Download This Sample
This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!
Sign Me Up
Table of Contents
Everything in the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere is referred to as space. Sometimes known as outer space, itβs the near-vacuum between celestial bodies. Everything (planets, stars, galaxies, and other objects) can be found there. The satellites orbit the Moon, Mars, other stars, the Milky Way, black holes, and distant quasars.
See the fact file below for more information about space or alternatively download our comprehensive Space worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Facts & Information
The History of Space
- Since October 4, 1957, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) launched Sputnik, the pioneer artificial satellite to orbit Earth, we have been journeying into space.
- On January 1, 1925, astronomer Edwin Hubble presented his findings to other astronomers that the universe was far larger than previously believed. His findings fundamentally changed the scientific view of the size of the universe.
- Satellites and robotic spacecraft orbiting the Earth have gathered vital data about the Sun, Earth, and other solar systems since 1957.
- Scientists use data gathered from space to learn more about the origins and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, and cosmic phenomena.
- Robotic spacecraft, often called space probes, designed for scientific research have landed on the Moon, Venus, Mars, Titan, a comet, and four asteroids, have visited all the major planets, traversed the inner solar system, and passed by Kuiper belt objects and comet nuclei, including Halley’s Comet.
- Many people on Earth rely on orbiting satellites for critical services that they have supplied and continue to supply.
All About Space
- Variations over time in solar activity within the heliosphere, including the solar wind, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF), the upper and lower atmosphere, climate, and other related systems are referred to as the space climate.
- The atmosphere is a dynamic layer of gas or layers of gases that envelope a planetary body and is held in place by gravity.
- Telecommunications satellites provide near-instantaneous global transmission of speech, pictures, and data.
- Many terrestrial users rely on precision navigation, positioning, and timing information provided by satellites operated by the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India, and Europe.
- Military commanders in various countries have found that world satellites are valuable assets to their land, sea, and air forces, giving crucial security-related data to national leaders.
- Cell phones and pagers use satellites as their major timing source.
- The Moon is the most well-known natural satellite orbiting the planet. Except for Mercury and Venus, all of the planets in the solar system have natural satellites. A satellite is an organic phenomenon (moon) or a spacecraft (artificial satellite) that orbits a bigger celestial body.
How Big is Space?
- The appropriate distance between Earth and the boundary of the observable universe is forty-six billion light-years (fourteen billion parsecs), giving the observable universe a diameter of around ninety-three billion light-years (twenty-eight billion parsecs).
- When the initial crew arrived, the International Space Station (ISS) functioned as a permanent base for humans living and working in space from November 2, 2000 up to 2011. And it will be utilized until the year 2024.
History of Astronauts
- In 1959, the first astronaut team consisting of seven men was chosen. Since then, several significant milestones in human spaceflight have occurred, including in 1961 when Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. In May 1961, the first American to fly in space was Alan Shepard.
- American astronauts walked on the Moon’s surface just 10 years after the first human flight. Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin, and Michael Collins members of the Apollo 11 crew, accomplished the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969.
- Around July 1969 and December 1972 there were 12 Americans that landed on the Moon, essentially winning the Space Race.
- Since then there no humans have traveled outside Earth’s orbit, but an estimated 500 men and women have spent about 438 days in space.
- Beginning in the early 1970s, the US Skylab laboratory, the Soviet space stations, and countless space flights provided Earth-orbiting bases for human activity and occupancy.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin
- Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin is a Soviet cosmonaut and pilot who became the first person to travel into space.
- He was born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, Russia.
- Yuri was the third child of three siblings. Valentin, his eldest brother, was born in 1924 and was already helping with the farm’s livestock when Yuri was born.
- In 1927, his sister Zoya arrived, followed by their youngest brother Boris in 1936.
- His father, Aleksey Ivanovich Gagarin, worked as a carpenter on the farm as a carpenter while his mother Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina worked as a dairy farmer.
