Space

Teacher Day Time Branch TA Class

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to use English to talk about Space
Resources needed:
• Copies of the discussion questions
• Copies of the info about the sun, the solar system and the planets – enough to give each group 2 or 3
articles
• Copy of the info about space tourism
• Information in the articles is taken from Wikipedia and Space.com

Stage: Warm-up Aim: Students will become familiar with and begin speaking about the topic of
Page: space.
Time: 5-10 mins Method:
• T intro's self and topic
• Elicit information from ss about space – ss thoughts on life in space, planets,
space tourism, space program, going to the moon, space programs
[USA/China/Russia]
Comments

Stage: Intro Aim: Students will talk about space in small groups using the attached discussion
Page: questions
Time: 15-20 mins Method:
• Group work
• Give ss a copy of the attached discussion qs and have the discuss the qs in
groups
• Groups are to present answers to the class at the end of the allotted time
Comments

Stage: Practice Aim: Students will learn planet-related vocabulary while speaking about the
Page: planets in our solar system
Time: 10-15 mins Method:
• Elicit names of planets from ss – if they don't know them all help them –
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto –
Pluto not considered a planet by some
• T to elicit information ss know about planets and ss are to discuss the
differences between the planets in English – what they are made up of, size,
time taken to orbit the Sun, moons, etc.
Comments

Stage: Practice Aim: Students will speak more about the planets after reading a short article
Page:
Time: 15-20 mins Method:
• Group work – give groups a copy of the information about the planets, the sun
and the solar system attached – give each group a copy of 2 of the articles
• In groups ss are to find 3 interesting facts about each planet and 3 interesting
facts about the sun and 3 about the whole solar system
• Groups are then to present their facts to the class and each group cannot re-use
the same facts
Comments
Stage: Practice Aim: Students will read about and discuss space tourism
Page:
Time: 10-15 mins Method:
• T to elicit information from ss about what they think about space tourism –
What is it? Who can go? Where can you go? Pricing? Special skills needed etc.
• Group work - each group is to read, discuss and summarise one or two pages
of the article from Wikipedia about Space tourism (7 pages total).
• Group members are then to present their summary to the whole class so that
everyone has a summary of every page
Comments

Stage: Production Aim: Students will debate the pros and cons of space exploration
Page:
Time: 15-20 mins Method:
• Group work – assign half of the groups for and half of the groups against
• Ss are to debate the topic – Space exploration is a waste of money
• Give groups 10 mins to discuss the topic and come up with their arguments
• Groups then take turns for, against, for, against, for, against, T is the
judge/adjudicator
Comments

Stage: Production Aim: Students will discuss space “mysteries” such as UFO’s and crop circles
Page:
Time: 10-15 mins Method:
• Elicit information from ss about aliens, crop circles and UFOs
• Take a quick vote who thinks they exist, who thinks they are hoaxes
• Hypothetical – Aliens are found on another planet somewhere in the galaxy,
Earth has to send a team of 5 ambassadors to try and befriend the aliens.
• In groups ss are to come up with a list 3 potential ambassadors and reasons
why they chose those people
• Groups are to tell the class their nominations and supporting reasons, the class
is then to decide which 5 will be Earth Ambassadors.
Comments

Stage: Production Aim: Students will discuss space/aliens/etc in the media

Page:
Time: 5-10 mins Method:
• Elicit information from ss about their favourite space themed movies and TV
shows
• E.g. Star Wars, Star Trek, Apollo 13, Independence Day, ET, Aliens
• Ask ss to say why they like these shows and what the similarities are
• Find out what ss think are the reasons for certain alien stereotypes – Why are
Aliens almost always hostile? Why do we think aliens have huge heads and
eyes and long skinny fingers? Why do we assume aliens are more advanced
than humans? etc.
Comments
 Conversation Questions:
Space & Space Travel
● When do you think people will visit Mars? What do you think they will find there?
● Have you ever used a telescope? What did you look at?
● If you could take a vacation to the moon, would you? Why or why not?
● Do you wish on stars?
● Have you ever seen any of the following movies: ET, Alien, Star Wars? Which one is your
favorite? Why?
● Would you like to be an astronaut? Why or why not?
● What will make the new international space station successful? Why?
● A group of stars is called a constellation. Some examples are Orion, the Big Dipper, and
Cassiopeia. What are the names of some constellations in your language? How did they get these
names?
● Do you think people will ever communicate with intelligent aliens? Why or why not?
● What do satellites do? How would our lives be different without them?
● Do you think governments spend too much money on space programs? Why or why not?
● Have you ever taken an astronomy course? If so, tell about something you learned. If not, would
you like to?
● What can we learn about the earth from studying other planets?
● Can you name the planets in English? Try.
 Space tourism

Space tourism is the recent phenomenon of tourists paying for flights into space pioneered by
Russia.

