Why Explore Space ?

1. Why Explore Space ? A lot of people think we should give up space exploration, largely due to cost. But, it creates new technologies and products, as well as new jobs and businesses. So maybe you could live without Tang, but would you give up your computer, the GPS navigating system in your car, or your cell phone? Just within the next few years, the space program is expected to improve our knowledge of solar energy power, cryogenics, and robotics that are expected to offer great improvements in health care, energy and the environment, everyday technology, and many other areas. But more importantly, human beings just seem to have a natural desire to learn more, to figure out things we don't understand, and to explore the unknown. What if Christopher Columbus decided to be an innkeeper instead of an explorer? What if the Pilgrims decided to stay in Europe rather than come to America? What if no one ever left their hometowns? Would you want to spend the rest of your life in the place you were born, or do you want to see new places, at least on a vacation once in a while? Some even claim that space exploration is a necessity to mankind and that staying on our home planet will lead us to extinction. Some of the reasons are lack of natural resources, comets, nuclear war, worldwide epidemic etc. Stephen Hawking, renowned British theoretical physicist, said that "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.”

2. Timeline of Important Accomplishments in Solar System Exploration 1942First Suborbital Flight After two previous failures, Germany successfully launches their V-2 rocket. It is the first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight, reaching an altitude of 100 km (62 miles). The V-2 is the progenitor of all modern rockets including the U.S. Apollo program's Saturn V moon rocket. 1947 First Animals in Space Fruit flies become the first animals in space as a V-2 rocket is launched from the White Sands Proving Ground. Inside are several vials containing fruit flies, rye seeds, and cotton seeds. The flight reaches an altitude of 60 miles, and the payload is later retrieved intact. 1957First Artificial SatelliteThe USSR beat the United States into space by launching sputnik 1. At 184 pounds, it was the world's first artificial satellite. Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth for only a short time, but it was a major accomplishment. 1959First View of Moon's Far SideThe Russian satellite Luna 3 is launched, orbiting the Moon and photographing 70 percent of the Moon's far side.

3. 1961First Man in SpaceRussian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to venture into space. The Vostok 1 spacecraft made one complete orbit around Earth in 108 minutes. July 14, 1965First Close-up Images of MarsMariner 4 arrived at Mars and gave scientists their first views of the planet at close range. The resulting photos showed no sign of the famous "canals" and no evidence of life. February 3, 1966First Spacecraft to Land on the MoonThe Russian spacecraft Luna 9 completed a 250,000-mile trip and successfully became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. Luna 9 transmitted pictures of the Moon's surface back to Earth. July 20, 1969First Manned Moon LandingApollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. become the first human beings to set foot on another world. December 15, 1970First Landing on VenusThe Soviet Venera 7 is the first probe to soft-land on Venus, transmitting for 23 minutes. The spacecraft send back a few images of the planet's surface before succumbing to the extreme heat and pressure .

4. April 19, 1971First Space StationThe Salyut 1 space station is launched by the U.S.S.R. It remains in orbit until May 28, 1973. July 20, 1976First Surface Images of MarsThe first pictures of the surface of Mars are sent back to Earth by Viking 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to successfully land a on another planet. August-September, 1977Launch of Historic Voyager MissionsThe Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft leave Earth to meet with Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. April 12, 1981First Space Shuttle LaunchThe first manned mission of the Space Transportation System (STS-1), Columbia, is launched. April 24, 1990Launch of Hubble Space TelescopeSpace Shuttle Discovery lifts off for mission STS-31, carrying the Edwin P. Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The telescope is successfully deployed, but is found to contain a seriously flawed primary mirror resulting in fuzzy images. December 7, 1995Galileo Arrives at JupiterThe Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter and a probe is dropped into the planet's atmosphere. The orbiter will spend the next two years orbiting and studying the planet and its moons.

5. July 4, 1997Mars Pathfinder Lands on MarsThe Mars Pathfinder probe lands on the surface of Mars. A small robotic rover examines the nearby terrain, sending back amazing images of the planet's surface. February 14, 2000First Detailed Study of an AsteroidThe U.S. Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft arrives at the asteroid Eros. It begins a yearlong mission to study the gravity and composition of Eros in addition to sending back detailed images of the asteroid's surface. January, 2004Spirit and Opportunity Rovers Land on MarsAfter parachuting through the atmosphere and then bouncing to a stop using giant air bags, the Mars rovers land on opposite sides of the red planet in a location known as Gusev crater. Designed to last only three months, the rovers prove to be tough and the mission is continued for several years. July 1 , 2004Cassini Probe Arrives at Saturn After a journey of nearly seven years, the Cassini probe arrives at the planet Saturn, where it will spend four years photographing the ringed planet and its many moons for. Cassini carries with it another small probe called Huygens that will later be sent to land on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Huygens will attempt to send back to Earth the first images of the surface of Titan.

