Awesome Space

After Kurzgesagt schooled us on how black holes work, we’re ready for some serious space exploration. In this video, the explain the relative sizes of these planet-eating phenomena, from coin-sized primordial black holes to city-sized stellar black holes to our favorite Muse song, Supermassive Black Hole… and beyond.

Send your dining table to space with this collection of plates, placemats, utensils, and display pieces from Seletti and Diesel Living. The porcelain plates come in soup, dinner, and tray sizes, each featuring a different planet or moon. Accessories include rocket candleholders, meteorite glasses, and astronaut bud vases.

Now that we know how slowly objects fall on various planets, learn how fast you’d need to be moving to escape those same planets in a rocket. Dr. James O’Donoghue’s animated infographic might seem counterintuitive at first, but you can escape planets with larger masses faster because your velocity would be higher.

From June 7-8,2021, NASA flew its Juno spacecraft close to Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede, then proceeded to perform its 34th flyby of Jupiter. We now can see what an astronaut might have seen along that trajectory, using images captured by Juno projected onto a digital sphere and the addition of intermediate frames.

Just how different are the gravitational forces on the planets in our solar system? Planetary scientist Dr. James O’Donoghue provides a great visual that compares the speed of a ball being dropped from 1 km onto each planet, as well as the sun, moon, and the asteroid Ceres where things take a really, really long time to fall.

When space junk falls towards Earth, it’s supposed to burn up in the atmosphere. This video from the ESA simulates the conditions of re-entry on a satellite’s solar array plasma wind tunnel. Satellite operators are required to minimize the risk of casualties from falling debris, and this kind of testing can help reduce such risks.

The Swatch Space Collection features watches inspired by America’s space program. Launch comes in flight suit orange while Extravehicular is a patriotic white with red and blue accents. Both have a bioceramic case, a silicone strap, and a large multifunction dial. We also like the simpler blue and white Jumpsuit.

We’re a long way from reaching the limits of space exploration. But scientists say there is a finite limit to how far future generations of humans will be able to go. Kurzgesagt explains just how much universe there is, and why so much of it is permanently out of our reach.

Fashion and lifestyle brand RSVLTS teamed up with NASA to create a collection of fun and lighthearted casual wear that celebrates the space program. The series includes KUNUFLEX short-sleeved shirts in spacewalk, moon buggy, and Apollo mission patch variants.

Animator Kaspar Jancis’ somber and emotive short film follows the story of an aging Russian Cosmonaut and the struggles of everyday life he experiences in his dying days. As he reaches his final moments, his actions on earth mirror his time in space.

Unless you’re a superhuman athlete, most of us here on Earth can only jump up about 18 inches. But if you went to Venus, you could jump twice as high. Bright Side takes a look at the gravitational forces on the moon and other planets for a look at how they would affect our ability to jump – assuming we could survive the conditions.

Because of their power and extreme nature, black holes are some of the most awe-inspiring objects in the universe. Kurzgesagt offers a deep dive into these regions of spacetime and ponders what might happen if their immense gravity got a hold of you. Also, we just learned an awesome new word: spaghettification.

Developed by North American Aviation back in the late 1950s for the U.S. Air Force and NASA, the X-15 was an experimental aircraft that could achieve speeds up to Mach 6.7. Real Engineering delves into the history of this rocket-powered plane, and the innovations and technologies that allowed it fly at insane speeds and altitudes.

How’d you like to spend your weekends in a lunar lander? Catamaran designer Kurt Hughes turned his skills towards building an earthbound structure inspired by the iconic space vehicle. His 250 sq.ft. “fishing shack” sits along the banks of the Columbia River, and is made from carbon fiber panels, plywood, and epoxy.

Ever wondered how big the planets are in science fiction? Well, wonder no longer. MetaBallStudios has you covered with this comparison video that lets you see the massive size differences between a planet like Dwarf Terrace-9 on Rick and Morty, and Reach from Halo. And then there’s Star Trek’s Dyson Sphere.

LEGO continues its collaboration with NASA with a detailed model of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The 2354-piece Creator Expert kit has opening payload bay doors and a robotic arm, along with a model of the Hubble Telescope which stows inside or can be displayed on its own. The finished model measures 21″ l x 13.5″ w x 8.5″ h.

After successfully landing its Perseverance Rover on Mars, NASA has released video of the descent and touchdown of the vehicle on the planet’s surface. Cameras were mounted on the rover, the descent stage, and the protective aeroshell, capturing views of the planet below, upward towards the spacecraft and the rover’s parachute.

The average person blinks roughly 28,800 times per day. You might not think a lot could happen during just a single blink, but that’s not the case. Melodysheep’s short film explains some of the millions and millions of events that happen in the universe in the time it takes to blink. They also made us feel really, really small.

Enjoy a journey to the moon every time you take a sip with these cool ceramic coasters. They’re ceramic, so they’re absorbent and feature durable, UV-printed images of the lunar surface. Sold in a set of four. Check out CatchtheBug’s Etsy shop for many more artful coaster designs.

Take out your stress on the entire Solar System with these squishy spheres. The set includes nine full-color planets and a larger Sun for them to orbit around. They’re definitely not to scale, but a squeezy Sun that’s 1.3 million times bigger than Earth isn’t exactly a practical toy to wrap your hand around.

BetterCo. specializes in colorful and challenging jigsaw puzzles. This astronomical puzzle features a dramatic image of the stars, dust, and gas clouds of the Milky Way captured by NASA’s Hubble Telescope. The completed 1000-piece puzzle measures appx. 27.5″ x 19.7″.

Concord Aerospace makes replicas of the switches found in NASA’s space vehicles, including the Apollo command module and the Space Shuttle. The switches feature accurate labeling, and can be wired to control circuits, should you decide to build your own basement simulator. You can also order switches with custom labeling.

Filmmaker Seán Doran processed about a week’s worth of data captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory to create this awe-inspiring UHD video of the Sun’s activity. Max out the resolution, go full screen, dim the lights, and crank up the audio for a truly hypnotic journey to our Solar System’s number one life-giver.