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Carl Sagan's Groovy Cosmos
CARL SAGAN’S GROOVY COSMOS: PUBLIC SCIENCE AND AMERICAN COUNTERCULTURE IN THE 1970S By SEAN WARREN GILLERAN A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of History MAY 2017 © Copyright by SEAN WARREN GILLERAN, 2017 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by SEAN WARREN GILLERAN, 2017 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of SEAN WARREN GILLERAN find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. _________________________________ Matthew A. Sutton, Ph.D., Chair _________________________________ Jeffrey C. Sanders, Ph.D. _________________________________ Lawrence B. A. Hatter, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis has been years in the making and is the product of input from many, many different people. I am grateful for the support and suggestions of my committee—Matt Sutton, Jeff Sanders, and Lawrence Hatter—all of whom have been far too patient, kind, and helpful. I am also thankful for input I received from Michael Gordin at Princeton and Helen Anne Curry at Cambridge, both of whom read early drafts and proposals and both of whose suggestions I have been careful to incorporate. Catherine Connors and Carol Thomas at the University of Washington provided much early guidance, especially in terms of how and why such a curious topic could have real significance. Of course, none of this would have happened without the support of Bruce Hevly, who has been extraordinarily generous with his time and whose wonderful seminars and lectures have continued to inspire me, nor without Graham Haslam, who is the best teacher and the kindest man I have ever known. -
Guide to the Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999 PP03.02
Guide to the Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999 PP03.02 NASA Ames History Office NASA Ames Research Center Contact Information: NASA Ames Research Center NASA Ames History Office Mail-Stop 207-1 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 Phone: (650) 604-1032 Email: [email protected] URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov/ Collection processed by: Leilani Marshall, March 2004 Table of Contents Descriptive Summary.......................................................................................................... 2 Administrative Information ................................................................................................ 2 Biographical Note ............................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Content .............................................................................................................. 4 Series Description ............................................................................................................... 5 Indexing Terms ................................................................................................................... 6 Container List...................................................................................................................... 7 Jackson Collection 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999 Collection Number: PP03.02 Creator: Robert W. Jackson Dates: Inclusive: 1964-1999 Bulk: 1967-1988 Extent: Volume: 1.67 linear feet Repository: NASA Ames History -
NASA and Planetary Exploration
**EU5 Chap 2(263-300) 2/20/03 1:16 PM Page 263 Chapter Two NASA and Planetary Exploration by Amy Paige Snyder Prelude to NASA’s Planetary Exploration Program Four and a half billion years ago, a rotating cloud of gaseous and dusty material on the fringes of the Milky Way galaxy flattened into a disk, forming a star from the inner- most matter. Collisions among dust particles orbiting the newly-formed star, which humans call the Sun, formed kilometer-sized bodies called planetesimals which in turn aggregated to form the present-day planets.1 On the third planet from the Sun, several billions of years of evolution gave rise to a species of living beings equipped with the intel- lectual capacity to speculate about the nature of the heavens above them. Long before the era of interplanetary travel using robotic spacecraft, Greeks observing the night skies with their eyes alone noticed that five objects above failed to move with the other pinpoints of light, and thus named them planets, for “wan- derers.”2 For the next six thousand years, humans living in regions of the Mediterranean and Europe strove to make sense of the physical characteristics of the enigmatic planets.3 Building on the work of the Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Hellenistic Greeks who had developed mathematical methods to predict planetary motion, Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria put forth a theory in the second century A.D. that the planets moved in small circles, or epicycles, around a larger circle centered on Earth.4 Only partially explaining the planets’ motions, this theory dominated until Nicolaus Copernicus of present-day Poland became dissatisfied with the inadequacies of epicycle theory in the mid-sixteenth century; a more logical explanation of the observed motions, he found, was to consider the Sun the pivot of planetary orbits.5 1. -
Discovery of Volcanic Activity on Io a Historical Review
