SPACE
"Human beings are explorers. Throughout history, the impulse to venture into the unknown has been strong. What will I find over the hill? What's on the other side of the immense sea? Will I find something wonderful - or terrifying? The vast reaches of space represent the newest challenge for explorers. On Columbus Day, 1992 - 500 years after Columbus landed in the Americas -- a $100 billion. . . "

SUN
"In the grand scheme of things, the Sun is no big deal. It's just another medium-size star in a remote corner of the Milky Way galaxy. There are billions of others in the universe just like it. But to us here on Earth, the Sun is hugely important. Without it, our world would be a frozen rock wandering in space. Among other things, the Sun gives us food, energy, seasons, weather, calendars, flowers,. . . "

TELESCOPES
"On a clear night, thousands of stars can be seen twinkling above Earth. Years ago, people assumed that they knew all there was to know about the sky. Then, in 1608, a Dutch lens maker put two glass lenses inside a metal tube. The device, later named a telescope, made distant objects appear close up. . . . "

SPACE EXPLORATION
"Space is so close and yet so far away. It begins where the atmosphere ends - about one hundred miles above Earth's surface. A drive from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to New York City is a longer trip. But space travel presents special problems. In space, there is no air, food, or water. Powerful rockets are needed to break gravity's grip and reach the vacuum of outer space. . . . "

STARS & NEBULAE
"On a clear night, it is possible to see more than three thousand stars with the naked eye. There are billions of other stars, which we cannot see. The nighttime sky holds clues about the life and death of stars. These clues are found in fuzzy-looking clouds of glowing gas sprinkled with black dust."