Space & Astronomy
Exploring "Why" questions about Space & Astronomy
480 articles
Why are the planets so bright?
No the star you see are not super-huge planets. But you might have mistaken on of the our 5 planets that we can see with nake eyes for a star. It's really only the difference in distance.
Why can’t astronauts or satellites take high quality cameras to anywhere they are going and take nice pictures of planets and space?
There are several problems. Firstly, cameras have mass. Delivering a kilogram to orbit costs $2500 to $12500, which makes for one costly camera.
Why is Africa the least developed continent if humanity started there?
Well, you can contrast Northern Africa from Southern Africa. For most of history, Northern Africa wasn't any less developed than the most developed parts of Europe or the Near East (although it fell b
Why hasn’t the planet waged war on ISIS yet?
They haven't pissed off enough countries yet. But they're getting close. Jordan and Japan helped.
Why should we keep funding NASA?
> So, what makes these investments worth while? We don't know ahead of time, which is the biggest reason. Advances made in the space program are both obvious (satellites) and subtle (enriched baby
Why is it that you only start to feel the effects of flamin’ hot cheetos once you stop eating them?
The crunchy stuff cools it off as you eat. Once you are done eating you are only left with the hot stuff.
Why is the US legally allowed to fly drones in foreign airspaces and kill terror suspects?
"Legal" has very little meaning in international politics on this level. What matters is, "Who is going to complain?" and "What are they going to do about it?". When possible, the USA gets either offi
Why don’t people make non-educational films designed to be shown in planetariums?
They are sometimes used for laser light shows. Laser Floyd comes to mind. There just isn't a lot of ways to use a movie theater with the screen on the ceiling.
Why doesn’t the ISS or orbiting satellites ever collide or get hit with misc space junk?
They do collide with space junk. That's why they have to be built to withstand collisions with small objects flying at very high speeds. When explosions happen in space, there's no air resistance to s
Why do I often read that scientists only search for planets that are inhabitable by our own human standards?
NASA is joyously cataloging every last extra-solar planet that we can find out of a love of the pure knowledge of what's out there. The media only cares about planets that might be habitable by humans