ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Interplanetary space

Interplanetary space is the space between planets in our solar system, like the space between Earth and Mars. Imagine that you have a bunch of toys in your room, and you want to move one toy to a different part of your room. You have to go through the space between all of the other toys to get to where you want to go. That is kind of like how interplanetary space works – if you want to travel from one planet to another, you have to go through the space between them.

But interplanetary space is different from the space in your room because it is really big and really empty. There is no air or anything else that we can breathe, and there are no other people or animals that we can see. It's just empty space with planets and other things floating around in it.

To travel through interplanetary space, we use things called spacecraft. These are man-made vehicles that are designed to fly through space. They are very different from cars or planes because they don't have wheels or wings. Instead, they have rocket engines that propel them forward.

But even with rocket engines, it takes a very long time to travel through interplanetary space. It can take months or even years to travel from one planet to another. That's why we have to plan our trips very carefully and make sure that we have enough food, water, and other supplies to last the whole journey.

So, interplanetary space is the empty space between planets in our solar system, and we use spacecraft to travel through it. It's very different from the space in your room because it's really big, really empty, and it takes a long time to travel through.