Me & Henry

Me & Henry Go to space

Hi! I’m Henry and I’m 6 years old.

I’m an English cocker spaniel and I cannot wait to share my adventures...this time...in space.

So let’s start our journey.

We’re not REALLY going to space. That’s not possible for us just yet... but let’s use our imagination.

So to get up there we need a spaceship but let’s be honest this is the trip of a lifetime so we need a rocket which is really comfortable, has space for both of us but also looks really cool.

Here’s the space ship i’ve designed (in my head).

Why don’t you draw one too so we can see who has the coolest!

my spaceship is ready.

Now we need to make sure we protect ourselves while we are up there and for that we need spacesuits.

Did you know only 550 humans have actually been in space and about 30 dogs!

The first dogs to ever go to space were two Russian dogs called Dezik and Tsygan - they went up together in a rocket in 1951.

So there have been quite a few years pass by and that means plenty of time for the scientists to design the perfect space suit for me!!

before we head off on our big trip around the solar system we should probably try and understand what the solar system actually is!!

Well it’s kind of like a very cool gang.

And the head of the gang is a star - right in the middle of it all . in the gang are loads of really amazing planets and comets that run around it.

The star in the middle uses gravity to pull the planets closer so they don’t fly off.

Our solar system’s star in the middle is called the Sun. And in the gang are eight planets that go around and around the Sun. each planet has moons and comets that also go round and round the Sun. I feel dizzy and we haven’t even taken off yet!

in the 1960s we started to send the first probes to see what was out there and learn more about the planets.

Back then it was difficult to work out how to send a spaceship without it blowing up or having problems.

But in November 1964 one probe called Mariner 4 was sent to get as close to Mars as possible.

It took 7 months to get there and sent amazing photos back to us here on Earth so we could see the surface of Mars for the first time.

Since then we have sent lots of probes into our solar system and as more photos have been sent back we can see that actually our gang of planets is just one little gang!

We are part of something bigger called the Milky Way (or galaxy) with more than 400 billion stars. most of those stars have a gang of planets spinning around them like we spin around the sun.

So lots and lots and lots of solar systems just like ours ! if you stand somewhere very dark at night and look up you might see it.

It’s like band of light which is all the stars.

Years ago the ancient Romans looked up and said it looked like a road of spilt milk because of the colour. That’s how it got its name !

We need a special rocket to get to space. we can’t just use normal engines or it would take forever.

mars 228 yrs

the sun 152 yrs

Imagine if we used our car to get to some of the planets we want to visit. How long would it take...?

saturn 1461 yrs

neptune 5137 yrs

Right then - I think it’s time to go up there and start our amazing adventure. Are you ready?

To get off the ground we have to get the rocket engines ready. We need a really powerful rocket to stop gravity pulling us back down.

What’s gravity? Well it’s an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other. Earth's gravity is what keeps us on the ground. .

Ok. Helmets ready? Engines ready?

Just need to check I have my doggie treats for a mid flight snack.

The gravity is different on every planet we will visit.

It’s hard to explain but it means on some planets we will feel like super heroes.

i can pick up a washing machine on mars.

a motorbike is easy on saturn.

The pull of gravity will be less than earth so we can lift and carry much bigger a school bus heavier things. is like a feather on phobos (one of the mars moons). a piano on pluto? no ok let's really problem.

go....

3... 2... 1... We have lift off !

Woohoo. Amazing. So fast and exciting.

Before we head off and visit all these amazing planets let’s just look behind us... look at Earth.

Up here it looks blue and green and beautiful. And there is no other planet like earth that we know of. It’s very very special.

It’s the only planet in the solar system that has life on it. Us. It has just the right mixture of water, oxygen, heat so that we can live on it.

Every other planet we visit has lots of problems that make it impossible for anything to stay alive. You’ll see as we go along.

Let’s have a little look at earth before we go too far.

Looking out of our window it’s so beautiful now but it didn’t always look this pretty...

About 5 billion years ago when earth started its life it was just a ball of green slime with no life at all.

Then about half a billion years later a massive rock the size of Mars smashed into earth and a big chunk fell off. Look up at night - can you see the moon?

That’s the chunk that fell off!

We know what it looks like today but did you know every year America and Europe are moving about an inch away from each other?

About 700 million years ago it was so cold the entire planet was covered in snow and ice. Just one big giant snowball.

Plus the north and South Pole are melting so maybe you can draw what earth will look like in a million years.

our earth is amazing - truly amazing. eventhough we call it earth , 70% is actually sea and lakes and ice and not earth at all! there are so many fascinating things about our planet - for example did you know 6 billion people live on earth and we speak more than 7000 languages but the most spoken is english! and also did you know that even though we have explored almost every part of the earth, only 5% of the oceans have been looked at. it's like outerspace on our own planet! here are some more fun facts about earth!

the biggest mountain is called mount everest and over 5000 people have been to the top.

the queen of england is the official owner of one sixth of the land on earth.

there are 3 trillion trees thats 400 for every person living on earth.

there are over 1500 volcanoes that could burst at any moment. there are 400 billion birds on earth and 24 billion of those are chicken!

in japan people live to 84yrs on average and just 52yrs in central african republic.

the biggest country on earth is russia - it's 1.7 times bigger than the usa and 70 times bigger than the uk.

