Chapter 11

The Universe

Is the Universe in an infinite or finite area? Can we find the edges?

Required Work: CD - Ho m ew o rk W o rkbo o k: Pages 77 -80 Universe Test (Teacher Provided)

Teacher Options: Universe Report

97

For the scientific and faith What is the Universe? The answer: communities, the ultimate question Everything! People trying to determine its concerning the beginning of the cosmos is: limits and boundaries will only expand the How can something be made from nothing? known Universe. How old is the Universe? Science has not able to answer this question. What shape does it have? Is it growing or As of now, only books of faith can answer contacting? Does it matter? these questions. But, science can explain many of the processes that have occurred in A fish knows little about the sea it the Universe. lives in. It does not know the ocean‟s depth or its boundaries. It is familiar with only a For those who believe in intelligent few other life forms in the waters. Does it design and have trouble with scientific care about what it doesn„t know? No. timelines and those who detract faith beliefs such as what comes from the bible, please But, there is a difference between allow me to quote two biblical passages: us and the fish. Whereas fish do not actively Part of a prayer of Moses, NIV Psalm 90:vs. seek knowledge, we, as a species crave this 4 For a thousand years that are in your sight knowledge. The fish do not look for are like a day that has just gone by, or like a boundaries. Our “sea” of understanding watch in the night. NIV 2 Peter: 3 vs. 8-9: seems to have no set boundaries, but “With the Lord, a day is like a thousand nevertheless we continually seek them. years and, a thousand years is like a day.” Also the Islam mentions this idea of time in With each discovery we reach the: Kuran 32.5. According to science, greater awareness of our surroundings, our Jewish ,Christian and Muslim faiths, time is past, future and even our capabilities. We relative. are unique. We are aware of our own demise, yet we seek the possibilities and The following theory about the frontiers that reach beyond our individual beginnings of the Universe and how it lives. In a way, when we stop investigating developed is just that; theory. But much that and asking questions, the Universe‟s is in these theories has been proven through boundaries cease to increase. The cosmos math, observations and the results of consists of what we find and what we experiments. haven‟t found, including our efforts to find Co sm o lo gy even more! (The Beginnings)

The ultimate A popular postulation (assertion or q uestio n basis of argument) about the beginning of the Universe is called the Big Bang Theory. When it comes to studying the It is an explanation of how the Universe beginning of the cosmos, some of the began and why it is in its present form important questions are: What are the today. boundaries? How did it form? Where are we in it? What will happen to the It is believed by many scientists that universe? at one time, over 13.73 billion years ago; all

98

matter was compacted into a tiny area. There universe is made up of the following: 73% were no distances or differences between dark energy, 23% dark matter and 4% any of the matter (called singularity.), that visible or directly detectable matter. No one was inside an area smaller than an eraser knows for sure what “dark matter” is but head on a pencil. This time is the called the there are two theories; 1) it is made up of Planck Epoch. dense chunks of heavy metals and or brown dwarfs. 2) It is made up of some type of In the beginning of our Universe, an axions or WIMPS - weakly interacting explosion or more accurately huge and very massive particles. rapid cosmic inflation occurred. It is called the Big Bang. Massive amounts of matter, What scientists still cannot factually with the help of accelerating dark energy answer yet is the following: (mysterious form of energy that so far defies 1. Why was there all that material in the first provable description and may be a result of place? the Big Bang), moved outward faster than 2. Where did the mass come from? the speed of light. In those first few 2. How did it get into such a small area? moments particles formed and then began 3. Why did it explode/expand? cooling. This opening scenario can be 4. How could matter, or anything else, travel measured as a tiny fraction of a second. faster than the speed of light? 5. If there was a Big Bang, where was the A cataclysmic and decisive battle now starting point? took place between matter and antimatter. Most of these opposing elements mutually destroyed each other. But, the winning and surviving matter makes up what we can observe today, including our planet and even ourselves. What’s In It? The surviving matter continued to spread rapidly. Anti-gravitational forces There are three elements that make caused the newly - dispersed matter to hurtle up the perceived universe. The first two are outwards, causing the Universe to expand by connected. One is space - time. This 10 to the fiftieth power in less than a second. includes: all matter, their location, the vacuum of space and the energy. The second As time passed particles that were the element consists of the laws of physics that quarks (the building blocks of neutrons and guide the behavior of space - time. protons) and leptons (the building blocks of electrons), gravitated towards each other and WMAP, which stands for: Wilkinson formed the first atoms. These atoms were in Microwave Anisotropy Probe was the form of heavy hydrogen, the simplest launched in 2001. This probe was sent out type of atom. After millions of years of over a million miles from us, pointed away cooling, the matter and radiation from the Earth, Moon and Sun. It attained a disconnected from each other. reading of the temperature, energy and background radiation levels of the Universe. So, what did we end up with? The It made three sweeps of the cosmos and

99

delivered an incredible amount of data that has taken years to be fully understood. Looking at a big picture of observable By measuring microwaves WMAP matter in the Universe, it looks pretty evenly has given us a picture of what the Universe spread out (homogenously). As we look was like when it was 300,000 years old. It closer at the smaller regions, there is has given us a fossil record of the past. clumping, such as galactic groupings. Looking out into space is like looking back Isotropically, meaning in any direction you in time. Since it takes time for light to travel look, the Universe looks consistently the to our eyes, what we see took place in the same and the radiation levels are evenly past. Light can travel 6 trillion miles in a spread. year. The closest star, other than our Sun, is about three light years away. Some of the What is it doing? stars we see in the night may not even exist anymore! Photon light flows like a stream When astronomers look at distant into our eyes. When the light flows down galaxies they find an interesting thing in that photon river to our retinas, we do not common. Under spectrum analysis, the know it will cease until after the last “drop” galaxies show up as red- shifted, meaning has come and gone. Events such as novas, that they are moving away from us at a very star births and collisions that have occurred rapid rate. As they move away, their speed is in the past take time to reach us. This makes increasing. This conclusion is reached by the telescope in essence, a time machine! observing the aging and lengthening of the photons that travel from these far away Throughout the Universe there seems objects. The longer they travel, the longer to be a uniform residue of radiation. It is and weaker (red shifted) the photons get. uniform and constant. This low level radiation is supposed to be leftovers from the Big Bang. WMAP tells us that the Universe‟s background radiation temperature of 2.7 degrees Kelvin (that is, not much above absolute zero); it is constant and measurable. This could be considered the “smoke” from a smoking gun of the Big Bang.

Credit NASA 100

are going. The closer objects (1 million light Co smic Concept: Space/Time years away) are moving at 2000 miles per second away from us. Objects much farther Our Universe has space and time. out (3 billion light years plus) are moving at over 40,000 miles - per second - outward! Perhaps there is a way to travel not only forward in space and time, but also, just But, beyond that, the very space itself as you do when looking at light, travel in our Universe is expanding. A galaxy may back in time. Where would you go and have moved, let‟s say, 1 billion light years. what would like to see? But the space between us and the object may have also expanded several billion light Title: Time and Space Travel years. So, not only are the objects moving, the area in which they exist and between Minimum: 100 words other objects is expanding as well. This expansion is still happening and accelerating. When it comes to expansion, a particular type of “accelerator” and also a certain “brake” seem to be occurring at the

The groupings of galaxies seem to be same time. The dark matter seems to slow

separating from each other as well. The down expansion and yet the more powerful farther away the galaxies are, the faster they dark energy seems to be dominant in

101

speeding up the process. This may lead to what is now called the “Big Rip”: the Others wonder if the Universe isn‟t destruction of the Universe and its physical shaped like a blown up balloon. Is it shaped laws as we know it. more like a cylinder? Might it resemble a folding blanket that includes the folding of There is one ultimate natural force in our light, time and gravity? If either of these are Universe that seems to keep most things the case, you could argue that there may be a generally constant and on course. It is called way to go back in time and space through gravity. If the gravity of an entire Universe “worm holes.” can‟t hold its parts together, then what more powerful force could be pulling, or pushing, Worm holes are still a theory, except its edges away? Is it possible that the outer in quantum physics, where they are found on reaches of the known Universe are being a tiny scale. There could be a rips in our pulled by an even more powerful gravity space - time dimensions that allow material beyond? In this case think of a balloon to travel through it and come out in a simply pushing out or expanding, think of it different place and/or time. It would allow as being pulled in all different directions as traveling light years to take only moments. well. The present diameter of the seeable For now it is just a theory, much as the Universe is pegged at about 14 billion light theory of black holes was twenty five years years and growing by the second. ago. What lies beyond the edge of the known Universe? Is it just black emptiness? Does that make sense? Philosophy, theology and science mingle when it comes to these questions. An Evolutionist will speculate one way, a theologian another.

We are on a small planet, going around an average star on an outside arm of a typical galaxy. There are hundreds of billions of stars with planets in this galaxy. There are tens of billions of galaxies. We

Credit NASA live for a few orbits around our star, and then we die. We pass on some of what we There are other theories that concern learn so that others may build on our the shape, age and uniqueness of the knowledge. As we reach for more Universe. There are some who think that universal answers, we end up with even there might be more than one Universe. more questions. When will we reach our These are multiversus which are universes limit of comprehension? independent of each other, or parallel universes that coexist have much in common and may be connected by flows of information. Neither of these, at the moment, can be scientifically proven or even tested. 102

Chapter 12

History of Rocketry

Required Work: cD - Ho m ew o rk Workbook: Pages 81 -84 Terrestrial Planet Test (Teacher Provided) 103 Teacher Options: Ro cket Repo rt

Today, many of us take rockets for battlefields. These rockets were also known granted while watching them blast off with as fire arrows. big payloads and giant, roaring engines. Only a hundred years ago the idea of flying Two centuries later the Mongols had men into space on top of a rocket was became a great threat to China. They were imaginable. excellent warriors with great battlefield tactics. The Chinese resorted to introducing The history of rocketry goes back higher technology on the battlefield: over 2,000 years with its progress built upon grenades, cannon and ever - better rockets. the successes and failures of many generations. (The Italian adventurer, Marco Polo, saw them often used for fireworks when he Thousands of years ago, in China, a traveled to China during the 13th century.) man who liked to experiment mixed amounts of ground- up powders together and held it close to a fire: BOOM! History was made! The combustible ingredients he used were saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. This chemical mixture is now known as blasting or gun powder.

The Chinese thought it was a great way to scare off evil spirits. After all, it scared many Chinese when this mix exploded. They packed it into a bamboo tube and threw it into the fire. BOOM! There are accounts of a scud type missile being used at the battlefield of Perhaps this happened because some Kaifung – fu, in 1132 AD. When launched it incompetent assistant did not seal the end of could be heard from 15 miles away. When it the tube properly. When it was thrown into landed it had a “kill zone” of a third of a the fire, it ignited. “LOOK OUT!” The tube mile in all directions. Along with the went careening all over the festival. A explosives were iron shards to rip at the thoughtful onlooker observed the motions of enemy‟s flesh. The rocket was directed by a the tube and wondered… “What if?” Many combustion chamber that looked like an iron things happen when people ask “what if?” In pot; it was located at the base of the this case, resultant experiments took place, cylinder. and out of these experiments came the first rocket. By 1241 the secret of gunpowder and rocketry had arrived in Europe. The At first, rockets had only Mongols had reached Eastern Europe, taking entertainment and religious value. But, as their newly perfected weaponry with them. with many great inventions, someone On Christmas Day, 1241, the Mongols thought that there might be some military attacked Sejo (near present-day Budapest, value to them. By the year 1,000 AD, the Hungary) by launching these terrifying Chinese military used rockets on the weapons. Some of these rockets were used

104

as smoke screens, according to European chroniclers.

By 1258, the Arabs had felt the sting of rockets when the Mongols used them in the taking of Baghdad. By 1268 the Arabs had learned to use this new weapon to fight Crusaders who were attacking them in the Middle East.

Within 30 year, many European powers were also using rockets. During the next century the Italian Europeans figured out how to make rockets into fireworks. Was this idea imported by such people as Marco Polo, or did they figure it out on their own? If they did, it was over fifteen hundred years after the Chinese created these uses. By 1846, the U.S army had a rocket battalion fighting in Mexico. It was under The French used rockets against the the command of Robert E. Lee (the famous English in the siege of Orleans, in 1492. confederate general who would lead rebel (Joan of Arc was there). By 1730, the forces during the Civil War.) Germans were producing military rockets that weighed up to 120 pounds. Both sides used rockets in the American Civil War, but neither side found The British had rockets used against them very effective. However, there was a them when they tried to conquer India. They “first” in rocket history. During the conflict, found them so effective that they set up their a missile was constructed by the own rocket forces. These Congreve Confederates; a cylinder made of brass 12 Rockets were used in the Napoleonic Wars, feet long and packed with solid fuel. The some weighing up to 300 pounds. Later, the warhead had 10 pounds of gun powder, and British fired 25,000 rockets at Copenhagen its launching point was Richmond, Virginia. while trying to take that city. They also used The target was about a hundred miles away - them against American troops during the Washington DC. The rocket was ignited, War of 1812. and with a roar it zoomed off into the atmosphere, never seen or heard of again. Could it have been the first object to reach space? It was to be nearly 100 years ahead Cosmic Concept: Wang - First on the Moon of the first, official, man-made space satellite. What if the Chinese continued to steadily advance their rocket technology and they had During the next 50 years military the first people on the Moon. How would it interest in rockets waned. They were mainly change (or not), your view of astronomy, space used to power harpoons for catching whales. exploration and your world?

Title: Chinese on the Moon 105

Minimum: 100 words At the start of World War I both pound of explosives, could be damaging! warring sides used observation balloons to These missiles were considered so spy on their enemies, and the Germans used dangerous that the British and Americans Zeppelin dirigibles to bomb cities such as changed some of their wartime strategies in London. Rockets were rigged on airplanes order to capture the launch sites in Germany and fired at these balloons. These became and to put an end to the bombardments. the first air to air missiles. But solid fuel rockets had power and distance limitations, so rockets held little value to either side.

During the 1920‟s and 30‟s two men, one American and one German, experimented with solid and liquid rocket fuels. The American, was Robert Goddard, the German was Werner Von Braun.

During the next twenty years, Von Braun became a scientist and leading inventor of large-scale rockets. Unfortunately, his inventions were used by V2 Rocket heading for the Nazis to attack England during World Britain during World War II. War II. The name of this rocket was the V2, or Vengeance 2. An earlier German Meanwhile, between wars, Goddard invention, theV1 rocket, was the first cruise was designing rockets for space flight. (A missile. Launched in the general direction of Russian by the name of Tsiolkovski was its target, it traveled with “wings” at fairly doing the same in the Soviet Union.) low latitude until the fuel ran out. The Goddard was the father of American trouble was that it was being shot down by rocketry. In 1926, Goddard flew the first British planes. V1s had little accuracy. They liquid fueled rocket; it went up 152 feet, and were called “buzz bombs”, by the English then fell to earth. because they could be heard coming in toward cities.)

The V2 was very different. Traveling very high in the sky it reached above 50,000 feet in altitude and speed of 2,000 miles an hour. It was a true rocket with a gyroscope, and it was much more accurate than the V-1. Its flight took less than 8 minutes. But, terrifyingly, it could not be seen or heard when approaching its target. A missile, falling at 2,000 miles an hour with a 1,000 Goddard with his rocket.

106

But the truly advanced rocketry the Explorer One. The Redstone rockets in experiments with adequate funding were in the Mercury manned flight program Germany. Von Braun used ethanol and carried our first few astronauts. liquid oxygen to power his first liquid fueled rocket in 1934. The German military was President Kennedy promised watching, waiting to see if it had true America in 1962 that we would have military value. They supplied funds to astronauts on the Moon. In order to send support his experimental needs. astronauts beyond earth orbit, more powerful rockets were needed. Known as When World War II began, the the Saturn rockets, they are the most German military assumed command of his powerful rockets ever built. These Saturn 5 experiments and formed rocketry rockets carried our Apollo Astronauts to engineering teams. His first large- scaled the Moon. rocket, the A4, was launched in 1942. The first two experiments were not very The dangers of rocketry are always successful. However, test number three was there and, unfortunately, surfaced during the a great success: the missile traveled over 15th shuttle flight. Because of design flaws 120 miles. It was the first successful ballistic and cold weather problems, the shuttle rocket launch. This is the ancestor to all spaceship (Challenger), blew up, killing all large scale missiles used since that date. seven of its crew members.

When Germany lost the war, German rocket scientists were imprisoned. Both Russians and Americans claimed them as war prizes. Ultimately Von Braun and his colleges were shipped off to the United States. They found that the Americans had taken enough parts from Germany to build another 100 V2 missiles. This group, located in White Sands, New Mexico, marked the beginning of our organized space program. The tragic Challenger explosion of 1986. By 1950 more room for rocket Credit NASA building and launches made it necessary to Satellite programs continue, and move the program to a deserted area on the today our communications, space western Florida coast called Cape explorations, weather and geologic satellites Canaveral. We have been launching are all launched by rockets. civilian rockets from that location since that From bamboo firecracker, to Hubble time. space telescopes, cell phones, and cable television, rockets have carried a great part The U.S. Army‟s first rocket was of our recent history. called the Redstone, a powerful version of the V2. A new type of rocket was called the Jupiter. Even more powerful, it launched our first satellite into space in 1958, called

107

Chapter 13

Space Exploration

This is what the other side of our Moon looks like! Credit NASA

Required Work: cD - Ho m ew o rk Workbook: Pages 85 -88 108 Space Explo ratio n Test (Teacher Provided)

If this were the year 1957, this chapter to our space studies tool box than the V2 concerning machines and human exploration rocket. This weapon, built to cause fear and of space would not even reach half the destruction, became a key factor to opening length of this page, because everything in the door to the Space Age. the field of space exploration has happened during last fifty years. The Age of Knowledge has included the rapid increase in man‟s understanding of outer space.

