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Space: questions and answers
The most searched questions about Space, with a direct answer, an explanation and sources.
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Moon and Mars
When does Artemis II reach the Moon?
Artemis II has already passed the Moon: its closest approach came on April 6, 2026, at 6,545 km (4,067 miles) above the lunar surface. It had launched on… more…
Richard Dorrell (CC BY SA), vía commons Moon and Mars
How does the moon affect the tides?
By pulling unevenly on it. Tidal forces vary inversely as the cube of the distance, so the near side of the Earth is tugged harder than the far side: one… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts float?
Not because gravity has vanished: in low orbit it is almost as strong as on the ground. Astronauts float because they are falling, exactly like their… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts exercise so much?
Because weightlessness unloads the body: muscles, bones, heart and circulation deteriorate quickly without effort. That's why training is on the ISS crew's… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much does it cost to launch a rocket?
Launch costs range from a few million dollars for small rockets to billions for institutional giants. A Rocket Lab Electron is offered at around 8 million, a… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
What is SpaceX's Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is SpaceX's orbital launcher: a two-stage rocket about 70 m tall, with nine kerosene-and-liquid-oxygen Merlin engines on its first stage, which first… more…
MBH (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How long did yuri gagarin stay in space?
One orbit and 108 minutes. Vostok 1 lifted off from Baikonur on 12 April 1961 and Yuri Gagarin was back on the ground near Engels, in the Saratov region, one… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why is there weightlessness in space?
Not because gravity is missing there: at the ISS's altitude, between 200 and 250 miles, nearly 90% of the pull found at Earth's surface still acts. The… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why is there weightlessness in space?
Weightlessness doesn't happen because there's no gravity in space: in the ISS's orbit, Earth pulls almost as strongly as at the surface. What happens is that… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does gravity exist in space?
Gravity is a property of mass itself, so it exists everywhere there is matter, including the vacuum of space. Its pull weakens with the square of the distance… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why doesn't Thomas Pesquet want to go to Mars anymore?
Nothing supports such a refusal: Thomas Pesquet has never announced giving up on Mars. He mainly points out that the planet remains technically out of reach… more…
Astronauts and life in space
When did astronauts walk on the moon?
Twelve astronauts walked on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972, on six Apollo landings. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were first, stepping out on… more…
Moon and Mars
What are neil armstrong's famous words?
He said: "That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind." That's how the annotated transcript of the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal records it… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why did Thomas Pesquet go to space?
Because it's his job: recruited by ESA in 2009, he was assigned to two long-duration stays on the International Space Station, Proxima in 2016-2017 and then… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How many rockets have been launched into space?
Since Sputnik in 1957, more than 7,000 orbital launch attempts have been made worldwide, of which just over 90% reached orbit (as of September 2026). The pace… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts exist?
Because some tasks in space require hands, eyes, and judgment on site — repairs, experiments, sample collection — and because the human body itself is an… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut float in space?
Not because gravity has disappeared: at the altitude of space stations, Earth still pulls on the crew almost as strongly as on the ground. Astronauts float… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Can you be an astronaut if you're nearsighted?
Yes. NASA doesn't require perfect vision, only distant visual acuity correctable to 20/20 in each eye, so glasses and contact lenses are acceptable… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does blue origin work?
Blue Origin is a private space company founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000. It builds and flies its own rockets and engines: New Shepard, a reusable suborbital… more…
Moon and Mars
Is it true that a rocket crashed into the Moon?
Yes. On March 4, 2022, an abandoned rocket stage hit the Moon near Hertzsprung crater, on the far side. NASA's LRO probe photographed the result: a double… more…
Moon and Mars
How fast does the Moon rotate?
The Moon spins on itself very slowly: it takes 655.720 hours, that is 27.3217 days, practically the same time it takes to orbit Earth, which is why it always… more…
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Rockets and launches
How much does the biggest rocket weigh?
The heaviest rocket ever built is SpaceX's Starship, which weighs close to 5,000 t fully fuelled on the pad; more than 90 percent of that is liquid methane… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much a rocket cost?
Building a rocket costs anywhere from a few million dollars for a small launcher to more than a billion for a government heavy lifter. Published prices give… more…
Moon and Mars
Did they really land on the Moon?
Yes, and not just once: six Apollo missions — 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 — landed between July 1969 and December 1972. Twelve people walked on the surface… more…
Rockets and launches
What does the saturn v look like?
Saturn V looked like a white needle 110.6 m (363 ft) tall and 10.1 m wide at the base, painted with black roll-pattern stripes, the words UNITED STATES and… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why are astronaut spacesuits white?
