9781422273104

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION For a long time, different countries worked alone in their mission to study and visit space. The most notable of these are the United States and Russia. Today, different countries know it’s best to work together in our pursuit of knowledge. The ISS is how we do that. It’s the largest satellite in orbit and has been inhabited for more than two decades. How did we get something so big into space in the first place? Over time. More and more pieces of the space station are still being launched into space and connected to the satellite that is already there. Five organizations that contribute are NASA (United States), RKA (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). These countries help fund the projects and send trained astronauts to the space station. Astronauts from more than fifteen countries have visited the ISS. Visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station to learn more.

WOMEN AND SPACE EXPLORATION

Although women were not included among the first groups of astronauts and cosmonauts, they have made great strides in space, as well as on Earth. From Valentina Tereshkova and Sally Ride to Mae Jemison, Peggy Whitson, and Christina Koch, you will learn about some space exploration all-stars in this book. Women also have been major contributors in space science. Do you like science? Are you curious and enjoy solving problems and making discoveries? If so, there are great opportunities waiting for you in space research and exploration. Perhaps you’ll be the first woman to walk on Mars, or explore an asteroid. Or maybe you’ll find the answers to big scientific questions such as “What is dark matter?”, “How did the universe begin?”, “Is there other life in the universe?” These and other questions are waiting to be answered by people just like you. Now let’s get started investigating careers in space exploration.

15 CAREERS IN SPACE EXPLORATION