Space & Astronomy
Exploring "Why" questions about Space & Astronomy
480 articles
Why was it so important that we made it to the moon before the Soviets?
The Soviets beat us to space, both unmanned (Sputnik) and manned (Yuriy Gagarin). It is difficult to understate how much of a shock that was. The space race began in earnest and we were already losing
why do the insides of space stations always look messy?
No, what you are seeing is uber-cleanliness. EVERYTHING has a place and is constantly strapped into its place. In 0G, everything that's not strapped down will inevitably float away and make a bigger m
Why Cassini needs to crash into Saturn to avoid contaminating a moon?
Huygens probe is clean, Cassini is not. It's pretty much as simple as that, but there's also that Titan is significantly less inhabitable than Enceladus so if something was hitchhiking it would most l
Why don’t we experiment with colonizing new worlds by building on the Moon first before going to Mars?
That was exactly the plan with the [Constellation Program](_URL_0_) but then the financial crisis hit and suddenly no-more moon money.
Why do we need to send a satellite (New Horizon) to photograph color pluton when we have telescopes that see galaxies much farther?
The ability to see so far in space is based solely on light. Pluto does not give off light itself and is too distant to reflect visible light from the Sun. When we are looking at distant galaxies thro
why can’t we come up with an efficient solution for cleaning up orbital space junk?
You have a flatbed tow truck, clean up every car on the highway, while they are moving. But it's in 3 dimensions, not one. You must be in an orbit, you must be in a certain orbit to intersect somethin
Why a lot of videogame usernames don’t allow spaces
This is too discourage identity theft and fraud. It's difficult for an in-game user to differentiate between "DOOM Killer100" and "DOOM Killer100"
Why are the movement of people in spacemovies so slow, if there is no resistance? (Example: When they climb up stairs)
Have you ever been working in a tight space, with a low ceiling, crouched down, and then, without thinking, you stood up and banged your head? If you're not careful, that happens *every time* in space
Why is the sign for a dollar $ when the dollar starts with a ‘D’
historical reasons, it's easy to find on [wiki dollar sign](_URL_0_). there are two possibilities, it evolved from spanish peso (p^(s)) by merging of two letters and evolving into $ (like on [this](_U
Why do I feel exhausted after being out in the sun for a few hours, even if I have not engaged in any physical activity?
Even if you don't do something, doesn't mean your *body* does nothing to. If it is really hot, your body tries to stay cool, and that requires a lot of energy.