Space Environment

Is there energy in space?

What is energy?

Physicists, who are scientists who study force, motion and energy, say that energy is the ability to do work, and work is moving something against a force, like gravity. There are a lot of different kinds of energy in the universe, and that energy can do different things.

Energy can be found in many things, and takes many forms. There is a kind of energy called kinetic energy in objects that are moving. There is something that scientists call potential energy in objects at rest that will make them move if resistance is removed.

The molecules making up all matter contains a huge amount of energy, as Einstein's E = mc^2 pointed out to us. Energy can also travel in the form of electromagnetic waves, such as heat, light, radio, and gamma rays. Your body is using metabolic energy from your last meal as you read this.


What is heat?
How does heat move?
What are possible power sources for satellites?

What is electromagnetic radiation?
More about radio waves and electromagnetic radiation
What is thrust?
Does heat travel differently in space than it does on Earth?

Where does energy come from and go?
What makes EM radiation?