Marian Sistare, Age 11, of Mancaster, S. C., for her question:

Is there any air in space?

The air we breathe is a mixture of gases. It is the earth's atmosphere which reaches miles above our heads. It gets thinner and thinner near the top and finally peters out altogether. Out in space there are still particles of gas scattered here and there, but they are very few and far between.

The latest space news suggests that there may be about one atom of hydrogen gas to the cubic foot. In the air we breathe, there are billions of gas particles in every thimbleful, and these gases are mostly nitrogen and oxygen. So we can be quite sure that there is no breathable air out there in space.