6. January 14 , 2005First Landing on an Alien Moon The Huygens probe lands on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Huygens is successful in sending a series of images back to Earth. For the first time, scientists get a look at the surface of a moon other than our own. July 4, 2005First Impact With a Comet After a journey of 174 days, the Deep Impact space probe fulfills its mission by slamming into a comet known as Tempel 1. The probe's mothership photographed the impact and analyzed the resulting debris. Among the many discoveries was water ice within the comet. Samples are returned to earth 6 months later. December 8, 2010 First Commercial Orbit and Return A company called SpaceX becomes the first private company to launch a spacecraft to orbit and return it safely to the Earth. This landmark event had only been accomplished by governments before this day. The unmanned capsule, known as Dragon, is launched from Cape Canaveral, July 8, 2011 Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Program The space shuttle Atlantis becomes the last American space shuttle to be launched into space. Mission STS-135 and its 4-member crew bring much-needed supplies and equipment to the International Space Station

7. July 18, 2011 Largest Space Telescope Launched Russia launches the Spektr-R which becomes largest space telescope to be placed into orbit. Spektr-R is a radio telescope designed to study extragalactic objects with ultra-high resolution. August 6, 2012 Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars NASA's Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars. It is the largest and most advanced rover ever to land on the red planet. Curiosity's mission is to investigate the climate and geology of Mars and to search the planet for signs of life. November 13th , 2014 First Landing on a Comet The European Space Agency's Philae became the first spacecraft ever to land on a comet. Data from both Philae and Rosetta (the spacecraft that brought it to the comet and is still orbiting it) have already provided new information about comets, which could help us better understand the formation of the solar system. July 2015First Kuiper Belt Fly-ByNew Horizons was a mission designed to fly by Pluto and its moon Charon and transmit images and data back to Earth. It continues on into the Kuiper Belt where it will fly by a one or more Kuiper Belt Object and return further data.

8. Life Elsewhere? Kepler Space Craft - 2009 The Kepler mission is "specifically designed to survey a portion of our region of the Milky Way to discover dozens of Earth-size planets in or near the habital zone and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets. Allen Telescope Array: 2004 - ?? First conceived by SETI (Search for Extra-Terestrial Intellingence) pioneer Frank Drake the idea has been a dream of the SETI Institute for years. However, it was not until early 2001 that research and development commenced after a donation of $11.5 million by Paul Allen (yes, the founder of Microsoft). The ATA aspires to be among the world's largest and fastest observing instruments. It will also permit astronomers to search for many different target stars simultaneously. When completed as originally envisioned, it will be one of the largest and most powerful telescopes in the world.

9. Is there life out there? Probably. Intelligent life however would be an extremely rare thing, no matter how you look at it – like flipping a coin and it landing on its edge instead of face down or face up. Many factors have to be just right in so many ways. But what if you flipped a coin trillions and trillions of times. It would no doubt land on its edge more than once. Don’t Forget: There are billions of stars in each galaxy and then billions of galaxies. Of course not all of these stars are going to have planets orbiting them and even if some do – these planets have to be just right. Then a whole host of other factors have to be considered too…..

10. The Drake Equation was developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to focus on the factors which determine how many intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in our galaxy. The Drake Equation is: N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL The equation can really be looked at as a number of questions: N* represents the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy Question: How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy? Answer: Current estimates are 100 billion. fp is the fraction of stars that have planets around them Question: What percentage of stars have planetary systems? Answer: Current estimates range from 20% to 50%.

11. ne is the number of planets per star that are capable of sustaining life Question: For each star that does have a planetary system, how many planets are capable of sustaining life? Answer: Current estimates range from 1 to 5. fl is the fraction of planets in ne where life evolves Question: On what percentage of the planets that are capable of sustaining life does life actually evolve? Answer: Current estimates range from 100% (where life can evolve it will) down to close to 0%. fi is the fraction of fl where intelligent life evolves Question: On the planets where life does evolve, what percentage evolves intelligent life? Answer: Estimates range from 100% (intelligence is such a survival advantage that it will certainly evolve) down to near 0%.

