Welcome to the Tour
Welcome aboard the space shuttle
Explorer. Today we’ll be taking a quick
tour of the solar system. We’ll be taking
off in a minute but first let me explain
how this works. We’re letting you choose
the destinations today. Simply click the
link of the planet you’d like to visit and
we’ll fly there faster than you can blink.
Once you’re done touring that planet,
simply click the arrow button to return to
the Destinations page and select a new
destination. Once you’re done touring,
click the Return to Earth link and we’ll get
you back home. Our ship’s pretty quick so
we should be able to finish the tour in
time for your parents to pick you up. Have
fun!
losangeles.cbslocal.com
Destinations
1) Earth
2) Venus
3) Mercury
4) The Sun
5) Earth’s Moon (Luna)
6) The Asteroid Belt
7) Mars
8) Jupiter
9) Saturn
10) Uranus
11) Neptune
12) Return to Earth
wallconvert.com
Earth
We’ve now made it into orbit around the
third planet from the sun and our very
own home, Earth. With it’s
Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere, liquid
water, and temperate climate, Earth is the
only planet in the universe known to
support life. It has a radius of 6,370 km
and an average surface temperature of
15°C. It is 149,600,000 km from the sun
and takes 1 Earth year (364.25 days) to
orbit the sun.
solarviews.com
Venus
Welcome to second planet from the sun and
the hottest planet in the solar system,
Venus. Interestingly, this planet rotates the
opposite direction to all the other planets in
the solar system; on Venus, the sun rises in
the west and sets in the east. Venus is
slightly smaller than Earth and has very
similar gravity. However, what makes Venus
special is its atmosphere. Venus has what is
known as a “runaway greenhouse effect.”
You may be familiar with the greenhouse gas
Carbon Dioxide, which warms Earth’s
climate by trapping heat. On Earth, Carbon
Dioxide makes up less than 1% of the
atmosphere. On Venus, it makes up 96% of
the atmosphere. That, combined with the
fact that Venus’s atmospheric pressure is 92
times that of Earth’s, heats Venus up to an
average surface temperature of 462°C! Little
is known about the surface of Venus; the
entire planet is constantly cloudy and the high
surface temperature and atmospheric pressure
makes it almost impossible to land on the
surface.
en.wikipedia.org
Jupiter
We have reached Jupiter, the fifth and
largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter
is enormous; its mass is twice that of all of
the other planets in the solar system
combined! It has a radius of 71,429 km
(more than 11 times that of Earth). It is
778.5 million km away from the sun and
orbits the sun about every 12 Earth years.
It has a very short day (about 10 hours).
Jupiter has 67 known moons, but among
the most interesting are Io and Europa. Io
is the largest moon in the solar system,
and is very volcanically active. Europa
appears to be covered in water-ice, which
leads to the possibility of life. The Great
Red Spot on Jupiter is a storm, very
similar to hurricanes on Earth, except this
one is about three times the radius of the
Earth and has lasted for more than 300
years.
Mercury
Nope, this isn’t the moon, this is the
closest planet to the sun, Mercury. It is
also the smallest planet in the solar
system, with a radius of 2,440 km (roughly
1/3 the size of Earth). Mercury rotates at
the same speed as it orbits the sun,
meaning that the same side always faces
the sun (both a day and a year on Mercury
are 88 Earth days). On the side that faces
the sun, the surface temperatures can
reach 427°C while on the dark side they
can get as low as -173°C (average surface
temperature is 127°C). So if Mercury is the
closest planet to the sun, why isn’t it the
hottest planet? Well, if you’ve already
toured Venus you know that Venus has a
very thick atmosphere of Carbon Dioxide
that traps heat at the surface. Mercury has
no atmosphere whatsoever, allowing most
of the heat it receives from the sun to
escape.
en.wikipedia.org
The Sun
We’ve made it to the sun, and we’re going
to keep our distance so we don’t melt. The
sun is at the very center of the solar
system, and with a radius of 696,000 km
(109 times that of Earth) it is the largest
celestial body in the solar system. It is also
the hottest, with a surface temperature of
6000°C! The sun is essential to life on
Earth, providing the heat that makes Earth
habitable and the light that feeds our
plants. It’s starting to get hot in here, so
let’s hurry up and choose a new
destination!
