Unit 1 E The Solar System

6. Exploring Space

What they learned was based on what they saw with their eyes. Ancient people did not have tools to look at the stars and the planets. What they learned was based on what they saw with their eyes.

Today, people have many tools to study space, like the telescope Vocabulary: telescope A tool that makes distant objects look larger

Telescopes help people learn about the stars and the planets With a special kind of telescope, a scientist can learn how far away a star is and what the star is made of

Video on Telescopes

Satellites also help us explore space Vocabulary: satellite An object in space that orbits another object in space

Satellites made by people send pictures and other information back to Earth

The Hubble Telescope Orbits Earth It sends us pictures of stars 100 times clearer than we get from instruments on Earth

1889 – 1953 Born in Marshfield, Missouri Hubble has helped change our thoughts and perception of the universe in two important ways.

First, Hubble confirmed the existence of other galaxies other than the Milky Way, during a time when many people thought the Milky Way was the entire universe.

Secondly, with the help of other astronomers, he confirmed that the universe was expanding at a constant rate by developing a mathematical concept to back up this statement, now known as Hubble's Law.

Another way people explore space is to send astronauts in spacecraft Vocabulary spacecraft A vehicle that can travel in space

Astronauts have been to the moon several times The first landing on the moon took place on July 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon He and other astronauts took many photographs and collected rocks and soil

Video About Apollo 11

They left instruments on the moon to gather information

Astronauts have not traveled to other planets But some spacecraft have traveled far into space.

Voyager took pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune The Voyager space probes were sent into space in 1977 to study the most distant planets Voyager took pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

These pictures showed moons that people have never seen before They showed volcanoes, too

Voyager is now traveling beyond our solar system And has identified other solar systems beyond ours

Video Voyager by NASA