Tim Sharp

SpaceShipOne was a major turning point for private spaceflight.

Reference Earth's global average surface temperature is approximately 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). But it's on the rise.

Reference Mars' atmosphere is over 100 times thinner than Earth's and is primarily composed of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon gases.

Reference Earth's atmosphere protects the planet and sustains life.

Reference We explore what the temperature is on the moon and see why it varies so considerably.

Reference Answering the question "how far is the moon from Earth?", can change depending on when you ask it. The average distance between Earth and the moon is about 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers).

Reference The sun's atmosphere has three layers: The photosphere, the chromosphere and the corona.

The first scheduled passenger airline service flew from St. Petersburg to Tampa, FL in 1914.

Reference The temperature on Mars doesn't get much above 70 degrees F and it drop down to nearly minus 200 degrees F, making it a relatively cold planet.

Reference How big is the moon? Our moon is the fifth largest moon in the solar system, with a radius of 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers).

Reference What is the sun made of? In several layers, hot gases are converted into energy and released as heat and light.

Reference Earth's star is the largest and the most massive object in the solar system. More than one million Earths could fit inside the sun.

In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers' plan to reach the sky was full of hot air.

To get astronauts to the moon, scientists built the largest rocket ever.

Mars formed billions of years ago along with the rest of the solar system.

Mars is made of minerals, metals and other elements.

America's space shuttles were NASA's orbital workhorses.

The moon's atmosphere is a very thin layer of widely dispersed gases.

Rosetta was a spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency with a 10-year mission to rendezvous with a comet.

Five moons orbit the dwarf planet Pluto: Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx.

Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system. Here are Mars’ diameter, mass and other size measurements

The V-22 Osprey takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane.

For lighter-than-air travel to get anywhere, a way to control the balloons had to be invented.