Space Travel
Free Games & Activities
for Kids
The history of space travel is relatively recent. In the 1930s and 1940s Germany used long-distance rockets as weapons. Late in World War II London was attacked by a V-2 missile which arched 60 miles high over the English Channel. After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union created their own space programs. In 1957 the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite called Sputnik 1 into outer space.
The first man to go into space was Yuri Gagarin from Russia in 1969. in 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly into space. In 1962 John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. The first astronaut to walk on the moon with Neil Armstrong, from the United States, in 1969. Dr. Sally ride was the first American woman to make the journey to outer space when she flew aboard the Challenger in 1983.the international space Station is a research laboratory that hovers in Earth's orbit. The highflying laboratory has become a symbol of cooperation between nations in space exploration. The station has been continuously occupied since the arrival of expedition one in November of 2000.
Do you want to become an astronaut? To become an astronaut and work for NASA you must receive a bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science or mathematics, followed by three years of professional experience and one thousand hours of pilot in command time in a jet aircraft. You also need to pass a demanding astronaut physical examination.
Astronomy involves anything outside the Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers study the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, galaxies and all other matter in the universe. Astronomy applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations including the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, Nubians and Chinese performed methodical observations of the night sky. Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs play an active and important role by watching the skies and discovering new comets and stars.
Planets in our solar system circle around the sun. There are eight planets in our solar system. Smaller planets with solid ground include Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. There are four larger gas giants including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. We are learning new things about our neighboring planets all the time. We send astronauts to space to take pictures, gather information and find out more about them. Their are eight planets inside of our own solar system and thousands of planets outside of our solar system.
Space Travel, Astronaut and Space Games
Command the Space Shuttle Game
NASA Presents Spacewalking Game
Make Your Own Galaxy Star Game
Black Holes Space Exploration Game
UFOs - Unidentified Flying Objects