25 Gigantic Facts About Space That Make Us Feel Crazy Small
![25 Gigantic Facts About Space That Make Us Feel Crazy Small](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/1/6/858916_320x180.jpg)
Space! It's big, and it seems like they're mostly nothing out there besides empty vacuums and burning balls of gas… But that hasn't stopped generations of Earthlings from trying to figure out just what's going on up there. We've built space stations, created amazing machines that have helped us see far away planets, and even managed to get a couple of guys to that gray rock that hangs out in our sky.
Here are some of the weirdest, mind expanding facts about what's going on beyond the borders of planet Earth, and the people on the ground who are doing their best to figure it out all out. Did you know what famous astronaut wasn't that popular among his colleagues? Or who managed to turn the unwritten rule of “no married couples in space” into a formal written one?
For most of us, looking at a list on our phone in the bathroom is the closest we'll ever get to leaving the planet ourselves.
Scouts & NASA
![CRACKED.COM 2/3 of NASA astronauts were Boy/Girl Scouts As of 2011 (which is, okay, pretty outdated), there were 312 people selected to be astronauts, with at least 207 identifying as a Boy or Girl Scout. 11 out of the 12 people to walk on the moon were.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/7/858907.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
NASA and Pi
![CRACKED.COM NASA only uses 15 digits of П =3.141592653 7932384626 For the highest accuracy calculations, NASA only needs to use 3.141 59265358979. Even when doing calculations for the circumference of a circle with a radius of 46 billion light years (the entire visible universe) to an accuracy equal to the diameter of the simplest atom, you would only need 39 or 40 decimal places](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/4/858904.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
Rogue Planets
![Rogue planets (planets that don't rotate stars) could outnumber the stars in our galaxy They are hard for astronomers to spot as they don't emit light or much heat. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/6/858906.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Uranus' discovery
![The planet Uranus was discovered before the continent of Antarctica. Antarctica was discovered in 1820, but Uranus was the first planet discovered via telescope in 1781. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/5/858905.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
TV and the Moon
![The inventor of the TV was unimpressed by his invention until he watched the moon landing. His wife said, We were watching it, and, when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, Phil turned to me and said, 'Pem, this has made it all worthwhile.' Before then, he wasn't too sure. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/3/858903.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Guy Bluford
![CRACKED.COM Guy Bluford was the first Black American astronaut in space MF43E MF43G In 1983, he was a crew member of the Orbiter Challenger. The first person of African descent in space was Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez in 1980.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/2/858902.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
The Overview Effect
![CRACKED.COM Astronauts may experience the overview effect This phenomenon refers to the powerful shift in perspective that happens when you view the Earth from space, causing a dramatic shift in priorities.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/1/858901.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
DreamWorks & NASA
![CRACKED.COM DreamWorks hired nearly a dozen former NASA employees DreamWorks has a team of 120 people members with master's and doctoral degrees to create technology within the animation industry.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/0/0/858900.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
Nobody liked Buzz Aldrin
![CRACKED.COM Buzz Aldrin almost didn't go to the moon because of his personality Aldrin was said to have a personality that grated on several of the other astronauts so Armstrong was offered the chance to replace him with Jim Lovell, but Armstrong refused because he believed Lovell deserved his own mission to command.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/9/858899.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
NASA's logo
![CRACKED.COM NASA doesn't make money off merch with its logo NASA Even at gift shops at NASA facilities, NASA doesn't make one cent as their logos are in the public domain. The gift shops are run by Hudson Group (which you probably by their airport stores). NASA can, however, approve or deny requests for its use.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/8/858898.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
Neil Armstrong's Secret Moon Stash
![We don't know what Neil Armstrong took to the moon. His record for his personal property kit has never been made public. During his moon trip, he took an unscheduled visit to Little West crater, off-camera. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/6/858896.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Communion on the Moon
![Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon The wafer and wine were the first food consumed on the moon's surface. Neil Armstrong respectfully watched but didn't comment on the Christian sacrement. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/7/858897.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
If NASA had money
![If NASA's funding stayed at Apollo levels, they were planning a manned mission to Mars by 1983 The Space Task Group planned to develop a lunar orbit station in 1978 and a lunar surface base in 1980. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/5/858895.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Saturn's day
![Scientists didn't know the the length of a day on Saturn until 2019 It's 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds. It was difficult to figure out because the gas planet has no solid surface to follow its rotation and an unusual magnetic field. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/4/858894.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Pluto's life as a planet
![Pluto was a planet for less than one of its own years Pluto's orbit takes 248 Earth years. It was only considered a planet for 76 years. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/3/858893.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Not on Earth during 9/11
![CRACKED.COM NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson was the only American not on Earth during 9/11 Не watched the Twin Towers collapse from space.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/0/858890.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
The last married couple in space
![CRACKED.COM Jan Davis and Mark Lee were the first (and last) married couple to go to space together They didn't reveal their marriage until it was too close to their mission to train new astronauts, inspiring NASA to make their informal policy of not putting married couples on the same flight a written rule.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/2/858892.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
Astronaut ice cream is a lie
![CRACKED.COM Astronaut ice cream has never been to space Although created with NASA funding, the freeze-dried ice cream has never made it on a spaceship ... it's too crumbly to be practical.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/9/1/858891.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
NASA's trash
![CRACKED.COM NASA dumps its trash in the Pacific Ocean Point Nemo (the most remote oceanic area, located between New Zealand and South America) is a spacecraft cemetery for multiple countries.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/7/858887.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
What crashed into the moon?
![CRACKED.COM NASA is confused as to what just crashed into the Moon The 'mystery rocket body' left an equally mysterious double crater on the Moon's surface on March 4, 2022.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/9/858889.jpg)
Source: 12 Out-Of-This-World NASA Facts
Helium Balloon on the Moon
![A helium balloon on the moon would plunge to the ground Without air to rise above, the helium might as well be lead. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/4/858884.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Human Poop on the Moon
![There are 96 bags of human waste on the moon. They were left behind by the six Apollo Missions. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/8/858888.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
Pizza Hut Delivery
![Pizza Hut delivered a pizza to space. Pizza-Hut para 2018 5 The company paid $1 million for the promotional gesture of sending pizza to the International Space Station. The pizza had salami instead of pepperoni due to the meat's shelf-life. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/3/858883.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
The North Star
![We didn't always have the same North Star. Due to a slight wobble of the Earth's axis, the North Star changes. When humans were building the Pyramids, the star Thuban was used for Northern guidance. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/5/858885.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel
The First Woman in Space
![The first woman in space was sent in a ship that wasn't programmed to descend Ground control was able to send and install a new program which allowed her to safely return. They also forgot to give her a toothbrush. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/6/858886.jpg)
Source: The Final Frontier: 13 Now-You-Know Facts About Space And Space Travel