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Space exploration has been a topic of fascination for centuries. From the first man on the moon to the recent Mars missions, we have always been intrigued by the vastness of space and the mysteries it holds. However, there are still many mind-blowing facts about space exploration that you may not know. In this article, we will explore some of these lesser-known facts that will leave you amazed.
1. The first spacecraft to leave our solar system was Voyager 1. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 has traveled more than 14 billion miles from Earth and is still sending back data to NASA today.
2. The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest spacecraft ever built. It weighs over 400 tons and is the size of a football field. It is also the most expensive structure ever built, costing over $150 billion to construct.
3. The first animal to travel to space was a dog named Laika. Laika was launched into space by the Soviet Union in 1957. Unfortunately, she did not survive the journey.
4. The coldest place in the universe is not on Earth, but in space. The Boomerang Nebula has a temperature of -272°C (-458°F), which is just 1 degree above absolute zero.
5. The longest spacewalk ever recorded was 8 hours and 56 minutes. It was performed by Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin in 2013.
6. The Apollo 11 mission that landed humans on the moon in 1969 was not the first attempt to reach the moon. The Soviet Union had tried to land a spacecraft on the moon several times before the U.S. successfully did so.
7. The first woman to travel to space was Valentina Tereshkova. She was a Soviet cosmonaut who orbited the Earth 48 times in 1963.
8. The fastest spacecraft ever built is the Parker Solar Probe. It has reached speeds of over 430,000 miles per hour as it travels closer to the sun than any other spacecraft has before.
9. The most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft is Ultima Thule. It is a small rock located 4 billion miles from Earth in the Kuiper Belt. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by it in 2019.
10. The longest continuous spaceflight by a human was 437 days. It was achieved by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov in 1994-1995.
In conclusion, these mind-blowing facts about space exploration show just how amazing and awe-inspiring the universe is. From the first animal in space to the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, there is still so much to learn and discover about space. It is exciting to think about what the future holds for space exploration and what new discoveries we will make in the years to come.
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