White reflects sunlight instead of absorbing it: in orbit, an astronaut goes from full, unfiltered sunlight to freezing shadow, and a light-colored shell… more…
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Tim Evanson from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How does an astronaut look like?
There is no astronaut physique or face: crews are ordinary adults who pass a medical and a selection board. What is distinctive is the kit — white… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How much an astronaut salary?
There is no single astronaut salary. NASA's civilian astronauts are ordinary federal employees paid on the government-wide General Schedule, at grades set by… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why can't astronauts get cavities?
They can: the claim is exaggerated. But nothing is allowed to flare up in flight, so everything is handled on the ground — dental check-up at selection… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How do rockets get from Earth into space?
A rocket reaches space in about nine minutes: it lifts off vertically, tilts eastward to take advantage of Earth's rotation, drops the first stage once it… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Astronauts and life in space
How long spacex been around?
SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002, so it has been around for about 24 years (figure as of September 2026). It needed six years to reach orbit - Falcon 1… more…
Space history
Did the NF-104A carry a rocket engine alongside its jet engine?
Yes: besides its turbojet, the NF-104A carried a Rocketdyne AR2-3 mounted at the base of the tail fin. It produced 6,000 lbf (27 kN) of thrust and burned JP-4… more…
Rockets and launches
How fast do space rockets travel?
A rocket entering low Earth orbit reaches about 7.8 km/s, that is, about 28,000 km/h, in less than ten minutes from liftoff. Escaping Earth's gravity to… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much a rocket weight?
Rockets range from about 13 t for Rocket Lab's Electron to roughly 549 t for Falcon 9, 2,800 t for Saturn V and close to 5,000 t for Starship with its Super… more…
Moon and Mars
How fast was Artemis II going?
Orion reentered the atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour (mph), according to NASA. During the mission it traveled 695,081 miles in total and reached… more…
Moon and Mars
How does neil armstrong came back from moon?
In three stages. On July 21, 1969, the Eagle lifted off from the Moon at 17:54:01 UTC and docked with the Columbia at 21:34:00 UTC; on July 22, trans-Earth… more…
Rockets and launches
When will Starship fly?
Starship already flies: SpaceX has been conducting integrated test flights of the full rocket (Super Heavy plus Starship) since April 2023, and as of October… more…
Moon and Mars
Can Apollo 11 be seen from Earth?
Not with a telescope: the descent stage left behind in the Sea of Tranquility is too small for any ground-based instrument and had to be photographed from… more…
C1cada (CC BY SA), vía commons Moon and Mars
What is the waning moon?
A waning moon is one that shows less lit surface each night: the stretch of the cycle running from full moon to new moon. In the eight-phase sequence NASA… more…
Moon and Mars
How many rockets have reached the Moon?
No rocket reaches the Moon: what arrives is the spacecraft it launches. Counting crewed landings, the tally is that of the Apollo program, active between 1962… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long neil armstrong on moon?
Armstrong spent about 2 hours 31 minutes outside the lunar module on the surface, and roughly 21 hours 36 minutes on the Moon in total, counting the time… more…
Rockets and launches
How much did the space race cost?
The American side is documented: Project Apollo cost about 25.4 billion dollars as reported to Congress in 1973, roughly 257 billion in 2020 dollars, with… more…
Moon and Mars
Where does Artemis II launch from?
Artemis II already flew: it launched on April 1, 2026, from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It carried four astronauts, three from NASA… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does an astronaut poop in space?
With suction instead of gravity. Space toilets use a fan-driven airflow to pull waste away from the body: solid waste goes into a bag inside a canister, urine… more…
Chapelle Musa 2 (CC BY SA), vía commons Moon and Mars
Can the Moon be seen during the day?
Yes, and it happens almost daily. The Moon is above the horizon both day and night; what changes is that during the day it competes with a lit-up sky. NASA… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long does Artemis last?
Artemis is a program, not a single trip, so there are several answers. The uncrewed test flight Artemis I launched on November 16, 2022 and ended on December… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long an astronaut can stay in space?
There is no fixed limit, only medical and logistical ones. Standard ISS tours last about six months; the record for a single flight is 437 days, set by Valeri… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How high do astronauts orbit the earth?
Crewed spaceflight today happens a few hundred kilometres up. The International Space Station orbits at about 400 km, lapping the planet roughly every 90… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What do astronauts eat?
Real food, not pills. On the International Space Station the menu includes dehydrated dishes rehydrated with water, pouched thermostabilized food, nuts, wheat… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long did Alexander Gerst spend in space?
