6.E.1.3 - Space Exploration

spacecraft

A general word used to describe something that can travel into space.

astronaut

A person who is trained for traveling in space.

Space Shuttle

A type of spacecraft used to fly astronauts into space and back to Earth.

space probe

A type of spacecraft with no people on it. It is sent out into space to study other planets or stars; it sends information about them back to Earth.

International Space Station

Also called ISS. It was built by many countries and orbits the Earth. Scientists from many countries live and work here for weeks or months at a time to learn more about living in space.

launchpad

An area from which spacecraft is sent into space.

satellite

Orbits a planet, moon, or star. Scientists can send them into space to send radio and TV waves to and from Earth. They can also use them to study stars, planets, and moons.

space suit

Special protective clothes worn by astronauts in space.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

The first people to walk on the moon. They landed on the moon in 1969.

Sputnik

The first satellite scientists sent into space; launched by the USSR (now called Russia) in 1957

astronomical unit (AU)

Unit of measurement used in space; the Sun's distance from Earth; equal to about 150 million kilometers.

light-year

Unit of measurement used in space; the distance that light travels in one year; equal to about 9.46 trillion kilometers.