As of 2008, orbital space tourism opportunities are limited and expensive, with only the Russian
Space Agency providing transport. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the
International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is now $20 million. Flights are fully booked
until 2009.

Among the primary attractions of space tourism are the uniqueness of the experience, the thrill
and awe of looking at Earth from space, the experience's notion as an exclusive status symbol, and
various advantages of weightlessness. The space tourism industry is being targeted by spaceports
in numerous locations, including California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, Alaska,
Wisconsin, Esrange in Sweden as well as the United Arab Emirates. Some use the term "personal
spaceflight" as in the case of the Personal Spaceflight Federation.

Early dreams

After initial successes in space, much of the public saw intensive space exploration as inevitable. In
people's minds, such exploration was symbolized by wide public access to space, mostly in the
form of space tourism. Those aspirations are best remembered in science fiction works (and one
children's book), such as Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall of Moondust and also 2001: A Space Odyssey,
Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Joanna Russ's 1968 novel Picnic on Paradise,
and Larry Niven's Known Space stories. Lucian in 2 A.D. in his book True History examines the
idea of a crew of men whose ship travels to the Moon during a storm. Jules Verne also took up the
theme of lunar visits in his books, From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon. Robert A.
Heinlein’s short story The Menace from Earth, published in 1957, was one of the first to
incorporate elements of a developed space tourism industry within its framework. During the
1960s and 1970s, it was common belief that space hotels would be launched by 2000. Many
futurologists around the middle of the 20th century speculated that the average family of the early
21st century would be able to enjoy a holiday on the Moon.

The end of the Space Race, however, signified by the Moon landing, decreased the emphasis placed
on space exploration by national governments and therefore led to decreased demands for public
funding of manned space flights.[1]

Precedents

The Soviet space program was aggressive in broadening the pool of cosmonauts from the very
beginning. The Soviet Intercosmos program also included cosmonauts selected from Warsaw Pact
members and later from allies of the USSR and non-aligned countries. Most of these cosmonauts
received full training for their missions and were treated as equals, but especially after the Mir
program began, were generally given shorter flights than Soviet cosmonauts. The European Space
Agency took advantage of the program as well.

The U.S. Space Shuttle program included payload specialist positions which were usually filled by
representatives of companies or institutions managing a specific payload on that mission. These
payload specialists did not receive the same training as professional NASA astronauts and were not
employed by NASA, so they were essentially private astronauts. NASA was also eager to prove its
capability to Congressional sponsors, and Senator Jake Garn and (then-Representative, now
Senator) Bill Nelson were both given opportunities to fly on board a shuttle. As the Shuttle
program expanded, the Teacher in Space program was developed as a way to expand publicity and
educational opportunities for NASA. Christa McAuliffe would have been the first Teacher in Space,
but was killed in the Challenger disaster and the program was canceled. During the same period a
Journalist in Space program was frequently discussed, with individuals such as Walter Cronkite
and Miles O'Brien considered front-runners, but no formal program was ever developed.
McAuliffe's backup in the Teacher in Space Program, Barbara Morgan, trained and flew aboard
STS-118 as a fully trained NASA payload specialist and spoke to many students as an educator
during the trip.

With the realities of the post-Perestroika economy in Russia, its space industry was especially
starved for cash. The Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) offered to pay for one of its reporters to fly
on a mission. For $28 million, Toyohiro Akiyama was flown in 1990 to Mir with the eighth crew
and returned a week later with the seventh crew. Akiyama gave a daily TV broadcast from orbit
and also performed scientific experiments for Russian and Japanese companies. However, since
the cost of the flight was paid by his employer, Akiyama could be considered a business traveler
rather than a tourist.