Discovery of Volcanic Activity on Io A Historical Review Linda A. Morabito1 1Department of Astronomy, Victor Valley College, Victorville, CA 92395 [email protected] Borrowing from the words of William Herschel about his discovery of Uranus: ‘It has generally been supposed it was a lucky accident that brought the volcanic plume to my view. This is an evident mistake. In the regular manner I examined every Voyager 1 optical navigation frame. It was that day the volcanic plume’s turn to be discovered.” – Linda Morabito Abstract In the 2 March 1979 issue of Science 203 S. J. Peale, P. Cassen and R. T. Reynolds published their paper “Melting of Io by tidal dissipation” indicating “the dissipation of tidal energy in Jupiter’s moon Io is likely to have melted a major fraction of the mass.” The conclusion of their paper was that “consequences of a largely molten interior may be evident in pictures of Io’s surface returned by Voyager 1.” Just three days after that, the Voyager 1 spacecraft would pass within 0.3 Jupiter radii of Io. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory navigation team’s orbit estimation program as well as the team members themselves performed flawlessly. In regards to the optical navigation component image extraction of satellite centers in Voyager pictures taken for optical navigation at Jupiter rms post fit residuals were less than 0.25 pixels. The cognizant engineer of the Optical Navigation Image Processing system was astronomer Linda Morabito. Four days after the Voyager 1 encounter with Jupiter, after performing image processing on a picture of Io taken by the spacecraft the day before, something anomalous emerged off the limb of Io. -
Voyage to Jupiter. INSTITUTION National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 312 131 SE 050 900 AUTHOR Morrison, David; Samz, Jane TITLE Voyage to Jupiter. INSTITUTION National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. Scientific and Technical Information Branch. REPORT NO NASA-SP-439 PUB DATE 80 NOTE 208p.; Colored photographs and drawings may not reproduce well. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 ($9.00). PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Aerospace Technology; *Astronomy; Satellites (Aerospace); Science Materials; *Science Programs; *Scientific Research; Scientists; *Space Exploration; *Space Sciences IDENTIFIERS *Jupiter; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; *Voyager Mission ABSTRACT This publication illustrates the features of Jupiter and its family of satellites pictured by the Pioneer and the Voyager missions. Chapters included are:(1) "The Jovian System" (describing the history of astronomy);(2) "Pioneers to Jupiter" (outlining the Pioneer Mission); (3) "The Voyager Mission"; (4) "Science and Scientsts" (listing 11 science investigations and the scientists in the Voyager Mission);.(5) "The Voyage to Jupiter--Cetting There" (describing the launch and encounter phase);(6) 'The First Encounter" (showing pictures of Io and Callisto); (7) "The Second Encounter: More Surprises from the 'Land' of the Giant" (including pictures of Ganymede and Europa); (8) "Jupiter--King of the Planets" (describing the weather, magnetosphere, and rings of Jupiter); (9) "Four New Worlds" (discussing the nature of the four satellites); and (10) "Return to Jupiter" (providing future plans for Jupiter exploration). Pictorial maps of the Galilean satellites, a list of Voyager science teams, and a list of the Voyager management team are appended. Eight technical and 12 non-technical references are provided as additional readings. -
Publication Named Lunar Formations by Blagg and Müller (Published in 1935)
Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin January 2018 • Issue 151 Contents Feature Story From the Desk of Jim Green News from Space Meeting Highlights Opportunities for Students Spotlight on Education In Memoriam Milestones New and Noteworthy Calendar Copyright 2018 The Lunar and Planetary Institute Issue 151 Page 2 of 76 January 2018 Feature Story Planetary Nomenclature: A Brief History and Overview Note from the Editors: This issue’s lead article is the ninth in a series of reports describing the history and current activities of the planetary research facilities partially funded by NASA and located nationwide. This issue provides a brief history and overview of planetary nomenclature, an important activity that provides structure and coordination to NASA’s planetary exploration program and the scientific analysis of planetary data. — Paul Schenk and Renée Dotson Humans have been naming the stars and planets for thousands of years, and many of these ancient names are still in use. For example, the Romans named the planet Mars for their god of war, and the satellites Phobos and Deimos, discovered in 1877, were named for the twin sons of Ares, the Greek god of war. In this age of orbiters, rovers, and high-resolution imagery, modern planetary nomenclature is used to uniquely identify a topographical, morphological, or albedo feature on the surface of a planet or satellite so that the feature can be easily located, described, and discussed by scientists and laypeople alike. History of Planetary Nomenclature With the invention of the telescope in 1608, astronomers from many countries began studying the Moon and other planetary bodies. -