Alexander Gerst took part in two long-duration ISS missions: from May 28 to November 10, 2014, on Blue Dot, and from June 6 to December 20, 2018, on horizons… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many astronauts have walked on the Moon?
Twelve people have walked on the Moon, all of them American, all between July 1969 and December 1972, during the six Apollo missions that landed: Apollo 11… more…
Moon and Mars
Why isn't the Moon out?
The Moon rises every day, but not always at night: the time it rises shifts throughout the roughly 29.5-day phase cycle. At new moon it rises and sets almost… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How do astronauts go to the bathroom?
With suction toilets: a personal funnel and a narrow seat draw away urine and waste using airflow, since in microgravity nothing falls on its own. Urine goes… more…
MBH (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
What yuri gagarin eat in space?
Vostok 1 lasted 108 minutes on 12 April 1961, too short for a meal. Gagarin carried food in aluminium tubes, and Soviet accounts say he sampled pureed meat… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long apollo 11 took to reach moon?
Apollo 11 took a little over three days to reach the Moon. It lifted off on 16 July 1969 and entered lunar orbit on 19 July, roughly 76 hours after launch… more…
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Rockets and launches
How high does Blue Origin reach?
Blue Origin's New Shepard climbs to about 105-107 km, just above the Kármán line (100 km), on a roughly ten-minute suborbital flight. New Glenn, its orbital… more…
Lviatour (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
What did Neil Armstrong see in the Cueva de los Tayos?
An enormous cave full of life, not an extraterrestrial structure. According to an account by a caver on the team, published in 1979, Armstrong was the guest… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts feel weightless in space?
They are not beyond gravity: they are falling. A spacecraft in orbit and everything inside it fall towards Earth together, and their sideways speed keeps them… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long does the Artemis mission last?
Reaching the Moon takes the Orion spacecraft days, not hours. Artemis II is planned for about ten days total: outbound, a loop behind the Moon on a… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What is gravity like in space?
There is gravity in space, and plenty of it: at the 400 km altitude of the International Space Station it works out to about 8.7 m/s², close to 90% of the… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many apollo 11 astronauts walked on the moon?
Two of the three. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on 20 July 1969, spending about two and a half hours outside the lunar module Eagle… more…
Rockets and launches
How does the saturn v work?
Saturn V worked by staging: a kerosene first stage with five F-1 engines (about 34,000 kN) lifted the 2,800 t rocket for two and a half minutes, a… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do satellites stay in orbit around Earth?
Satellites don't float: they keep falling toward Earth, but they move sideways so fast that the surface curves away beneath them at the same rate. At 400 km… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much a rocket ship cost?
There is no single price: a small orbital rocket such as Rocket Lab's Electron sells for roughly 7–8 million dollars, a Falcon 9 launch is listed at about 70… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How does Artemis II's toilet work?
Orion carries a complete, if tiny, space toilet on Artemis II, unlike Apollo, which made do with bags and urine hoses. Instead of gravity, an airflow carries… more…
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Space history
Why did the USSR need to build a new aircraft to move its Buran shuttle?
The VM-T Atlant, the aircraft that moved the program's parts, could only carry 50 t, while plans called for carrying 200 t to Baikonur. And the An-124 Ruslan… more…
ESO/G. Brammer (CC BY), vía commons Moon and Mars
Can Artemis be seen from Earth?
With a telescope, yes; with the naked eye, no. On April 8, 2026, the Falcon telescope at UNSW Canberra Space recorded Orion as the Artemis II crew headed… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts wear space suits?
Because vacuum kills in seconds and the suit is a one-person spacecraft: it holds pressure around the body and supplies breathable oxygen, temperature… more…
Moon and Mars
How long does Artemis 2 take to reach the Moon?
Five days from liftoff: Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, and passed its closest point to the Moon on April 6, flight day six. The outbound leg after… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How fast do astronauts return to earth?
Astronauts come home at orbital speed: a capsule leaving the International Space Station starts from the station's own speed of some 28 800 km/h, and air… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much do rockets cost?
An orbital launch costs anywhere from about $7.5 million on a light rocket like Electron to over $2 billion on NASA's SLS, according to its Office of… more…
Rockets and launches
Why does a rocket launch into space?
A rocket launches into space because it is the only practical way to reach orbital speed. Orbit is less about altitude than velocity: a satellite must travel… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How did Alexander Gerst become an astronaut?
Through Earth science: Gerst, born in 1976 in Künzelsau, earned his doctorate in geophysics researching active volcanoes before the ESA selected him in 2009… more…
Rockets and launches
Where does the world's largest rocket launch from?
Starship, the world's largest rocket, launches from Starbase, SpaceX's private site in Boca Chica, at the southern tip of Texas, near the border with Mexico… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What is an astronaut's maximum absorbency garment?