en.wikipedia.org
Luna
We’re back in Earth’s orbit again, so why
don’t we stop by the moon? Earth’s moon
is the second most important celestial
body in helping sustain life on Earth (after
the sun). The moon orbits the earth
roughly every 27 days at a distance of
about 384,000 km. It is the only celestial
body besides Earth that mankind has ever
set foot on. In 1969 Neil Armstrong
became the first person to set foot on the
moon. In total only 12 people have ever
set foot on the moon. The moon’s
gravitational pull is responsible for Earth’s
tides, as well as stabilizing Earth’s
rotational axis. Without the moon, Earth’s
axis would wobble randomly and
uncontrollably, making Earth’s climate
change dramatically.
en.wikipedia.org
Mars
Ah, the Red Planet. Do you know why
Mars is red? Mars is covered in iron oxide,
also known as rust. This gives Mars its
rusty red color. It is the fourth planet from
the sun, orbiting at a distance of
228,000,000 km. It takes Mars 687 Earth
days to orbit the sun. Mars is cold, with an
average surface temperature of -63°C. It
has a very thin atmosphere composed of
95% carbon dioxide, a similar percentage
to that of Venus. So if that’s the case, why
doesn’t Mars have a runaway greenhouse
effect too? Well, first of all Mars is further
away from the sun than Venus, but
secondly, Venus’s atmosphere is much,
much thicker than that of Mars. Venus’s
atmospheric pressure is 92 times that of
Earth’s, Mars’ atmospheric pressure is
0.6% that of Earth. There simply isn’t
enough carbon dioxide to really warm the
surface.
en.wikipedia.org
The Asteroid Belt
Whoa! We almost hit that rock! We’re now
traveling through the asteroid belt. The
asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
and is composed of chunks of space rock of
varying sizes; some are less than a kilometer
across, some could pass for tiny planets. The
asteroid belt is actually the remnants of a
planet that never formed. Back before the
planets formed, the solar system was a huge
gas cloud orbiting our brand new sun. This
gas cloud began to coalesce, or come
together, in places, and this would form
objects that resemble asteroids. These
asteroid-like objects would then collide with
each other and stick together. When enough
of these pieces stuck together, they would
form a planet. However, in the asteroid belt,
this never happened. No one is sure why the
planet did not form, but we can see the
remains out of our window here.
spaceanswers.com
Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet in the
solar system, the sixth planet from the
sun, and is very easily recognized due to
its extensive rings. It is 1.3 billion km away
from the sun, taking a little over 29 Earth
years to complete one revolution. It has
62 known moons, including Titan, the only
moon in the solar system to have an
atmosphere.
en.wikipedia.org
Uranus
We’ve made it to Uranus, the seventh
planet from the sun. It is also the third
largest planet in the solar system. Besides
having a funny name, Uranus is notable
for it’s axis tilt. Uranus rotates on its side,
with an axis inclination (tilt) of almost 90°.
It is 2.9 billion km away from the sun,
taking about 84 Earth years to orbit the
sun. It has 27 moons, but very little is
known about them.
timemarcheson.wordpress.com
Neptune
Welcome to Neptune. After Pluto had its
status as a planet revoked, Neptune
became the farthest planet from the sun.
It orbits at a distance 4.5 billion km from
the sun, taking just a little under 165 Earth
years to finish one revolution. At this
distance, the sun is difficult to pick out
from the rest of the stars. Neptune has 14
known satellites, but like Uranus (hehe),
little is known about them. Uranus and
Neptune are both blue because they both
have large amounts of methane in their
atmospheres. However, like all of the gas
giants, they are mostly composed of
hydrogen and helium.
en.wikipedia.org
Thank you for joining us.
We want to thank you again for
flying with us aboard the space
shuttle Explorer. We hope you’ve
enjoyed your tour and we hope to
see you flying with us again
sometime. Please remain seated
until the shuttle comes to a
complete stop, make sure you
have all of your belongings, and
have an awesome day!
Reference: www.wikipedia.org
wonderwhizkids.com