Matter, Forces and Energy

​Physicists have identified 13 building blocks that are the fundamental constituents of matter. Our everyday world is made of just three of these building blocks: the up quark, the down quark and the electron.

​Matter in Space

This set of particles is all that's needed to make protons and neutrons and to form atoms and molecules. The electron neutrino, observed in the decay of other particles, completes the first set of four building blocks.

​Matter in Space

Scientists distinguish four elementary types of forces acting among particles: strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational force.

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​Energy in Space

• The strong force is responsible for quarks "sticking" together to form protons, neutrons and related particles.

• The electromagnetic force binds electrons to atomic nuclei (clusters of protons and neutrons) to form atoms.

• The weak force facilitates the decay of heavy particles into smaller siblings.

• The gravitational force acts between massive objects. Although it plays no role at the microscopic level, it is the dominant force in our everyday life and throughout the universe.

space exploration is a branch of Astronomy that means crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, that reach of the universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere and use of the information so gained to increase knowledge of the cosmos and benefit humanity.

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​Space exploration