Weird trivia facts #6
Trivia about space & the universe
All the moons of the Solar System are named after Greek and
Roman mythology, except the moons of Uranus, which are named after
Shakespearean characters.
Astronauts brought back about 800 pounds of lunar rock to Earth.
Most of it has not been analyzed.
In 1959, the Soviet space probe "Luna Two" became the first
manmade object to reach the moon as it crashed onto the lunar
surface.
In 1968, "Apollo Seven," the first manned Apollo mission, was
launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R.
Walter Cunningham aboard.
Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System,
and is larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto.
Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in our solar
system.
On a clear night in the Northern Hemisphere the naked eye can
discern some 5000 stars.
On February 7, 1969 a meteorite weighing over 1 ton fell in
Chihuahua, Mexico.
Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star.
Robert Goddard a scientist and holder of 214 patents fired the
first rocket using liquid propellant in 1926.
Sunday, July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk
on the moon, Edwin Aldrin was the second. They were members of
Apollo 11, and landed in the Sea of Tranquility. The Lunar
Excursion Module was named the "Eagle." Michael Collins stayed
onboard the mother ship, "Columbia."
The Apollo 11 plaque left on the Moon says, "Here men from the
planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. / WE CAME
IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND."
The first American satellite in orbit, Explorer I, was launched
February 1, 1958.
The first man-made object to circle the earth was Sputnik I,
launched in 1957.
The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the
same size as a football field.
The three most recently discovered planets were Uranus in 1781,
Neptune in 1846, and Pluto in 1930.
Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side.
What we call the sky is merely the limit of our vision into the
atmosphere. The sky, like the horizon, is always as far away as one
can see.
