Space
is a really big place, and it's filled with a lot of weird things. For example,
did you know that the solar system is so huge that it would take 500 billion
years to walk across it? Or that there are nearly ten times as many stars in
our galaxy as there are grains of sand on Earth? That's why we came up with
five scary facts about space for your reading pleasure.
If you've never been
outside, you may have some questions about what space is like. I mean, it's
hard to imagine something that's so far away, right? That's why I decided to
create this list of 5 scary facts about space. If you're in school right now
I'm sure these science facts will be interesting. These are all things that we
probably don't know about because they're too far away or we just don't think
about them often.
Here are Five scary
facts about space:
1. You can freeze to
death in space, even if it's not that cold out:
You can freeze to
death in space, even if it's not that cold out.
A space suit is
designed to keep you alive as long as possible, but you can only breathe air
for so long before you run out of oxygen. That's why astronauts are always in
an isolated environment: they don't want to be in an empty room with no windows
and only one toilet.
It takes about two
days to starve to death in space: you need food and water every day just to
stay alive. The first thing astronauts do when they get into orbit is send up a
satellite with all their supplies on board — including a very large supply of
food and water.
If your spacesuit
gets punctured by an object floating through space, you will die within a few
minutes (unless you're lucky enough to get hit by a meteor or something). You
can also suffocate or have your visor pop off due to being struck by debris.
2. Cosmic rays can
mess with your insides (and your brain):
Cosmic rays are
high-energy particles that are created in space, and they can also reach Earth.
The highest energy cosmic ray ever recorded was a particle with an energy of
3.7 billion electron volts (GeV), which has been the highest energy cosmic ray
ever recorded, although this may not be the highest energy cosmic ray to have
reached the Earth's atmosphere. If one of these cosmic rays strikes your body,
you could get hurt.
The most commonly
known effect of cosmic rays is that they can mess with your insides (and your
brain). Cosmic rays can cause radiation poisoning, and if you get too much
exposure to gamma rays from galactic cosmic rays, it can lead to cancer or
other diseases. They can also damage DNA in living cells. Some high-energy
particles from these cosmic rays travel through your body and get stuck in your
brain or spine, where they remain for years before decaying into less harmful
radioactive elements.
3. Space is full of
dead bodies:
The third fact about
space is that it has thousands and thousands of dead bodies floating around.
It's not like we're talking about a few hundred here and there, either. There
are literally tons of dead bodies in space.
Some of these are
satellites that have burned up on reentry into the atmosphere, some are
asteroids that are out of our reach, and some are even still-operational
spacecraft that have run out of fuel or died an untimely death due to a failure
in one part or another.
The question then
becomes: What happens to these bodies once they're no longer useful? Well, they
don't just disappear into thin air. They continue to orbit the Earth as part of
our planet's gravitational pull. If you were able to go out at night and look up
at the stars (which is hard to do because you need a telescope), you would see
thousands upon thousands of lights twinkling in the sky over your head — all
belonging to satellites or other spacecraft that have been launched into space
and never returned home again.
4. You're going to
grow, but you're also going to shrink a bit:
This is the fun part!
You are going to grow, but you're also going to shrink a bit. The Sun will get
brighter and its size will increase as it ages. A radical change in size comes
when the Sun becomes red giant and then a white dwarf.
The Earth is not shrinking
because our planet is mostly covered by water. If we were all on land, we would
be shrinking!
The Sun is a star
that will change through its life. It is 4.5 billion years old and will live
for about 5 billion years. When the Sun becomes a red giant, it will be larger
than Earth's orbit! This means our planet might get swallowed up in the
process!
5. A trip to Mars
could make you infertile — or give you cancer:
Humans will be living
in space for a long time to come, but there's still a great deal we don't know
about the effects of space on our bodies.
A new study published
in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that astronauts could be at risk of
reproductive problems like infertility or cancer in their long-term stays on
Mars.
The study was conducted
by researchers at the University of Glasgow, UK, and involved analyzing data
from previous missions to Mars and comparing it with information from
astronauts who had spent time on the International Space Station (ISS). They
found that spending extended periods in space can impact fertility and increase
the risk of developing cancer.
Conclusion:
Did you know that
astronomy can be a very frightening endeavor? You know, the whole gazing into
the mystery of space and all the stars for no explicable reason. Honestly, if
you never experienced space firsthand, those are some pretty frightening facts.
Thankfully, if you're planning to work in space soon there are five things to
help you get through it. Just keep your eyes on the prize and you'll be just
fine...
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