Three methods are used to evaluate and explain the exploration of space. The oldest is by observations from Earth. The next is by using probes in space. The third and most costly is by human exploration. Providing a vast amount of information on space, each path taken in space exploration has been important. It has also been risky, daring and highly technical.

The two initial nations to explore space were the United States and the Soviet Union. There are other countries that have contributed to the utilization of space as well as of its exploration. They include: Great American version of the V2 rocket being Britain, France, China, Israel, Canada, launched in White Sands, New Mexico Germany, Italy and India. In the previous chapter, you have Explorations in space by probe, read about the history of rocketry. This satellite and humans have resulted in great history crossed over into space exploration technological advancements. An example: in 1957. To get into space there had to be communications satellites. We can place a powerful rockets. The V2 rocket could reach cell or satellite phone call from Antarctica to 50,000 feet, at a speed of two thousand Norway. Or, make a call from Japan to miles an hour. But that was neither far nor Argentina. But be aware that not all of fast enough to be beneficial to space mankind has shared in this progress. It is exploration. Both the Russians and the estimated that not only most of our world Americans saw the advantages of the population has never placed a cell phone German discoveries in rocketry and sought call, but as of the year 2000 nearly fifty to expand and explore their usefulness. percent of the world had never used a phone at all. Since both governments saw its military potential each nation used World War II produced remarkable secondary scientific discoveries as a cover to inventions in the use of weapons: radar, advance military rocketry. Each nation sonar, jets, the atom bomb, etc. But for knew that if a nation that could make a astronomy, none of these would bring more rocket to launch a machine into orbit, it could also send bombs to the other side of 109

the world. The race was on! nuclear payload. Inside was the first live space traveler, a dog named Laika. The dog Un m an n ed survived for more than three days. It died Exploration 1957-1976 from heat exhaustion suffered while orbiting in this sun- baked satellite. The Russians The Russian launch of Sputnik had The winners of the first lap of the shocked the world. Americans, hearing the race were the Soviets. On October 4, 1957, transmissions from Sputnik, could see it in Sputnik was launched. The program was the night sky. Fear of what this meant headed by a brilliant scientist/ engineer, caused our nation to mobilize its resources. Sergie Korolyev. His victorious team was The youth of America were called upon by manned by most of the Soviet Union‟s President Eisenhower to learn more math greatest scientists as well as by captive and science, to become the space scientists German scientists from World War Two. and engineers of the future.

Sputnik sat atop a military R–7 Meanwhile, the Soviet Union rocket. Standing 100 feet tall it used 880,000 continued to have many firsts the space race. pounds of thrust. The satellite Sputnik, When looking at the night sky, many think (meaning fellow traveler), was in the shape of questions about our nearest neighbor, the of a sphere. Covered in aluminum, it was Moon. The Russian decided that this visual about the size of a beach ball. Inside, it held target made the next, best major goal for 2 radio transmitters. The launch was space exploration. successful. On January 2, 1959, the USSR launched Luna 1. Its mission was to collide with the Moon. It missed. But the venture accomplished a “first” in space; Luna 1 had broken away from the earth‟s gravitational grip.

Eight months later on September 14, 1959, Luna 2 crash landed on the Moon. The next month, Luna 3 flew around the Moon. It sent back pictures of the side of the Moon never before seen.

Soviet R7 Rocket

On November 3rd, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2. This satellite weighed over a thousand pounds or enough for a 110

were sent to the surface of the Moon from 1972 to 1976.

The USSR was interested in studying a nearby planet, Venus; Venera 7 landed on this planet and broadcast information for 23 minutes. It not only recorded the 800 degree temperature but also measured the atmospheric pressure as being ninety times that of Earth

Zond Spacecraft

The USSR again focused efforts on Moon exploration in the second half of the 1960‟s, when a series of probes, named

Zonds, were launched. These probes were in Lunakhod Space Probe preparation for anticipated human exploration of the Moon. The Zonds circled . In 1975 Venera 9 landed and sent the Moon, sending back mapping data and back the first pictures from the surface of the the results of onboard biological planet. Three days later Venera 10 landed experiments. and verified this data.

But by 1968 the Russians were The Russians tried to send probes to falling behind the American space program Mars. In November, 1971, the Mars 2 in the race to the Moon. They suffered a spacecraft went into orbit around Mars. The disaster with their potential manned Moon Landing section crashed and no data was rocket. This resulted in their giving up on obtained. In December, Mars 3 sent back the propaganda-rich race and settling for video signals for 20 seconds but sent no data sending robot probes to gather oil samples and then…nothing. In 1973, two more from the Moon. Luna 16 landed in probes failed. Later, the Russian tried to September, 1970, returning with 4 ounces of explore Mars‟ moons but failed to reach lunar rock and soil. their goals. By 1976, the USSR had switched its Two months later Luna 17 landed space priorities to space stations and space and released a wheeled robotic probe named espionage. Lunakhod 1 which began roving the lunar landscape. Traveling over 6 miles across the lunar surface, it sent back pictures and data for 10 months. Three more Russian probes 111

better rocket for the military. 3. The understood reason: To catch up with the Russians!

Astronomy now had new tools in the The American box. The Explorer satellites discovered m achin e that our planet is less distant in miles exploration from north to south than east to west. 1957 - 1973 They also found that there are radiation “belts” surrounding the Earth. These are The U.S. government looked known as the Van Allen Belt. While abashed as millions of people world -wide many of the next satellites were mainly marveled at the little Sputnik flying for scientific purposes, the U.S. also overhead. To the Communist it was more launched its first spy satellite. than a space mission, it was a declaration that communism was succeeding over the capitalist West. U.S. strategic planners saw this new event not only as a propaganda coup but as a real military threat.

Prior to and after 10 years of experimenting and testing, the U. S. rocket program had achieved little more than to provide missiles that travelled 20 miles down range. Time and again, new rockets blew up on the pad, or are self destructed a few moments after liftoff. Much of the failures had to do with the lower priorities in urgency and planning given to these projects. That all ended in October, 1957. Redstone Rocket To show the American people that Photo Courtesy NASA we were not far behind in the race to outer space, a “quick as possible” launch was ordered. On December 6, 1957, a Vanguard rocket carrying a small satellite was Cosmic Concept: Competition launched. It exploded moments later. Competition can be fostered by ideology, On January 31, 1958, a Redstone – fear, pride and even needs of survival. How Jupiter C, rocket launched Explorer 1 into do you think innovation, inspired by space. Its purpose was three fold: competition, can be helpful and/or be

harmful. Include examples historical 1. The stated reason: To explore innovations from what you have read in this radiation in space. 2. An underlying reason: To develop a book.

Title: Competition, Good and Bad? 112

Minimum: 100 words

By this time, President Kennedy had made his famous pledge to get Americans on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. In order to accomplish this, NASA needed more information before sending the astronauts on this journey.

The next group of probes belonged to the Surveyor class. They were designed to land softly on the surface of the moon and to send back pictures. The last two machines had claws to allow scientists to test the soil consistencies of the surrounding surface areas.

Pioneer 1 Spacecraft Courtesy NASA

Like the Russians, the U.S. thought that the Moon made a tempting target for exploration. On October 11, 1958, they launched Pioneer 1 on a mission to orbit the Moon. It failed to reach the Moon but did get 70,000 miles from Earth. Pioneer 2 and 3 also failed the ultimate goals of their missions but still sent back valuable data.

Then, in 1962, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, began shifting emphasis from machine space research to manned research. Surveyor being inspected by an astronaut. Note the astronaut‟s Lunar In that year of 1962, the United Lander in the background. States launched research spacecraft for Photo Courtesy NASA more unmanned moon exploration. The probes, called Rangers and Pioneers, On August 18, 1966, Lunar Orbiter were sent to the Moon. Pioneer 4 did 1 began circling the Moon, taking reach the Moon but had become a non detailed pictures in order to map the functioning machine before it landed. surface. Four more of these lunar Rangers 6 through 9 were sent with satellites were sent up, providing a television cameras. Pioneers 7, 8 and, 9 detailed map of virtually the entire lunar succeeded not only in reaching the moon surface, providing valuable information but also in sending back quality pictures for the manned mission program. of its surface. In 1960 NASA inaugurated another 113

part of its program, the furthering of the system of computers was created. We understanding of Earth from a space know it today as the Internet! point of view. Tyros 1, our first weather satellite, soared into space and sent back The moon, the sun, weather, the first space- based television pictures communications, land usages and of weather conditions on Earth. The U.S. spying… What next! Both the U.S.S.R. was to launch many weather satellites and the U.S. went to nearby planets by over the coming years. Now, on virtually way of machine exploration. any weather program, you can see such photos describing present or forthcoming Venus, a twin in size to earth and weather conditions. very mysterious to observers, was a likely target. Both nations made it a goal In 1972, Landsat 1 was put into a to explore the planet with probes. The polar orbit. It contained several cameras first to get there was the American to send back data on the conditions of Mariner 2, which passed by the planet observed lands. on December 14, 1962, sending back data about Venus‟s atmosphere. The The first to launch an astronomical results let us know that Venus is not a satellite was not NASA, nor was it the habitable place. Mariner 2 reported that USSR. It was the British. They launched the average temperature on Venus was Ariel 1 in order to study interactions 800 degrees Fahrenheit. between solar radiation and the ionosphere. The probing of our solar system continued. Mariner 10 flew by both The first U.S. spy satellite with Mercury and Venus. Detailed pictures cameras was launched in 1960. It was were taken of Mercury, and actual cloud called Corona. As the years passed, the patterns on Venus were discovered. cameras on satellites such as these improved so much that auto license plates could be identified from space.

The military had developed programs that provided early warning on USSR missile launches, as well as spying on their rocket development and nuclear bomb programs. Satellites in a program called DSP were created to secure international military communication links. However satellites could not be the only relied upon way to Picture Courtesy NASA keep strategic communication lines open Mariner 2 in times of crises. The need for more Mars, the red planet, got a visit from secure communications grew as our Mariner 4 in 1965, taking the first close- computer networks became more crucial up pictures. Mars did not look like a to national defense. A secure land link livable planet. If anything it looked moonlike, with craters on its surface. In 114

August, 1969, Mariner 6 and 7 dropped 1983. by to take more pictures of a dry and desolate world with icy poles.

The Viking probes were a combination of orbiter satellites and landing machines. The Viking 1 Lander landed on Mars in July, 1976. Viking 2 landed in September 1976. Both sent Cosmic Concept: Colonization back valuable data and stunning pictures of the surface. Both Viking Landers We have sent spacecraft to Mars. They searched for life but found no evidence. have orbited the planet and even landed

Both had enough power to work for on it. Many now want to send people to several years, sending back weather explore it. reports and pictures.

There is enough water on the planet to

make seas once again. There is enough carbon dioxide to start sustaining plant life.

What if we seeded the planet, sent up ozone making machines to put ozone in the planet, which will allow the atmosphere to retain heat. This allows the carbon dioxide to defrost and turn into a gas. The water ice will melt. The atmosphere thickens as it warms. More plants will grow and so on. The planets would produce oxygen for the atmosphere. It is estimated that with a concerted effort, in 3 – 400 years Mars

Photo Courtesy NASA could have a colony. Viking 1 photo from Mars What would it be like? Would you want On December 1, 1973, Pioneer 10 to live there? Remember Mars has 1/3 flew past Jupiter. Not only did it the gravity of Earth. A warm day may be send the first close-up pictures of its only 55 degrees. atmosphere, it also sent us information about its intense magnetic fields and radiation. Title: Colonization From there, Pioneer 10 used Jupiter‟s gravity to swing out towards the boundaries 100 words minimum. of the Solar System. It passed by Pluto in 115

Finally!

Chapter 14

Manned Exploration

Russians in Space 1959 - 1976

Req uired W o rk:

cD - HO m ew o rk

Workbook: pages 89 -90 Russians in Space 1959 -1976 Test (Teacher Provided)

116

Flying into space sounds easy. Just put a human on a rocket. Fire the rocket into space. Upon atmospheric reentry, will capsule will release the parachute. Then a support group retrieves him and his vehicle when they land. Oh, if it were only that easy!

Both the U.S. and the USSR knew there would be problems. They knew that they had to have a rocket powerful enough to put the vehicle into space. This was achieved by the USA and the USSR before 1960. There were hazards in space that could prove deadly. But, they also knew that they weren‟t even aware of all the potential life threatening problems to be faced. Both Yuri Gagarin, First Man in space the USA and the USSR sent animals into Courtesy NASA space to find out what was needed to survive without risking human life. The Russians Five additional Vostok missions took sent dogs; the Americans sent chimpanzees. place. The longest flight was a five day journey taken by Valery Bykovsky. In June, The United States and the Union of 1963, the first woman went into space. Her Soviet Socialist Republics anticipated name was Valentina Tereshkova. launching a manned rocket in 1961. Scientists on both sides had reservations. The spacecrafts used were little more The Americans were having difficulty in than special containers, with few electrical trusting their rockets for such a mission. On devices. The Vostok was bigger than the April 12, 1961, the USSR surprised the American spacecraft, weighing 5,500 world with another first. Yuri Gagarin pounds. became the first human in space. He was the first cosmonaut. (The Russians called their Voskhod, (“sunrise” in Russian) was space travelers cosmosnauts, meaning the name of the next series of manned wanderers of the cosmos). He was launched flights. In October, 1964, Voskhod 1 went on an R – 7 rocket, the same type used for into orbit above our planet, containing three Sputnik. His flight was 108 minutes long. cosmonauts. The United States was still As the capsule came back into the sending up one person at a time when this atmosphere it began to tumble. Gagarin new Russian program began. managed to get out of the vehicle and parachute to a safe landing. Once again, the Voskhod 2 carried two cosmonauts Soviets had triumphed over the West. The into space. Its mission was special: In next series of missions to follow were all March, 1965, Alezei Leonov conducted the under the name of Vostok, (The Russian first space “walk”! word for “east”).

117

For many years this was a Russian state secret. The Russians had developed a rocket for the Moon mission. It was the brainchild of Korolyev, the head of the Russian space program. He died and with his death went most of the needed leadership for the program. They tried to launch the rocket in accordance with a demanding timeline from the political powers in Moscow On the rocket were 200 unproven parts. The leaders in the Politburo wanted a test with a cosmonaut onboard. They were convinced otherwise. The N – 1 rocket exploded soon after launch. The next try Alexander Leonov, the first man floating in ended the same way. There was just too space! little time for them to finish the rocket and send men to the Moon before the Americans It lasted ten minutes. At the end of got there. They needed 90 more days for it that time, Leonov attempted to get into the to stand a chance. capsule, but because his suit was so bulky he almost died trying to renter the spacecraft. The suit was not built to adapt to the difference in pressures between space and spacecraft. Hence, the suit bloated, and he barely got in. Meanwhile, he was running out of air. After a dangerous and prolonged struggle, Leonov forced his way back inside. Because of time constraints created by racing the Americans to the Moon landings, there was no Voskhod 3. Instead it was time to prepare for actually going to the Moon for a landing.

The Soyuz, or union, program was intended to get cosmonauts to the Moon and back. A secondary vehicle that would be Two N1 Rockets! sent into lunar orbit was to ferry a single cosmonaut to the surface and then back to Much of the Russian space program, the Soyuz. The first mission took place in unlike the American, was very secretive. October, 1968. It successfully sent 3 Failures were covered up. Launches were cosmonauts around the Earth for four days. only talked about after they succeeded; In the meantime, the Russians sent 2 Zond otherwise they officially did not exist. When landing crafts to circle the Moon. All was the Americans made it to the Moon and back ready to go. But what happened? safely, the Russians responded by saying that they were never in a race to the Moon, that the USSR had never intended to send 118

men to the Moon. This was a lie. return to earth in a Soyuz craft already there.

At this time, their space program was demoralized and in shambles. There was no clear direction for the program‟s future. The race to the Moon was over, but there were other directions for the USSR space program to move into. The new mission was called Salyut, (salute in Russian).

Space stations were anticipated in both of the nations‟ plans. In a space station, long term experiments could be conducted. A Soyuz capsule after returning from space. Possibly new products could be invented and produced. Of course the military Records were set in 1971, when advantages of human flight over other three cosmonauts stayed in space for 23 nations every ninety minutes were also a big days. They returned on a Soyuz that had a attraction. leak. All suffered from a lack of air. When the capsule was opened, the three were dead.

Other Salyuts were sent up. Some were for photographic spying, others for pure science. As the program progressed, new duration records were set.

