It's time to tip our space helmets to rocket scientists, moonwalkers, stargazers, and even the humble backyard telescope. From toilet water turned drinkable aboard the ISS to helicopters flying on Mars, space is full of facts that sound like science fiction—but aren’t.
So, grab your space helmet (or at least your imagination) and prepare for a journey through some of the most astonishing cosmic curiosities!
Record-Breaking Rockets and Space Feats
Space isn't just about stars and silence—it's also home to some jaw-dropping engineering feats and history-making moments. From giant Earth-crawling machines to interplanetary joyrides, these records prove that when it comes to space, bigger, faster, and farther is the name of the game.
Heaviest Self-Powered Vehicle
Say hello to NASA's Crawler-Transporter 2 , the metallic giant tasked with lugging rockets to the launchpad. Weighing a jaw-dropping 6.65 million pounds (roughly the weight of 15 fully loaded 747s), it holds the Guinness World Record for the heaviest self-powered vehicle on the planet. Its top speed? A blistering 1 mile per hour when loaded. It’s not winning any races—but it might just be the most determined vehicle on Earth.
First Controlled Flight on Mars
In April 2021, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter did something no one thought possible: it flew on Mars. In an atmosphere just 1% the density of Earth’s, Ingenuity managed to lift off, hover, and land—kicking off a new era of planetary aviation. Originally scheduled for just five flights, this overachieving little chopper is still soaring, logging dozens of missions and scouting Martian terrain like a cosmic drone.
Most Distant Image of Earth
Captured by Voyager 1 in 1990, the famous “Pale Blue Dot” photo shows Earth as a faint pixel suspended in a sunbeam—taken from 3.7 billion miles away. Carl Sagan, who helped inspire the image, reflected on how that tiny speck contains everything we've ever known.
The spacecraft, by the way, is still speeding through interstellar space more than 14 billion miles from home. Talk about a long-distance traveler.
International Space Station: The Ultimate Orbiting Outpost
It’s not just a science lab—it’s a 420-ton floating fortress of innovation, international cooperation, and the occasional space guitar solo. Since 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) has hosted astronauts from around the world and proved that humans can live, work, and even rock out in space.
Speedy Space Home
The ISS zips around Earth at a dizzying 17,150 miles per hour, circling the globe once every 90 minutes. That means astronauts onboard experience 16 sunrises and sunsets in a single day. Jet lag? Try space lag. With every orbit, the crew gets a front-row seat to the most stunning views imaginable—no window seat upgrade required.
Recycling in Space
When you’re 250 miles above Earth, every drop counts. That’s why the ISS uses a system that recycles about 98% of all water, including sweat and urine, into drinkable H₂O. As NASA puts it: “Yesterday’s coffee is tomorrow’s coffee.” It might sound gross, but it’s a marvel of engineering—and a necessary one for surviving long-term space missions.
Cultural Contributions
Science isn’t the only thing floating around the ISS. In 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield whipped out a guitar and recorded a hauntingly beautiful cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” It was the first music video filmed in space, and it instantly went viral, proving that space isn’t just for science—it’s also for soul. Hadfield’s performance gave space a soundtrack and made millions see astronauts not just as explorers, but as artists, too.
Solar System Surprises
Massive Sun
Our Sun is a gigantic ball of hydrogen and helium so enormous that around 1.3 million Earths could fit inside it. That’s like stuffing our entire planet into a beach ball—a really, really hot one. And while the Sun looms large in our sky and powers life on Earth, it's actually considered a pretty average-sized star in the grand scheme of the universe. Somewhere out there, bigger and brighter stars are looking down on our Sun and saying, “Cute.”
Water on Mars
Turns out, the Red Planet might be a bit more hydrated than we thought. NASA has discovered streaks on Martian slopes—evidence that liquid water may occasionally flow on the surface during warmer months. It’s not exactly beach weather, but it suggests Mars may have once supported life… and could still harbor it underground today. If Martians exist, they’re probably keeping it low-key (and very, very cold).
Space is Silent
Ever wonder what space sounds like? It doesn’t. At all. Space is eerily silent because sound needs something—like air or water—to travel through, and space is mostly a vacuum. That iconic line from the movies— “In space, no one can hear you scream” ? It’s not just catchy sci-fi marketing. It’s science.
Quirky Cosmic Records
Space isn’t all black holes and serious science—it’s also full of record-breaking, eyebrow-raising moments that sound like they came from a sci-fi comedy. From dinosaurs hitching rides on rockets to origami floating in orbit, these cosmic oddities prove that the universe has a great sense of humor (and maybe a soft spot for the bizarre).
Oldest and Youngest Space Travelers
In 2021, Wally Funk—a trailblazing aviator and one of the original Mercury 13 women—finally got her ticket to space at the age of 82, making her the oldest person to ever leave Earth’s atmosphere . On the very same flight was 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, who became the youngest. One spacecraft, two extremes of the age spectrum, and one shared mission: proving it’s never too early—or too late—for a trip to the stars.
Paper Planes from Space
Take everything you know about paper airplanes and launch it—literally—into orbit. Japanese scientists dreamed up an experiment to release origami planes from the ISS, aiming to see how they’d glide through the atmosphere during re-entry. Coated in heat-resistant materials, these tiny test flyers were part science, part art, and all awesome. We’re still waiting on intergalactic paper plane championships… but the blueprint is there.
Dinosaur in Space
Jurassic Park, meet the Jetsons. In one of the most unexpected space passengers of all time, a fossilized piece of a dromaeosaurid (a relative of the Velociraptor) was flown aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1985 —and again on a Blue Origin mission in 2021. Why? Because dinosaurs in space are, quite simply, the coolest collision of past and future imaginable. Somewhere, a time-traveling T. rex is very proud.
Blast Off into the Bizarre!
Are you looking to get even closer to a galaxy far, far away?
Step into Ripley’s Space Gallery and explore the jaw-dropping, record-breaking, and delightfully weird side of outer space. Touch a 3,197-pound meteorite or a piece of Mars, and try out gloves to work in a vacuum like astronauts would in space! It all just goes to prove truth is stranger than science fiction.
Ready to launch your imagination?
Visit Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando and explore cosmic curiosities today!