- Gagarin started working as a foundryman in a manufacturing company in Lyubertsy, when he was 16 years old.
- He also enrolled in evening sessions at a local “young workers” school for seventh grade. In 1951, he received honors in mound making and foundry work after graduating from both the seventh grade and the vocational school.
- He became an international celebrity after his milestone in Space Race and received multiple medals, and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, his country’s greatest honor.
Niel Armstrong
- Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, US, and he died on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82 years old.
- He was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a navy aviator, a test pilot, and a lecturer at a university.
- Armstrong was a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps’ second group chosen in 1962.
- The US government subsidized his college tuition when he studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University under the Navyβs Holloway Plan.
- In 1949, he was commissioned as a midshipman, and the following year, he was commissioned as a naval pilot. He flew the Grumman F9F Panther from the aircraft carrier USS Essex during the Korean War.
- Armstrong’s plane was destroyed in September 1951 after a low bombing run because it impacted an anti-aircraft cable placed across a valley, cutting off a major piece of one wing.
- As Neil Armstrong placed his left foot on the lunar surface, he famously declared, βThatβs one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.β
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
- Dr. Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., an American pilot and astronaut, was born on January 20, 1930. He was born in the New Jersey town of Glen Ridge.
- As a pilot on the Gemini 12 mission in 1966, he completed three spacewalks, and served as the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
- He is the oldest member of the Apollo 11 crew to survive.
- He and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two people to set foot on the Moon.
- During the Korean War, he was commissioned into the United States Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot.
- Aldrin graduated third in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1951, with a degree in mechanical engineering.
- His father was a military pilot during World War I and an assistant commandant at the Army Test Pilot School in McCook Field, Ohio, from 1919 to 1922, but he left the Army in 1928 and went on to become a Standard Oil executive.
- When Aldrin was considering which aircraft to fly, his father recommended he go with bombers since commanding a bomber crew allowed him to gain and hone leadership qualities, which could lead to better career opportunities. Instead, Aldrin chose to fly combat jets.
Michael Collins
- Michael Collins was an American born in Rome, Italy, on October 31, 1930.
- He was the second son of James Lawton Collins, a US Army Major General and resided at a variety of sites over the first 17 years of his life. Some of these areas are in Maryland, Baltimore (Camp Hoyle), San Antonio TX, Governors Island NY, Alexandria VA, Puerto Rico, and Ramona, OK.
- In 1963, Collins traveled to space again as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 3.
- In 1966, he and Commander Pilot John Young flew on Gemini 10, where they executed an orbital landing with two spacecraft and two extravehicular space activities (EVA).
- Collins was one of three astronauts who piloted the Apollo 11 and one of the 24 other astronauts who flew on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Collins is known as the “forgotten astronaut” because he never walked on the Moon.
- Collins became Assistant Secretary of the Department of State for Public Affairs in 1970 after he retired from NASA.
- He also became the head of the National Air and Space Museum.
- He joined LTV Aerospace as Vice President then after five years he resigned and established a consulting firm. And in 2011, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.
Unusual Space Facts
- The universe is a fascinating place. It contains billions of galaxies and trillions of stars, together with nearly uncountable numbers of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and clouds of dust and gas β all swirling in the immensity that is space.
- Mars is known as the Red Planet because the soil resembles rusty iron due to a huge amount of iron oxide on the surface, which gives it a red tint.
- You could see anything 14.7 billion miles away if you were able to see the Andromeda Galaxy with your naked eye.
- If you drove at 70 mph, it would take more than 356 billion years to reach the nearest star.
- The first stars are thought to have formed 200 million years after the Big Bang, according to scientists.
- To overcome the Earth’s gravity, a spacecraft needs to travel at speeds more than 25,008 mph, or Mach 33.
The Solar System
- There are eight planets in the solar system, about 170 natural planetary satellites (moons), and numerous asteroids, meteorites, and comets.