The Russians were down but not out. They had many firsts. They did not make it to the Moon for lack of effort, courage, or intelligence; they lost the race because of the lead America had built up in resources and civilian technology. Also, the Soviet program lost a great leader at a time when A photo of Salyut 1 in space. they couldn‟t replace him. The difference In April, 1971, the Salyut 1 space was ninety days. But that was enough. Soon, station went into orbit. It was named in the Russian resorted to stealing American memory of the courageous national hero and information to stay in the race for more first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, who had died Earth and space-based technology. Their in an air crash in 1968. It had a living space initial lead was gained with the efforts of a of 3,500 cubic feet. Cosmonauts would go to few hard working patriots in the secretive it and back using the simple Soyuz Star City, Khazakstan, (A onetime part of spacecraft. New cosmonauts would fly up the Soviet Union.). and then the long-standing occupants would

119

Photo of the Soyuz System. It was originally designed to take cosmonauts to the Moon.

120

Chapter 15

Manned Exploration

Amer icans in Space 1957 – 1979

Our first seven astronauts. they were in the Mercury program. Photo courtesy of NASA Required Work: cD Ho m ewo rk Workbook: Pages 91 -94 Americans in space 1957 - 1979 Test (Teache r Pro vided)

Teacher Options: 121 Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo Reports

During the early to middle 1960s During the 1950s and 1960s, NASA America was in second place in space. was licking its wounds over being second Americans have always hated that position. into space. The politicians and the media From our view point there seems to be no asked difficult and sometimes embarrassing difference between second and last place. In questions as to why we were behind. Why war that can well be true. We were in second couldn‟t we make a reliable rocket? Why place with a nation whose political leaders didn‟t we beat the Russians by getting the spent time and effort trying to destroy our first man into space? way of life. We were in a “cold war”, war with no bullets, at least not directly fired at In order to catch up with the each other. We chose to attack them through Soviets, our nation‟s schools needed to put another country‟s civil wars, propaganda more emphasis on science and math and the race for economic and technological education, while the government needed to superiority. fund the aviation and electronic companies with huge contracts in order for them to Space had become a vital battle evolve into the aerospace companies that we zone, with the altruistic lure of scientific have today. The rockets would be built, but understanding as its cover. Both wanted to who was to go into space? What kind of win, but both sides wanted to win, and look explorers would we choose? like the good guys. One won the race to the Moon.

“Five, four, three, two, one, lift off!” “Everything‟s A- okay!” “The clock is running!” “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” “Houston, we have a problem.” “The Eagle has landed!” These are echoes from the past which are a rich history of heroism, discovery, tragedy and dedication. Literally, there were hundreds of thousands of people working on the first three manned space projects. To the viewers, listeners and readers, it seemed that only a few technicians, an announcer, and the astronauts were the entire space program. It was the secretaries, clerks, delivery men, metal workers, craftsmen, engineers, scientists, janitors, managers, and night watchmen, and many others, who made it possible for those brave few to go up. More Alan Shepard than this, it took the will and support of the Photo courtesy NASA American people to allow NASA to reach this high, It all started with the Mercury NASA recruited the best they could seven, our first astronauts. find for the job; our Mercury astronauts 122

were a select group. All were military men, Virgil Gus Grissom. His was also a sub - pilots below 40 years of age, all in excellent orbital flight. health and all were college graduates. But, most importantly, all were considered “the Something went wrong on the best of the best”; they were self confident, landing. (Americans landed their spacecrafts sure in piloting skills and team playing on the ocean, while the Russians soft landed ability with nerves of steel. on their eastern plains). When Grissom‟s spacecraft landed in the water, somehow the On April 12, 1961 when Yuri door opened. Grissom got out, but water Gagarin went into space and America was poured in, and the craft sank. It was not until shocked. NASA was now under tremendous 1999 that the capsule was recovered from pressure to do something quickly! the ocean floor. It was an embarrassment quickly glossed over, and Grissom was The first astronaut in space was to be treated as a hero. Alan Shepard. It had been seven months since the Russians circled our planet and the NASA could not match the Russian‟s Americans had still not orbited the Earth. It feat. The Russian rocket was simply more was time to take the chance and send up powerful. The American Redstone rocket marine pilot, John Glenn. In February, could not get Shepard into orbit or even far 1962, Glenn‟s rocket roared off towards into space. On May 5, 1961, this author space. He cruised into orbit and stayed there watched Alan Shepard, in Freedom 7 for five hours. A warning light went on and spacecraft, on the Redstone rocket fly thus his voyage was cut short. upwards into space. The flight was only fifteen minutes long, but it dramatically raised morale at NASA and helped to restore American pride. We were second, but there was hope of pulling ahead.

Virgil “Gus” Grissom John Glenn Photo courtesy NASA First American to orbit the Earth

Courtesy NASA The next man to sent into space was

123

The last Mercury astronaut, Gordon NASA space program had grown in “Gordo” Cooper, went the highest, fastest, experience and ability. The American space and longest of all five: he stayed in space for program had caught up with, and in some 34 hours. The Russians counted the hours; places got pulled ahead of the Russian they had already had a cosmonaut up for program five days.

President Kennedy lit a fire when he committed the U.S to get to the Moon first before 1970. There were several in NASA who thought the challenge was impossible to accomplish in eight years, even with a commitment of 25 billion dollar

Several steps had to be taken to get to the Moon. It was decided that a new program called Gemini, was needed for more progress to be made. Gemini missions took place in 1965 and 1966. The capsules had room for two, unlike the lone astronauts on Ed White going into space from the previous Mercury missions. the Gemini IV space capsule Courtesy NASA The Gemini program was designed to develop techniques and technology for the Sometimes things were not Apollo program. The flights had longer completely thought out. There were times durations, space docking practices, pilot when NASA cut some corners. Some parts controlled reentries back to Earth, and space were not tested until actually flown! walks. In May, 1965, Gus Grissom and John Young were the first Gemini It was a race, and chances were astronauts in space. Gemini 4’s Ed White, taken. One proved to be a disaster. Gus became the first American space walker. Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee Gemini 5‟s Pete Conrad, stayed up for 8 were practicing countdowns in their Apollo days. Gemini 7‟s Frank Borman and Jim 1 command module. There was an electrical Lovell, stayed up for 14 days. Neil short that started a fire in the cabin. The Armstrong and Dave Scott in Gemini 8 atmosphere was pure oxygen, which is very made the first space dock with an unpiloted flammable. The door was so secured that the rocket. On Gemini 11 Gordon and Conrad astronauts could only open it after several, flew into deeper space, 850 miles high in time consuming procedures. They couldn‟t altitude. get out and burned to death. The effect was shattering. Opponents of the program, who The last, Gemini 12, in November thought the space program was dangerous 1966, had Buzz Aldrin make 5 space walks. and a waste of money, thought NASA had their chance and failed. Hearings were held. However, adroit politics and influential Great strides had been made. The testimony saved the Apollo program. 124

hours to reach lunar orbit. They got there in the early hours of December 25, 1968. The astronauts circled the Moon for 20 hours and then left for the return to Earth. They were floating on the ocean, on December 27th. Hopes and dreams soared with them as they came back to Earth to exaltation and pride: it gave NASA and America a new resolve to land Americans on the Moon.

The Apollo 11, Saturn V rocket sitting on launch pad 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center. Courtesy NASA

Changes were made and flight safety was improved. Now, with their new Saturn V rocket, the NASA team went full speed ahead. The Saturn rocket was immense. It stood 363 feet tall. When launched, it Apollo 9 practicing with a Lunar Lander produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust. First Courtesy NASA tested in November 1967, it sent an unpiloted Apollo ship into space. Apollo 9 tested the lunar module needed for landing. Apollo 10 went to the A culture clash called the Moon with a lunar module to rehearse for “generation gap” was becoming more vocal. the next goal. Riots in Detroit, Chicago, and other large cities contributed to social upheaval. In Apollo 11 had a crew whose names general, American morale was low. It was are as famous as any explorers in history. time for Apollo 7 to go into space. Would it They were Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and be the disaster to top off the year? Or would Neil Armstrong. Collins would stay in the this bring thrills and glory? command module, named Columbia. The Lander was called “Eagle”. The astronauts aboard were Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders. On On July 20th Aldrin and Armstrong, December, 21, 1968, they left Earth for the had the go ahead from NASA to go land on incredible journey to the Moon. Reaching the Moon. Their target was the Sea of speeds of up to 40,000 miles an hour, the Tranquility. The mission was almost crew shot out of Earth‟s orbit. It took 66 scrubbed because of computer problems but 125

the astronauts made it to the site with only a few seconds of extra fuel to spare. But, they made it! “Houston… The Eagle has landed.” The watching and waiting world heaved a collective sigh of relief, quickly, followed by cheers.

A foot print on the Moon! Courtesy NASA

They didn‟t sleep, of course. Could we? After twenty one hours, Aldrin and Armstrong bade farewell to the Moon and returned to the command vehicle, circling above. They came back to Earth with 48

pounds of Moon rocks. Apollo 11 crew. Courtesy NASA Apollo flights continued. There were several highlights: The Moon‟s first golf The world stopped, wars stilled shot. The usage of a “Moon buggy” to get while people around the world gathered around, and a landing that was only 600 feet around radios and televisions. These were off from target More Moon rocks were humans, not just Americans. Crime dropped gathered and more hours spent exploring our to nearly zero. People looked up and only natural satellite, giving us a wealth of marveled. Millions said: “People are up information. there. Unbelievable!” But one flight almost turned into As 7:56 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, great disaster: Apollo 13 had an explosion Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the on the way to the Moon. The ship lost power Moon. Forty minutes later, Aldrin followed. and air. If it were not for the efforts of They planted the American flag, walked ground support and the resolve of the crew, around and collected rocks. They set up they surely would have died. It turned into a some experiments. Then it was time to go victory of survival and resilience for NASA. back to the Lunar Lander and get some sleep.

126

experiments and observations. With 7,400 cubic feet living space, it was launched in 1973. The mission almost self destructed from the launch. The shielding against meteors fell off during the flight into space. Solar panels, used for power, were damaged and failed to open. A crew was sent to repair it, they were successful. The astronauts then settled in and lived there for 4 weeks, conducting experiments. The last group there stayed in Skylab for 84 days. Skylab slowly sank down toward the Earth‟s atmosphere and finally burned up in the A Moon Buggy on the Moon. atmosphere in July, 1979. Courtesy NASA

As the explorations continued, interest in Moon exploration waned. After all, a race is a race, and it was now over. As time went on, Americans looked at the expense and said: “Enough.” The program was a success. Hundreds of pounds of samples were brought back. Foot prints and tire tracks seemed to be all over parts of the Moon. What next?

The Russians had already begun their space station program. NASA, with its reduced budget, decided to go the same route until they could put into flight the first true spaceship.

Cosmic Concepts: The Cost of Exploring Neil Armstrong

Many millions of dollars have been Did You Know ? spent to get our men to the Moon.

Billions have been spent to explore the Neil Armstrong has become one of the most Universe. What are the benefits from famous people in modern history. He and Yuri this? Is the money better spent, or not? Gagarin are the most famous space travelers.

Title: Investing in Space Neil Armstrong was picked as the first to walk

Minimum: 100 words on the Moon because he was closest to the Lunar Lander door. (Buzz Aldrin was the Skylab was created for scientific second person to walk on a body than Earth.) Not only that, but they almost had to abort the 127 landing with only seconds of spare fuel left.

Chapter 16

History of Space Exploration

1973 - 2009

The Hubble Telescope in space. Required Work: Credit NASA cD - ho m ew o rk Workbook: Pages 95 - 104 Space Exploration 1973 -

2008 Test (Teacher Pro vided) Teacher Options: 128

The Moon race was over, but other things had not changed. There was still a Their shuttle program was called cold war between the USSR and the USA. Buran, or snowstorm. To be lifted by the Both nations had space programs which had new Energia rocket, it was built in response become scientific gold mines and great for to fears of the military advantages that the public relations. The inspiration from the Shuttle could provide to the Americans. It earlier ventures had provided good fodder had one test flight in 1988, unpiloted, and for interest in further discoveries. By this then the program was discontinued. Their time Russia was strapped for funds and money and technology simply ran out of resources. Because of this, innovations and money. inventions were given low priorities in the dwindling Soviet program. The Soviet The American program was still leadership decided to go with what already reaching for the stars. The Russian program worked. When it came to research and was holding on, but ready to crumble. In development it was cheaper to steal secrets many ways both programs reflected the than to create a program for new technology. political futures of their patron countries. The Soviets made stealing space technology secrets as important as stealing military The Russians secrets. It was the only way they could keep up with the race in technological Between 1974 and 1982 Russia put innovations. up six Salyut space stations, of which two were for military use and the rest were for However, during the 1970s, NASA scientific purposes. New records were set was losing government support money as for the length of stays in space. Valerie social entitlement programs gained in Ryumin stayed in space 175 straight days importance. during first year he was there and 185 days of the following year! Meanwhile, Russian space program managers decided that long - term orbital Salyut 7 developed troubles with its flights would meet their immediate goals. power systems. A mission was sent to repair The program was touted as a preparation for it, but it was to be abandoned in 1986. their future voyages to other planets, such as Mars. In fact few in this program thought In 1986, the USSSR started the Mir they would ever have the resources to get to program. A much more sophisticated type of Mars. Satellites and space stations for space station was sent up in sections, called military use had become more important. modules. Eventually it had 13,600 cubic feet of work and living space. (This was almost The Soviets tried to start a “shuttle” as large as four Salyut stations combined). program. They stole the U.S. Shuttle plans Inside, the Russians had installed a powerful and then built a miniaturized clone of our telescope and lab areas for zero gravity shuttle. The program failed to get far enough experiments. for a manned space launch. (Copies of the American shuttles are still lying around in In 1995 America started joint – use the plant used to build Russian space Mir programs with Russia in preparation for technology.) the planned International Space Station.

129

Much was learned from the Russians about New ideas from NASA were the special needs and situations that arise needed. There were two flagship programs with long stays in space. Space Shuttles started in the late 1970s: the first and most docked with the Mir station 7 times to influential, was the Space Shuttle transfer men and supplies. The new Program. NASA sold the public on the idea endurance record for an American astronaut of creating spaceships that could act as was accomplished on a Russian Mir station! cargo planes to outer space, with the idea to It was 188 days by Shannon Lucid. Also in have the ability to launch the four new crafts 1995, Valeriy Polyakov finished a record as often as every week. Capable of carrying stay of 14 months in Mir. a crew of seven, it was to perform many functions. But, what made it a genuine In 1993 the Russians agreed to be a spaceship was that it could land on a runway partner in the International Space Station and be reused. Cost: Four billion dollars per program. The advantages for the Russians ship. They were to be called shuttle were twofold: they could keep up their space orbiters. program in a way they could no longer afford by themselves and they could take advantage of learning about more advanced technology created by the other partners.

NASA also gained an advantage using Russian space exploration experience and cheaper space station construction.

By 1998, Mir had experienced several problems with life support breakdowns. A collision occurred between a cargo craft and Mir. The technology was Shuttle Discovery being flown back to old, and parts were worn out. The Russians Florida on a 747 could not afford to keep it going safely. It Courtesy NASA fell to Earth in late 2000. NASA engineers knew the project By that year of 2000 (except for would be expensive, but they hoped that foreign contracts to lift satellites into space sending up a shuttle every two weeks would and subcontracting for the new space lower the cost. It was also hoped that station), the once vaunted Russian space eventually the program would pay for itself program became virtually inactive. through satellite launches, repair missions and private industry contracts and fees.

Shuttles are 90 feet long with a 50 foot cargo bay. It has a robot arm that stretches over 50 feet to allow for launching small rockets, retrieving experiments and broken The Americans objects and holding on to astronauts working outside the Shuttle. When created its

130

technology was world class.

White foam panels cover the exterior. The exterior surface of the panel can reach 3,000 degrees, yet just an inch below it will feel cool to the touch. This makes it possible for the Shuttle to enter the atmosphere without a heat shield. The Shuttles have wings. They are launched like rockets and return as gliders. The cabin holds seven passengers. The ship has enough life support capability for two week long voyages.

The shuttle is complicated to construct, fly and maintain, since, it has over one million parts. If any one of them fails in the wrong place, at the wrong time, the failure will spell disaster. (It has been calculated that each mission potentially had A Shuttle daytime landing a one in twenty five chance of failure.) Picture courtesy NASA Mission 25, set for January 28, 1986, was the spaceship Challenger’s turn. It took days to collect the debris, bodies and the crew cabin. It was another On board were six astronauts and a year before a select committee announced civilian school teacher named Christie their conclusions about what happened. A McAuliffe. She was to teach school children seal in the main fuel tank that was leaky. from space. It was a cold morning: 27 The leak area was made worse by the degrees, the coldest temperature for a launch freezing temperatures of that mornings to date. The launch looked perfect. There launch. Morton Thiokol built the tanks and was an order to: “Go for full throttle up.” A the “O” ring. Morton Thiokol engineers on few seconds into the launch an explosion their team had warned their supervisors of spelled doom for the seven aboard. It took the potential leakage problem. Some NASA several moments for NASA Mission Control engineers were wary as well. Many of and the visitors in the viewing stands to NASA‟s leadership were embarrassed, but comprehend what had happened. few were punished. Instead the emphasis was put on learning from mistakes and To the people watching on television it coming together as a team. It was time to was quite clear. It blew up. The separated rebuild the tanks and rethink how NASA crew cabin took almost two minutes to crash was handling the program. into the sea. Part or all of the crew were not killed in the explosion; they died when the In 1988 the launches were restarted. crew cabin crashed into the ocean. No more than one launch per month is now the norm. In 1999 some faulty wiring was discovered on one of the Shuttle: NASA

131

had the whole fleet inspected and grounded seen a large chunk of ice fall away from the for worn and faulty wiring. December 1999, external fuel a Shuttle was launched after making sure that this aging fleet could fly safely again.

