Hi! my name is Oliver, and I want to become an astronaut because I want to fly in a rocket ship and explore outer space!

Outer space has a lot of really cool things! My favorite thing about outer space is all of the planets. There are 8 planets in our solar system! 

At the middle of our solar system is the sun, which is a really bright and really hot ball of gas. The sun holds all the planets close to it so we don’t float off into space! It also gives us light and warmth.

The planet closest to the sun is Mercury. Mercury looks a lot like the moon because it has craters on its surface caused by big space rocks crashing into it. Mercury is also a very hot planet!

The next planet is Venus, our neighbor! Venus is the only planet named after a girl because it is the brightest planet. There are a lot of volcanos on Venus, and it is very, very hot!

Earth is the third planet from the sun. That’s where we live! Earth is the only planet with plants and animals and people. Earth isn’t too close to the sun where it’s too warm, and it’s not far enough away to be too cold. It’s perfect for life like you and me!

Our other neighbor planet is Mars, the red giant! Mars is the planet that is most similar to Earth. It's red color is because of the iron in the surface minerals. There are many rovers exploring around Mars' surface, looking for any chances of life!