Ok we’re saying goodbye to our earth. This is so exciting.

We’re on our way to our first stop...the Moon. but wait.

Before we get too far... look at this... it’s the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS is the most expensive thing humans have ever built! in the year 2000 - it cost $160 billion! if you put every dollar bill end to end you could wrap $160 billion around the whole earth 622 times! thats a lot of money!

The ISS orbits the Earth 16 times every day so that means they get a sunrise and sunset every 45 mins!

Only 6 people can live on the ISS at any one time but they carry out very important work .

The space station is used to do experiments and collect information about earth and space.

They test how well plants grow in space and find ways for us to possibly live in space.

Living on the ISS is so weird and pretty yucky.

Astronauts have to use a special toilet that sucks the poop away so it doesn’t float about! Disgusting!

But guess what - they also have to pee into a special machine which turns it into drinking water!!

Eewww...

There are no washing machines in space so they can only change their underwear once a week!! then they throw them into space where they burn up in the earths atmosphere. So some shooting stars you see could just be dirty underpants!

One astronaut once wore a pair of underpants for three months!

And he even grew tomatoes in an old pair!!

It only took two days to grow them because his old pants had so many nutrients in them.

Because you’re floating around all the time there are some very strange things on the ISS. Most beds are on a wall or ceiling and you have to strap yourself in so you don’t float off in the middle of the night.

You can’t have a shower because the water would just float about so you have to just wipe yourself clean every day.

You also need to sleep by a fan or the carbon dioxide you breathe would suffocate you!

There is no cooker or fridge on the ISS so all the food is prepared on earth, dried and then sent up in small bags.

A lot of time goes into creating space meals on earth for the astronauts.

There are actually more than 200 meals on the menu in the ISS. That sounds like a nice restaurant!

rehydrate by adding water reheat the meal open it up

all meals have to be nutritious, lightweight, small, not crumbly and of course it has to be tasty.

All the meals come in small packages and need water added and then warmed up. Salt and pepper comes as liquid because small granules would float around and get into people's eyes and clog air vents.

In 2001 Pizza Hut delivered a six inch pizza to the ISS. It took Pizza Hut a year to test it and make it - that's a bit longer than most pizza deliveries but i bet it was worth it!

Extra salami, spice and salt had to be added because your taste buds change in space. can you imagine sitting having a chat and a slice of pizza with a view of the earth? anyway lets leave the ISS and land on the moon - our first destination.... here we go!

Ha look. Someone has already been here - I can see a footprint! This belongs to Buzz Aldrin who was one of the first people to actually moonwalk in 1969.

There’s also an American flag! 12 American astronauts have walked on the moon and there are plans finally for the first woman to land on the moon in 2024!

There is no atmosphere or wind or rain here so nothing changes. .

It would take about 10,000 years for that footprint to fill up with moon dust.

Did you know it’s easier and cheaper to get people to go to the moon than to bring them back to Earth.

So if anything has gone to the moon in the last 51 years - whatever they took with them they left on the moon!

Unless it was really important - it’s here! 180 tonnes of it!

That’s the same weight as 14 school buses!!

If we take a little moonwalk we can see what they left : 1 pair of moonboots, 3 lunar modules, 6 american flags, 7 hammers, 12 cameras, 96 bags of poop and pee (really!)

Ok time to leave...this spaceship is sooo fast.

Next stop is Mercury...56 million miles from home.

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and it’s shrinking! it’s also the closest to the Sun- so on the side facing the sun it is super hot: 850°F. but funnily enough this planet is not even the hottest.

It’s so close to the Sun that during the day it looks twice as large and about six times brighter from earth - time for my space sun goggles.

There’s no atmosphere so it’s always being hit by meteors and looks a little bit like the moon with its craters and cold rocky surface.

If you go into the darker parts of the planet - wow it’s cold. I wish I’d brought my sweater!! It can get as cold as -308°F ....That’s cold.

That’s seems crazy seeing as it’s so close to the Sun! But guess what’s even more weird. . . If you go to the bottom of one of the craters .... there is a type of iron-ice and it’s been there for millions of years!!

The craters here are HUGE. Mercury has more craters than any other planet and one of the craters is as big as Texas!

We have only ever sent two probes to Mercury - the first time was in 1964 but another one is planned for 2025!

Except I beat them - let’s jet off to our next stop...

So the next stop is Venus and is also called the acid planet.

It’s NOT a nice place and I need to put some extra protection on before we can land. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. over the years 40 spaceships have tried to land here and 30 have crashed! the first one that managed to land safely, burst into flames within seconds. in 1970 one landed and managed to continue working for 23 minutes before it melted! we need to get through the thick yellow clouds - but they’re made of acid that can melt plastic and metal. Whoah.