The Shuttle Columbia breaks up in the high atmosphere, on the way home from its mission. Photo courtesy NASA

The Challenger disaster. Photo courtesy NASA tank and possibly hit the wing area of the shuttle when it was 81 seconds into flight, In December, 1999, a Shuttle crew and traveling at a speed of hundreds of miles refurbished the Hubble telescope, giving it per hour. The engineers concluded that another seven years of life. The international nothing could be done if there was damage - Space Station has been supplied, and in part and possibly there was none. A few emails taken up, by the Shuttle fleet. With each concerning the situation were circulated crew composed of up to seven astronauts, among involved management and engineers. there are now hundreds of explorers that Even the shuttle pilot was informed and then have been passengers on a spaceship. Many the matter was dropped. of the people who go up know next to nothing about piloting; most are technicians, The crew was doomed. They did not specially trained for their part of the know they had no chance of survival, or of mission. When John Glenn at age 74 went returning to Earth. up, he was the oldest man ever to go into outer space. All have been thoroughly Once again all shuttle missions were trained professionals. Since Challenger, no stopped and an investigation was launched. amateur has been allowed to fly aboard a The challenge was to stop ice buildup on the Shuttle. external tank from hitting the shuttle while it was heading for space. NASA came up with The Next Disaster a, take along, repair kit. But, it is only effective for smaller problems, not one the On February 1st, 2003, a second size of the Columbia disaster. Cameras still shuttle disaster occurred. The mission record ice hitting the shuttle, even after onboard Columbia had been smooth so far. alterations. However, some scientists and engineers had

132

Administration.

In February, 1998, China‟s first astronauts finished their training in Russia. These astronauts became the trainers for

The last Columbia crew. They did not know that they had a damaged ship. Photo courtesy NASA

After one mission, the shuttle fleet was once again grounded. A new launch date was set for June, 2006, but was delayed Taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) to come. until July 4. This mission was a success. It The Chinese had constructed reliable and included many hours of mock repair and powerful sets of rockets that capable of building rehearsals in preparation for positioning satellites in space. finishing the space station. The Chinese kept most of their The last Shuttles are expected to fly progress under wraps, with occasional in 2010. The United States will then have no announcements of successes. manned space flight capabilities for years to come.

C hina

China is the third nation to have a manned space program. Its origins come from, the Russian program and our own Taikonaut Fei Junlong program. The organization that runs the Fei rode in Shenzou-6, a two man space program is the China National Space mission in 2005. 133

manned flight they have provided valuable In the meantime they started to build an information. amusement park associated with space, in order to build interest and excitement about After the amazing Viking Landers their new entry into manned space made it to Mars in the 1970s, NASA turned exploration. its concentrated efforts beyond the Red planet. In 1977, two Voyager spacecrafts were launched to visit two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 1 arrived at Jupiter in March 1979. It took pictures and sent back data about the Jovian planet and its fantastic assortment of moons. The probe found three previously unknown moons and a planetary ring that is invisible from Earth. Pictures of the moon Io showed active volcanoes. (The only active volcanoes ever seen outside of Earth).

From Jupiter, Voyager 1 proceeded to Saturn. Our first close up pictures showed The interior of a Shendou reentry vehicle the beautiful rings that surround it. We Courtesy of Shenzen SAST found out that there are actually 3,000 ringlets that are no more than a few hundred Yang Liwei became the first feet thick. A close-up analysis of the big Chinese in space. Using China‟s own moon, Titan, found it had a cloud - shrouded transport called Shenzou, the launch took atmosphere. Since then, this incredibly well place on October 15, 2003. Yang Liwei road built probe has been drifting out towards the on the Shenzou-5, into space and into the edges of our solar system and beyond. history books. The second mission was called Shenzou – 6 and carried two Launched in 1983, Voyager 2 flew taikonauts into space. It was successfully by Saturn in 1986 and went on to launched October 12, 2005. Uranus. It got there in 1989! That means it took over 6 years to travel to its last target. The CNSA had their first taikonaut Three years later, the probe reached space walk in 2007. Someday, perhaps, we Neptune. We received close up pictures and will have taikonauts on the Moon. valuable data from both locations.

The New Era Today, Voyager 1 is the farthest Space Probes travelled, manmade space object. It‟s now nearly 7 billion miles away! It still has years Satellites, probes and telescopes to go before officially leaving our solar have been a mainstay during the last twenty system! It‟s still sending us information and five years. Cheaper and less risky than probably will for several years.

134

Galileo, the orbiter – probe, was launched toward its target, Jupiter, on December 7, 1995: The probe entered that atmosphere and remained in contact for 57 minutes before the Jovian atmospheric pressure crushed it. The orbiter section still sends back data about Jupiter, the moons and the planet.

The Galileo program has an interesting side goal. Programmed to explore a couple of asteroids, it came within 1,000 miles of two large asteroids; Gaspra and nearby Ida. Ida is very unusual because it has its own moon. Later, in 1997, a spacecraft called Near Earth Asteroid

Rendezvous, or NEAR, went to the asteroid An artistic view of Cassini rendezvousing called Eros. with Saturn Courtesy NASA In 1997 NASA launched the Cassini spacecraft, headed toward Saturn and its Mars Pathfinder was probably the biggest moon Titan. It reached its target in most famous of all space explorations during 2004. Probes were sent to the last flyby of the 1990s. Designed as cheaply as possible Halley‟s Comet, the most famous comet in by young and imaginative engineers, it was history. In 1986 five probes from Europe, an incredible success. Before landing, three Japan and the USSR, came in for a closer air bags formed a large cushion around the look. The best measurements and pictures of Pathfinder. It bounced on the ground three any comet were taken during this times and then came to rest. The bags rendezvous. deflated and the ramp came down. Down came little Sojourner, a twenty two pound Rover. It resembles a remote controlled toy car. Back on Earth, the excited ground crew gave directions. (It takes over twenty minutes to get a message to the probe, and another twenty minutes go by before the results return to Earth). It is a long, time- consuming process.

The pictures and data were better than hoped for. Some of the pictures were even taken in 3D. Atmospheric pressures were measured, and the daily temperatures were taken. The Sojourner Rover was Self photo of a probe on Mars designed to study individual rocks. NASA Credit NASA got its money‟s worth! 135

The name of the spacecraft was Stardust. The capsule left the mother craft and returned to Earth on January 15, 2006. The capsule was successfully retrieved at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The mother ship will now be used to photograph asteroids, or other comets.

The Stardust spacecraft has flown over 3 billion miles, circling the Sun three times. Its mission has been a big success, and the dust will be disseminated to laboratories around the world for study of the dust and to understand how our Solar system looked

Pathfinder preparing to release sojourner on when it all began. the Martian surface. Notice the landing bags have been deflated. Photo courtesy NASA In January, 2006, another explorative JPL spacecraft was launched. Named New Horizons, it will be the furthest target of In January, 2004, the Mars Spirit machine exploration yet. This plutonium Probe was sent to study the surface of the powered craft will enter the “third zone”, planet for 90 days. Five years later it was also called the Kuiper Belt, which is filled still doing its job. Its rover, called with objects made of ice as well as with icy Opportunity has explored much of the planetoids. Many comets come from this surrounding area. The rover contains a area. This craft‟s purpose is to explore the panoramic camera, an x-ray spectrometer, a planet Pluto. thermal emission spectrometer, an exploring arm and a microscopic imager. It measures Pluto, at an average distance of 3 and sends back data concerning land and billion miles from Earth, will have to wait atmospheric conditions. for the probe for nine years. Timing is critical! In Pluto‟s 248 –Earth year- orbits, So far it has traveled four miles. around the Sun, it was the closest in But, more importantly, the mission has made relationship to the Earth, in 1989. By the news in science with its discoveries. The year 2020, scientists believe that its Spirit mission found evidence of Mars atmosphere will be frozen and will have having had, at one time, fluid water. fallen to the surface. It will not defrost for another 220 years.

In 1999, a spacecraft was launched to fly near a comet named Wild 2. Its mission: gather dust particles coming off the comet‟s tail, store in a canister and returned to Earth. Overseeing the mission was a team from the New Horizon will survey the planet for Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory. five months, while reaching its closest point 136

(6,200 miles) from the planet. While it is The story of the Hubble Telescope and its there it will also study its moon, Charon, and mission is both extraordinary and epic. two moonlets, or smaller moons. Along with pictures it will send back readings on Edwin Hubble, as mentioned early in atmospheric pressures, density and the book, was a famous astronomer who temperature found on Pluto. discovered that the Milky Way Galaxy was not the whole Universe. On the contrary, it Hundreds of satellites whirl around was just another galaxy among many. He our planet. Many no longer work and are discovered the Andromeda Galaxy, which is doomed to oblivion. Some are damaged, or the nearest one to us. never worked properly from the beginning. The rest are serving man through: NASA decided to name its new telescope espionage, weather observations, telephone mission after the renowned astronomer. The and fax communications, paging, computer telescope was designed to be put in space, hook ups, oceanic and land resource orbit Earth, take pictures in the Solar System observations, navigation, security linkages and hopefully to even show the edges of the and television broadcasting. They are as Universe. In 1990, aboard the shuttle integral to our lives as are invisible - space Atlantis, the instrument was taken into telephone lines, radio, surveyors, and stop space. lights. The project was expensive and exacting. The instruments had to be precise and the mirror had to be perfect. Unfortunately the Hubble Telescope was sent up with a flawed mirror. The pictures came back with disappointing fuzziness. Gloom set in over the mission team as they struggled to find the cause.

Cosmic Concepts: Man vs. Machine

What is better, having machines or humans exploring in space? Consider danger, cost, human spirit and capabilities of machines and humans. Include your Artist‟s rendition of Voyager I, in space. feelings if you could go into space. Courtesy NASA Title: Man Vs Machine Exploration

The Hubble Minimum 100 words. Telesc o pe

137

It was decided to send a repair team, by shuttle, up to the telescope. It was to be a dangerous and difficult mission that had a more than a minimum chance of failures.

In 1993 the shuttle Endeavour, on mission STS 61, captured the telescope. It took five extravehicular efforts to repair and reequip the craft, and the mission was a dramatic success. The telescope brought vivid pictures of the Great Beyond back to Earth.

In 1997 the shuttle Atlantis had a new infrared camera put onboard, as well as a couple of spectrometers. Then, in 1999, the telescope was recaptured and had its This photo, courtesy NASA, is showing the gyroscopes replaced. (Gyroscopes allow the Hubble Space Telescope being held by the craft to be stable and pointed in the right shuttle arm over the cargo bay, while direction.) They also put in a more advanced circling Earth. camera and a new computer.

The Hubble scope has been a spectacular success. Its life span has been expanded by servicing missions; it should last until 2014.

According to NASA, these are Hubble‟s accomplishments:  Every day Hubble delivers between 10 and 15 gigabytes of information.  It has taken more than 400,000 observations.  It has observed more than 25,000 astronomical targets  It has helped thousands of scientists with their research.  It has traveled over 3 billion miles, around the Earth.  It allows the world to see what has never been seen before. A picture of MyCn 18, a young planetary nebula, some 8,000 light years away. Courtesy of NASA 138

The Privatization of Space The company has set up launching Until recently space exploration has facilities in California and Kwajalien Atoll, been the dominion of governments. Only a which is a small group of islands far out in few governments could afford the costs and the Pacific. Their first test launched at their pool the resources necessary to explore Pacific site failed. They had a leak in a space with more than telescopes. That has system that was to detect dangerous leaks on now changed. Several companies have board the rocket. Such is the rocket sprouted up, producing rocket launching business. Even the safety devices can be platforms and arranging trips into space for hazardous. private citizens. As of June, 2006, Space X has 9 launches scheduled over the next three years. Presently, their contracts for launchings are from: the U.S. Defense Department, Malaysia, Swedish Space Corp. and various U.S. private firms.

Interested in launching something into orbit? The price for using a Falcon 1 is 6.2 million dollars. Perhaps you need more power to lift a heavy load. The Falcon 5 costs 18 million dollars and the Falcon 9 will cost you a hefty 27 million dollars. But now, one can contact private companies to

go into space, instead of going to the Space X Falcon 9 Rocket government.

Elon Musk is from South Africa and Mr. Musk has stated that he is interested made his fortune selling his Pay Pal program in supplying rockets for human space travel. to Ebay. With his newly acquired wealth, he Interested? Space X has designed a space set about building a rocket company. He capsule. The Falcon 9 rocket has the power, runs his company in El Segundo, California, if you got the money. which is located in the virtual hub of the American aerospace industry. The company The Ansari X prize was a 10 million is called Space X. dollar reward for creating the first operational private space ship with the His goal is to build launch vehicles that following qualifications: It must reach space can send satellites into orbit at a low cost. with at least one pilot and either another The rockets are called Falcons. The person or the equivalent in weight to company has three types of rockets that are simulate another passenger. It must be able already usable or are in the planning phase. to do this twice within a span of two weeks. Falcon 1 is for lighter payloads, under 470 kilograms. The heavier lifters are called Falcons 5 and 9. 139

list for hopeful space passengers and is planning to fly them up by 2011. The initial passenger tickets should be around $200,000. Later on, the flight charges should level out in $20,000 range. Many have applied. The passengers would be in a weightless and vacuum environment for 3 to 6 minutes, before returning to Earth.

But, you don‟t have to wait for Virgin Atlantic it you are in a hurry and have millions - many millions. There have been three private citizens who have gone into SpaceShipOne now hangs in the space through the Russian space program. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. On April 2001, Dennis Tito, an This was done at Mojave, California, in American millionaire, ex Jet Propulsion September, 2004. The craft was called Laboratory scientist, and self paying tourist, SpaceShipOne (one word) and was created was launched into space. Tito spent some by a firm called Scaled Composites. The six months in Russian cosmonaut training pilot was Brian Binnie. The 434th human to before the flight. He booked the trip with go into space, he flew with some extra International Space Station through weight, the equivalent of two passengers on board. The ship was dropped from a wing of a larger plane, then its engines ignited and it went speeding up through the upper atmosphere and on to the edge of space. When the trip ended it landed on a Mojave, California runway, like a passenger plane. It flew to an altitude of 112 kilometers, or about 62 miles up. This was the first privatized manned space flight without government assistance.

The ship building cost was over 20 million dollars, so the prize could not be the only incentive. SpaceShipOne technology is owned by Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft. The technology developed could be sold to interested parties and therein lays Dennis Tito, first tourist astronaut, a major part of the motivation. landing in a Russian Soyuz.

As a result of these new space Space Adventures, Ltd. The cost was 20 developments, Richard Branson, the owner million dollars. So far, the company has sent of Virgin Atlantic Airlines, started a waiting

140

Due to be ready for use in 2011, the above photo is of the Virgin Galactic spaceship. An artist conception of a space elevator. The middle craft separates at 60,000 in Courtesy NASA altitude and flies into space. Thousands of private citizens have put in reservations. The A space elevator is most enticing. It flight will be sub orbital and last about two reduces a risky rocket venture into a hours. Tickets sell for $200,000 each. “routine” elevator ride. What is holding up the elevator idea? The first persons to create three passengers up to the station, and there cost effective nano tubing technology will are three more in the waiting and training hold the key to permanent, large scale space phase. development, for near Earth, and well beyond it. The trips were put on hold because of the You may be able to take an elevator Columbia disaster, which made Soyuz ships ride into deep space sometime in the future. the only transport link to the International Space Station. Now that shuttle launches have resumed, the space tourist business may start again.

Cosmic Concept: Space Tourism

There have been people that spent $20,000,000, trained for nearly a year, passed the physicals and went to the International Space Station.

Others will soon reach suborbital heights and feel of the affects of space while spending $200,000 to take the ride.

Do you want to go into space? Why or why not? What risks are acceptable? What price would you pay? Include information from this chapter

Title: Going up There 141 Minimum 100 words.

Chapter 17

SETI

Required Work: I‟m on vacation. cD: HOmework Workbook: Pages 105 - 112 Seti Test (Teacher Pro vided) Teacher Options: Seti Report Seti Pro ject

142

Searching For A “science”, called Alien s astrobiology, has been formed. It is a melding of geology, astronomy, This chapter is dedicated to Peter D. Ward physics, chemistry and biology into and Donald Brownie for their one field to make intelligent guesses comprehensive study on the possibilities of about whether there is other life in intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. our Universe. The first section of the chapter is based on their logical arguments. Their book is titled In addition, a group of space Rare Earth. enthusiasts and astronomers have created a search system for Hello, hello, anyone there? Whether discovering alien communications, it is a phone call to a neighbor or a radio possibly finding sources and beacon reaching to the sky, we search for establishing links with these life others. So far there is no certain answer to forms. It is called SETI, which the question of the existence of stands for: Search for Extraterrestrial extraterrestrial life. There are many theories, Intelligence. but, so far, the skies seem to be silent.

