How do people travel into space?

 

How do people travel into space?

People first started traveling into space in the 1960s. They traveled in space rockets and later space shuttles. Earth’s gravity pulls things down, so a space rocket needs to be powerful enough to escape gravity.

 

Capsule

The Soyuz capsule protects astronauts from the sun’s rays and from heat that is made when the rocket passes quickly through

the Earth’s atmosphere. The word astronaut means “star sailor.”

 

Inside the capsule

The rocket takes up to three astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. Astronauts need to take food, water, and air with them.

 

Rocket power

The rocket lifts the capsule into space and then separates from it and returns to Earth. Meanwhile, the capsule keeps traveling in space.

 

Boosters

Strap-on boosters power the rocket for liftoff. Gas shoots out of the bottom and the rocket is propelled upward. The boosters fall away later.

 

Gantry arms

Gantry arms support the rocket and hold it upright before launch. They release the rocket during liftoff.

 

Space suits

Space has no air in it, so people who travel outside a spacecraft need to take air with them. A space suit carries oxygen and protects the body from harmful space rays. It keeps the body at the right temperature in the extreme cold of space.

 

What do people do in space?

 

Fix satellites

There are thousands of satellites traveling around the Earth. They help us to predict the weather and send phone, TV, and GPS signals.

 

Experiments

Astronauts visit the International Space Station, a huge space craft that was built in space. They live there for months and do science experiments.

 

Quick quiz

1. Why is space foodusually dry?

2. What was the first animal in space?

3. Why do rockets have to be so powerful?