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he solar system is made up of the sun and eight planets. There are also dwarf planets, moons, comets, and asteroids in our solar system. The solar system is part of a larger galaxy called the Milky Way. All objects in the solar system orbit around the sun. The sun is just one of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Four of the planets in the solar system are rocky planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—and four of them are gas planets— Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Distance from the sun
57,909,227 km
Distance from the sun
227,943,824 km
Orbit time
88 days
Orbit time
1.9 years
Planet fact
The daytime temperature on Mercury is 400°C!
Planet fact
Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system. The Olympus Mons is two and a half times bigger than Everest!
Distance from the sun
108,209,475 km
Orbit time
225 days
Planet fact
Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon.
Distance from the sun
149,598,262 km
Orbit time
365.26 days
Planet fact
The Earth is the only inhabited planet that we know of.
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Distance from the sun
1,426,666,422 km
Orbit time
29.5 years
Planet fact
Saturn has 150 moons!
Distance from the sun
778,340,821 kmÂ
Orbit time
11.9 years
Planet fact
There is a huge storm on Jupiter that has been going for 350 years.
Uranus Distance from the sun
2,870,658,186 km
Orbit time
84 years
Planet fact
Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system.
Distance from the sun
4,498,396,441 km
Orbit time
164.8 years
Planet fact
Neptune has the strongest winds in the solar system. Hurricane Patricia had wind speeds of 345 km/h. On Neptune they reach 2,100 km/h!
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Man-Made Objects in Space There are planets, comets, and meteors (and maybe other forms of life) flying around space, but did you know that there are also lots of man-made objects in space too? Most of them are space junk! There are around 8,000 man-made objects orbiting the Earth. Most of these are satellites. If you have a cell phone, then it works using satellites. Some satellites work, but others are not used anymore. The rest of the objects orbiting the Earth are pieces of space junk. Some of these are very big, like parts of rockets and tools that astronauts have lost during space walks, but there are also a lot of really small pieces of junk, too. Space junk is dangerous because it could damage spacecraft, satellites, or astronauts if it hits them. Space junk will eventually fall back to Earth and NASA says that around one piece of space junk falls to Earth every day!
The Hubble Space Telescope Probably the most well-known man-made object in space is the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope was launched into space in 1990 and it’s still up there! The telescope is about the size of a school bus. It takes photos of space—stars, galaxies, and distant planets. Hubble can take photos of galaxies trillions of kilometers away! It’s not like a typical telescope that you look through with your eye. It’s more like a digital camera on a cell phone. It takes photos in black and white and then scientists add the color afterwards. Hubble will come back into the Earth’s atmosphere between 2030 and 2040 and it will burn up. NASA is planning to launch another telescope. These images of space are from the Hubble Space Telescope.
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The First Man on the Moon The first man in space was the Russian Yuri Gagarin. He orbited the Earth in a spacecraft called Vostok on April 12, 1961. When he returned to Earth he was greeted as a hero. Over 100,000 people came out to see him in Red Square in Moscow. The first man to walk on the moon was the American Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, he said the historic words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The other man to join Armstrong on the moon was Buzz Aldrin. They both wore space suits that were able to control the oxygen, temperature, and pressure inside the suit. The astronauts were on the surface of the moon for nearly three hours. They collected rocks and samples from the surface of the moon.
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The Moon landing happened nearly 50 years ago. But what are the plans for future space exploration? One word: Mars!
Mars, the Next Step!
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here have been a lot of missions to Mars over the years, but humans have never set foot on the planet. However, scientists are going to try to put someone on Mars very soon. Some experts think that the Earth is going to become uninhabitable sometime in the future and they believe that the only way for the human race to survive is to colonize another planet. Many scientists think that Mars is the best option because it is close to Earth and it has some similar characteristics to Earth, too. The Earth shares a similar temperature to Mars—except during the winter when the temperature gets as low as –143 °C—and both planets have water! Experts have evidence that there is water on Mars, and they
believe that in the past there were rivers and seas on the Red Planet. Traveling to Mars won’t be easy as it takes nine months to get there, and once we get there things will become even more difficult. There is no oxygen on Mars. Instead, there is a lot of carbon dioxide. And it is also very cold because it’s a long way from the sun. The soil on Mars is poisonous too, so we will not be able to grow plants until we can decontaminate it. There are also enormous storms on Mars that can send dust 40 kilometers into the air and last for months! Finally, it is going to be hard to get all the things you need millions of kilometers away from Earth because there aren’t any stores there!
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Amazing Space Facts There is no noise in space. Because there is no atmosphere, sound can’t travel.
A NASA spacesuit costs 12 million dollars!
Footprints that were left on the moon by Armstrong and Aldrin may be there for as long as the moon exists. There is no wind or atmosphere on the moon to erode them.
The moon was probably formed by the giant impact between the Earth and another small planet.
A day on Venus is longer than a year on Earth. A million Earths could fit inside the sun.
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Worksheet 8 The Final Frontier! 1 Complete the crossword. ACROSS 2 The second planet from the sun. 4 The third planet from the sun. The only planet known to support life. 6 The fifth planet from the sun. The largest planet in the solar system. 7 Earth’s natural satellite, visible at night. 8 The sixth planet from the sun. The planet with rings. 9 The star around which the Earth orbits. DOWN 1 The seventh planet from the sun. 3 The eighth planet from the sun. 5 The smallest planet in the solar system. 7 The fourth planet from the sun. The red planet.
The Solar System
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2 Circle the correct options. 1. How many pieces of space junk fall to Earth every day? a) 1 b) 100 c) 800 d) 8,000 2. The Hubble Space Telescope is the size of… a) a small planet. b) a digital camera. c) a cell phone. d) a school bus. 3. Which country was Yuri Gagarin from? a) The USA b) Russia c) Ukraine d) Mexico
4. Yuri Gagarin… a) walked on the moon. b) orbited the moon. c) went to Mars. d) orbited the Earth. 5. Neil Armstrong… a) orbited Mars. b) walked on Mars. c) walked on the moon. d) orbited the solar system. 6. The planet with the most similar characteristics to the Earth is… a) the moon. b) Mars. c) Venus. d) Uranus.
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3 Read the text again and answer the questions. 1. Why do some experts think we need to colonize another planet?
2. Why could Mars be the best option?
3. What would some of the problems of colonizing Mars be?
4 Answer the question. Then, follow the instructions. Which planet in our solar system would you like to visit?
Write about your visit to the planet. Include: 1. Why you selected this planet. 2. How you would travel to the planet. 3. What you would see and do on the planet. 4. Draw yourself visiting the planet.
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