When it comes to the question of The astrobiologists make alien life… is it there? For many years there guesses about the possibilities of have been three basic schools of thought on various life forms. The SETI group the existence of life, other than our own focuses on intelligent life forms that Earth life forms: are able to communicate via radio waves. Yes there is. Maybe The astrobiologists are more No, there isn‟t. involved in the theory of life in outer space, while the SETI people are the Sophisticated astrobiological theories ones who are actually searching for about extra terrestrial life are being put evidence of extraterrestrial life. forth. They are:

1. Yes, there is a lot of alien life from There is a third group. This very basic to very complex. group is convinced that contact has 2. Yes, but probably only simple life already been established and that we forms and, very rarely, intelligent are regularly visited by aliens. Called life. UFologists, they derive their name 3. No, but there are plenty of organic from the term “Unidentified Flying compounds out there for life to form Objects.” This is the designation under the right circumstances. used by the U.S. Air Force when they cannot explain or identify Which is right? What‟s aircraft, lights or other mysterious your guess? objects in the sky. Their evidence

143

consists mainly of:

Visual accounts from “witnesses.” Photographs and videos. Accusations of cover ups by governments. Testimonies of visits and kidnappings. Gas and Dust

For Life to Exist… As we know, galaxies are found in different shapes. It has been proven that the Through the years much of the elliptical galaxies tend to be older and not “aliens” evidence has been found to be very dusty. The stars in these galaxies are hoaxes, hallucinations or logically low in power, size and heavy elements. explained-away circumstances. Some These stars are not powerful enough to incidents have not been disproved and some generate the heat needed to fuse atoms into defy a normal set of explanations. This more complex elements. These stars won‟t section will address three questions: go Super Nova in order to release heavy What does it take to sustain life? elements for new systems to form. How can simple life evolve into intelligent beings? However, spiral galaxies are very How are humans progressing in the search dusty, and they tend to contain more metals. for extraterrestrial life? But some of these galaxies are too hot. They are an overall blue and white in color and We are lucky! We already have a have gigantic stars that spew out tremendous planet with abundant life and even amounts of radiation. These stars have short intelligent life. With this as a model, let‟s life spans and blow up long before life can figure out how we exist and survive. be established in its solar system. In fact, the stars may blow up before the planets have Here are some of the ingredients for even form. life: 1. A main sequence mature but not too old, star. 2. Reasonable proximity to this star. 3. Heavier elements than hydrogen and helium. 4. (A planet would be nice!) 5. Cosmic calm. 6. Non-burning gas and dust. 7. An atmosphere. 8. Probably some form of liquid.

Since this sounds a bit like a recipe, it may be wise to follow that analogy and share what kind and how much of each Picture of the Witch Head Nebula ingredient is useful. Let‟s see what the Is there anyone out there? chances are of finding extraterrestrial life. Courtesy NASA 144

The Milky Way has a wide variety of years in our galaxy. When you compare stars: young and old, big and small, and a lot the number of blue giants with other of metal to go around. But the middle of types of stars in the Milky Way you find spiral galaxies, the nuclear bulges, is packed that they represent only a very small tight with stars, contains black holes and is percentage of the whole. soaked with radiation. Therefore, where there are the most stars, there is the least So now we can add to the list above chance for life. That leaves us with the outer a number 5: the gas and dust must come arms of the spirals. There are some globs of from a rare supernova or, even rarer, 2 stars found on the arms. They suffer some of supernovas. the same problems as those near the center. All right, we have the gas and dust. Where does this leave us? We can Something else must now occur. This expect: stuff needs to be “stirred” or agitated, to 1. No elliptical galaxies that harbor get it moving around. What can cause significant life. that? Only another Super Nova! But this 2. No blue-white spiral galaxies can one must be far enough away to mix up tolerate more than temporary and the gas, not blow it away - or scatter it simple life. too much.

3. No centers of spiral galaxies can After millions of years a glob forms support life. in the middle of this gas cloud. It starts 4. No globbing of stars outside the heating up and “voila!” we have a centers of spiral galaxies will harbor protostar. In the meantime extra chunks, life. forming farther away, are orbiting the big thing in the middle. It does seem that we have eliminated a large section of the seen and known The star bursts forth with heat and Universe as candidate for containing light. But the outer clumps are not yet life? Well, yes we have. done. There is a lot of chunky debris out there. Some of the planetoids are Now we need some gas and dust. In smashed by gigantic collisions. The order to get the right kind we must have bodies closest to the star have heavier a giant star go through its life cycle and elements in them, because the heavier produce the heavy elements of nitrogen, dust was attracted, or pulled, toward the oxygen, iron, copper, carbon, etc. And center of the gravity that is now then explode. If one can get a couple of becoming a star. On the way, a neighboring stars to go through this significant amount of these elements cycle it is even better. collided forming planet masses.

When have you seen a super nova in Cosmic Concept: Meeting ET the night sky? If you have seen one, your What would meeting an alien be like? discovery would be unusual. Supernovas are very rare events. These blue - giant What would you like to ask and what star explosions happen once every few would your fears be?

Title: An Alien Encounter 145

Minimum: 100 words

radiation. A small White Dwarf has too little gravity and heat. Double stars cause too much gravitational chaos to allow smaller, earth like planets to form. Also, one star may not fall into the main sequence category, or it could be swallowed by the other.

What is left are stars that are capable of supporting life, are average sized, metal rich, stable, single and long burning. These stars also must not get

Image of a Super Nova destroyed by wandering galaxies, rogue Courtesy NASA and the Hubble stars and black holes. Not many stars can Heritage Team claim to have experienced all of these good fortunes maybe one in every 100,000, maybe less. So far, we have What is left? We see smaller and drastically reduced the number of stars heavy- element planetoids circling near that have a chance to support life. But, the star, some of which will be destroyed we are not done yet. by big impacts. Other planetoids may be eventually sucked into the star. A few of Cosmic Calm these celestial objects survive and may become terrestrial planets. When solar systems form, debris Farther out, larger planets may form. hangs around for billions of years. The But, the chances of life are few because debris ranges from pieces of dust to the elements in them are not complex. wandering rocks and ice that can be They lack much of the heavier elements. thousands of miles across. As you have The planets are too cold because of their learned earlier in this book, comets and distance from the star. They also asteroids, when colliding with earth can produce too much of their own deadly cause great devastation. One such radiation. They become gas planets. collision was thought to have killed off the dinosaurs.

Actually, a few meteors have almost caused complete annihilation of life on

Earth. It is theorized that original life A Star, Please may have been annihilated early in the history of the planet. We are not out of

danger yet. A hundred mile wide rock So we see that not every star can could sterilize Earth. We wonder, when support life. A Red Giant, for example, studying Mars, where the water and the has a very short and heated life span. A atmosphere went? Was it possibly blown Red Giant does not give off enough life away? Are rocks that originated on supporting heat but delivers lots of 146

Mars crashing into Earth every year? Subtract another 50% of the single stars because they are packed in too What about an even bigger collision? closely together. Eliminate more that Uranus is “rolling” around in its‟ Sun are: Blue Giants, White Dwarfs, Neutron orbit. What knocked it sideways? Was Stars, Black Holes, Red Giants, Red the other body a planetoid? Dwarfs and Brown Dwarfs.

There is another type of destructive power which is slower working but just as devastating. That is the gravitational effects caused by the giant planets. They can affect not only the orbits of other planets but can determine whether a planet can even form, or stay together. In addition, these giants can veer off and become wandering celestial objects, such as comets and asteroids, into new paths that can take them to a rendezvous with the rock planets. Some giant planet‟s gravitational influences can be so powerful that they can propel into other planets spinning out of a solar Red giant star: Alderbaran. system. Photo courtesy NASA

On the other hand, a giant planetary vacuum cleaner in space, such as Jupiter, can protect the “inner circle”. Jupiter has But, then again, some of our types protected our planet an unknown number of stars are just forming and some are of times. How many solar systems have dying. Some are in their first billion an Earth-like planet, our own kind of years and are not bright enough. Others, star, and a big brother to protect this in their last billion years, are not warm rocky planet? or stable enough. Only a small number of stars are in the right age group. An Out the eighty to one hundred billion example is our Sun which has only a galaxies, we are reduced to perhaps sixty billion or so years to go before it can no billion spiral galaxies, of which forty longer support our kind of life. billion are integrate galaxies. So how many intelligent cultures are there? How many of these stars have Well, to trim the odds down even more, produced a planet with the right we now must take away half of the total combination of metals? Maybe there is number of remaining stars in each one star out of a hundred. How many of galaxy because they are binaries, these systems have a big brother to trinaries, (twin or triple star solar protect the life-capable planet? Maybe systems), or even more solar masses! there is one system out of another hundred.

147

We also have problems of distance interactions between life on the planet and size. If we were possibly five and the planet itself. Plants provide the million miles closer to the sun, we would oxygen-rich atmosphere. The resemble the clogged, smothered and atmosphere has carbon dioxide which is fiery hell of Venus. A few million miles re-supplied by animals. A balance of life farther away and we would have an and nature exists. Antarctic style climate on our planet. We are at just the right distance to sustain Do you think that all this is life. commonplace? Perhaps simple life can form without all the requirements An advantage of being so far from needed for animals. A protein or a one the Sun is the limited effect that star has celled type of bacteria, or maybe viruses, on Earth‟s rotation. If the rotation slows, could be found all over our galaxy. the atmospherics and climate conditions “Simple life” can be very tough and can would change. What happens if the withstand much harsher conditions than rotation takes twenty four days instead can animals and plants. of twenty four hours? One side would bake while the dark side freezes. But, these life forms cannot “phone home.” It took time and the right Sizes of planets determine their conditions to get us where we are today. futures as well. Earth is twice as big as Mars. This mass creates enough gravity to hold the gases that provide a needed living environment. It is possible that Mars lost much of its atmosphere because it did not have the gravitational power to keep it.

Okay, the right size and distance eliminates many more planets. Is there more? Yes, there is.

Planet Earth has an incredibly unique set of characteristics. First, it has a lot of liquid water. It has plate tectonics that allow for the building up and renewal of the crust. This buildup is driven by radioactive processes within the core that allow heat conduction to power such a big operation. Volcanism is also a land builder. With this combination, 25% of our planet has dry, exposed land. Is this a universe full of viral life? Our atmosphere is a byproduct of planet building, accidents and Even if a more advanced culture

148

were to evolve, what if it was snuffed out by The Fermi Paradox a wayward asteroid or a shock wave from a nearby supernova? After all, it has only been In the 1950s, the famous Italian three decades since the idea of extinction- scientist: Enrico Fermi asked important leveling events, caused by meteors has questions about extraterrestrial life: “Where become universally accepted. We still can‟t are they?” and / or, “Where is everybody?” stop a fairly large incoming space object without years of advance notice and Fermi had ideas on why we haven‟t preparation. heard from others: 1. That technologically advanced In summary, to find life beyond the civilizations are rare; which means microbe level we need the following and that there may be many microbes and more: very few high IQ beings out there. 1. The right kind of galaxy. 2. Because of our technological 2. At least one super nova. insufficiencies we are not yet able to 3. A resulting nebula that has the right kind detect them. This gives all SETI of elements. enthusiasts hope, 4. Another nearby super nova to stir the thinking we are only an invention remnant of the first super nova. away from connecting to aliens. 5. To have develop the type of star. 3. We are not looking for the 6. We probably need only one star in the right indicators. system. We may simply have a different set 7. We need that star to be at maturity in of technological points of references order to provide the correct amount of in outlooks, experiences, values that energy led to different linear strands of 8. A planet with the essential chemical inventions and technologies. (Think ingredients for life. of chop sticks versus forks). 9. The planet at just the right distance. 10. Terrestrial or watery planet. The Drake Equation 11. And finally, to have a planet that experiences protection from natural cosmic In 1961, Dr. Frank Drake came up cataclysms. with an equation to determine the possibility of life beyond Earth. What do you think the chances are of * N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL finding all these needs? Theories range from us being the only advanced species in the But what do the letters stand Milky Way, to tens of thousands of for? advanced societies out there, to the skeptics N* represents the number of who think there is no intelligent life, even stars in the Milky Way here! Galaxy, which is now estimated at 100 billion. fp is the fraction of stars that have planets around them. That could be from 20% to 50% of stars. 149

ne is the number of planets SETI per star that are capable of (Searching) sustaining life. (A How do we find Aliens? We could guesstimate could be from 1 go to other stars, the closest being only a to 5 planets per system.) few thousand years of travel away. We fl is the fraction of life might look in to a telescope. But things get sustainable planets where life pretty blurry when looking out beyond the evolves solar system. We have no chance of seeing (This could be from 0% them wave. As of 2006, we could not even to 100%. Why? No one directly see an exoplanet. So what‟s left? knows if life evolves. If it How about listening? does this process is common? ) S.E.T.I. stands for: Search for fi is the fraction of fl where Extra Terrestrial Intelligence and takes intelligent life evolves. place by listening to narrow-band, extra- (Again, this can range from solar radio signals. These are also called 0 to 100 %.) microwave transmissions, much like fc is the fraction of fi that searching for a radio station signal in your communicates. car or home. The only difference is that the (The guess is 10 to 20 %.) bands being searched for are even narrower fL is fraction of the than those of the local station. By searching planet's life during which very narrow bands, many of the natural the communicating radio noises from space, (pulsars, quasars civilizations live. and turbulent gases) are not getting in the (We have only had radio way of the hunt. When listening to space communications for a noises one hears mostly static. Microwave hundred years. How long signals will stand out against this will we last as a background noise. communicating society? That is anyone‟s guess.) So far, no proven signals have been The total produces: N, the found, although some signals are of number of suspicious origin. The most famous one communicating called the “Wow” signal, was civilizations in the discovered by Dr. Jerry Ehman at the Galaxy. Ohio State Radio Observatory, (known as This equation can the “Big Ear radio telescope”), in 1977. produce vastly different The signal lasted 72 seconds. It was called answers that are the “Wow signal” because the amazed according to the astronomer wrote wow by the printed out guesstimates. signal information. The exact location of the signal‟s origin cannot be determined, but *The source of this formula presented is there are two regions that it may have come from the SETI Institute from. The signal was from the constellation Sagittarius, near the star group Chi Sagittarii. The same area has been searched

150

several times but nothing more has been detected. Could it have been an intercepted signal from an extraterrestrial space craft?

SETI has set itself a standard that the signal must be found twice to be provable evidence. SETI also understands that even if a signal is received there is no guarantee that it will be understandable.

As of now, SETI searches the skies Arecibo Radio Telescope Credit NASA with a few determined listeners. SETI is sponsored by NASA Aames Research Center, in Sunnyvale, California, as well as Only one powerful message has been purposely sent out to other worlds. It was by many private foundations. from the giant Arecibo Radio Telescope in

Sixty three search projects have taken Puerto Rico. It was emitted (transmitted), in 1974. The signal was aimed at a group of place since the mid 1980s. The present one over 300,000 of stars, called the M13 star is called Project Phoenix. Project Phoenix uses the world‟s largest radio telescopes, cluster that is over 20,000 light years away. It was a 20 trillion watt transmission. It took ranging from 40 to 300 meters across. Along three minutes to transmit the message. with very sophisticated detection devices the system slowly scans the radio frequency bands for the hoped – for signal.

One of the great challenges is to get through the noises made by our own people on the planet. Military radar and telecommunication satellites produce microwave signals that can interfere with deep space signals. Project Phoenix uses a scanning radio telescope to compare and to remove such interference. Allen Array - SETI Institute In the meantime, we send out signals, but not through SETI. Our television The Allen Telescope Array is the and radio signals leak out into the cosmos. latest project by SETI, partnered with UC We are truly a noisy planet, and if there is Berkley Astronomy Lab, located in Northern anyone listening (within, say fifty light California. One of the founders of years). Our signals could be reaching them Microsoft, Paul Allen, funded the first phase right now. So far, nearly 1,000 local star of 42 antennas to be built. Not only will it be systems can tune in to some early television used for searching for alien life, it will used programming. to study gamma rays bursts and galaxies.

Another approach to finding aliens is

151

by using optics. This is not an attempt to see Why search? Maybe we are seeking the aliens. It is based on a hunch that aliens wisdom and technology. Wouldn‟t it be nice could communicate with lasers. A major to hear that radio signal? problem with using lasers to communicate is that they are very focused and directional. This means that the aliens would be pinpointing communications, whereas a radio communication allows for error and for reaching multiple targets at once. If we are to receive the broadcast, we must directly cross it exactly where our telescopes are. (Radio transmissions are not nearly as focused.) Another problem lies with inter stellar gas and dust that will diffuse or even block the laser communication. Despite these potential problems, two college research groups as of 2010, are either Hello! already searching with optics or constructing the technology to start their search for SETI.

SETI is not the only search group. Various organizations and college observatories are also looking. All of them cooperate and compare notes, as each group tries to get better at conducting the search.

Not only is it a fanciful idea that there are many superior civilizations out in

the Universe, it may just be that we are, for What is out there? now, the only voices in the wilderness. Alien microbes are not what we want as mentors, allies or conversationalists.

But by nature we tend to be optimists, Or… holding on to flickers of hope, natural curiosity and the courage to reach to the stars. So we look, listen and wait. Possibly, against all odds, we may get a call.

