CHAPTER SPACE 1 Spectacular In 1972 three astronauts went to the moon As the men traveled they looked down at Earth They watched as the planet they called home got smaller and smaller From space Earth looked blue with large white swirls The blue was Earth’s water The white swirls were clouds The astronauts saw huge landmasses too The astronauts took a photo of their amazing planet 4
Ancient people believed the sun and other planets orbited Earth
The Solar System Since ancient times people have known about planets They knew the planets weren't stars The planets didn't move across the sky the same way stars did Later people learned planets are huge bodies that orbit stars Earth and seven other planets orbit the sun The sun's gravity holds them in their paths They make up the solar system