And look. As far as you can see there are huge hurricanes and cyclones happening - this is horrible. Hold tight!

the sky is just a yellow and orange glow and the atmosphere is posionous. it’s the hottest planet - around 850° F. Imagine - that’s about twice as hot as your oven when you make a pizza at home.

All I can really see is lots and lots of volcanoes one of them is as tall as Mount Everest and it looks like it might erupt. Let’s go!! Not nice here !

Ok we’re doing well. Off to Mars - and we know quite a lot about Mars! We have sent 56 probes - and 26 have been successful!

In fact on the surface we have a lander and a rover there looking around already.

Mars is special you see - because lots of brainy scientists believe that one day we could live there !

In fact NASA have said that the first person to land on Mars is alive today - so it could be you...

One of things we should do on mars is visit Olympus Mons which is the largest volcano in the solar system.

It’s about the size of France and three times higher than Mount Everest!

It will take weeks and weeks to get to the top. The view from here is amazing though. it’s so red everywhere. that’s why it’s called the red planet.

The surface is red because the rocks have iron oxide (rust) in them. a lot of people think there is life on mars - maybe one day there will be. me and you! in 2020 a new rover came to mars to do more tests that will help us decide if we could ever live here...

can you imagine one day what a space colony on mars would look like?

how cool! maybe one day you will come here.

next stop - Jupiter.

Wow. Just stunning and HUGE. Some people call Jupiter the Earths Protector because it’s so big it stops any large rocks or meteors ever hitting earth. In fact it is the biggest planet in the solar system.

It’s so big you could put about 1300 Earths inside it.

No spaceship has ever landed on Jupiter - it doesn’t really have a surface to land on - just amazing thick swirly bands - one is called the Great Red Spot.

Can you see it...? we can’t land. We’re just going to fly by and take some photos of that Great Red Spot. It’s one of the prettiest things to see on our trip!

It’s basically a massive storm with 400mph winds that’s been swirling about for 300 yrs....

It’s like a huge red coloured hurricane twice the size of the Earth !

Off we go now to Saturn. this planet will wow you! we are a very long way away now. 746 million miles away.

Just like Jupiter there is nowhere we can land - it’s just made of gas with no surface so let’s go for a ride through the rings instead!

Only 11 other spacecrafts have been this far ... woohoo...

In we go ....

Woohoo. This is amazing.

The rings are only 30ft deep and they’re made up of billions of objects.

Some are huge chunks of ice the size of mountains and some are small specks of dust - all made of water and rock.

There are seven rings around the planet and there is a little gap in between each ring.

Each ring spins around at different speeds.

It’s like the best rollercoaster ride ever !

Our next stop is Uranus and it looks like a boring blue ball from a distance but as you get closer it has 13 stunning rings around it.

It isn’t boring at all. It’s the weirdest planet of all - it rotates on its side!

But we can’t land there. Only one spacecraft flew by in 1986.

It’s impossible - so let’s park on one of the most amazing of the 27 moons - Miranda.

But look at that view of Uranus. Wow. Can you see the rings?

Below the clouds and rings is an icy slushy blanket that hugs a hard cold core like an ocean floating around with huge chunks of ice and water. It’s the coldest planet at -435°F. That’s just impossibly cold.

Many scientists believe there are diamonds on Uranus.

Maybe we can find a way to land!

We’re near Verona Rupes. The tallest cliff in the solar system - about ten times higher than the Grand Canyon.

We are almost at the end of our amazing tour - next stop is Neptune which is the only planet you can’t see from earth!

It’s the furthest away from the Sun and so you’d expect it to be quiet and not much going on but wow you’re wrong.

It’s another planet with rings around it.

The atmosphere is just nasty gases and it’s so hot in the core of the planet that there is a liquid diamond ocean surrounding it.

It has the most violent strongest winds in the solar system and it doesn’t have a solid surface to land on so we’re just going to fly by again.

earth

venus

mercury

saturn

neptune

jupiter

the sun

mars

asteroid

moon

pluto

uranus

And that’s it. We’ve visited every planet.

There’s one tiny place spinning out there called Pluto - it used to be called a planet but is now known as a dwarf planet. It’s a frozen place that you can land on and has icy cliffs and so far away its dark - the sun can hardly be seen There are 4 other dwarf planets like Pluto that we could visit - not to mention We have only been to 2 of the 150 moons in our solar system Jupiter has 53 with names and another 27 waiting for a name!

It feels like we need to do another trip But for now - it’s time to head back for tea!

Hopefully you’ve had the trip of a lifetime like we have ! But I would really like to go for walkies now and don’t want to use one of those bags!!

follow the real henry on his adventures in london @realhenrydog @meandhenrykids @meandhenry ...and buy the new collection of clothes available at a store near you and www.meandhenry.com or www.meandhenry.co.uk written by Mark Jeynes

illustrated by Carolina Torres Carmo