Lux vs. Low: MakeupJul.19.2020
Vast, mysterious, and endless, space can be a really difficult thing to get your head around. Humans have been turning their eyes up to the heavens in wonder since time immemorial, but it wasn’t until 1961 that a person actually made it to space. That man was a Russian cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin. His space flight lasted for 108 minutes. But, even though space exploration has come a long way since then, there’s so much we still don’t know. In fact, it’s said that to date, scientists have only managed to explore about 4% of the visible universe. The visible universe is considered to be only the planets, galaxies, and stars that astronomers can see. So, that leaves a whole lotta space unexplored. Yet, even with our limited knowledge, there are some pretty cool facts out there about space.
Pluto may have officially lost its planet status, but it’ll always be a giant in our hearts. If you’ve ever wished that there were more hours in a day, Pluto just might be the place for you. A single day on Pluto lasts for the equivalent of 6 days, 9 hours, and 36 minutes of our Earth time. While that may seem incredible, it’s not the planet that has the longest day. That distinction belongs to Venus. A single day on Venus lasts for an incredible 5, 823 hours. We’ll do the math for you, that’s over 242 days!
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So, humans seem pretty incapable of not littering everywhere they go. Space trash is actually a thing and it is a blanket term that refers to anything that is a defunct man-made object that now floats in space and serves no purpose. Most of the space junk is whizzing around in Earth’s orbit. There’s a lot of it too. As of January of last year, it was estimated that more than 128 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 cm existed. A further 900,000 measure between 1-10 cms. Lastly, around 34,000 pieces larger than 10 cm are out there swirling around. Bits of debris can pose a danger on space walks, as well as to spacecraft. Some clean up plans have been advanced, but the first isn’t even slated to begin until 2025.
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So, it’s been said time and again that there is no sound in space. Well, yes and no. Since space is a vacuum, it can’t carry sound like Earth does thanks to the air on our planet. However, some sounds do actually exist in space, we just can’t hear them. Thanks to NASA and the probes they’ve launched, we do have radio emissions from space. The probes capture these radio emissions from space objects and then convert them into sound waves. You can go to this site to hear some of them, which include the sounds of plasma waves, and sounds from Jupiter and Saturn.
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The first lunar walk was big news. When the astronauts aboard the Apollo spacecraft touched down on the moon and decided to have a bit of a walk about, they left behind a couple of things. One of these things were footprints. Our moon has no atmosphere, and there’s no wind or water there to actively wipe the slate clean. Because of this, it is said that the footprints left behind during the moonwalk will probably last for 100 million years.
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