In 1991, British chemist Helen Sharman was selected from a pool of public applicants to be the
first Briton in space.[2] As the United Kingdom had no human space program, the arrangement
was by a consortium of private companies who contracted with the Russian space program.
Sharman was also in a sense a private space traveler, but she was a working cosmonaut with a full
training regimen.

Orbital space tourism

At the end of 90s, MirCorp, a private venture by then in charge of the space station, began seeking
potential space tourists to visit Mir in order to offset some of its maintenance costs. Dennis Tito,
an American businessman and former JPL scientist, became their first candidate. When the
decision to de-orbit Mir was made, Tito managed to switch his trip to the International Space
Station through a deal between MirCorp and U.S.-based Space Adventures, Ltd., despite strong
opposition from senior figures at NASA. Space Adventures remains the only company to have sent
paying passengers to space.[3][4]

In conjunction with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation and Rocket and Space
Corporation Energia, Space Adventures facilitated the flights for the world's first private space
explorers: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi.
The first three participants paid in excess of $20 million (USD) each for their 10-day visit to the
ISS.

On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito became the first "fee-paying" space tourist when he visited the
International Space Station (ISS) for seven days. He was followed in 2002 by South African
computer millionaire Mark Shuttleworth. The third was Gregory Olsen in 2005, who was trained
as a scientist and whose company produced specialist high-sensitivity cameras. Olsen planned to
use his time on the ISS to conduct a number of experiments, in part to test his company's products.
Olsen had planned an earlier flight, but had to cancel for health reasons.

After the Columbia disaster, space tourism on the Russian Soyuz program was temporarily put on
hold, because Soyuz vehicles became the only available transport to the ISS. However, in 2006,
space tourism was resumed. On September 18, 2006, Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian American
(Soyuz TMA-9), became the fourth space tourist (she prefers spaceflight participant). On April 7,
2007, Charles Simonyi, an American billionaire of Hungarian descent, joined their ranks (Soyuz
TMA-10).
In 2003, NASA and the Russian Space Agency agreed to use the term 'Spaceflight Participant' to
distinguish those space travelers from astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.
Tito, Shuttleworth, Olsen, Ansari, and Simonyi were designated as such during their respective
space flights.[5] NASA also lists Christa McAuliffe as a "Space Flight Participant" (although she did
not pay a fee), apparently due to her non-technical duties aboard the STS-51-L flight.

List of flown space tourists

All five space tourists flew to and from the International Space Station on Soyuz spacecraft
through the space tourism company, Space Adventures:[6]

• Dennis Tito (American): April 28 - May 6, 2001

• Mark Shuttleworth (South African / British): April 25 - May 5, 2002 - First African in Space
• Gregory Olsen (American): October 1 - October 11, 2005
• Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): September 18 - September 29, 2006
• Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): April 7 - April 21, 2007[7]

Future space tourists

The following people have been named as possible future commercial passengers on Soyuz
spacecraft to the ISS:

Richard Garriott (United States). Expected to fly on Soyuz TMA-13 in October 2008.[8][9]
Garriott is a developer of video games whose father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut with NASA. If
the mission goes as planned, Garriott will be returning with an astronaut who will also be a
second-generation space traveler.[10]

• Vladimir Gruzdev (Russia). Expected to fly in 2009.[11] Gruzdev is a United Russia pro-
presidential party member. The United Russia party may pay the estimated $25 million for
the flight from the party funds. Gruzdev has had a medical examination and been given
approval to begin the cosmonaut training program. Gruzdev previously participated in the
Arktika 2007 mission, which placed a Russian flag on the seabed near the North Pole.

• Sergey Brin (United States). Expected to fly in 2011.[12] Brin, co-founder of Google, is a
firm supporter of space tourism and future space travel.