The MAG is the absorbent undergarment worn under a pressure suit — in plain terms an engineered adult diaper. It is used during launch, re-entry and… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much does a Falcon 9 cost?
A Falcon 9 launch costs a commercial customer around $70 million, according to the list price SpaceX publishes (as of September 2026). That's the price of the… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does gravity form in space?
Gravity is not formed in space; it is already everywhere. Any mass curves spacetime around it, so the Earth, the Sun and the International Space Station all… more…
Moon and Mars
How long does Mars take to orbit the Sun?
Mars takes 686.980 Earth days to complete one orbit around the Sun, equivalent to 1.881 Earth years. Counted in Martian days, the year lasts 669.6 sols, which… more…
Raimond Spekking (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How much does an ESA astronaut earn?
An ESA astronaut holds a staff contract with the space agency and is paid like the rest of its workforce: salary depends on the post's pay grade, plus… more…
Moon and Mars
What happens if Mars collides with Earth?
It can't happen on any human timescale: Mars's and Earth's orbits are separate and stable. The scenario only shows up in billion-year simulations — of more… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
When does the Falcon 9 launch?
Falcon 9 doesn't have "a" launch: it's the world's busiest rocket and lifts off several times a week. In 2025 SpaceX launched it more than 150 times, almost… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How much does an astronaut earn per month?
A NASA astronaut is paid under the federal GS scale, between GS-11 and GS-14 (as of September 2026): the agency posted an annual range of about $104,898 to… more…
Moon and Mars
What is the gravity on Mars?
On Mars, gravitational acceleration at the equator is 3.69 m/s², versus 9.78 m/s² on Earth; a ratio of 0.377. Mass stays the same, only weight decreases… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long was Alexander Gerst in space?
Alexander Gerst spent a total of 362 days in space over two long stays on the International Space Station. In 2014 he flew as flight engineer on the Blue Dot… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How much blue origin rocket cost?
Blue Origin does not publish a list price for its rockets, so there is no official figure. Seats on the suborbital New Shepard have been sold at auction and… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How long astronauts stay in space?
Most crew members fly a standard increment of about six months aboard the International Space Station. A few have stayed far longer: the endurance record for… more…
Moon and Mars
How much time neil armstrong spent on moon?
Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the Moon's surface, almost all of it inside the lunar module Eagle. Armstrong stepped onto the surface… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How old is Alexander Gerst?
Alexander Gerst was born on May 3, 1976, in Künzelsau, making him 50 years old (September 2026). The geophysicist has belonged to ESA's astronaut corps since… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many astronauts have died in space?
Three. Only the Soyuz 11 crew - Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev - have died in space itself, when their capsule lost its air in June… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why can Thomas Pesquet no longer go to space?
False: nothing rules out another flight for Thomas Pesquet. He still belongs to ESA's astronaut corps and has announced no withdrawal. What is missing are… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
Why is a rocket launching today?
Because orbital launches are now near-daily events: 2024 saw around 260 orbital launch attempts worldwide, about half of them by SpaceX's Falcon 9, largely to… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many times has Thomas Pesquet been to space?
Thomas Pesquet has been to space twice, each time for a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station: the Proxima mission, from November 2016 to… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut feel weightless in space?
Because they are in free fall, not because gravity has vanished. At the ISS altitude of about 400 km Earth's pull is only slightly weaker than at sea level… more…
Moon and Mars
Is it true that the Moon is moving away from Earth?
Yes. The Moon is moving away from Earth by about 3.8 centimeters a year. We know this because the Apollo 11 astronauts left a laser reflector on the surface… more…
Rockets and launches
When do Fourth of July fireworks go off?
The "rockets" of the Fourth of July are fireworks, not spacecraft, and they boom after dusk: most U.S. shows start between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. local time. The… more…
Rockets and launches
How fast does a NASA rocket launch?
At the moment of liftoff, a NASA rocket moves very slowly: the Saturn V took about 12 seconds to clear the launch tower, at under 100 km/h. Speed builds… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why is blue origin so far behind spacex?
Blue Origin started earlier than SpaceX but moved deliberately, funded by Jeff Bezos rather than by customers, and spent well over a decade on suborbital… more…
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Rockets and launches
Who controls a rocket?
No one flies it by hand: it is governed by its flight computer, which corrects the trajectory many times per second by gimbaling the engines. On the ground, a… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why is no gravity in space?
There is gravity in space: the ISS orbits inside a field only about a tenth weaker than at sea level. What is missing is weight. The station and everyone in… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How fast do astronauts travel in space?
