We’re going to be an interplanetary travel agency just for the day. So, if you're into amazing adventures interlaced with science and imagination, you’re in the right place! Here is our travel brochure... for the entire Solar System!
If you enjoy scaling the heights and think that Mount Everest is stuff for babies, try the thrill of the towering heights in the Solar System! Just imagine Olympus Mons on Mars. It is the highest mountain in the entire Solar System with an elevation of 25 km while its base is 600 km in diameter, occupying a surface area that is as big as the whole of Italy. Olympus Mons is actually a shield volcano (made up of layers of fluid lava) and studies have shown that it last erupted 2 million years ago. That was a while ago, so you can probably relax (but keep your eyes peeled, just in case). Anyhow, once you get to the top, it’s going to take you a while to get back down!
Were you thinking about an escape to a wellness centre with your family to unplug from your busy life and enjoy rejuvenating treatments? Sorry, given your age, they won’t be able to make you look any younger. But we have got something for you - a nice holiday on Pluto!
Even though Pluto is no longer officially recognised as a planet, it is a celestial body which has a great bearing on history and marks the enormous progress made by science in a century. It was discovered in 1930 when it just looked like a tiny dot in the sky. Almost a century later in 2015, the New Horizons space probe treated us to some awe-inspiring photos with many mysteries that have not been unravelled yet, like the magnificent glaciated mountains.
How will you get younger? Well, that's quite simple: other people will get older!
Pluto takes 248 years to orbit around the Sun so while we are getting older on Earth, you can just unwind for as long as you need far from the stress of work and the smog of the city. Make sure that you come back within a few Earth years, though!
Adore the heat and basking on sunny beaches? How about Venus?
Even though it is not the closest planet to the Sun, it has the most intense volcanic activity in the whole system as well as a formidable greenhouse effect caused by the gases in the atmosphere. Temperatures are as high as 475°. You’ll be supplied with an effective sun cream as part of your travel kit!
However, if you get bored just lying in the sun and would prefer to do some diving and play all day long, we recommend some fun underwater diving on Enceladus!
Complex organic molecules have been found on this natural satellite of Saturn, something which indicates potential life as we know it on Earth. It would also seem that there is liquid water on its surface which makes it ideal for a diving expedition! On the other hand, a view from the surface will dumbfound you: imagine looking at Saturn in all its glory in the sky - sixty times bigger than the Moon in our heavens!
You're looking a bit unsure, but that is understandable. You probably can't make your mind up. After all, there are so many marvels in our Solar System that they wouldn't all fit into the catalogue!
These wonderful trips packed with fascinating insights into the Solar System help us to understand that science with all its progress still has lots of mysteries to be unearthed! Let's join our children as they play and imagine what other details and interesting facts about space might be discovered in the near future!
