Space & Astronomy
Exploring "Why" questions about Space & Astronomy
480 articles
Why do we invest in space exploration?
If you need to ask why, you probably wouldn't understand anyway. It's the same reason people climbed everest, the same reason our ancestors built boats out of logs and sailed uncharted oceans, same re
Why did the Earth form with just a single continent?
It didn't.... I'm guessing that you're referring to Pangaea which is usually the starting point when teaching about Continental Drift, however the continents were separate before they formed the super
Why is it when on a slow internet connection ads on youtube do not have to buffer at all and play in high definition, but when the video starts, it has to buffer even on the lowest quality setting?
YouTube videos end up fitting into two categories: a small number of videos that get watched A LOT, and a large number of videos that only get watched sometimes. Videos in the second category are stor
Why is the search for “intelligent life” so widely talked about and seems to be a prominent goal for NASA?
First of all, you're correct. Finding any life would be a big fucking deal. However, that's actually not very likely to happen.
Why don’t countries apart from the US have manned moon landings?
I think the US sent a man to the moon more for national pride than for any practical purpose. JFK declared America's intent to complete this mission in order to send a message to the Soviets and the w
Why did almost all videos on news sites start autoplaying in the last few years?
To get your attention. Media producers know that you're probably opening several web pages at once, and that your eye may not be drawn to the content they want you to pay attention to. Even if it's no
Why aren’t any of the nearest planets orbiting the sun on a vertical (as opposed to horizontal) orbit?
It's because the planets all formed from a disc of stuff that was orbiting the sun around its axis of rotation
Why do Flu vaccine’s have mercury?
_URL_0_ Multi-use Flu vaccines contain thimerosal, which is mercury-based. However, the concentration is very low, and does not turn into mercury when your body processes it - it breaks down into Ethy
Why would a human colony on Mars be better than one on the Moon?
Because mars has an atmosphere, water, and gravity. Any settlement on the moon would have to live on what they brought with them. Mars has natural resources.
Why didn’t NASA astronauts (or anyone else for that matter) return to the Moon?
It's uninteresting. They went there to beat Russia, not so much for space exploration in itself. Just wait until we know how to make power out of Helium-3 though.