It depends on the orbit. Astronauts on the International Space Station travel at about 7.7 km/s, close to 28,000 km/h, circling Earth roughly every 90… more…
Rockets and launches
Why does starship explode when it hits the water?
Starship explodes on splashdown because the test flights are designed to end at sea, where the vehicle is not recovered. When it touches the water it tips… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How fast was the Apollo 11 rocket going?
The Saturn V gained speed stage by stage: after two and a half minutes, the first stage took Apollo 11 to an altitude of 61 kilometers, flying at 8,000 km/h… more…
Moon and Mars
Why does artemis mean?
Artemis is the Greek goddess of the Moon and Apollo's twin sister: NASA announced that name on May 16, 2019, for its return-to-the-Moon program, successor to… more…
Luc Viatour (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
What is gravity in space time?
In general relativity, gravity is not a force pulling objects together but the curvature of spacetime itself. Mass and energy bend the four-dimensional… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why is there weightlessness on the space station?
Not because there's no gravity there: at the ISS's orbital altitude, Earth attracts with almost the same force as at the surface. The station orbits it at… more…
ESO/G. Lombardi (CC BY), vía commons Moon and Mars
How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth?
The Moon completes one orbit of Earth in 27.3217 days, its sidereal orbital period, measured against the stars. The cycle of phases we see from the ground… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut weigh less on the Moon?
Because the Moon has far less mass and a smaller radius than Earth: its surface gravity is 1.62 m/s², versus 9.81 m/s² on Earth. An 80 kg astronaut still has… more…
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NASA, ESA, the Hubble SM4 ERO Team and ST-ECF (CC BY), vía commons Rockets and launches
When does space curve pdf?
Space doesn't curve at a specific moment: according to general relativity, published by Einstein in 1915, spacetime is curved whenever there is mass or… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does weightlessness occur?
Through free fall. As soon as a body and its surroundings fall at the same rate, nothing presses against a surface anymore; that's exactly what happens in… more…
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Jimmy Baikovicius from Montevideo, Uruguay (CC BY SA), vía commons Moon and Mars
Why does the Moon turn red?
The Moon turns red when it enters Earth's shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the only light reaching its surface has passed through the edge of our… more…
Astronauts and life in space
When did astronauts first land on the moon?
On 20 July 1969. The Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility that afternoon US time, and Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface a… more…
Event Horizon Telescope (CC BY), vía commons Astronomy and the universe
Why do black holes have such enormous gravity?
It's not the mass that makes the difference, but the density. From far away, a black hole pulls with the same force as a star of equal mass. But because all… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long did the saturn v take to build?
Development of the Saturn V ran from 1962, when NASA settled on the configuration, to its first flight in November 1967 — roughly five and a half years from… more…
Rockets and launches
Who built the world's largest rocket?
The world's largest rocket, Starship, is designed, built, and launched by SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. It is built at Starbase, the… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How high up are astronauts?
Active astronauts work in low Earth orbit: the International Space Station flies at around 400 km altitude, and China's Tiangong orbits at a similar height… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How tall is Thomas Pesquet?
ESA does not publish his height: Thomas Pesquet's official profile gives his birth, training and missions, not his measurements, which belong to medical… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long did the space race take?
Just under twelve years, if you date it from Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957 to the Apollo 11 landing on 20 July 1969. Stretch the definition to the Apollo-Soyuz… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How many Falcon 9 rockets have been launched?
The Falcon 9 has surpassed 500 launches since its debut in June 2010: in 2024 alone it flew 132 times, and in 2025 it passed the cumulative 500 mark (as of… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does an astronaut toilet work?
Like a vacuum cleaner with built-in purification: a fan sucks air through the funnel and seat, doing what gravity does on Earth. Urine is separated and turned… more…
Moon and Mars
How fast was Apollo 11 going?
NASA documents a specific figure: the command module Columbia entered Earth's atmosphere at 39,000 km/h (24,000 mph) on the way back from the Moon. About nine… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why is there gravity in space?
Because gravity is a property of mass itself, not of air or of standing on the ground. Any object with mass curves the space around it, and that influence… more…
Moon and Mars
Why apollo 11 name?
After the Greek god Apollo and the mission's place in a renumbered sequence. Abe Silverstein, a NASA official, named the Mercury and Apollo programs. Eleven… more…
Rockets and launches
Why is voyager 1 so fast?
Voyager 1 travels at about 17 km/s (61,000 km/h) relative to the Sun because it was launched on a Titan IIIE-Centaur in 1977 and then gained speed from… more…
European Space Agency (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How much does Thomas Pesquet earn?
