Astronomers think Neptune may have oceans that are made up of liquid diamonds.
The first person to pay for visiting outer space is Dennis Tito. His one week trip to the International Space Station cost 20 million dollars, and was courtesy of the Russians. NASA wasn't thrilled.
The first living creature in outer space was a female Samoyed husky dog named Laika. She was launched aboard the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 2 on November 3rd, 1957.
The first man in space boarded the Russian spacecraft Vostok 1 in April 12, 1961 with a 50-50 chance of survival. The spacecraft orbited the earth for one hour and 48 minutes and returned successfully.
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Earth's gravity field extends well into outer space. It's strong enough to keep our moon in place, and will eventually pull back all the satellites we have launched into orbit.
The day Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, which in turn was named after the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn.
Around 60 tons of cosmic dust falls down to Earth from outer space every day. Every breathing organism inhales some of this ancient dust, which long ago may have formed a star or a planet.
The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. It is the brightest planet in the night sky and the only planet to be named after a female.
Mars has the tallest mountain known in our solar system, known as Olympus Mons. The mountain rises a whopping 16.8 miles (or 27 kilometers).
Dust storms sometimes cover the planet of Mars for months at a time. The storms, powered by solar heating, can envelop the entire planet in just days.
In space, astronauts eat tortillas instead of bread due to safety reasons. Bread crumbs could get loose and damage delicate equipment on the spacecraft.
The densest planet in our solar system is our own Earth. The least dense is Saturn. If all the planets were placed in a massive ocean, only Saturn would float.
The earth spins around the sun at 66,480 miles/h (107,000 km/h). It takes a year to travel completely around, a distance of 584 million miles (940 million kilometers).
The distance from the Earth to the sun is 92 million miles (146 million km). Even at the incredible speed of light, it takes 8 minutes for the sun's light rays to reach us once they leave the sun.
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. The surface temperature on Venus is a burning 461.85 °C (863.33 °F). On Pluto it is so cold that liquid nitrogen turns to solid! Pluto's estimated surface temperature is around -228°C (-378°F).