Additionally, as of November 2007 Virgin Galactic had pre-sold nearly 200 seats for their
suborbital space tourism flights, according to the company's president.[13]

Suborbital flights

More affordable suborbital space tourism is viewed as a money-making proposition by several

other companies, including Space Adventures, Virgin Galactic, Starchaser, Blue Origin, Armadillo
Aerospace, XCOR Aerospace, Rocketplane Limited, the European "Project Enterprise",[14] and
others.[citation needed] Most are proposing vehicles that make suborbital flights peaking at an
altitude of 100-160 kilometres.[15] Passengers would experience three to six minutes of
weightlessness, a view of a twinkle-free starfield, and a vista of the curved Earth below. Projected
costs are expected to be about $200,000 per passenger.[16][17][18][19][20]
The X Prize

On October 4, 2004, the SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and funded
by Virgin Galactic, won the $10,000,000 X Prize, which was designed to be won by the first private
company who could reach and surpass an altitude of 62 miles (100km) twice within two weeks.
The altitude is beyond the Kármán Line, the arbitrarily defined boundary of space.[21] The first
flight was flown by Michael Melvill on June 21, 2004 to a height of 62 miles, making him the first
commercial astronaut.[22] The prize-winning flight was flown by Brian Binnie, which reached a
height of 69.6 miles, breaking the X-15 record.[21]

Virgin Galactic

Spaceship One, the first private space tourism spaceship to fly above the 100 km Karman Line

Virgin Galactic, one of the leading potential space tourism groups, is planning to have passenger
service on its first spaceship, the VSS Enterprise (Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo), with the
inaugural launch in 2008 and main flights beginning in 2009.[23] The price is initially set at
$200,000. Headed by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, Virgin Galactic will be the first private
space tourism company to regularly send civilians into space, by training them for 3 days before
their launch. The SpaceShipTwo spaceship was built as a result of the Ansari X Prize (which was
won by SpaceShipOne); both SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo were designed by Burt Rutan.
Launches will first occur at the Mojave Spaceport in California, and will then be moved to the
permanent spaceport in Upham, New Mexico, near Truth or Consequences. The spaceships used
will go 360,000 feet (109.73 km, or 68.18 miles) high; this goes beyond the height of 100 km,
which is the internationally defined boundary between Earth and space. Space flights will last 2.5
hours, carry 6 passengers, and reach a speed of Mach 3. SpaceShipTwo will not require a space
shuttle-like heat shield for atmospheric reentry as it will not experience the extreme aerodynamic
heating experienced during reentry at orbital velocities (approximately Mach 22.5 at a typical
shuttle altitude of 300 km, or 185 miles).[24] The glider will employ a "feathering" technique to
manage drag during the unpowered descent and landing. SpaceShipTwo will use a single hybrid
rocket motor to launch from mid-air after detaching from a mother ship at 50,000 feet, instead of
NASA's Space Shuttle's ground-based launch.

Project Enterprise

Project Enterprise [25] was launched by the German TALIS Institute in 2004 and is the first
project of its kind in Europe. The goal is to develop a rocket propelled spaceplane by 2011 that will
carry one pilot and up to five passengers into suborbital space. The plane will launch from the
ground using rockets, and will return in an unpowered flight like Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo.
The prototypes and finished spaceplane will be launched from an airport near Cochstedt (Germany;
Saxony-Anhalt).

Since 2004, the TALIS Institute has gained many industrial partners, including XtremeAir [26],
who will manufacture the airframe, and Swiss Propulsion Laboratory SPL [27], who will deliver
the propulsion components. XtremeAir is well known for their acrobatic airplanes and SPL has
designed and tested liquid propellant rocket engines since 1998.

Current work is focusing on the first prototype, the "Black Sky": An existing acrobatic airplane will
be fitted with a single rocket engine and a new wing. The rocket engine will deliver a thrust of 10
kN. The test program for this engine started in 2007 at SPL.
Legality

United States

In December 2005, the U.S. Government released a set of proposed rules for space tourism.