12. fc is the fraction of fi that communicate Question: What percentage of intelligent races have the means and the desire to communicate? Answer: 10% to 20% fL is fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live Question: For each civilization that does communicate, for what fraction of the planet's life does the civilization survive? Answer: This is the toughest of the questions. If we take Earth as an example, the expected lifetime of our Sun and the Earth is roughly 10 billion years. So far we've been communicating with radio waves for less than 100 years. How long will our civilization survive? Will we destroy ourselves in a few years like some predict or will we overcome our problems and survive for millennia? If we were destroyed tomorrow the answer to this question would be 1/100,000,000th. If we survive for 10,000 years the answer will be 1/1,000,000th.

13. When all of these variables are multiplied together when come up with: N, the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy.

14. The Hubble Space Telescope Larger “earthbound” telescopes can see as far as Hubble can. But the "eye" in space has sharper vision because of its super location. At 353 miles (569 kilometers) above our planet, the orbiting observatory is outside Earth's turbulent blanket of air that “blurs” telescopes on the Earth’s surface. Named for Edwin Hubble, the telescope has brought the universe into view with far greater clarity than ever before. Since its launch in 1990 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, Hubble has confirmed the existence of black holes, refined our knowledge of the age and size of the universe, and stared back to nearly the dawn of time, revealing a jumble of primordial galaxies.

15. Hubble can snap those sharper images while moving. Unlike terrestrial observatories, which are perched on mountain tops, Hubble doesn't stay put. It whirls around Earth every 97 minutes at 17,500 mph (28,163 kph). The telescope has no rocket motor: it is in orbit around Earth and runs on sunlight. Hubble also does what it's told. Earthbound computers send detailed instructions, telling it where to point and which cameras to use. Like a well-oiled machine, Hubble's optics, science instruments, and spacecraft systems work together to capture light from the cosmos, convert it into digital data, and transmit it back to Earth. Each year astronomers from dozens of countries vie for precious minutes of Hubble's unrivaled view of the cosmos. Astronomers from around the world submit observing proposals to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). A review committee made up of experts determines which proposed observations address pressing scientific questions and make the best use of the telescope's capabilities. Each year more than 1,000 proposals are reviewed and approximately 200 are selected, which represents roughly 20,000 individual observations.

17. Voyager 1 & 2 Probes The twin Voyager spacecraft, over the course of a dozen years, drew back the curtain on nearly half of the solar system. From launch in 1977 through the spectacular parting shots in 1989 of Neptune at the outer reaches of the solar system, this pair of instrument-laden spacecraft explored four planets – Jupiter, Saturn Uranus and Neptune -- as well as tens of moons, and the rings and magnetic environments of those planetary systems. The Voyagers were designed to take advantage of a rare geometric arrangement of the outer planets that occurs only once every 176 years. This configuration allows a spacecraft to swing from one planet to the next without the need for large onboard propulsion systems; the flyby of each planet both accelerates the spacecraft and bends its flight path. Without this gravity assist, the flight time to Neptune would be 30 years.

18. As Voyager 2 passed Neptune and began its journey to the edge of the solar system, its camera was rotated to look back at the planets and take one last parting shot of the solar system. Voyager 2's "family portrait" illustrates the vastness of the solar system and the huge expanses of emptiness that lie between the outer planets. Both Voyagers are now headed for the outer boundary of the solar system, where the Sun no longer influences interplanetary space. That edge is thought to be somewhere between 8 billion and 23 billion kilometers (5 billion and 14 billion miles) beyond the Sun. Engineers are optimistic that the Voyagers will still be transmitting data when that boundary is encountered sometime in the first quarter of the 21st century. The Voyager Golden Record is included in the two Voyager probes. It contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It is intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or far future humans, that may find it. The Voyager spacecrafts are not heading towards any particular star, but in about 40,000 years, Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC-79 3888.

19. The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, and thunder, and animal sounds, including the songs of birds and whales. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in fifty-five languages, and a printed message from President Jimmy Carter. After NASA had received criticism over the “nudity” on the Pioneer plaque (line drawings of a naked man and woman), the agency chose not to allow Sagan and his colleagues to include a photograph of a nude man and woman on the record. Instead, only a silhouette of the couple was included.