Myth: The instant you’re exposed to the near vacuum of space, you’ll lose consciousness, your blood will start to boil, and you’ll explode. (Other variations on this myth include you freezing near instantly from the extreme “cold” of space.) In fact, so long as you don’t try to hold your breath, which would result in your lungs rupturing and thus […]
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Myth: The “Big Dipper” is a constellation. In fact, the Big Dipper is an asterism. A constellation is an officially recognized group of stars as defined by the International Astronomical Union. Constellations are used to split the celestial sphere into different sections that aid in locating objects in the sky, kind of like landmarks on a map. An asterism, on […]
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Today I found out that the astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station witness around 15 sunrises and 15 sunsets every day. The International Space Station orbits about 354 kilometers (220 miles) above the Earth and travels at approximately 27,700 km/hr (17,211 mph), so it takes about 92 minutes to circle the Earth once. For this reason, every 45 […]
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