Under current US law, any company proposing to launch paying passengers from American soil on
a suborbital rocket must receive a license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of
Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST). The licensing process focuses on public safety and
safety of property, and the details can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14,
Chapter III.[28] This is in accordance with the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act passed
by Congress in 2004.[29]

Orbital flights, space stations and space hotels

• EADS Astrium, a subsidiary of European aerospace giant EADS, announced its space
tourism project on June 13, 2007.[30]
• SpaceX is a private space company which develops their own rocket family called Falcon
and a capsule named Dragon, capable of sending up to 7 people to any space station, either
ISS or a possible station by Bigelow Aerospace. Falcon 1 has already undertaken testflights
and is on the way to its first commercial flight, Falcon 9 (which would be the rocket for the
Dragon capsule) is currently at the test facility and will take its first testflight later that year.
The Dragon capsule is slated to enter service 2009.
• Constellation Services International (CSI) is working on a project to send manned
spacecraft on commercial circumlunar missions. Their offer would include a week-long stay
at the ISS, as well as a week-long trip around the Moon[citation needed].
• Space Adventures Ltd. have also announced that they are working on circumlunar missions
to the moon, with the price per passenger being $100,000,000.[31] They are currently
developing spaceports at the United Arab Emirates (Ras al-Khaimah) and in Singapore.
• Orbital space tourist flights are also being planned by Excalibur Almaz, using modernized
TKS space capsules.

Several plans have been proposed for using a space station as a hotel.[32] American motel tycoon
Robert Bigelow has acquired the designs for inflatable space habitats from the Transhab program
abandoned by NASA. His company, Bigelow Aerospace already launched the first inflatable habitat
module named Genesis I in 12 July 2006. The second test module, Genesis II was launched 28
June 2007. It is also currently planning to launch a prototype space station module by late 2008,
and plans to officially launch the first commercial space station by 2010 (tagged Nautilus) which
will have 330 cubic meters (almost as big as the ISS's 425 cubic meters of usable volume).[33].[34]

Bigelow Aerospace is currently offering the America's Space Prize, a $50 million prize to the first
US company to create a reusable spacecraft capable of carrying passengers to a Nautilus space
station.

Other companies have also expressed interest in constructing "space hotels". For example,
Excalibur Almaz plans to modernize and launch its Soviet-era Almaz space stations, which will
feature the largest windows ever on spacecraft. Virgin's Richard Branson has expressed his hope
for the construction of a space hotel within his lifetime. He expects that beginning a space tourism
program will cost $100 million.[16] Hilton International announced the Space Islands Project, a
plan to connect together used Space Shuttle fuel tanks, each the diameter of a Boeing 747
aircraft.[35] A separate organization, Space Island Group[36] announced their distinct Space
Island Project (note the singular "Island"), and plans on having 20,000 people on their "space
island" by 2020, with the number of people doubling for each decade.[37] British Airways has
expressed interest in the venture. If and when Space Hotels develop, it would initially cost a
passenger $60,000, with prices lowering over time.[38]

Fashion designer Eri Matsui has designed clothing, including a wedding gown, intended to look
best in weightless environments.

Advocacy, education, and industry organizations

Several organizations have been formed to promote the space tourism industry, including the
Space Tourism Society, and others.[39][40][41] More information about the future of Space
Tourism can be found at Space Tourism Lecture, which is a free online Space Tourism Lecture
handout collection. Since 2003 Dr. Robert A. Goehlich teaches the world's first and only Space
Tourism class at Keio University, Yokohama, Japan.

Opinions of commercial space tourism

A web-based survey suggested that over 70% of those surveyed wanted less than or equal to 2
weeks in space; in addition, 88% wanted to spacewalk (only 74% of these would do it for a 50%
premium), and 21% wanted a hotel or space station.[42]

The concept has met with some criticism from social commentators and politicians, notably
Guenter Verheugen, vice-president of the European Commission, who said of the EADS Astrium
Space Tourism Project "It's only for the super rich, which is against my social convictions"[43].

Objection to "Space Tourist" terminology

Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen and Anousheh Ansari have all preferred to be
called something other than "space tourist". In each case, they explained their preferences by
pointing out that they carried out scientific experiments as part of their journey. Tito has asked to
be known as an "independent researcher"[citation needed]. Shuttleworth proposed "pioneer of
commercial space travel"[44]. Olsen preferred "private researcher."[45] Ansari prefers the term
"private space explorer".[46] Alone among those who have paid to go to orbit so far, Charles
Simonyi seems to have no concerns about calling it "space tourism", even in reference to his own
experience. Asked in an interview "Do you foresee a day when space tourism is not just the
province of billionaires - when it will be as affordable as plane travel?", he did not object to the
implicit categorization of his own trip, but rather answered "Yes, the only question is when ...."[47]

Although many space enthusiasts subscribe to the notion of space tourism as a potential
burgeoning industry that could further the development and settlement of space, some of these
same enthusiasts object to the use of the term "space tourist". Rick Tumlinson of the Space
Frontier Foundation, for example, has said

"I hate the word tourist, and I always will .... 'Tourist' is somebody in a flowered shirt with three
cameras around his neck."[48]

Others with perhaps less enthusiasm for space development seem to agree. Alex Tabarrok has
categorized it as a kind of "adventure travel". The mere fact of people paying for a travel experience
does not, in his view, make that activity "tourism".

