Astronaut: history and fun facts
Everything a curious kid might want to know about this job.
Did you know?
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From a space station, an astronaut can see the Earth go by very fast, and the sun rises and sets many times in just one day!
Through history
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1961
Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space and orbit the Earth. It opened the door for astronauts everywhere.
Tools of the trade
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Space gloves
Thick, bendy gloves keep an astronaut's hands warm and safe. They let them hold tiny tools and fix things carefully.
A day in the job
- MorningThe astronaut wakes up, has breakfast, and says hello by radio to the team on the ground. Then they get ready for a busy day of science.
Words to know
- Orbit
- Orbit is the path a spacecraft takes as it goes around a planet again and again, like a ball going round and round on a string.
Quiz time
Astronauts practice in giant pools before they fly to space.
Astronauts grow plants in space by putting them in big piles of dirt.