Voyager in Space
THE FARTHEST VOYAGER IN SPACE TANGLEDBANKSTUDIOS.ORG PBS.ORG/FARTHEST “You can only explore the solar system for the first time once. Voyager did that.” – LARRY SODERBLOM, IMAGING SCIENCE, VOYAGER MISSION Launched in the summer of 1977, In addition to making discoveries, TITLE THE FARTHEST— VOYAGER IN SPACE Voyager was the audacious first mission Voyager carried a Golden Record, a disk that would visit all the outermost planets. containing music and spoken greetings DURATION 1X97 from around the world. Renowned An adventure with heart and humor, astronomer Carl Sagan was a driving WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY THE FARTHEST EMER REYNOLDS is the story of Voyager force behind this message for any as told firsthand by the indelible intelligent alien who might someday PRODUCED BY JOHN MURRAY characters who made the mission happen. stumble across the spacecraft. AND CLARE STRONGE They are a small band of resourceful, PRODUCTION HHMI TANGLED ambitious, and passionate men and After the final planetary encounter, BANK STUDIOS AND CROSSING women who reached for the stars … and Sagan turned Voyager’s cameras back THE LINE FILMS succeeded. As they reckon with their toward Earth. The resulting image of our astonishing accomplishments, they take home as a pale blue dot, no bigger than YEAR 2017 the viewer on a journey both epic and a dust mote, stirred conflicting emotions intimate that will stand alongside the of humility and pride. achievements of Magellan, Columbus, Gagarin, and Armstrong. In 2012, 11 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 left our solar system, popping Nothing about the mission was easy. The out of the bubble-like magnetic field twin spacecraft defied the odds to survive surrounding our sun. -
LPIB Issue #125
Visions and Voyages: Decadal Survey Report at LPSC On March 7, 2011, the much-anticipated report of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey for the years 2013–2022 was released. As the Decadal Survey was being fi nalized in 2010, Dr. Steven Squyres (chair of the Decadal Survey Steering Committeer) Lexpressed his wish for an early release of the Decadal Survey and identifi ed the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in The Woodlands, Texas, as the optimal forum. He and Dr. Jim Green (Director The Waterway Ballroom fi lled to capacity as Steve Squyres prepared to release of NASA’s Planetary the results of the recent Decadal Survey to the planetary science community during the 42nd LPSC. Science Division) prepared materials for the special evening session at LPSC that described the mandate, the survey process, the recommendations, and NASA’s Presponse to the survey. The Decadal Survey committee, which consisted of a broad spectrum of experts in the planetary community, was guided by 199 white papers on an array of exploration and scientifi c topics submitted by the planetary science community itself. The report, entitled Vision and Voyages for Planetary Sciences in the Decade 2013–2022, is the second such planetary Decadal Survey, and refl ects the consensus of the committee and the community. It is intended to provide guidance for both NASA and the National Science Foundation as they develop exploration and research strategies for the coming decade. Squyres spoke for approximately an hour, followed by comments from Green on the potential outlook from NASA Headquarters in the decade ahead and the impact of the report. -
The Next Way to Land by Mark Whalen
Jet OCTOBER Propulsion 2013 Laboratory VOLUME 43 NUMBER 10 The next way to land By Mark Whalen Rocket sled test fixture above replicated the forces a supersonic spacecraft would experience prior to landing. New tests are assessing the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project. If you thought that Mars Curiosity’s landing system was out of the box, wait until then verify that the test system works and that the chute deploys and behaves as you see what’s coming next. expected. Testing continues at China Lake for new technologies that can help Mars missions On Oct. 17, a different parachute will undergo critical full-qualification testing, this of the 2020s decade safely land larger payloads than ever before. The Low-Density time up to 125,000 pounds, which Adler said would test the parachute to qualify it Supersonic Decelerator is a demonstration mission of three new entry, descent and for supersonic flights. landing technologies: two different supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators Adler added that the previous tests of the new technology evaluated design verifica- and a 30-meter-diameter parachute. tion for supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators. Future tests on supersonic Future planetary landers will require much larger drag devices than any now in use flight dynamics, including parachute deployment, are set to begin in June 2014. to slow them down, and those next-generation drag devices will need to be deployed “This project is delivering to future projects not just the parachute and the super- at higher supersonic speeds to safely land vehicle, crew and cargo. LDSD will con- sonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators; we’re also delivering this test infrastruc- duct full-scale, stratospheric tests to prove their value for future missions to Mars. -