At best and for the foreseeable future space travel will remain akin to climbing Everest, dangerous
and uncommon. Yes, we might see 100 flights a year but that's not space tourism - tourism is fat
guys with cameras.
 Solar System

The solar system is the home to the sun, nine planets including the Earth, the 158 known moons
that orbit those planets, as well as a countless number of other celestial bodies that exist
throughout this vast space. Such celestial bodies include things like asteroids, meteoroids and
comets.

Though the events leading up to the formation of the solar system are still being debated, is it
believed to be more than 4.6 billion years old!

The word "solar" is derived from the Latin word for sun, Sol, leading to the term solar system, or
the system of the sun. The planets that orbit the sun within the solar system include Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the smallest planet of Pluto. Jupiter is
by far the largest with an overall mass of more than three times that of the Earth. The sun itself
makes up an estimated 99.86% of the solar system’s total mass.

Planets and some dwarf planets of the Solar System; while the sizes are to scale, the relative
distances from the Sun are not.

The Solar System[a] consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by gravity. These
objects are the eight planets and their 166 known moons,[1] four dwarf planets and billions of
small bodies, including asteroids, icy Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids, and interplanetary
dust.

Broadly, the charted regions of the Solar System are the Sun, four terrestrial inner planets, the
asteroid belt, four gas giant outer planets, the Kuiper belt, the scattered disc, and ultimately
perhaps the hypothetical Oort cloud.

A flow of plasma from the Sun (the solar wind) permeates the Solar System. This creates a bubble
in the interstellar medium known as the heliosphere, which extends out to around the scattered
disc.

In order of their distances from the Sun, the eight planets are:
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

As of mid-2008, four smaller objects are classified as dwarf planets: Ceres is in the asteroid belt,
while the other three (Pluto, Makemake and Eris) all orbit the Sun beyond Neptune.

Six of the planets and two of the dwarf planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites, usually
termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of
dust and other particles.

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a
star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive
enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.
 Sun

The Sun is the Solar System's parent star, and far and away its chief component. Its large mass
gives it an interior density high enough to sustain nuclear fusion, which releases enormous
amounts of energy, mostly radiated into space as electromagnetic radiation such as visible light.

The Sun is classified as a moderately large yellow dwarf, but this name is misleading as, compared
to stars in our galaxy, the Sun is rather large and bright. Stars are classified by the Hertzsprung-
Russell diagram, a graph which plots the brightness of stars against their surface temperatures.
Generally, hotter stars are brighter. Stars following this pattern are said to be on the main
sequence; the Sun lies right in the middle of it. However, stars brighter and hotter than the Sun are
rare, while stars dimmer and cooler are common.[9]

It is believed that the Sun's position on the main sequence puts it in the "prime of life" for a star, in
that it has not yet exhausted its store of hydrogen for nuclear fusion. The Sun is growing brighter;
early in its history it was 75 percent as bright as it is today.[10]

Calculations of the ratios of hydrogen and helium within the Sun suggest it is halfway through its
life cycle. It will eventually move off the main sequence and become larger, brighter, cooler and
redder, becoming a red giant in about five billion years.[11] At that point its luminosity will be
several thousand times its present value.

