I found this snippet on the web somewhere, and thought it might be interesting reading
1. The ancient Greeks called our galaxy the Milky Way because they thought it was made from drops of milk from the breasts of the Greek goddess Hera.
2. Yuri Gagarin survived the first manned spaceflight but was killed in a plane crash seven years later.
3. Astronauts become a little taller in space. There is less gravity, so their bones are less squashed together.
4. Astronauts' footprints and Lunar Rover tyre tracks will stay on the moon for millions of years as there is no wind to blow them away.
5. About 1500 stars are visible at night with the naked eye in a clear, dark sky. There are 88 constellations altogether. The smallest star measures about 1700 km across. It is a white dwarf called LP 327-16.
6. The first object to orbit earth was Sputnik 1, launched by the USSR in October 1957.
7. The first animal in space was the Soviet dog, Laika, in November 1957. It died on the flight.
8. The first animals to survive in orbital spaceflight were the Soviet dogs, Strelka and Belka, launched in Sputnik 5 in August 1960.
9. The first person to orbit earth was Yuri Gagarin, from the USSR, in April 1961.
10. The first American to orbit earth was John Glenn in February 1962.
11. The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, from the USSR, in June 1963.
12. The first person to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong in July 1969.
hehe... I am bored, yes! So I decided to find out the backstory around all these facts!
1. A translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias), sometimes referred to simply as "the Galaxy" Our galaxy is around 80-100.000 light across.
2. Yuri Garagin was born 3. september 1934 and was 27 years old, when he was the first man to orbit the earth! On March 27, 1968 he and his instructor died in a MiG-15UTI on a routine training flight near Kirzhach. There might have been some turbulense from a Su-11 Interceptor using it's afterburner that may have caused the the plane out of control and crash.
3. Astronauts grow up to 2 inches when in space, but 'resume' normal height immediately when back on earth. This is how microgravity works!
4. While this one is correct in theory, I recall having read somewhere that all the traffic on the moon now, causes small gusts of wind to have the footprints dissappear! (I couldn't find this one documented again, so please fill in the blanks on this one!)
5. I found some contradicting evidense on this one, but since the other claim was posted by a 15 year old, I chose to disregard it!
LBV 1806-20, is at least 150 times larger and 5 million times brighter than the sun. Located about 45,000 light years from Earth, it is detectable only with infrared telescopes.
The star 'Beutelguese' is the largest named star, being the right-most star in the belt of the 'Orion'-constelllation.
6. Sputnik 1 orbited earth at 370 miles (roughly 600km), weighing 184 lbs (again, roughly 90kg).
7. Laika was on Sputnik 2, while USA tried to launch an orbiting satellite, they failed the 'Vanguard' and blew it up in the process, IIRC!
8. The first weather satellite, Tiros 1, and the first communication satellite, Echo 1, were launched this year as well.
9. See number 1, as it was the same flight.
10. John Glenn is the only astronaut that later became a Democratic politician (was he a guvenor? can't recall this!). During WWII, he flew 59 combat missions and attaining the rank of Colonel and recieved over 30 medals in all). He is also the oldest man to have orbited the earth at the age 77!
12. With Neil Armstong on this journey were Buzz Aldrin on the moon surface, and left behind on the orbiting ship was Michael Collins (must suck being him!)