Planetary Report
PLANETARYThe REPORT V olume XXII Number 5 September/October 2002 VOYAGER SPECIAL ISSUE Volume XXII Table of Number 5 Contents September/October 2002 A PUBLICATION OF Features From 4 Voyager: An End and a New Beginning The Bruce Murray has now retired to the relative peace of an emeritus professor- ship at the California Institute of Technology and the chairmanship of The Planetary Editor Society’s Board of Directors. However, during the first Voyager encounters with Jupiter and Saturn, he was not only directing the Jet Propulsion Laboratory but also working with Carl Sagan to create a truly public group dedicated to exploration: The oyager is without doubt my fa- Planetary Society. Here, he reflects on the golden days of exploration and discovery, V vorite space mission. I know many explaining Voyager’s significance today. others—writers, scientists, and engineers among them—who feel the same way. Voyager: A Grand Mission But I can’t tell you for sure why these two 6 Voyager’s discoveries will stand as hallmarks of the great age of space explo- spacecraft have inspired such deep affec- ration. At each new planet encounter, the spacecraft surprised us with unanticipated tion. wonders: a ring around Jupiter, “spokes” in Saturn’s rings, the baffling face of Mi- The Voyager spacecraft don’t look any- randa, nitrogen geysers on Triton. The daunting task of summarizing all that Voy- thing like the cute little robots for which ager taught us is here undertaken by Ellis Miner, who served as deputy project sci- humans usually develop affection. These entist for Voyager. -
Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999
http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0779p9ms No online items Guide to the Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999 NASA Ames History Office, NASA Ames Research Center Inventory prepared by Leilani Marshall NASA Ames Research Center History Office NASA Ames Research Center NASA Ames History Office Mail-Stop 207-1 Moffett Field, CA 94035 Phone: (650) 604-1032 Email: [email protected] URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov 2004 NASA Ames Research Center. All rights reserved. Note Aerospace Engineering Guide to the Robert W. Jackson PP03.02 1 Collection, 1964-1999 Guide to the Robert W. Jackson Collection, 1964-1999 PP03.02 NASA Ames History Office, NASA Ames Research Center Contact Information: NASA Ames History Office NASA Ames Research Center Mail-Stop 207-1 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 Phone: (650) 604-1032 Fax: (650) 604-6673 Email: [email protected] URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov/contacts.htm Collection processed by: Leilani Marshall Date Completed: March 2004 Encoded by: Leilani Marshall Date encoded: March 2004 2004 NASA Ames Research Center. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: Robert W. Jackson Collection, Date (inclusive): 1964-1999 Collection number: PP03.02 Creator: Jackson, Robert W. (Robert William) Extent: 1.4 cubic feet Repository: NASA Ames Research CenterAmes History Office Moffett Field, California 94035 Abstract: This collection consists of materials that document four NASA space programs during the years 1967 to 1988: Biosatellite, Magellan, Pioneer and Voyager. The materials were collected by Robert W. Jackson, who served as Recovery Controller for the Biosatellite program and as Flight Director for the Pioneer spacecraft. -
The Face Behind the 'Face' on Mars a Skeptical Look at Richard C
The Face Behind the 'Face' on Mars A Skeptical Look at Richard C. Hoagland From the "Face" on Mars, to the Pioneer plaque, to the possibility of a liquid ocean on Europa, Richard Hoagland boasts of his scientific prescience. But beneath that facade lies a yawning credibility gap. GARY P. POSNER n July 1976, as NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft orbited Mars, a couple of its photographs included coverage of a geo- Igraphic region designated as Cydonia. Strewn with rocky mesas and devoid of dried river channels, this landscape did not strike NASA as an inviting target for their next lander mission to search for traces of possible ancient life. But when the photos were released to the public, one of the many mesas seen in Plate #035A72 captured the national spotlight because of its striking resemblance to a humanoid face, complete with headdress (figure 1). Speculation then arose in some quarters that perhaps this mile-long structure was not a natural surface feature at all, but rather an artificial monument. But was it constructed by 2 0 November/December 2000 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER a once-thriving Martian civilization? Was it erected by beings TBS Report, Chuck Harder had claimed that from elsewhere in the galaxy, during a brief junket through our NASA invited [Hoagland after their own internal investiga- solar system, perhaps as a "calling card" for when we became a tion of the [Cydonia] photos gave his mission sufficient cred- space-faring species? Or might earthlings—from our own ibility to ask him ... to present the program to 4,000 NASA future—be responsible? scientists and employees.