Thomas Pesquet is an international civil servant of the European Space Agency, paid according to the coordinated organizations' salary scale, not a mission… more…
Astronauts and life in space
When do astronauts return to Earth?
When their expedition ends: aboard the International Space Station that's usually about six months, with the spacecraft that brought them staying docked the… more…
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Dean Sumith (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How much an astronaut earn in india?
India has no separate astronaut pay scale. The Gaganyaan astronaut-designates are serving Indian Air Force test pilots, so they draw the salary, rank pay and… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts need a special suit to breathe?
There's no air in space: no oxygen to breathe and no pressure for the lungs to absorb it. The suit supplies its own oxygen, maintains an artificial pressure… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut float in space?
Not because gravity has gone. At the International Space Station's altitude of about 400 km (250 mi), Earth still pulls almost as hard as at sea level. The… more…
MBH (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
When did Gagarin die?
Yuri Gagarin died on 27 March 1968, in the crash of a MiG-15UTI training jet near Novosyolovo, northeast of Moscow, with instructor Vladimir Seryogin. It was… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What are blue origin leadership principles?
Blue Origin's leadership principles are the behaviours it hires, reviews and promotes on, set out on its careers pages rather than as a widely published… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How quickly does someone die in space?
Neither instantly nor from explosion: in a vacuum, consciousness is lost within seconds, because blood stops picking up oxygen; it's fatal if no one restores… more…
Moon and Mars
Who discovered the Moon?
No one: the Moon was never discovered, because it is visible to the naked eye and has accompanied humanity since the beginning. What does have an author and a… more…
Moon and Mars
How big is the Moon?
The Moon has an equatorial diameter of 3,476 km, less than a third of Earth's width, and a mean radius of 1,737.4 km. It orbits at an average distance of… more…
Rockets and launches
How tall is the world's biggest rocket?
The world's biggest rocket, SpaceX's Starship, stands about 123 m tall with its Super Heavy booster, and 9 m in diameter (as of September 2026). It is taller… more…
Rockets and launches
What is a space rocket?
A space rocket is a reaction-propelled vehicle that carries both its fuel and oxidizer on board, letting it accelerate outside the atmosphere. Its job is to… more…
Moon and Mars
Why isn't Mars habitable?
Because its atmosphere is unbreathable and barely there: 95.1% carbon dioxide and an average surface pressure of just 6.36 mb. With so little atmosphere… more…
Moon and Mars
Why did apollo 11 go to the moon?
Because the United States had publicly committed itself to it. On 25 May 1961 Kennedy asked Congress to back landing a man on the moon and returning him… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts land in water?
Because water absorbs an impact that would otherwise be punishing. A capsule under parachutes still arrives hard, and the sea spreads that blow across the… more…
European Space Agency (CC BY SA), vía commons Moon and Mars
How does the Moon block the Sun?
It's a coincidence of scale: the Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but it's also about 400 times closer to Earth, so both disks appear almost the… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many apollo 11 astronauts are still alive?
One. Buzz Aldrin, born on 20 January 1930, is the only surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew (as of September 2026). Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does weightlessness work?
Weightlessness isn't the absence of gravity but free fall. The ISS orbits Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometers, at roughly 28,000 km/h, and takes… more…
Astronauts and life in space
When did astronauts go to the moon?
Twelve people have walked on the Moon, all between July 1969 and December 1972. Apollo 11 landed on 20 July 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Five… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long is the saturn v?
The Saturn V stood 110.6 m (363 ft) tall with the Apollo spacecraft and escape tower in place, and its first stage was 10.1 m (33 ft) in diameter. It held the… more…
Alexander Gerst (CC BY SA), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How long do astronauts stay on the ISS?
A standard rotation aboard the International Space Station lasts about six months. Expedition crews rotate in groups of three or four, with a few days of… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How much falcon 9 launch cost?
SpaceX lists a standard Falcon 9 mission at 69.75 million dollars, with the booster recovered (data as of January 2025). Small satellites can share a ride… more…
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LunchboxLarry (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
How much blue origin ticket?
Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, then Amazon's CEO, headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operated quietly in its early years and… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
What is the Falcon 9?
The Falcon 9 is SpaceX's two-stage rocket, 70 m tall and 3.7 m in diameter, powered by nine Merlin engines in its first stage, which lands and is reused. It… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What does Blue Origin mean?
Blue Origin refers to Earth: the blue planet is the origin of humanity and, according to the company Jeff Bezos founded in 2000, the place that must be… more…
Rockets and launches
Why is the universe so big?
The universe is so big because it has been expanding for about 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang, and that expansion is accelerating. The observable… more…
Rockets and launches
What happens when you light firework rockets?
