We want to get a better, more concrete idea of the strength of the electric force. So imagine you could remove all the electrons from 1 mL (1 cubic centimeter) of water. Dump the electrons on yourself, and put the electron-free nuclei (protons and neutrons) on the moon. Estimate how much force will there be between the positive and negative charges

the only real purpose of sputnik 1 was to beat the us into space. we were getting close to launching a useful satellite, explorer 1 - which launched on january 31, 1958. the ussr had to beat that, so they launched sputnik 1 on october 4, 19

one "light year" is the distance that light travels, through vacuum, in one julian year.   that's 365.25 days, of 24 hours each.