Cosmic Concept: Space Relations and Law

If we find alien life, will it be a thinking being, microbes or a puddle of goo? How would you want to deal with new laws such as alien vs. Goo? human rights? 152 Title: Hello or Bloop, Bloop

Minimum: 100 words

Chapter 13

The Night Sky

Required Work: cD - ho m ew o rk Workbook: Pages 113- 116 153 Night Sky Test (Teacher Provided) Teacher Options:

It is difficult to separate illusion from The Earth is a sphere that rotates reality when one observes the night sky. around its own axis. This axis is like an This chapter will assist you in: Finding the imaginary line running from the north to the location of objects. Describing the motions south poles. Our planet is also slightly tilted observed while watching the night sky and to the side. That slant allows part of the providing facts about some of these planet to receive either more or less sunlight observable objects. and sun energy during its annual orbit around the sun. These changes are in During ancient times, many believed exposure are called seasons. That movement that there was a large sphere, or bowl, over and change of angles also helps to change the flat surface we are on. The surface of the configuration of the night sky from this sphere moved. On the surface were season to season. many little bright lights that could be seen at night time. Many people believed that the Many ancient cultures mapped the Sun and the Moon were trapped with the night sky so as to give it order and meaning. Earth under a covering spherical. The Earth Most of the groupings of star were given was located in the center of this small names that were related to nature or religion. Universe. The air was assumed to fill the Ancient astronomers noted that most of the void between the surfaces of the Earth, the points of lights didn‟t seem move much in Sun, Moon, and those points of light on the relation to each other. However, beyond the inside surface of the sphere. sun and moon, they saw five odd points of light which did not act like the rest; they It all made sense to them. The seemed to be constantly on the move. Those objects moved. We didn‟t move. We knew objects turned out to be the five originally- that was true, because we didn‟t “feel” like known planets. These are: Earth, Mars, we were moving. It also was very Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. predictable that one could plot out the courses and times of the Sun and Moon The mapped groupings of stars are passing by. The stars seemed to move at now known as Constellations. The names certain speeds and on courses. Only those and structures of these constellations varied mysterious meteors and pesky comets, that according to the customs of the observing foretold doom, appeared to change the cultures. There are two different sets. One peaceful procession of the upper heavens. set is mostly seen in our northern half of our picture of the sky as a giant map in the form Others believed that the objects in the of a sphere. Just as with an Earth map, we sky were driven by gods or where gods can use measurements to find locations on it. themselves. That the bigger objects such as The other is mostly visible in the southern the sun, moon and planets were to be hemisphere. Because most people have lived worshipped and even receive sacrificial in the northern hemisphere, those offerings. The stars told all that would listen constellations have been the best known about their futures and what the gods wanted over the years. them to know. Whole myths and religions were made up and told generation to There are some constellations called generation about the goings on in the skies. circumpolar constellations. Groups of

154

them are seen either in the far north above 40 degrees north latitude or at the equivalent south latitude of our planet, all year round.

Most of the constellations in the northern hemisphere have names that come from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. However, if these constellations were spoken of by people of different ethnicities, let‟s say a Chinese or American Indian; they would use different names according to their own traditions.

Every star has an address, a location, The Constellation Leo on the celestial sphere. The locations of Courtesy NASA these stars change little over the eons. Only the Earth‟s rotation and orbit changes locations, thus affecting where one would So a star could be located in Libra find these points of light in the sky. example. Depending on where you are, it may have the ascension of 6 hours and have If you projected our equator out onto a declination of 30 degrees south. But, in the sky and were standing near the midpoint order to be more precise, since there are of our planet, you would have a dividing many objects in the sky and the distances line between North and South when looking from each other can be minute, the up. The farther north you would go, the astronomers also use minutes and even lower this line would be in the sky, until if seconds to more define the hours and degree you kept going north, it would be either at areas in which the object resides. the horizon line, or below it. We call the amount of angular distance moving to the The fifty brightest stars have Greek north or south of this line the declination. or Roman names. The rest usually have The angular distances of declination are number and alphabet letter combinations. +measured in degrees. On a dark night, at sea level with a clear sky, one can see up to 2,000 stars without using When starting at the zero point of the binoculars or a telescope. equator, (Known as the vernal equinox), and measuring the distance to the right or the left, one uses the term of ascension. In this way we can map the longitudinal and latitudinal locations on an Earth map. The term of hours, minutes and seconds, are Study the model below in order to used when measuring longitude and degrees understand how to spot the stars. for latitude, when using the celestial map. One hour equals 15 degrees.

155

Point A, directly over the person, is called the zenith. The horizon line of point B, (Where the sky meets the land.), is known as the celestial horizon. Imagine a line that runs from the northernmost point in the celestial horizon, (If you look north in the northern hemisphere, you can find the If you could see stars during the day star Polaris; it is only one degree off from you could observe the path of the Sun going the northern celestial pole. Once you have across the foreground, or in front, of the found this star, the rest of your sky framing stars. The path it takes is called the ecliptic. is easy.). Follow a line through the zenith This is used as a line of reference on star and down to the southern point of the maps. celestial horizon. This directional line is called the celestial meridian. An imaginary strip that borders both

sides of the Ecliptic is 16 degrees wide, and How to find Polaris: Find the Big is called the Zodiac. The Moon and our Dipper. Two stars, Duheb and Merak, are in planets follow this wider path. It is also the the bowl section. They line up and point to home to the 12 constellations, or signs of the the North Star, Polaris. The Big Dipper is Zodiac. Much of traditional fortune telling made up of circumpolar stars. They will comes from observations of these objects on never set below the horizon if you are the zodiac path. observing them from 40 degrees North latitude or more. Because we are revolving, or orbiting,

around the Sun at an angle, we notice that

the stars seem to be moving from and to Stars seem to be on the move. As different locations, on each succeeding you now know, it is our Earth that is location, on each succeeding night. They moving, makes them appear that way. They rise a little later every night and they start at are actually moving, but they are so far a slightly different location. The start time away and so small in our night sky that it difference is about 4 minutes a night. That takes measurements by sophisticated would be “out” 2 hours a month. At the end instruments to detect their actual of 12 months, the difference would be 24 movements. The apparent motion that we hours and one would see the stars start once sense is called the duimal cycles. again in the same place and time as one year

earlier. The ecliptic also changes at about 1 degree a day. Therefore, at the end of one 156

year, the ecliptic will move 360 degrees and will be back at the same location as it was one year earlier.

Start by using celestial maps and lining up with the star Polaris, then your horizon lines, your zenith, and the celestial meridian. After accounting for the season and the ecliptic, (and your understandable initial lack of confidence), you should, after As our axis slowly moves, the a short time, be able to locate objects in the Ecliptic on the map will become radically night sky. different in a few thousand years. This is called the procession, or the moving of our axis. As with all opinions, space mapping depends on your point of view, which is always changing.

Its time to look at the star charts! Your teacher will provide them.

Upon completing this course you should feel comfortable about the basics of this subject. But, there is so much more to learn about Astronomy. I encourage you to be aware of the almost daily new discoveries concerning space and its related scientific subjects. Discoveries about the Universe are Constellation Map occurring at a rapid rate. Courtesy NASA

This is all well and good for now. But those objects actually do move. The star maps in your possession are only good for a few hundred years more. The directions will then have to be adjusted to account for the motion of the stars, the solar system, and our planet.

WATCH THE SKIES… WATCH THE SKIES… WATCH THE SKIES…

157

there is or almost zero tidal changes.

Apastron: The farthest point of separation between stars that are orbiting a common gravity point.

Aperture: An opening.

Aphelion: The closest point where the planet is to the parent star in its orbital path.

Glo ssary Apogee: The farthest point an orbiting satellite is from the earth. . Apollo: The name of the Greek Sun god. It Absolute Magnitude: True brightness of a is also the name of the American space star. program designed for manned Moon missions. Accretion: The accumulation of dust and gas that eventually forms large bodies, such Apparent Magnitude: The brightness of a as: planets, moons, asteroids, comets and celestial object as seen from the Earth stars. Arecibo Radio Telescope:

Accretion Disk: a plane of dust surrounding Arc Minute: 1/60th of a degree in an a new born star or even a black hole. angular measurement.

Aerology: The study of the land mass of Arc Second: 1/6th of an arc minute. Mars. Array: A grouping of objects that are used Allen Telescope Array: The newest set of for the same purpose. SETI Institute radio telescopes. Asteroid: A small planet. Albeito: reflectiveness of an object. Asteroid Belt: A large grouping of asteroids Alien: Life form that is not from Earth. orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.

Alpha Centauri: The closest star to our Astrometric Binary: Two stars orbiting a Sun. mutual (non object) gravitational point.

Altitude: The measurement of height above Astrometry: Process of determining where a surface. object are.

Andromeda: The name of the nearest, large Astronaut: Greek for star voyager. The galaxy. titles of the people America sends into space. Amphidromic Points: The point where 158

Big Ear Telescope: a radio telescope that Astronomy: The study of matter and energy was located at Ohio Wesleyan University in outer space. and detected the famous Wow signal,

Astronomical Unit (AU): The measurement Binary Star System: Two stars, of any type of distance from the Sun to the Earth. that orbit one central point of gravity. Their sizes do not have to be the same. Athenosphere: The mantle underneath the crust, in the form of molten rock. Black Dwarf: A burned out remnant of a star. Atmosphere: A layer, or layers, of gas that surround a planet, star or moon. Black Hole: A gigantic star that has collapsed when its gravity has overpowered Atom: Smallest known structure in the its energy output. It shrinks ever smaller. Universe. Nothing except streams of radiation can escape its grip. Aurora Borealis: A glow in the atmosphere cause by electrically charged particles Blizzard: A very strong snow storm with trapped in a planetary magnetic field. high winds.

Avalanche: A rapid flow of snow, rocks or Blue Shift: The coloration of something debris down an incline. moving towards us at light speed.

Axions: hypothetical particles that might Blue Stragglers: Very large and hot stars. make up dark matter. WIMPs weakly interacting massive particles. Bolide: An exploding meteorite.

Barrycenter: The common center of mass Bow Shock: The outermost boundary of a in which two or more bodies orbit. planet‟s, magnetosphere. Here the outward bound solar winds slow down when it hits Barred Spiral Galaxy: It is a description of an increase in amount of incoming particles. spiral galaxy with two main arms. Brown Dwarf: A very large object that is Big Rip: A theoretical ending of the not quite large enough to produce enough universe with the structure collapsing. heat to become a star.

Blue White Giant: Largest of the main Buran: Name of the Russian shuttle sequence stars. It burns so hot that it gives program. off a blue – white color. It has a relatively short life span. Calcium Carbonate: Contains oxygen and carbon. Limestone is a calcium carbonate. Big Bang Theory: A theory of how the Universe began from a very small Caldera: A hole that allows magma and sub compacted area to its present day structure. surface gasses to rise to the surface.

159

Challenger: Name of the ill fated space of the northern hemisphere. shuttle that exploded. Circumstellar Disk: A flattened cloud of Cassini Division: An almost 3,000 miles gas and dust the orbits a star. wide space between the rings A and B of Saturn. Co- Formation Hypothesis: The Earth and Moon forming at the same time, from the Celestial Horizon: When looking at the same nebula. sky, where the sky meets the horizon line of the land or water. Cold Jupiters: Jupiter sized exoplanets that are far from their star and are frozen. Celestial Meridian: The imaginary line from the Zenith to the Celestial Horizon, Cold Neptunes: Neptunian sized exoplanets either to the north or south. that are far from their star and are frozen.

Celestial Sphere: The entire visible sky Coma: A halo of particles around a comet. above you. Comet: A ball of ice, gas and dust traveling Celsius: a metric temperature scale with 100 through space. It has a long gaseous tail. degrees causing water to boil. Comet Nucleus: The center of the comet Centaurs: Is another term for a minor structure. planet. Congreve Rockets: Types of bombardment Cepheid Variables: A star that has rockets used by the British two centuries predictable and regular changes in its ago, weighing up to three hundred pounds. brightness. Constellation: A grouping of stars given a Chichlxu: Mayan word for the area off the religious or animal name by astronomers to Yucatan peninsula in Mexico where an identify that grouping in the night sky. asteroid hit and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Convection Zone: The outer 30% of the star. This is where the granulation of the sun Chondrites: Meteorites that are made of is seen. original elements of our solar system. Core: The center of an object. Chromosphere: A thin layer of the Sun‟s atmosphere above the photosphere. Coriolis Force: The force of spin that makes winds and current twist and turn. Chthonian Planets: A hypothetical planets that has its outer layers of gas stripped away Corona: Outermost layer of the Sun. by a nearby star. Cosmic Dark Age: After the Big Bang, Circumpolar Constellation: A lasting 300 million years. constellation seen only over the farthest part

160

Cosmic Background Radiation: Dawn Mission: Program to send a probe to Discovered in 1965 and is believed to be the Asteroid Belt. residual effects from the Big Bang. Declination: Used with right ascension that Cosmic Rays: Mostly high energy electrons is used to locate celestial bodies, looking up and protons that hit the Earth‟s atmosphere. from earth. It is used as a latitude measurement. Cosmology: The study of the history, structure, composition and future of the Density Waves: An area of denser space. Universe. As stellar dust and gas pass through it, it may trigger star formation. Cosmonaut: “Traveler into the cosmos” in Russian and is the title given to Russian Desert Planets: A one climate, dry planet. space travelers. Doppler Method: A change of speed of a Crater: A hole left on a hardened surface. star affected by a passing planet, which is detected by a light color shift. Craterlets: Small craters caused by meteoric impacts. Doppler Effect: The change in the wave length radiation and its color, associated Craterlet: Small impact craters. with the object‟s movement.

Cretaceous Period: Age of the dinosaurs Doppler Shift: A changes in spectral colors beginning 144 million years ago and ending to another variance of blue or red. It is 65 million years ago. associated with motion and speed.

Cthonian Planet: A planet stripped of its Downwelling: Water that is sinking because gaseous layers, leaving an exposed molten of temperature or heavier salinity. core, caused by a nearby star. Drake Equation: A mathematical equation Crust: The rocky surface of a planet. that attempts to estimate the amount of advanced alien civilizations in the galaxy. Current: Moving streams or rivers of water within bodies of water. Duimal Cycle: The 24 hour apparent movement of stars across the celestial Dark Energy: This is mysterious. It is sphere. there. It is detectable. But it‟s so far not identifiable. Yet it may make up as much as Dust: In astronomic terms, are micron sized 70% of the Universe. silicates, carbon found in nebulae, and between star systems. They tend to absorb Dark Matter: Matter that is in the Universe light which allows them to been detected in but is not visible or even detectable, other bands and clouds. than by mathematical computations. Its composition is still a mystery. Dwarf /Dwarf Spheroid / Galaxy: A miniature version of a full sized galaxy.

161

Elliptical Orbit: A path stretched into an Dwarf Planet: A planetoid or plutoid. elongated circular path, with the ends being Example: Ceres. equal in shape and distance.

Dwarf Spheroid Galaxy: A miniature Equator: An imaginary line that circles galaxy of several million stars, which is (east/west), around the middle of the Earth‟s rounded in shape. surface.

Dynamo Affect: The theory of how Equinox: Time at which the Sun is directly decaying materials in the core, the material above the equator. Night and day are equal make up of the core and the spin of the earth in time. The vernal equinox begins spring in combine to create a stronger magnetosphere. the northern hemisphere. The autumn equinox begins the fall. Dysnomia: Moon of the dwarf planet Eris. Epoch: The date selected as a point of Earth Wave: A movement of land acting reference. like a water wave. Erosion: The wearing or breaking of rock Eccentric Jupiters: Jupiter size exoplanets by either impacts, moving liquid, or ice, the that do not have regular - circular or weight of ice, or wind driven particles. elliptical orbits. Event Horizon: The point where light is Eccentric Orbits: Not circular or balanced trapped, orbiting a black hole. The light elliptical orbital paths. cannot escape. Everything closer to the black hole from this point on, will end up in Eclipse: to obscure or overshadow. the black hole. To an onlooker, the events that have taken place on this horizon never Eclipsing Binaries: One star that seem to change. overshadows another star. A star that may pass between the observer and the star‟s Evolved Star: This is a star nearing the end partner star. of its lifespan and has maybe lost much of its mass, such as a stellar nebula. Ecliptic: The plane in which the Earth orbits the sun and the plane in which the solar and Exosphere: Is the last layer of our lunar eclipses take place. atmosphere and extends out several thousand miles from the surface of Earth. Ejecta: Material that has been ejected, commonly through meteor hits or eruptions. Extrasolar Planet (Exoplanet): A planet that has been found that is not part of our Elevation: Angular distance of an object Solar System. above the horizon. Extinction Level Event: A disastrous Elliptical Galaxy: A galaxy with an oval occurrence that may wipe out an entire shape. species, or all life, on a planet.

162

Eye: The center of a hurricane or tornado, known for being calm and clear and the Fusion Crust: A glass crust formed around lowest area of the storm‟s atmospheric a heated meteorite. pressure. Galaxy: A very large grouping of stars that Eye Wall: The most violent part of a rotate around a center of gravity. The hurricane with the highest winds and the numbers of stars can be over a trillion. It can lowest air pressures can be found. It have smaller bodies of stars orbiting it as surrounds the eye. well.