The Sun is a population I star; it was born in the later stages of the universe's evolution. It contains
more elements heavier than hydrogen and helium ("metals" in astronomical parlance) than older
population II stars.[12] Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were formed in the cores of
ancient and exploding stars, so the first generation of stars had to die before the universe could be
enriched with these atoms. The oldest stars contain few metals, while stars born later have more.
This high metallicity is thought to have been crucial to the Sun's developing a planetary system,
because planets form from accretion of metals.[13]
 The Planets

Mercury

Mercury (0.4 AU) is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet (0.055 Earth masses).
Mercury has no natural satellites, and its only known geological features besides impact craters are
lobed ridges or rupes, probably produced by a period of contraction early in its history.[22]
Mercury's almost negligible atmosphere consists of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar
wind.[23] Its relatively large iron core and thin mantle have not yet been adequately explained.
Hypotheses include that its outer layers were stripped off by a giant impact, and that it was
prevented from fully accreting by the young Sun's energy.[24][25]

Venus

Venus (0.7 AU) is close in size to Earth, (0.815 Earth masses) and like Earth, has a thick silicate
mantle around an iron core, a substantial atmosphere and evidence of internal geological activity.
However, it is much drier than Earth and its atmosphere is ninety times as dense. Venus has no
natural satellites. It is the hottest planet, with surface temperatures over 400 °C, most likely due to
the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.[26] No definitive evidence of current
geological activity has been detected on Venus, but it has no magnetic field that would prevent
depletion of its substantial atmosphere, which suggests that its atmosphere is regularly
replenished by volcanic eruptions.[27]

Earth

Earth (1 AU) is the largest and densest of the inner planets, the only one known to have current
geological activity, and the only planet known to have life. Its liquid hydrosphere is unique among
the terrestrial planets, and it is also the only planet where plate tectonics has been observed.
Earth's atmosphere is radically different from those of the other planets, having been altered by
the presence of life to contain 21% free oxygen.[28] It has one natural satellite, the Moon(Latin:
Luna), the only large satellite of a terrestrial planet in the Solar System.

Mars

Mars (1.5 AU) is smaller than Earth and Venus (0.107 Earth masses). It possesses a tenuous
atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide. Its surface, peppered with vast volcanoes such as Olympus
Mons and rift valleys such as Valles Marineris, shows geological activity that may have persisted
until very recently. Its red color comes from rust in its iron-rich soil.[29] Mars has two tiny natural
satellites (Deimos and Phobos) thought to be captured asteroids.[30]

Outer planets

The four outer planets, or gas giants (sometimes called Jovian planets), collectively make up 99
percent of the mass known to orbit the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn consist largely of hydrogen and
helium. The bulk of Uranus and Neptune consist of ices. Some astronomers suggest they belong in
their own category, “ice giants.”[36] All four gas giants have rings, although only Saturn's ring
system is easily observed from Earth. The term outer planet should not be confused with superior
planet, which designates planets outside Earth's orbit (the outer planets and Mars).

Jupiter

Jupiter (5.2 AU), at 318 Earth masses, masses 2.5 times all the other planets put together. It is
composed largely of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's strong internal heat creates a number of semi-
permanent features in its atmosphere, such as cloud bands and the Great Red Spot. Jupiter has
sixty-three known satellites. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa, show
similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as volcanism and internal heating.[37] Ganymede, the
largest satellite in the Solar System, is larger than Mercury.

Saturn

Saturn (9.5 AU), distinguished by its extensive ring system, has similarities to Jupiter, such as its
atmospheric composition. Saturn is far less massive, being only 95 Earth masses. Saturn has sixty
known satellites (and three unconfirmed); two of which, Titan and Enceladus, show signs of
geological activity, though they are largely made of ice.[38] Titan is larger than Mercury and the
only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere.

Uranus

Uranus (19.6 AU), at 14 Earth masses, is the lightest of the outer planets. Uniquely among the
planets, it orbits the Sun on its side; its axial tilt is over ninety degrees to the ecliptic. It has a much
colder core than the other gas giants, and radiates very little heat into space.[39] Uranus has
twenty-seven known satellites, the largest ones being Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda.

Neptune

Neptune (30 AU), though slightly smaller than Uranus, is more massive (equivalent to 17 Earths)
and therefore more dense. It radiates more internal heat, but not as much as Jupiter or Saturn.[40]
Neptune has thirteen known satellites. The largest, Triton, is geologically active, with geysers of
liquid nitrogen.[41] Triton is the only large satellite with a retrograde orbit. Neptune is
accompanied in its orbit by a number of minor planets, termed Neptune Trojans, that are in 1:1
resonance with it.