Firework rockets are pyrotechnic items, not spacecraft: once the fuse is lit, the gunpowder burns and expels gases that propel the tube until a final charge… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How do astronauts wash themselves?
Aboard the International Space Station, there's no shower: water doesn't fall, it sticks to the skin. Crews wash with a wet cloth, using no-rinse soap and… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How much an astronaut earn?
NASA's civilian astronauts are ordinary federal employees: they draw a General Schedule salary set by grade and step, with no bonus for a launch or a… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts grow taller in space?
In microgravity, the spine is no longer compressed by body weight: it lengthens and the back's natural curves flatten out. The crew gains a few centimeters… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How can weightlessness be created on Earth?
Real weightlessness only occurs in free fall, and on Earth it can only be sustained briefly: about 20 seconds per maneuver in a parabolic flight, barely a few… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does gravity work in space for kids?
Gravity does not switch off in space. At the altitude of the International Space Station, about 400 km, Earth's pull is only a little weaker than on the… more…
Rockets and launches
Where can you watch Starship?
Starship launches from Starbase, in Boca Chica, Texas, near the border with Mexico. The most common public viewing spot is South Padre Island, about 8 km… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long was Apollo 11 in space?
Apollo 11 lasted 195 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds, just over eight days: it launched on July 16, 1969 and splashed down in the Pacific on July 24, 1969… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut float in a space station?
Not because gravity has disappeared: at 400 km altitude, it still equals about 90% of its surface value. The station and its crew are simply falling together… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What does an astronaut do?
They work. In orbit an astronaut operates and repairs the station, runs science experiments designed by other teams, operates the robotic arm, handles cargo… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long was the space race?
The Space Race is conventionally dated from the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957 to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking of July 1975, about… more…
Rockets and launches
What does Starship mean?
Starship literally means a spacecraft built for travel between stars. SpaceX adopted the name in November 2018 for the vehicle it had until then called BFR… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How much do astronauts earn?
Astronauts are civil servants or military personnel on public salaries, not millionaires. At NASA, civilian candidates are hired at GS-13 and GS-14 levels of… more…
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LunchboxLarry (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
Why is blue origin logo a feather?
Blue Origin uses the feather as an emblem of flight itself: the company presents it as a symbol of flight's perfection, grace and freedom rather than of speed… more…
Moon and Mars
How many days did it take Apollo 11 to reach the Moon?
Four calendar days: Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969, at 13:32 UTC, and the Eagle landed on July 20 at 20:17:40 UTC, at 102 hours and 45 minutes into the… more…
Rockets and launches
How fast is the world's biggest rocket?
The largest rocket ever built, Starship, reaches about 27,000 km/h (7.5 km/s) in its test flights and will hit the 28,000 km/h of low Earth orbit once it… more…
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Moon and Mars
When is the Moon at last quarter?
When we see half the lunar disk lit up after the full moon, in the final stretch of a phase cycle that repeats every 29.5 days. NASA calls it the last quarter… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How old would Neil Armstrong be today?
Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and died on August 25, 2012, at age 82. On August 5, 2026, he would have turned 96, so he… more…
Foto: SpaceX (CC0) Rockets and launches
How does the Falcon 9 land?
The Falcon 9's first stage lands under power: after separating, it flips around, performs a boostback burn if returning to land, slows during reentry with… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
What happens if there's no gravity in space?
The premise is wrong: there is gravity in space. At the 400 km altitude where the International Space Station orbits, Earth's pull still retains about 90% of… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How much does an astronaut earn in space?
There's no extra pay for flying: an astronaut earns the same in orbit as at a desk in Houston. NASA's are federal employees at grades GS-13 and GS-14, ESA's… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How do astronauts pee?
In a vacuum cleaner. Each astronaut has a personal funnel linked by a flexible hose to an airflow: suction, not gravity, carries the urine away. On the ISS… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How long does it take Artemis to reach the Moon?
The outbound trip takes only a few days. Artemis II is planned as a roughly ten-day flight: launch, systems testing in Earth orbit, a wide loop behind the… more…
LunchboxLarry (CC BY), vía commons Astronauts and life in space
Why does blue origin have a feather?
The feather is Blue Origin's emblem of flight, and it appears on the company crest alongside the Latin motto gradatim ferociter, step by step ferociously. Two… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long astronauts stay on moon?
So far, between about 21 hours and three days. Apollo 11 spent roughly 21 and a half hours on the lunar surface in July 1969; Apollo 17, the last landing… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long starship to moon?
Starship is not the vehicle that carries a crew from Earth to the Moon. Under NASA's Artemis plan it flies uncrewed to lunar orbit after refuelling in Earth… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What is an astronaut?