Falls: Meteorites that were seen falling Gamma Rays: Electromagnetic radiation through the sky and later collected. naturally emitted from stars.

Faults: A crack or break in the earth‟s crust Gas Giants: Large planets that are mostly where movement can take place. or entirely made of gas. Most likely have a solid core. Fermi Paradox: Physicist Enrico Fermi asked: “Where is everybody?” when Glaciers: Rivers and / or reservoirs of ice concerning alien life. If there are all these found on Earth and possibly underneath the planets and stars, why is there abundant life? sandy surface of Mars.

Fire: Combustion of inflammable materials Giant Impact Hypothesis: An object of causing heat, light and possibly smoke. planetoid size heat earth and caused a large amount of debris from the impact to leave Fission Hypothesis: Both Earth and Moon earth, float in space and eventually form the formed at the same time, out of the same Moon. nebula. Globular Cluster: A very large group of Fissures: Cracks in the surface of rock, or stars within a galaxy. ground. Goldilocks Planets: Exoplanets that are just Fossils: Natural mineralized representation the right size, composition and distance of a plant or animal imprint or body. from the supporting star, which could support life. Funnel Cloud: A storm cloud moving in a rotating pattern that has not touched the Gravity: the force of attraction between ground or water. masses.

Fusion /Energy: Colliding atoms that create Granules: Found on the surface of the Sun, vast amounts of energy from the collision, large patches of relatively cooler surface that when they stick. An example is the results has risen from the subsurface and disappears from the conversion of hydrogen into helium in minutes. by the fusing of atoms. This makes the star glow, and this process creates mass that Great Red Spot: A storm on Jupiter that supports the size of the star. was first seen by Galileo Galilee and is still

163

churning. Hurricanes: Counter clockwise turning, H Regions: Space clouds with water found intense storms found over warm oceans. in them. Smaller than nebulae. Hydrocarbons: An organic compound that Habital Zone: Where a planet is located, in contains hydrogen and carbon. relationship to the parent star that would be supportive for life, such as the ability to Hydrogen: The most basic, lightest and have liquid water. most common element in the universe.

Heliocentric System: The sun is the center Hydrostatic Equilibrium: The point when of the solar system. a protostar reaches a balance between energy output and gravitational pulling from Heliopause: The outer boundary of our the center. It then enters the main sequence solar system that is as far away as 100 AU of star life. from the sun. Igneous: Type of rock created by intense Heliosphere: The area within the heart, usually volcanic in origin. It had been boundaries called the heliopause. molten at one point.

Helium: The second lightest element in the Ions: Charged atoms that have been stripped Universe. of at least one electron.

Helium Flash: Explosive climax when a Ionosphere: A layer of the atmosphere that star switches from burning hydrogen to extends up to 250 miles. A place that burning helium. reflects harmful rays from space above and radio waves from below. Hemisphere: Half of a sphere. Inclination: The angular distance of an Homogeneous: Spread evenly. object‟s orbital plane above the planet‟s equator. It is measured in degrees. Hot Jupiters: Jovian sized exoplanets that closely orbit stars. Inclined Plane: A level area that has a descending angle. Hot Neptunes: Neptune sized exoplanets that closely orbit stars. Infrared Rays: A form of radiation that is not visible, that is in the red band of light. Hour Angle: Looking at where the zenith These bands of light do not reach the Earth‟s crosses the celestial equator, it is a surface. measurement or angular distance to the west. International Space Station:

Hubbell Telescope: A telescope that is Interstellar Cloud: Clouds of gas, plasma named after Erwin Hubbell, it orbits the and dust found between solar systems. Earth.

164

Interplanetary Medium: The regions between the star systems. Long Term Mira: A star that changes its brightness over extended periods of time. Irregular Galaxy: A galaxy with no determinable shape. Light: Visible electromagnetic radiation.

Isotropic: Having uniform properties in Light Year/Light Speed: The time it takes every direction. light to travel in an Earth year at 186,000 miles per second. Jovian Days: Amount of time it takes for Jupiter to complete a rotation. Lithosphere: The most brittle part of the Earth‟s crust. It ranges from a few miles to Kaba Stone: A meteorite found in Mecca, eighty miles in depth. Saudi Arabia Longitude: Imaginary lines circling a Key Hole Effect: Where the Earth‟s gravity celestial body from north to south poles for changes the path of a passing object. the purposes of finding locations. Also known as meridians Kilometer: a measurement that equals .6214 miles. Luminosity: Determination of brightness.

Kiloparse: 10,000 parsecs. Lunar Eclipse: Occurs when the Moon passes through the shadow of the earth. Kuiper Belt: A disk shaped region that is full of comets and is about 30 to 100 AU MACHOs: Brown dwarfs and highly from the sun. reflective planets that contribute to a halo affect when viewing a galaxy from afar. Large Megallanic Cloud: One of the two satellite galaxies that are gravitationally Magellanic Clouds: Galaxies that are connected to our Milky Way galaxy. small, irregular in shape and are satellites of the Milky Way. We have two of them. Latitude: Imaginary line circling the celestial bodies it measures from north to Magma: Molten rock below the surface of a south and vice versa. rocky object.

Lava: Molten rock that has reached the Magnetic Field: A region of space where surface. magnetic forces are detected.

Lenticulars: Lens shaped objects, such as Magnetic Pole: Area where most clouds or galaxies. magnetism is released by an object.

Leptons: The building blocks of electrons Main Sequence: The time when a star burns evenly and its gravity and energy output is Local Group: A group of twenty nine balanced. It has matured from a protostar. galaxies, including the Milky Way.

165

Mantel: Layer of molten rock lying below the crust. Multiversus: A theory that holds that there is more than one universe. Mare: Latin word for sea. It was used by Galileo Galilee who thought he saw large NASA: National Aeronautic and Space bodies of water on the Moon. Administration, the name of the American government space agency. Mega Parsecs: 1,000,000 parsecs. Nebula: A large cloud in space composed of Mercury Program: The name of the first gas and dust. manned space mission program of the United States. N.E.A.R.: Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission. A probe that was gone to inspect Meteor: A rock traveling through space. and asteroid.

Meteorite: A space-borne rock entering a N.E.O.: Near Earth Object, usually referring planetary, or moon, atmosphere, (If there is to a local meteor or comet. an atmosphere), then hitting the surface of that body. Nuclear Bulge: Large section in the middle of a spiral galaxy, filled with stars, dust and Meteor Showers: Numerous small meteors, gas. It bulges out from the flatness of the the size of grains of sand, entering the spiral arms. Earth‟s atmosphere and burning up. Neutron Star: A onetime large, collapsed Microbes: Microscopic life. star that has mainly neutrons but few or no, protons, or electrons left in it. Microlensing: a method in locating exoplanets by observing variances in light New Horizons: Name of spacecraft and emissions received when viewing a star mission to explore Pluto. system. The temporary lowering in the amount of incoming light means that a Noachian Epoch: An age when the oldest planet is passing between the observer and surface features on Mars were formed. the star. Obscures: An object or mass that interferes Milky Way: The name of our galaxy and the view. the center of our galaxy. Ocean Planets: Planets completely covered Minerals: Inorganic crystalline properties. by water. It can be made of one or several elements. Examples: salt and gold. Olympus Mons: The tallest mountain in the solar system, located on Mars. Molecule: Two atoms bonded together. Orbit: The traveling of an object completely Moon: A natural object that is a satellite of around another object. (orbits), a planet.

166

Oort Cloud: A very large group of comets P.H.A. Potentially Hazardous Asteroid(s) surrounding our solar system, nearly a quarter of a light year away. Photon: The smallest unit of light. It has zero mass and no electrical charge. Ore: A material that contains significant amounts of metal. Photosphere: The visible surface of the Sun, where convective gasses allow heat and Orographic Clouds: Clouds that are lifted visible light to emit into space. by higher elevations of land. Planet: A large natural object that orbits a Ozone Layer: Located in the stratosphere. star. It blocks much of the dangerous ultra violet radiation from reaching the troposphere. Planetary Nebula: A shell of gas ejected by a dying star. Parallax Method: A way of determining distance of stars from Earth, by gauging the Planck Epoch: When the galaxy was at a motion of a closer object with one that is point of singularity. farther away. This is done by checking the “movement”, of a star twice a year when the Plasma: electrons and ions that are in the earth is at opposite ends of an orbit around fourth state of matter. The other three states the Sun. are: gas, liquid, solid.

Parallel Universe: A universe that is like Plate Tectonics: Movement of large pieces ours, yet we cannot detect it. of crust floating on the mantle of the Earth.

Parsec: The distance of 3.26 light years. Plutoid: A dwarf planet that is Trans Neptunian. Particles: Smallest pieces of matter, such as a quark, electron or proton, found in atoms. Probe, Space: A spacecraft sent out to investigate. Peculiar Galaxy: a galaxy that is unusual in size, shape or composition. Prograde Orbit: An orbit of a natural or artificial satellite that orbits in the same Periapis: The point when an object is direction as the planet orbits its star. moving closest to the object it orbits. Prominence: An eruption of hot gasses Peiastron: When binary stars are at their from the photosphere. closest to each other. Proper Motion: The angular changes Perigee: When an orbiting satellite is at its observed when studying stars. (Used with closest to its gravitational anchor. parallax technique.)

Perihelion: When an orbiting planet is Protostar: The point just before a new star closest to the sun. reaches enough heat and gravitational balances to be called a star.

167

the magnetosphere. Polaris: The northern pole star. Radiation Zone: Is the layer just outside the Pulsar: A onetime large star that has sun‟s core, where energy is transported in collapsed and is rotating very rapidly. It the form of radiation. sends out radio signals on a regular basis. It rotates as fast as once every few seconds. Red Dwarf: A star with only about 100 times the mass of Jupiter. Pulsar Planets: A planet that orbit‟s a Red Giant: An expanded star that burns pulsar or neutron star. helium instead of hydrogen.

Pulsating Period: The amount of time Red Shift: The coloration of something between each electromagnetic signal given moving away at light speed. off by a spinning neutron star. Regolith: An area, or layer, of debris that is lying about as a result of a meteor impact. Pulsar Timing: A planet passing a neutron Retrograde Orbit: In which an object is star can affect the rate of spin of the star and orbiting a body opposite the body‟s rotation. this affect can be detected. Right Ascension: The angle of a celestial Quarks: Fundamental particles that make object around the celestial equator measured up larger particles such as protons. in hours, minutes and seconds eastward from the vernal equinox. Quasars/ Seyfert Galaxies: A mysterious, large and fast moving object that projects Ring: A flattened band of particles held in enough energy to equal an entire galaxy. orbit around a planet. Detected with radio waves, they are located at the edges of the known Universe. They Ring Galaxy: A galaxy that is ringed may be the centers of some of the most shaped that has been in a collision with distant galaxies. another galaxy.

RR Lyrae Variables: Stars that vary in Rocket: A built object propelled by gas brightness that is often found in globular upward through the atmosphere. It has a clusters and is used to compare with other pointed end and fins that allows a stable stars. flight path.

Radiation: A form of energy given off by Rover: A probe that moves along the stars and other objects, in the form of light surface of a body in space. or particles. It is harmful to earth life forms in high doses. Rotation: The movement of spinning around a central point of gravity. Rangers: A series of probes sent by NASA to the Moon. Rotational Axis: The point on which an object is rotating. Radiation Belt: Charged particles found in

168

Satellite: Object(s) natural or artificial combined and there is no separation. Also orbiting another object or a gravitational used in terms of the initial pre-moments of point. the Big Bang, describing all mass, time and energy packed into one place where there is Salinity: Amount of salt and minerals in the no differentiation. water. Skylab: The first American space station Salyut: A Soviet space station program. program.

Saturn Rockets: The rockets used by Small Solar System Bodies: Asteroids, NASA during the Apollo manned space comets etc. program to launch men to the Moon. Space Age: The era of machine and manned SETI: Search for Extra Terrestrial space exploration and exploitation. Intelligence. Space Capsule: Term used for a rocket Seyfert Galaxy: One percent of all propelled vehicle that goes into space, galaxies, with extreme brightness and tend carrying living occupants. to be out at the edges of the visible Universe. Space Shuttle Orbiter: An American spaceship that carries cargo and crew into Sheppard Moon: A moon that keeps a space and returns for reuse. planetary ring in place. Space/Time: A description of the 4th Shenzou: The name of a Chinese space dimension, according to the theory of capsule. relativity by Albert Einstein.

Shooting Star: A meteorite that is very Space Velocity: The measured speed of small and burns up when it enters the stars. atmosphere. Space X: A company, started by Elon Short Term Comets: Comets that have a Musk, which build rockets to carry payloads smaller elliptical orbit around the Sun than into space. other comets, which allows for quick and frequent returns to our part of the Solar Spectra: The plural of spectrum. A System. spectrum is a range of light that has reflectivity - induced color bands, Sidereal time: Time reckoned by stars. representing qualities of energy and objects. There are 366.25 sidereal days per year. Spectroscopic Binary: Indicated by Silicates: A mineral or structure made of received light emission variances that there oxygen and silicon. Example: Olivine. are two stars in a particular star system.

Singularity: The area in a black hole where Spectroscopy: Study of light. there is no definition of time/space. All is

169

Spectrum: An arrangement and display of Stardust Probe: A spacecraft that radiation according to wavelength. rendezvoused with the comet Wild 2, collected particles emanating from it and Spiral Galaxy: A galaxy with a pinwheel returned these particles to earth. shape. Stellar Age: The age we are in. The Spiricules: Structures of hot gasses looking universe still has gas and dust. The stars are like sprouts of grass, emanating from the still being form, shining and morphing. surface of the Sun. Stratosphere: A layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere. It is where jet stream Sputnik: Name of the first artificial satellite winds are located. The top of Mount Everest to orbit the Earth. It was launched by the is in the stratosphere. Russian space program in 1958. Sunspot: A cooler area on the Sun‟s surface Sol: Another name for our Sun. that is associated with solar storms and heightened radiation on its surface. Solar Flare: Large bursts of energy exiting the surface of the Sun, in the form of a Sunspot Maximum: When the maximum flame. It is pulled back into the Sun by the amount of sunspots occur on the surface of Sun‟s gravity. the Sun, during the sunspot cycle.

Solar Eclipse: When the Moon‟s shadow Super Earths: Exoplanets that range from moves across the Earth. the size of earth up to the size of Jupiter.

Solar Flares: Large explosions in the Sun‟s Super Clusters: A large grouping of atmosphere. galaxies.

Solar Wind: Streams of extremely fast Super Nova: The explosion of a giant star. moving highly radioactive, ionized particles, reaching out to Neptune. Surveyor: American spacecraft program that landed probes on the Moon to find the Solstice: The northern and southern most best landing spots for the astronauts. points on the ecliptic. The summer solstice occurs about June 22nd, the winter solstice Synchronous Rotation: Where the orbiting occurs about December 22nd. body orbit‟s the same amount of time it takes to make one rotation. This is caused by Star: A massive ball of burning gas in tidal forces of the anchor object holding the space. It burns mostly hydrogen, and or orbiting body in place. helium. Taikonaut: Name for a Chinese astronaut. Star Burst Galaxy: a hot galaxy, with blue white stars, that produces stars much more T Tauri Stage: Large pre -main sequence quickly than the average galaxy. stars with lots of luminosity.

170

Telescope: An optical viewing or radio Time: A sequential arrangement of events wave receiving device used to look at and the interval between events. objects in space. Trajectory: The path upon which an object Terrestrial Planets: Mercury, Venus, is moving. Earth, Mars. Trans Neptunian: An orbit around the sun Theory of Relativity: Actually two theories is that is partly or completely beyond created by Albert Einstein; special and Neptune. general. Formula: E = Mc2, Space and time are connected, which makes a 4th dimension. Transit Method: When a planet passes between the star and the observer, light Tectonic Plates: Large pieces of moving emissions that the observer receives crust that are floating on top of molten rock. diminishes. The amount of light reduction indicates the size of the planet. Terminator: The boundary between the sunlit and non sunlit hemispheres of a Transition Region: A solar region between planet or moon. the chromosphere and the corona.

Thermohaline Circulation: A gigantic Trench: A subduction zone where the conveyor belt type of currents that runs well surface crust submerges back into the below the surface and all the way around the mantle. world. Tropical Depression: A strong storm that is Thermosphere: Where the temperature warm and is just below hurricane level. climbs in the upper atmosphere and the amount of air molecules drastically Troposphere: The layer of atmosphere decrease. where life is abundant. Nearly 100 % of air supported life lives in this layer. Tides: Caused by gravitational forces from our Moon and Sun. Their masses pull on Tsunami: A fast, ocean going, wave that is large bodies of water when in the proper caused by violent movements in the lands, position. As the Moon and or Sun, “sets”, under it or nearby, or by a large impact upon these forces weaken, and the water flattens the water. out. Tunguska: Region in Siberia where a comet Tidal Effect: Gravitational effects of one exploded in the atmosphere above it in 1908. body upon the other. Example: The Moon‟s gravity pulling the seas and oceans on Earth. UFO: Unidentified Flying Object

Tidal Forces: Gravitational forces from a: UFologist: A person who studies the star, moon or planet that influences another possibility of extraterrestrial life that has object(s): path, spin or even liquids, or visited earth. solids, on or in the planet.

