20 Out-of-This-World Space Facts for Kids

Space is the ultimate "wow" machine for curious kids. It's huge, mysterious, and full of facts that sound impossible but are completely true. Here are 20 out-of-this-world space facts to spark a little stargazer — great for bedtime, a clear night outside, or a coloring session.

Our Sun, Moon and Earth

• The Sun is so big that about one million Earths could fit inside it.
• The Sun isn't on fire — it's a giant ball of glowing gas.
• You could fit about 50 Moons inside the Earth.
• On the Moon, your footprints could last millions of years because there's no wind to blow them away.
• A day on Venus is longer than its whole year!

Planets and rings

• Saturn's rings are made of billions of chunks of ice and rock.
• Saturn is so light it would float in a (very big!) bathtub.
• Jupiter is so huge that all the other planets could fit inside it.
• On some planets it may rain tiny diamonds.
• There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches.

Astronauts and rockets

• In space, astronauts can grow a few centimetres taller because their spine stretches out.
• Astronauts' food often floats, so they catch it in mid-air.
• Rockets must fly about 28,000 km/h to reach space — that's super fast!
• There's no "up" or "down" in space, so astronauts float every which way.
• You can't whistle or hear a sound in space because it's a vacuum.

Five twinkly star facts

• Some stars you see at night may have burned out long ago — their light is still travelling to you.
• Stars come in colors: red, orange, yellow, white and blue.
• Our Sun is actually a star — just a very close one.
• A group of stars that makes a picture is called a constellation.
• Shooting stars aren't stars at all — they're tiny bits of space dust burning up.

Keep exploring the cosmos with the Space Explorers Activity Pack, try some easy experiments to be a real scientist, or wind down with a few calming free coloring pages.