- Alpha Centauri, which is made up of the stars Proxima Centauri, Alpha Centauri A, and Alpha Centauri B, is the nearest star system to the solar system. It is located in the Milky Way Galaxy’s Orion-Cygnus Arm.
Planets in the Solar System
Mercury
- There are no moons or rings orbiting Mercury.
- Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun.
- It is the smallest planet in the solar system.
- On Mercury, your weight would be 38% of your mass on Earth.
- On Mercury’s surface, a solar day lasts 176 Earth days.
- On Mercury, a year lasts 88 Earth days.
Venus
- Venus has no moons or rings.
- With a diameter of 12,104 kilometers, Venus is nearly as large as the Earth.
- A central iron core, rocky mantle, and silicate crust are assumed to make up Venus.
- A day on Venus’s surface (solar day) appears to last 117 Earth days.
- A year lasts 225 Earth days.
- The surface temperature can reach 471 Β°C.
Earth
- Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets and is the third planet from the Sun. It is the only planet in our solar system not named after a Greek or Roman God.
- The Earth is the only known planet to host life, having originated 4.54 billion years ago.
- The magnetic field of the Earth is extremely strong. The planet’s nickel-iron core, combined with its rapid rotation, causes this phenomenon. The Earth is shielded from the impacts of the solar wind by this field.
- The Earth’s rotation is slowing imperceptibly, occurring at a pace of about 17 milliseconds every 100 years, albeit the rate is not totally consistent. This has the effect of lengthening our days, but it proceeds so slowly that it might take up to 140 million years for a day to reach its current length of 25 hours.
Mars
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the solar system’s second-smallest planet.
- Mars, named after the Roman god of war.
- Mars is a planet with a thin carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere.
- Despite the fact that Mars has only 15% of the Earth’s volume and just over 10% of the Earth’s mass, water covers nearly two-thirds of the planet’s surface.
Jupiter
- Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in the solar system.
- It has a mass two and a half times that of all the other planets in the solar system combined. It is called a gas giant since it is mostly made up of gases.
- It is the fourth-brightest planet after the Sun, Venus and the Moon. It is one of five planets visible from Earth with the naked eye.
Saturn
- Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest planet in our solar system, best known for its spectacular ring system.
- Saturn, like Jupiter, is a gas giant made up of comparable gases such as hydrogen, helium, and methane.
- Saturn has the second-shortest day of any planet in the solar system, rotating on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes.
Uranus
- Uranus is the planet that orbits closest to the Sun. It was the first planet to be found using a telescope and is not visible to the naked eye.
- Uranus is thrown over on its side with an axial tilt of 98 degrees. “Rolling around on its side around the Sun” as it’s known, is a common description.
- During certain periods of its orbit, one or both of its poles point straight at the Sun, receiving around 42 years of direct sunlight. They remain in complete darkness the rest of the time.
- The planet rotates in the opposite direction of Earth and most other planets.
- Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by the planet in 1986 at a distance of eighty-one thousand five hundred kilometers. It sent back the first close-up photographs of the planet, its moons, and rings.
Neptune
- Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system, being the eighth planet from the Sun.
- Neptune is the planet farthest from the Sun.
- This gas giant may have developed significantly closer to the Sun during the early history of the solar system before drifting out to its current location.
- On Neptune, a year lasts 165 Earth years.
- Neptune is the tiniest of the gas giants.
- Six weak rings surround Neptune.
- Neptune is named after Neptune, the Roman God of the sea.
Space Worksheets
This bundle contains 22 pages of facts and 10 ready-to-use Space Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about Space, also known as outer space, which is the near-vacuum between celestial bodies. It is where everything (all of the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects) is found.
Download includes the following worksheets:
- Space Facts
- Yuri Gagarin
- Arrange the Planets
- About Astronauts
- Jumbled Letters
- Unusual Space Facts
- Astronauts
- Planets
- Photo Clues
- Looking Back
- What have you learned?
Link/cite this page
If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.
Link will appear as Space Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, September 24, 2017
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.