit: Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan, and Turkey. Besides those, some countries had plans to be space-faring but are now abandoned: Canada, Egypt, and Iraq....
Regions
Explore AreasOuter space or simply space is the great empty above us. The most common definition is that space begins just 100 km (62 mi) above Earth's sea level, a boundary known as the Kármán line. Above that he…...
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
Most space travelers remain inside their spacecraft and use its propulsion systems to get around. As orbital mechanics is extremely unintuitive and fuel for maneuvering is quite limited, these tasks are best left to a qualified pilot and computers. Inside your craft, it's very easy to move around using your hands and feet. Craft are designed with ample handholds and footholds for moving yourself around as well as anchoring yourself in place while you're working. You're unlikely to get stuck out of reach of one, as momentum, air currents, and other minuscule movements of your craft make it difficult to remain perfectly stationary. However, tourists could be stuck for many minutes, possibly even hours of that's happens. Whenever a person reach out for a surface, the rest of your body will move away just as much, preventing them from reaching anything. "Swimming" through the air doesn't work either, since unlike water, air offers very little mass to push against.
Where to Stay
While sleeping in zero gravity may sound relaxing, the overall experience is mediocre. As usual, you're free to choose your pyjamas, provided that they aren't very loose. On the International Space Station, astronauts each have a cabin about the size of a shower stall, so this is definitely not for those with claustrophobia! Inside this, they zip themselves into a sleeping bag on the wall, which can feel weird since you have gotten used to feel a force while laying down. There is no pillows and blanket in space – astronaut Scott Kelly missed the pillow so much that he stick his bag to a cushion. And it doesn't stop here. Maintaining your circadian rhythm is difficult on a craft that experiences a sunrise and sunset every 90 minutes, and schedule disruptions due to mission planning and long workdays create further problems.
Money & Budget
For most of us stuck down here on Earth, there are a lot of souvenirs at the space centers. Beware though that a lot of them are designed to serve the general public, which can contain science and concepts being represented inaccurately. The best way to buy real souvenirs is to have a good understanding of basic space concepts. Although space food has come a long way in terms of appeal and variety, the quality and flavor are still not up to standards of most connoisseurs of fine cuisine. Your transportation provider may offer some choice in the foods available, but you will be limited by their willingness to indulge you.
Language & Talk
Like polar bases and other multinational ventures, space travel uses the languages of the craft's operators. English is the working language of space, used for many space operations and international coordination on the ground. Russian is the secondary language, as Soyuz missions use exclusively Russian until reaching the International Space Station. Sometimes, signs and labels on the station are bilingual. Naturally, Mandarin is spoken on Chinese missions to space. English is generally the working language in the International Space Station, though usually, crews are fluent in both English and Russian. Space tourists on the International Space Station must learn enough English.
Safety Information
Safety Overview
If you obtain a legitimate ticket to orbit, you will still need to pass through very intensive training and face with a real risk of dying. There are less demanding ways of experiencing space, such as sub-orbital flights and parabolic aircraft flight. While more mature technology has made it safer than it was in the 1960s, space remains an inherently dangerous environment to put yourself in. Cosmic radiation, extreme temperatures, micrometeorites, engineering mistakes, high speeds, explosive fuels, space debris, the distance to the ground, and the lack of atmosphere make any unplanned situation potentially life-threatening. Spacecraft launch testing is extremely expensive, so spacecraft don't and can't have thousands of flight hours. By the standards of aviation, every space flight is a test flight.
Glimpses of Space
Colorful galaxy
North American and Pelican nebulae mosaic
Sea Of Stars
Ocean clouds seen from space
milkyway
Andromeda Galaxy
ray of light near body of water
photo of outer space
digital wallpaper of eclipse
Sublime purple night sky
Colorful galaxy
North American and Pelican nebulae mosaic
Sea Of Stars