International Space Day – 4th May

Space is infinite, ever expanding and evolving. So it is obvious that for as long as we are alive, we will never know everything there is to know about the vast beyond SPACE DAY celebrates this universe, applauding the discoveries made so far and the many more yet to come.

So join BYJU’S in celebrating the beauty of space – visit a nearby observatory or planetarium or spend the day watching some amazing documentaries to learn more about the secrets lying in deep space here are a few facts about the great beyond which you may not have known of :-

• You become taller in Space – A surprising change to the human body in micro-gravity is that spine straightens out, as gravity is not pushing you down. In fact you can be up to as much as 5 cm taller in the Space Station.
• Space is not that far away – Space officially begins at the universal marker of the Karman Line. This invisible boundary is 100 km above the Earth. In theory if you could drive your car upwards, you could be in space in less than hour.
• In space metal sticks together – In a vacuum like space, when two pieces of metal touch each other they bond together. This is a process called cold welding. On the Earth because of the oxygen in our environment this does not happen naturally but it is used during some manufacturing processes.
• There is a water reservoir in deep space that holds 140 trillion times all of the water on Earth.
• The footprints left by the astronauts on the moon will stay there forever (or at least until something happens to the moon) because there is no atmosphere and therefore no wind.
• In 1977, researchers received a signal from deep space that lasted 72 seconds. Known as the WOW! SIGNAL, it is the only radio transmission we have received that has appeared to be from an intelligent source.
• How does gravity work – Gravity basically works in such a way that everything with mass gets attracted to everything else even if it’s with the smallest amount of force. That means at at any moment some star, light years away is getting pulled towards your by a fraction.
• You can’t burp in space – The liquids and gases in your stomach don’t separate in 0 gravity, so it would be more like acid reflux.