Transcript Space – The Final Frontier

Space – The Final Frontier
Early astronomers
 Astronomer - Astronomers use the principles of physics and mathematics
to learn about the fundamental nature of the universe, including the sun, moon,
planets, stars, ...

Nicholas Copernicus – (1473 – 1543) the first astronomer to teach that the sun
(not the Earth) was the center of the solar system.
 Galileo Galilei
– built the first telescope in 1609 and proved
Copernicus correct.
What is out there?
 Ever since mankind has looked up at the
moon and stars, we have wandered about
life in the universe.
How big is the universe?
 Billions of stars – planets – galaxies
What is the difference between a solar
system, galaxy, and the universe?
 Solar System – our solar system includes
our sun, moon, asteroid belt, and 9 planets
 Our solar system is part of the Milky way
Galaxy.
 The universe is made up of many galaxies.
The Universe
 We can observe only a portion of the entire
universe. Because the universe is only about 14
billion years old, light has only had about 14 billion
years to travel through it. Therefore, the most
distant regions of the universe we can see are
about 14 billion light-years away. This is the extent
of the "observable universe," but the entire
universe is probably much larger. It could even
extend infinitely in all directions.
The name of our galaxy is:
 The name of our galaxy is the Milky Way.
Our Sun and all of the stars that you see at
night belong to the Milky Way. When you go
outside on a dark night and look up, you will
see a milky, misty-looking band stretching
across the sky. When you look at this band,
you are looking into the densest parts of the
Milky Way, the "disk" and the "bulge."
The Milky way Galaxy
 A galaxy is an enormous collection of gas,
dust and billions of stars held together by
gravity. One galaxy can have hundreds of
billions of stars and be as large as 200,000
light years across.
Our solar system is located in the outer reaches of the Milky
Way Galaxy, which is a spiral galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy
contains roughly 200 billion stars. Most of these stars are
not visible from Earth. Almost everything that we can see in
the sky belongs to the Milky Way Galaxy.
Earth in the Milky Way
Solar System
 The solar system consists of the Sun; the eight
official planets, at least three "dwarf planets", more
than 130 satellites of the planets, a large number
of small bodies (the comets and asteroids), and
the interplanetary medium. (There are probably
also many more planetary satellites that have not
yet been discovered.)
 The inner solar system contains the Sun, Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars:
 The outer system contains Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune
Facts About Earth
 Distance from the sun - 93 million miles
 Distance from the moon - 240,000 miles
 Circumference - 25,000 miles
Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager of WV
 Chuck Yeager was born and raised in WV.
 In 1947, Chuck Yeager drove the first plane
to break the sound barrier.
 US was ahead of the world in the space
race.
But then………
Space Race Begins
 History changed on October 4, 1957, when the
Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The
world's first artificial satellite was about the size of
a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took
about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical
path. That launch ushered in new political, military,
technological, and scientific developments. While
the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked
the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R
space race.
Sputnik 1
Vanguard
 The US thought they would be the first to
successfully launch a satellite into space.
They put together a scientific team and
began working on Vanguard.
Vanguard
US vs Russia
The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a
technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's
attention and the American public off-guard. Its
size was more impressive than Vanguard's
intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public
feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites
also translated into the capability to launch ballistic
missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from
Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again;
on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying
a much heavier payload, including a dog named
Laika.
Explorer 1
 Explorer project – 4 months after Sputnik
US sent Explorer 1 into space.
Mariner Project
 The Mariner Project was a series of US
space probes build to provide information on
the inner planets – Mercury, Venus, and
Mars.
 Mariner 2 launched in 1962.
 Many embarrassing disasters on the launch
pad at Cape Canaveral.
Mariner I failed
on launch pad.
Voyager
 The Mariner Project was renamed
Voyager.
Voyager 1 launched from Kennedy Space
Center September 1977. In 1980 it
approached Saturn.
Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral in
1977 also.
Voyager images
Space Probes (Satellites)
 Mariner
 Viking 1 and 2 (summer 1976) 1st successful
landing on mars. Designed to explore inner
planets
 Voyager 1 and 2 designed to explore outer planets
 Galileo – 1989 – The 1st probe to orbit Jupiter and
sent a smaller probe into it’s atmosphere.
Launched from a space shuttle.
NASA
 The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) is an agency of the
United States federal government,
responsible for the nation's public space
program. Established on July 29, 1958, by
the National Aeronautics and Space Act.
Space Centers
 Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Mostly a manned spacecraft center.
Established in 1965.
 Kennedy Space Center – Cape Canaveral
Florida. Mostly a satellite and shuttle center.
 Other places include Mississippi.
Manned Space Program
Mercury Program
Mercury Program
 The Mercury Program (1960 – 1962)
 1st program to put an astronaut into space.
Mercury-Redstone 3
FREEDOM 7
May 5, 1961
Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
15 minutes, 28 seconds
Suborbital flight that successfully put the first American in space.
Gemini Program
 Was a manned space program to put 2 men
into space – hence the name Gemini which
means twin.
•To subject man and equipment to space flight up to two weeks in
duration.
•To rendezvous and dock with orbiting vehicles and to maneuver the
docked combination by using the target vehicle's propulsion system;
•To perfect methods of entering the atmosphere and landing at a
preselected point on land. Its goals were also met, with the exception of
a land landing, which was cancelled in 1964.
Gemini Launch
The Apollo Program
 Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight
missions undertaken by NASA, on behalf of the
United States of America. The program used the
Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, and
was conducted during the years 1961 – 1975. It
was devoted to the goal (in U.S. President John F.
Kennedy's famous words) of "landing a man on
the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth"
within the decade of the 1960s. This goal was
achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.
The US Space Shuttle
 The US space shuttle was designed to be
launched into space by rockets and then to
return to the Earth’s surface by gliding down
and landing on a runway. It was first used in
the 1980’s.
 It is the first reusable spacecraft.
Shuttle Missions
 Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and
Atlantis. Challenger was destroyed on
launch in 1986, and Endeavour was built as
a replacement. Columbia was destroyed on
re-entry in 2003.
Challenger
Crew
The International Space Station
 A joint effort between 5 space agencies.
 The agencies include the US, Russia,
Japan, Canada, and Europe.
 It orbits in low earth orbit.
 The station has continuous people staying
since it was first occupied in 2000.
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