Discovering the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS WHY DO WE EXPLORE SPACE 9 OUTER SPACE 11 TO BOLDLY GO 12 APOLLO 11 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND 15 SPACE TECHNOLOGY 31 PLANETS 44 DWARF PLANETS 57 MOONS 65 INDEX 88 7
Our sun center and its solar system from left to right Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and Pluto a dwarf planet WHY DO WE EXPLORE SPACE Humans are explorers by nature and that desire to explore extends far beyond the boundaries of Earth But our own curiosity is not the only reason to care about what happens in space Our lives are ruled by the sun and moon the sun’s rays heat our planet the moon’s gravity controls the oceans tides and together they set our days and nights Also important is the fact that other objects in space are not stationary and are constantly moving around our planet Understanding the objects in the universe and their location helps us to better understand our own planet Although we have not yet found evidence of life on other planets scientists hope to determine if there are other planets that could support life This doesn’t just mean looking for aliens It means that scientists are looking for planets with appropriate temperatures a stable atmosphere and sufficient water together these three things would allow plants or people to grow and thrive As of now humans could not live on any other planet but scientists are always looking to see whether it would be possible 9
