Apollo 11 Moon Landing

We just learned about the Ranger - 4 Spacecraft.

First we launched satellites into outer space.
Then we sent people up to orbit the earth.
Next we sent a spacecraft with no people to land on the moon.

So who was the first to put a person on the moon?
The Apollo 11 mission by the United States was the first manned spacecraft to land on the moon,
on July 20th 1969.


(from: wikipedia - apollo 11)

The two astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first astronauts to ever set foot on the moon.


When Neil Armstrong first put his foot on the moon he said the famous words:
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Wow!

Isn't it just amazing to look up into space at the moon and know that someone actually walked on it?

Lunar Soil

We just learned about Lunar Impact Craters.

The dust, dirt and broken rocks on the moon are called lunar soil, or regolith.

When the Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon, their boots left footprints in the soil.

(from: wikipedia - lunar soil)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ranger 4 - First American spacecraft on the moon

ISS - International Space Station

We just learned about the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

Right now up in outer space, there is a space station where astronauts can go and stay for days, weeks, even months!

(from: wikipedia - International Space Station)

It's called the International Space Station, or ISS for short.

Both Russia and the USA worked together to build the space station.

Venus - Mariner 2

We've learned about the Space Exploration of the moon, all the way up to the Apollo 11 moon landing.

We've also sent space crafts up to study other planets.
The first one was in 1962, called the Mariner 2.

It was launched on August 27, and on December 14 it got as close as 22,000 miles from Venus.

(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)

That might not seem very close, but the Earth is about 25,000,000 miles from Venus, so it got a lot closer than we are!

The last time the space craft sent data back to us was on January 3, 1963, then it stopped working and has just been floating in space, orbiting around Venus for over 50 years.

The Mariner 2 was used to try and measure the temperature and collect other information in the air near the planet.


(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Star Absolute Magnitude

Gandhara Stone Palettes

We just learned about the Pataliputra Capital.

Another example of Greek sculpture found in Asia are the Gandhara Stone Palettes.

These are small plates with sculputres on them that were made over 2,000 years ago in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Lots of plates have been found showing artwork of stories from Greek mythology like Apollo and Daphne, Athena, Herakles, Poseidon or Aphrodite.

This image is of a sea nymph called a Nereid, riding a giant sea monster called a Ketos.


(from: wikipedia - greco-buddhist art)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Prophet Jeremiah At Mosaic Abbey

Moon - Highlands

We just learned about the Cat's Eye Nebula.

Let's learn a little more about the Moon!

We've already learned that the moon orbits the earth every 27 days or so.

And we learned about the first moon spacecrafts Luna 2 and Ranger 4 as well as the first people to walk on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission.

But what about the moon itself?

If you look at the moon you'll see that it has bright and dark markings on it.
The bright areas are called the lunar highlands, or terrae.

(from: wikipedia - geology of the moon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Big & Little Dipper

Gravity on the Moon

We just learned about Lunar Rocks.

When the astronauts walked on the moon, it wasn't the same as walking here on earth.

The gravity on the moon is a lot less than earth.
That means if you dropped a ball to the ground, it would fall slowly like a balloon!

If you are on the moon and you jump up in the air, you won't come down fast like normal,
you'll float down slowly like a balloon too.

If you weigh 50 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh about 8 pounds on the moon.


(from: wikipedia - buzz aldrin)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Planet Mercury

Lunar rocks

We just learned about the Lunar Lava Tube.

When the Apollo missions visited the moon, they brought back over 800 pounds of rock!

Those lunar rocks (or moon rocks) have helped us to study what the moon is made of.

(from: wikipedia - geology of the moon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: ISS - International Space Station

Sphinx of Naxos

We just learned about the ancient sculpture Charioteer of Delphi.

Another ancient sculpture from Greece is the Sphinx of Naxos.

This sculpture was built over 2,000 years ago on the island of Naxos as a shrine to Apollo.
It is made of marble, and is 41 feet tall.
The sphinx creature has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the feathers of a bird.


(from: wikipedia - sphinx of naxos)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: At the Front - George Cochran Lambdin

Texas

We just learned about the US state of Tennessee.

Texas is a state in the southwest part of the US, bordering Mexico to the south.

It's nickname is The Lone Star State, and it's motto is Friendship.

Texas is the 2nd largest state in the US after Alaska, and it has the 2nd most people of any state after California.

(from: wikipedia - texas)

The flag of Texas is a blue stripe with a white star, a white stripe and a red star.

(from: wikipedia - flag of texas)

The seal of Texas has two sides. On one side is a star with olive and oak branches around it.

On the other side is a picture of the Alamo, the cannon of the Battle of Gonzales, Vince's bridge, and the flags of France, Spain, Mexico, Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States of America.
The six different flags are for the six different nations that have controlled Texas.

(from: wikipedia - seal of texas)

The Alamo is a place in Texas where a big battle took place between the people of Texas and Mexico.
The Mexican army won the battle, but people in Texas were so angry about losing the battle that they all fought hard together and came back to beat Mexico.
People in later battles would shout "Remember the Alamo!" to help keep everyone fighting hard to win.

(from: wikipedia - alamo mission in san antonio)

A special type of cattle in Texas is called the Texas Longhorn because it has really long horns.

(from: wikipedia - texas longhorn)

There is a NASA space center called Johnson Space Center in Houston.
During the Apollo 13 space mission where some things went wrong after the astronauts were launched into outer space, they said over the radio to the control center Houston we have a problem and it has become a famous saying for when something goes wrong.

(from: wikipedia - christopher c. kraft jr. mission control center)
Dwight D. Eisenhower from Texas was the 34th president of the US, in 1953.

(from: wikipedia - dwight d. eisenhower)

Lyndon B. Johnson from Texas was the 36th president of the US, in 1963.

(from: wikipedia - lyndon b. johnson)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Zambia

Lunar Lava Tube

We just learned about Lunar Soil.

A while back we learned how lava tubes on earth are tunnels underground formed by lava channels.

There are also lava tubes on the moon!

Scientists think they could make great places for astronauts to live if we ever have people stay on the moon.


(from: wikipedia - lunar lava tube)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apollo 11 Moon Landing