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Space Exploration Our journeys to the stars will be made on spaceships created by determined, hardworking scientists and engineers applying the principles of science, not aboard flying saucers piloted by little gray aliens from some other dimension. — Robert A. Bakerin “The Aliens Among Us: Hypnotic Regression Revisited”, The Skeptical Inquirer, 1988 Chris HallAerospace and Ocean EngineeringVirginia Tech chall@aoe.vt.edu
Why Explore Space? • Colonization - Marvin the Martian wants to colonize Earth and We want to colonize Mars • Science - We want to understand the universe and other planets • Communications - Every day we use hundreds of satellites to communicate with other Earthlings • Weather and Navigation, and the list goes on
What’s In Space? Planets! These pictures of Saturn and Jupiter were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
SL-16 Debris (Trash!) Rises above horizon 7:13 (SSW) 3,263 km Maximum altitude 7:21 78° (WNW) 815 km Enters shadow 7:22 60° (N ) 913 km
History of Space Exploration The heavens declare the glory of God, And the firmament showeth His handiwork... In them He has set a tent for the sun…. from Psalm 19 • For thousands of years, humans observed the night sky • They noticed the patterns and named groups of stars constellations • They noticed that some of the stars wandered around among the others • The ancient Greeks called these Wanderers Planets • Aristarchus (c. 300 BC) first suggested that the Earth revolved around the Sun
Pre-Modern History • Tycho Brahe (left)(1546-1601) made the observations that led to • Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) discovering how the planets go around the sun, followed by • Isaac Newton (1643-1727) inventing the mathematics used to prove Kepler’s discoveries
Some Modern History • In 1814 Sir William Congreve’s (1772-1828) rockets were used by British at Ft McHenry, witnessed by Francis Scott Key • In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first powered airplane flight • In 1926 Robert Goddard (left) (1882-1945) flew the first liquid fuel rocket • In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik the first artificial satellite • In 1981 the Space Shuttle Columbia made the first shuttle flight "The earth is the cradle of mankind - one cannot remain in the cradle forever" - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)
ISS - Visible Passes | Home | Info. | Orbit | Prev. | Next | Help | Search Period Start: 12:00 Tuesday, 26 November, 2002 Search Period End: 12:00 Friday, 06 December, 2002 Observer's Location: Blacksburg ( 37.2290°N, 80.4140°W) Local Time: Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00) Orbit: 379 x 397 km, 51.6° (Epoch 26 Nov) Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details. Date Mag Starts Max. Altitude Ends Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. 26 Nov 1.5 18:14:15 10 SSE 18:16:00 14 SE 18:16:03 14 SE 27 Nov 0.1 18:51:01 10 SW 18:53:31 49 SSW 18:53:31 49 SSW 28 Nov 0.6 17:53:54 10 SSW 17:56:42 28 SE 17:58:34 16 E 28 Nov 2.5 19:30:00 10 W 19:30:54 16 W 19:30:54 16 W 29 Nov -0.1 18:31:53 10 WSW 18:35:02 55 NW 18:35:50 40 NNE 30 Nov -0.3 17:34:15 10 SW 17:37:20 59 SE 17:40:35 10 ENE 30 Nov 2.1 19:11:33 10 WNW 19:13:01 16 NW 19:13:01 16 NW 01 Dec 0.9 18:13:02 10 W 18:15:54 29 NNW 18:17:48 17 NNE 02 Dec 2.2 18:53:27 10 NW 18:54:46 12 NNW 18:54:49 12 NNW 03 Dec 1.6 17:54:25 10 WNW 17:56:47 19 NNW 17:59:09 10 NNE 05 Dec 2.0 17:36:07 10 NW 17:37:41 13 NNW 17:39:16 10 N http://www.heavens-above.com
Space Exploration Merit Badge • Requirements • Know and describe the Purpose and History of Space Exploration • Build and Fly a Model Rocket! • Know the basic Laws of Physics • Describe the operation of the space shuttle • Discuss what has been learned about the Moon and planets • Design a Space Station