An astronaut is a person trained by an agency or a company to crew a spacecraft and work beyond the atmosphere. In Russia the term is cosmonaut, and in China… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How long did Apollo 11 spend on the Moon?
The Eagle lunar module spent nearly a full day on the Moon: it landed on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC in the Sea of Tranquility and lifted off on July 21 at… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
Why does an astronaut?
The question is cut off, so here are the three it usually is. Astronauts float because they are in free fall around Earth, not because gravity has vanished… more…
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Astronauts and life in space
How to simulate gravity in space?
By spinning. Rotating a habitat pins its occupants against the outer wall, and that centrifugal acceleration behaves like weight; the smaller the radius, the… more…
Rockets and launches
What are space rockets?
Space rockets are vehicles propelled by expelling the gases from their own combustion at high speed, without needing outside air, which lets them work in a… more…
Moon and Mars
How fast does Mars rotate?
Mars rotates on its axis in 24.6229 hours relative to the stars; its solar day, the Martian sol, lasts 24.6597 hours, slightly longer than Earth's. Its axis… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How does artificial weightlessness work?
Weightlessness isn't generated, it's only achieved through free fall: in a parabolic flight, passengers and equipment float for about 20 to 30 seconds at the… more…
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CC BY), vía commons Moon and Mars
Why is artemis 2 going to the moon?
Artemis II let NASA test, with astronauts aboard, what had only been tried uncrewed: that Orion can carry people to the Moon and bring them home. It flew from… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How many astronauts have died?
So far, four spaceflights have ended in deaths: Soyuz 1, with Vladimir Komarov (1967); Soyuz 11, with three cosmonauts (1971); the Challenger, with seven… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What happens if astronauts take off their helmets in space?
The body doesn't explode or freeze instantly — the person loses consciousness. As pressure disappears, body fluids start to vaporize — a condition called… more…
Astronauts and life in space
When do astronauts go to the Moon?
No one has walked on the Moon since December 1972, when Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out Apollo 17. NASA's Artemis program is preparing the… more…
Moon and Mars
Where did Apollo 11 land on the Moon?
Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility, a basaltic plain on the near side, at 0.67416° N latitude and 23.47314° E longitude. The Eagle lunar module… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How much nasa scientists earn?
NASA scientists and engineers are US federal civil servants paid on the General Schedule, so their salaries follow published GS grades and steps rather than… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts float on the ISS?
Because the Station and its crew fall together. At about 400 km altitude, Earth's gravity is only slightly weaker than at ground level, but the ISS moves fast… more…
Astronauts and life in space
What are blue origin rockets?
Two vehicles, plus a family of engines. New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket with a six-seat capsule that flies above the Kármán line at 100 km. New… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Who are astronauts?
Astronauts are professionals selected and trained by a space agency or company to crew spacecraft and work in orbit. They typically come from military… more…
Space station
How much longer will the ISS operate?
The United States, Japan, Canada and the ESA countries have committed to operating the ISS until 2030, and Russia until at least 2028; after that it will be… more…
Moon and Mars
How did Mars lose its atmosphere?
For lack of a global magnetic field and sufficient mass. More than four billion years ago, Mars's internal dynamo shut down, exposing its atmosphere to the… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts age more slowly?
Barely measurably, and biologically not at all. According to relativity, the clock of a fast-flying crew runs slightly slower, while at higher altitude it… more…
Moon and Mars
How fast does Artemis 2 land?
Artemis II didn't land: it splashed down. Orion hit the atmosphere at 400,000 ft traveling at 35 times the speed of sound and reached the water at about 20… more…
Rockets and launches
Why does a rocket launch?
A rocket launches because its engines push exhaust gas downward at very high speed, and by Newton's third law the gas pushes the rocket upward with an equal… more…
Astronauts and life in space
How fast do astronauts travel to the moon?
Speed changed constantly. Apollo 11 covered the 384,400 km to the Moon in just over four days from lift-off to touchdown. But the pace was never steady: the… more…
Astronauts and life in space
Why do astronauts have to quarantine?
So that no one boards a capsule they can't simply leave while sick: before launch, crews live in isolation, with medical checks and limited contact. After the… more…
Rockets and launches
What space launch is happening today?
Almost every day at least one orbital rocket lifts off somewhere in the world, most often from SpaceX in Florida and California, or from China. To find out… more…
Moon and Mars
Why does NASA want to leave Earth?
NASA does not want to leave Earth: its Earth Science division operates more than 20 satellites whose data is freely available. Exploring beyond Earth is… more…
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