About this puzzle
This puzzle is about the adventure of going to space and the wonders people find when they look beyond our solar system. Much of the list follows a mission, from Countdown and Liftoff to the Shuttle, Space Station, and a Spacewalk in a Spacesuit, along with the robots that go where people can't, like a Rover or Probe. The rest reaches deep space: Nebula, Supernova, Pulsar, Galaxy, Black Hole, and the Big Bang.
Each word has a short note with a real piece of space history or science, such as the first spacewalk or how far light travels in a year. Pair this space word search with the planets puzzle for a full space unit, use it on a launch day, or hand it to a kid who wants to be an astronaut someday.
The 31 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Astronaut
- An astronaut is a person trained to travel in space. The word comes from Greek words meaning star sailor. Russian space travelers are often called cosmonauts.
- Countdown
- A countdown makes sure every system is ready before liftoff. Counting backward to a launch is often credited to Fritz Lang's 1929 German film Woman in the Moon.
- Galaxy
- A galaxy is a giant collection of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. There are billions of galaxies in the universe.
- Helmet
- A spacesuit helmet has a visor coated with a thin layer of real gold. The gold reflects the Sun's harsh light and heat, working like extra-strong sunglasses.
- Launch
- A launch is the moment a rocket lifts off. Many American missions launch from Florida, where rockets can head east over the ocean and get a boost from Earth's spin.
- Liftoff
- Liftoff is the moment a rocket rises off the launch pad. The giant Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo astronauts toward the Moon stood about 363 feet tall.
- Rocket
- A rocket pushes hot gas out of its engines in one direction, which drives it in the other. It carries its own oxygen, so it can work in the airless vacuum of space.
- Rover
- A rover is a robot vehicle that drives across another world. Sojourner became the first rover on Mars in 1997, and several larger rovers have followed.
- Satellite
- A satellite is any object that orbits a planet. The first human-made satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
- Spacesuit
- A spacesuit works like a personal spacecraft. It supplies oxygen, keeps the astronaut at a safe pressure and temperature, and protects against tiny bits of speeding space dust.
- Star
- A star is a giant ball of hot, glowing gas that makes its own light. The Sun is a star, and the next closest one, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.2 light years away.
- Telescope
- A telescope gathers light to see faint, distant objects. Space telescopes like Hubble, launched in 1990, orbit above the blurring effect of Earth's air.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Black Hole
- A black hole is a place where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Scientists study them by watching how they affect nearby gas and stars.
- Capsule
- A capsule is the small spacecraft where astronauts ride to and from space. A heat shield on its bottom protects the crew from extreme heat on the way back through the atmosphere.
- Milky Way
- The Milky Way is our home galaxy, a spiral of hundreds of billions of stars. On a dark night away from city lights, it looks like a hazy band across the sky.
- Moon Landing
- On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on another world.
- Shuttle
- NASA's space shuttles flew 135 missions between 1981 and 2011. Unlike earlier spacecraft, the shuttle landed on a runway like an airplane and could fly again.
- Space Station
- A space station is a home and laboratory that orbits Earth. Astronauts on the International Space Station circle the planet about every 90 minutes.
- Spacewalk
- A spacewalk is when an astronaut goes outside a spacecraft in a spacesuit. Alexei Leonov made the first one in 1965, floating outside for about 12 minutes.
- Universe
- The universe is everything that exists, including all of space, time, matter, and energy. Astronomers have found that it is still expanding, with galaxies moving farther apart.
Added in Hard (11)
- Astronomer
- An astronomer is a scientist who studies stars, planets, galaxies, and everything else in space. Most modern astronomers work with data from telescopes and computers.
- Big Bang
- The Big Bang is scientists' explanation for how the universe began, expanding from an extremely hot, dense state about 13.8 billion years ago.
- Light Year
- A light year is a distance, not a time. It is how far light travels in one year, about 5.9 trillion miles.
- Lunar Module
- The lunar module was the spider-legged Apollo spacecraft that landed astronauts on the Moon. Apollo 11's was named Eagle, as in the famous words The Eagle has landed.
- Mission
- A space mission is a planned trip with a goal, like visiting a planet or delivering supplies to a space station. Mission Control on Earth tracks every step and talks with the crew.
- Nebula
- A nebula is an enormous cloud of gas and dust in space. Some nebulas are nurseries where new stars are born.
- Probe
- A space probe is a robotic spacecraft sent to explore far away. Probes have visited every other planet in our solar system and sent back pictures.
- Pulsar
- A pulsar is a tiny, super-dense dead star that spins very fast and sweeps beams of radio waves across space like a lighthouse. Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first one in 1967.
- Red Giant
- A red giant is a star near the end of its life that has swelled up and cooled. In about five billion years, our Sun is expected to become a red giant.
- Supernova
- A supernova is the huge explosion of a star. For a short time, a single supernova can shine brighter than an entire galaxy.
- Weightless
- Astronauts in orbit feel weightless because they and their spacecraft are falling around Earth together. Gravity is still pulling on them the whole time.
A few facts to share while you solve
- Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space on April 12, 1961, orbiting Earth once in a flight that lasted about 108 minutes.
- Footprints left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts can last a very long time, because the Moon has no wind or rain to wear them away.
- Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes, but light from the Milky Way's far side takes tens of thousands of years to get here.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 12 × 12 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 15 × 15 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 31 | 18 × 18 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard space word search: all 31 words on a 18 × 18 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print space word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 11 × 11 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
How is this different from the solar system word search?
The solar system puzzle covers the planets, moons, and other objects that orbit our Sun. This space word search leaves the planet names out and focuses on space exploration, like rockets, rovers, and spacewalks, plus deep space objects such as nebulas, galaxies, and black holes.
What age is this space word search for?
It works for about second grade and up, including adults who love space. Words like Rocket, Star, and Rover are easy starting points, while Supernova, Light Year, and Weightless give older kids real science to talk about.
How can I use this puzzle for a space unit?
After solving, have kids sort the words into two groups: things people build to explore space, and things found in nature. Then pick one word, like Spacewalk or Black Hole, and read the note together to start a short research project.
Is there an answer key for this space word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 31 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