171

Universe: Contains everything there is. Waves: In water it is a kinetic transference of energy usually caused by wind. Upwelling: Less dense, less salts filled, rising water. Wave Band: A radio channel or frequency.

Vacuum: Where there is nothing that fills a White Dwarf: A small white colored star, void. burning up its last supply of hydrogen.

Van Allen Belts: Areas radiation that are Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe: A sometimes one belt, in space, anywhere man made probe meant to solve theories and from 400 miles to 40,000 miles surrounding clues concerning the beginnings of the the Earth. Universe.

Variable Cephid: A star in its last stages of Wind: A movement of atmospheric burning. It cannot maintain a consistent particles. level of burning gases and sends out fluctuating radiation streams. Worm Hole: Is a theoretical rip in the space / time continuum allowing objects to Vernal Equinox: A point where there is an travel instantaneously from one area to equal amount of time of sunlight and another in the Universe. darkness. Wow Signal: A famous radio signal that Visual Binary: Where the star of a two star may be an actual radio transmission from system can be seen. alien life forms, light years away.

Viking Program: A NASA program X Rays: A form of dangerous radiation that launched in the 1970s to explore the surface is emanated from stars and can be artificially of Mars. created.

Volcanism: Geologic activity that allows Zenith: The point on the celestial sphere magma to rise to the surface. directly over the observer‟s head.

Voyagers 1&2: Two solar system probes Zodiac: An imaginary zone (along the plane sent from Earth during the late 1970s. They of the ecliptic) in the sky in which all the first explored outer planets and are now planets, our Moon and the Sun pass. approaching the edges of our solar systems. Zonds: A Soviet program to explore Venus, Walled Plains: These are large and level Mars and the Moon. areas that are surrounded by walls created by a meteor impact. Zone of Avoidance: The center of our galaxy that was previously too difficult to Water: A mixture of two atom of hydrogen look through. With new technology the area and one atom of water which can be found is now explored as well as seen through and in a liquid, gaseous, or solid state. beyond.

172

Areology, 35

Aristarchus, 3,4

Ariel Satellite, 62

Ariel Moon, 62

Amazonian Epoch, 52

Amphidromic Point, 45

Antarctica, 75

Armstrong, Neil, 123

Index Apophis, 69

Apollo Astronauts, 69 A4 HR,105 Apollo Space Program, 122 Absolute Magnitude, 77 Apparent Magnitude, 92 Accretion Ascension, 153 Albeito, 46 Asteroids , 78 - 79 Aldrin, Buzz, 122,123 Asteroid Belt, 12, 35, 51 Allen, Paul, 138 Astrologers, 2 Allen Radio Telescope, 149 Astrometric Binaries, 2, 53 Alpha Centauri, 78 Astrometry, 74 Anders, Bill, 123 Atmosphere, 33 Andromeda Galaxy, 91 Athenosphere, 26 Ansari X, 137 Atlantis, Shuttle, 135 Antarctica, 87 Atoms, 78 Arabs, 102 AU, 13 Arecibo Antenna,149 Aurora Borealis, 33 173

Axions , 97 Cannon, Annie, 78

Barred Spiral, 90,92 Cannis Major Dwarf, 91

Barrington Crater, 73 Cape Canaveral, 105

Big Bang Theory, 97 Captured Hypothesis, 60

Big Dipper, 153 Carbon

Big Ear Telescope, 148 Charon, 48, 50

Big Rip, 99 Cassini Division, 44

Binary Stars, 52,80 Cassini Sapcecraft, 60, 133

Black Dwarf, 84 Catholic Church, 4,5

Black Hole, 86 Chaffee, Roger, 122

Blizzard, 31 Challenger, Shuttle, 105, 129

Blue Stragglers , 90 Charon, 68

Bolides, 72 Chandrayaan, 59

Borman, Frank , 122 Clementine Spacecraft, 59

Bow Shock, 13, 41 Celestial Horizon, 159

Brown, Mike, 48, 49, 50 Celestial Meridian, 154

Branson, Richard, 138 Celestial Sphere, 155

Brinnie, Brian, 138 Ceres, 51

Bykosvky, Valery, 115 Centaurs, 13

Buran, 127 Chi Sagittarii, 148

Calcium Carbonate, 26 Chichlxu, 73

Calderas, 30 Chile, 31

Callisto, 65 China, 101,131,132

Cambell, Bruce, 52 Chinese Military HR 174

Chondrites, 68,72 Cosmic Radiation Background, 98

Chromosphere, 17,18 Cosmic Rays tp

Clusters, 90 Cosmonaut, 115

Circumstellar Disks, 53 Cosmos, 97

Circumpolar Constellation, 152 Craters, 58

Co-formation Hypothesis, 60 Craterlets, 58

Cold Jupiters, 53 Cretaceous Period, 74

Cold Neptunes, 53 Crust, 25

Columbia Shuttle, 130,131 Cthonian planets, 54

Coma, 70 Currents, 27

Comets, 13,69 Dactyl, 68

Congreve Rockets, 102 Dark Energy, 97

Conrad, Pete, 122 Dark Matter, 90,97

Constellation, 152 Dawn Mission, 51

Continents, 30 Declination, 153

Convection Zone, 18 Density Wave, 92

Cooper, Gordon, 122 Desert planets, 54

Copernicus, Nicholas, 4,5 Deuterium, 25

Core, Sun, 18 Differentiation, 51

Core, Stars s Doppler, Christian, 79

Corona spacecraft 13 Doppler Effect, 53

Corona, 17, 112 Doppler Method, 53

Corioils force, 27 Doppler Shift, 79

Cosmic Dark Age, 94 Downwelling, 27 175

Drake Equation, 147 Energia Rocket, 127

Draper, Henry, 78 Eris, 48

Duimal Cycles, 154 Eros, 133

Dwarf Galaxy, 93 Erosion, 27

Dwarf Planets, 47 Equator, 9

Dwarf Spheroid Galaxy, 93 Europa, 60

Dynamo Affect, 32 Event Horizon, 86

Dysnomia, 48 Expire, 32

Eagle Lander, 124 Explorer Spacecraft, 105,110

Earth, 25 -34 Exoplanet,(Extrasolar planet), 2,6,51

Earthquakes, 31 Explosive Climax, 82

Eccentric Jupiters, 58 Extinction Level Event, 72

Eclipsing binaries, 53 Eye (Hurricane or Tornado), 31

Ecliptic, 154 Eye Wall, 31

Ehman, Jerry Dr., 148 Falcon Rocket, 137

Electrons, 78 Falls, 72

Electromagnetic Radiation, 16 Faults, 30

Elements, 17 Fermi Paradox, 149

Elliptical Galaxy, 92 Fireworks, 103

Elliptical Orbits, 22 Fission Hypothesis, 60

Einstein, Albert, 6,10 Fissures, 30

Embankments, 31 Flooding, 31

Enceladus, 48, 66 Fossils, 26

Endeavor, Shuttle, 136 Fossil Galaxy, 94 176

Freedom 7, 121 Glenn, John, 121,129

Friel, Dale, 52 Globular Clusters, 90

Full Moon, 9 Goddard Robert, 104

Funnel Cloud, 32 Granules, 18

Fusion, 18 Gravity, 5, 99

Fusion Crust, 72 Great Dark Spot, 46

Ganymede, 65 Great Red Spot, 41

Gagarin, Yuri, 115,117 Goddard Flight Center, 37

Galactic Center, 88 Goldilocks Planets, 53

Galaxy, 88 – 94, Goddard, Robert, 104

Galaxy Iok1, 94 Gold, 85

Galaxy Evolution Explorer, 93 Grissom, Gus, 121,122

Galilee, Galileo, 4,5,19,41,58,61 Gulf Stream, 22

Galileo Program, 133 H Region, 91

Galle, Johann, 46 Hai’aka, 50

Gamma Cephie, 52 Haiti, 31

Ganymede, 62 Hale Bopp, 70

Gas Giant, 53 Halley’s Comet, 69,70,71

Gas Planets, 40 Haumea, 49

Gemini Spacecraft, 122 Hayabusa, 68

Germany, 102 Heliocentric System, 4

Giant Impact Hypothesis, 60 Heliosphere, 12

Giotto Spacecraft, 70 Heliopause, 13

Glacier, 26 Herztsrprung –Russell Diagram , 80 177

Heparian Epoch, 35 Io, 41,60,63

Hipparchus, 77 Ion, 70, 78

Homogeneous, 98 Ionosphere, 33

Hot Jupiters, 58 Isotropically, 98

Hot Neptunes, 53 Itokawa, 67,68

Hubble, Edwin, 6,90 Jupiter, 41 - 42

Hubble Telescope, 135 Jupiter Rocket, 105

Hurricanes, 31 Kaba Stone, 74

Huygens, Christian, 43,60 Kennedy 13, 111

Hydrocarbons, 50 Keyhole Effect, 69

Hydrostatic Equilibrium, 82 Kilo Parsec, 90

Iapetus 61 Kinetic Energy, 2

Ida, 68 Kometes, 69

Igneous Rock, 25 Korolyev, Sergie, 108

Inclination, 56 Kuiper Belt, 13, 48

Inclinated plane, 47 Laika, dog, 108

Infrared Rays, 15 Landsat Satellite, 112

Inner Solar System, 12 Lava, 30

Inquisition, 5 Lenticular Galaxy, 93

Inspire, 32 Leonov, Alexander, 115

International Space Station, 128 Leverrier, Urban, 46

Interplanetary Medium, 13 Leptons, 97

Interstellar Cloud, 14 Light, 18

Irregular Moons, 56 Light Speed, 82 178

Light Year, 13 Mare, 58

Lithosphere, 25 Mars, 34 -53

Little, Dennis The, 10 Mars Express, 37

Liwie, Yang, 132 Mars Opportunity, 134

Local Fluff, 14 Mars Pathfinder, 133

Local Group, 91 Mars Sojourner, 133

Local Spur, 14 Mars Spirit, 134

Long Period Mira, 84 Mayans, 23

Lovell, Jim, Mayor, Michel, 52

Lucid, Shannon, 128 McAuliffe, Christie, 129

Lulin , 71 Magellanic Clouds, 91

Luminosity, 79 Mega Parecs g

Luna Program, 108 Mercury, Planet, 22 - 23

Lunakhod, 109 Mercury Program, 120

Lunar Eclipse, 59 Meteor Showers, 72

Lunar Regolith, 58 Microbes, 37

Lunar Orbiter, 111 Microlensing, 52

Lunar Prospector, 59 Micrometeorites, 59

Magma, 30 Milky Way, 89, 94

Magnetic Field, 19,33 Mimos, 66

Main Sequence, 80 Minerals, 25

Makemake, 49 Mir, 127

Mantle, 26 Mizar, 80

Mariner Spaceraft, 112 Monday, 9 179

Months, 9 Nuclear Bulge, 88

Moon, The, 56 -60 Nucleus, 70,78

Moon Buggy, 124 Oceans, 26

Moon Rays, 59 Ocean planets, 54

Moon Rocks, 124 Olympus Mons, Mount, 37

Moon Quakes, 58 Oort Cloud, 13,71

Morton Thiokol, 129 Opportunity Rover, 38

Mulitversus, 100 Orbit, 8

Mumma, Michael, 37 Ores, 25

Musk, Elon, 137 Orion Arm, 26

N -1 Rocket, 116 Orion Constellation s

NASA, 111, 120, 129 Orion Nebula, 81

Namaka, 50 Orographic Clouds, 38

NEO, 73 Outer Solar System, 13

NEAR, 133 Ozone, 33

Nebulae, 81 Ozone Layer, 33

Neptune, 45 – 46 Palimpsets, 65

Neptune’s Moons, 46 Parallax Technique, 77

Neutrinos, 85 Parallel Universes, 100

Neutron Star, 85 Parsec, 77

New Horizons, 48, 134 Peculiar Galaxies, 92

Newton, Sir Isaac, 5 Peter3: 8-9, 96

Noachian Epoch,36 PHA, 73

Nova, 84 Phobos, 35,66 180

Phoebe, 66 Ptolemy’s Theory, 4

Photon, 15 Pulsars, 75,

Photosphere, 18 Pulsar Planet, 75

Piazza, Guiseppe, 51 Pulsar timing, 75

Pioneer Spacecraft, 111 Pulsating Period, 84

Plane of the Ecliptic, 12 Pythagoras, 23

Planets, 23 Quarks, 97

Planetary Nebulea, 84 Quasars, 94

Planetoid, 47 Queloz, Didier, 52

Planck Epoch, 97 R-7 13, 108, 115

Plasma, 17 RR Lyrea Variables, 84

Plate Tectonics, 30 Rabinowitz, David, 50

Pluto, 13, 47, 50 Radial Velocity, 52, 53,79

Plutoid, 47 Radiation Zone, 18

Polaris, Star, 155 Rain, 27

Polo Marco, 101 Ranger Spacecraft, 111

Polyakov, Valerie, 128 Red Dwarf, 82

Prograde, 56 Red Giant , 20,82

Project Phoenix, 149 Red Shift, 99

Prominences, 19 Redstone Rockets, 105,110

Proper Motion, 79 Renaissance, 3

Protons, 78 Retrograde, 56

Protostar, 81 Rigel, 82

Proxima Centauri, 78 Ring Galaxies, 92 181

Rocketry, History, 101 -105 Shenzou Program, 132

Rotation, 8 SETI, 2, 140 -

Rotational Axis, 45 Seyfert Galaxy, 94

Ryumin, Valerie, 127 Shepard, Alan 1959 a

Salinity, 28 Shoemaker – Levy 9, 71

Salyut, 117, 127 Shurnarkabitshashutu, 79

San Joaquin Valley, 27 Shuttle Program, 128-129

Satellites, 6 Silicates, 12,23

Saturn, 42 Sirius, 90

Saturn’s Atmosphere, 43 Skylab, 125

Saturn’s Moons, 43 Small Solar System Bodies, 12

Saturn’s Rings, 43, 44 Sol , 44

Saturn Rockets, 105, 123 Solar Flares, 19

Scale Composites, 138 Solar Heating, 27

Scatter Disk, 13 Solar System, 12

Scientific Method, 3 Solar Winds, 12, 19

Scott, Dave, 122 Soviet Union, 6

Sedna, 50 Soyuz, 116

Sedimentary Rocks, 25 Space Age, 107

Shoemaker – Levy 9, 41 SpaceShipOne, 138

Shooting Stars, 68 Space-Time, 97

Short Term Comets, 73 Space Velocity, 79

Sea of Tranquility, 123 Space X, 137

Singularity, 96 Spectra, 78 182

Spectroscopic Binary, 80 T Tauri Stage, 81

Spectroscopy, 78 Taikonaut, 6,131, 132

Spectrum, 78 Telescope, 4, 136. 149

Spiral Galaxy, 90,91 Tereshkova, Valentina, 115

Spiricules, 18 Terrestrial Planets, 12,54

Spirit Rover, 38 Thermohaline Circulation, 27

Sputnik, 108 Theory of Relativity, 10

Starburst Galaxies, 91 Tidal Effect, 59

Stellar Age, 94 Tides , 29

Stardust Spacecraft, 134 Time, 7 -10

Stratosphere, 3 Titan, 43,60,133

Sun, 15 - 20 Tito, Dennis, 138

Sunspots, 18.19 Tombaugh, Clyde, 47

Sunspot Cycle, 19 Tornado, 31

Sunspot Maximum, 19 Transit Method, 53

Super Cluster, 93 Trans Neptunian Planetoids, 13,47

Super Earths, 53 Transition Zone/Region, 17

Supernova, 84 Trenches, 30

Surveyor Spacecraft, 111 Tropical Depression, 31

Stars, 76 -94 Troposphere, 33

Star City, 117 Triton, 62

Stellar Parallax, 74 Trujillo, Brad, 48,50

Super Granules, 18 Tsiolkovksi, 104

Synchronized Rotation, 22 Tsunamie , 74 183

Tunguska Blast, 73 Walled Plains, 58

Tyros Spacecraft, 112 Walker, G.A.H., 52

UFO, 141 Ward, Peter, 140

UFologist, 141 Water, 26

United States of America, 6 Waves, 27

Universe, 95 -100 White Dwarf, 20,84

Uranus, 44 White, Ed, 122

Uranus’ Rings, 64 White Sands, 105

Upwellling, 27 Whipple, Fred, 70

USSR, 104 Wild2 Comet, 69,134

V2, 104,107 Willamette Meteor, 75

Van Allen Belt, 110 WIMPs 97

Vanguard Rocket, 110 Wind, 26

Variable Cephids, 83 Wolszcan, Alexander, 52

Vernal Equinox, 10 ,153 World War II, 107

Venera Spacecraft, 109 Worm Holes, 100

Venus, 23 - 24 Wow Signal, 148

Viking Spacecraft and Probes, Yang, S., 52

14,41,44,46,61,113,132 Young, John, 122

Visual Binaries, 80 Von Braun, Werner, 104

Volcanism, 25,30,61 Voyager Spacecraft, 14,41, 44, 46, 61,132

Voshkod, 115 Zenith, 154

Vostok, 115 Zone of Avoidance, 90

WMAP, 97 Zodiac, 154 184

Zodiacal Dust Cloud, 13

Zonds 109

185