As I understand it: Think of spacetime as a fabric that covers the entire universe. When the fabric is warped by objects with mass, time is warped as well. Like if you put a bowling ball on a bedsheet and it made a divot — that’s sort of analogous to how gravity works, but the key point is that warping ALSO affects time. Where gravity is stronger (eg closer to the center of the bowling ball) means time is slowed further, and infinite density at a point (a singularity in a black hole) causes a “rip” in the fabric that makes time infinite (as perceived by an outside observer) for someone who crosses the event horizon of a black hole. Nobody knows what would happen inside.

If you’re interested in this and want a book that explains it clearly, try The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli.

Think of Space as a stage on which all things take place now adding time as dimension means we can see what happens to this in different instances of time like say the present as the base line the future and the past in opposite directions now what Einestien discovered is that when things go through this space time they experience the world differently so someone can have 3 years pass for them and others 6 years or someone can run 3 metres from one perspective but only 1 and a half from thier own. Additionaly the space time stage can be molded or changed depending on how many things are in it making a further difference in how different perspectives see the world. There is no limit to how many dimensions of time you take humans can only observe one in which the past and future exist but there can be more just not ones we know anything of.

Spacetime is a concept on which space and time are connected as an intrinsic property. Especially when considering that you have an absolute constant, which is the speed of light, you can always convert one to the other. We measure distances in light years for that reason. But it goes deeper.

You can bend space, weird huh… not in the same manner that one might consider bending of a rod, but the general analogy which, though not perfect, works for many people, is putting a ball in the middle of a taught sheet of cloth. The sheet will sag in a certain way towards it, bending it. The thing is if you bend space you also bend time, in extremes, such as the proximity of black holes, time dilates, and to an outside observer looking at you it looks like you’re in slow motion.

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The best I can explain is to describe a black hole, because of the objects density it warps space, but space is not just empty nothingness, it has fundamental properties of the 3 dimensions we're familiar with but in addition to this black holes also warp time around them causing time to pass by slower the closer one gets to the event horizon. An outside observer would not experience this time dilation so years would pass for them whereas if you journeyed around a black hole potentially only hours would pass for you and this is because time is inseparable from space itself. Matter tells spacetime how to bend and spacetime tells matter how to move.

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I feel like one of those primitive tribesmen that only have four numbers: 1, 2, 3, and "many."

This shows many stars, way many, many to the power of many.

Yes, absolutely. This video with Adam Savage is a pretty good one for the visuals and walk-around experience, and they talk about the hand-made-ness feeling you get from seeing the orbiter. This is Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum but Endeavour (which I've seen) feels very similar to experience. I have a strong recollection of seeing Endeavour and really being impacted by the gimballing mount of the main engines; I don't know how I thought they worked before, maybe some sort of flexible rubber interface that would flex as the engines moved in order to ensure a seal around the engine, but they are ball joints that rotate in a socket and presumably have some sort of O-ring seal. And that's such a simple, straightforward, mundane solution for how to get the engines freedom of movement that it was a real "of course that's how they did it" feeling. It's a moment of "wait a second, that's the same thing as how my 25 dollar shower head moves around to adjust its aim" feeling. You can see details that you just don't get otherwise, like the wear on the inside of the engine bells from repeatedly spitting out hellfire.

tl;dr: definitely go see it if you can

If anybody is wondering, this is at Kennedy Space Center.

They are amazing to see in person. But a capsule configuration is not only more efficient to send up but safer for humans. You don't have 75 feet of wing surface to worry about when you are skipping across the atmosphere for re entry. Not to mention you have to fill the cargo requirements on the shuttle to launch it. But she is beautiful.

Finally got to go last year. I didn’t know that was going to happen. My partner told me later I squeezed her hand with excitement. I didn’t even realise I had.

when they need to build a new iss, are they then going to use something similar like the shuttle?

Your brain has a tremendous amount of surface area. Ya done good with this.

Every spec is a star surrounded by multiple planets. Yeah we are alone. Suuuuure.

I was just there in July. Such an awe-inspiring display. I can't get over how big it is.

Dude wrote a whole nobel prize winning essay to prove a point. Probably the most mind blowing and convincing thing I have ever read.

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The display configurations are intentionally different.

Endeavor will be displayed as a full Space Shuttle stack(with ET and SRBs). "pre-launch"

Atlantis is displayed as flown in space, with payload bay doors open. "during mission"

Discovery is displayed as just landed, landing gear touched down.

Enterprise was never fully an Orbiter/Space Shuttle, but it is displayed on the Intrepid using the mounting joints that connected it to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (747-100).

Challenger and Columbia we of course lost in two separate accidents. There are memorials across the country, but at KSC right below Atlantis are a piece from each Orbiter on display.

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“Reenter” as opposed to “rain down from the skies in a fireball potentially killing thousands”, funny how language changes depending on the origin of the falling object. But then again I don’t think NASA would fear monger their own falling satellite haha