Exploring Space

Satellites Today, thousands of artificial satellites orbit Earth. Communication satellites transmit radio and television programs around the world. Other satellites gather scientific data.

Space Probes Space probes have taught us much about the solar system. As they travel through space, these car-size craft gather data with their onboard instruments and send results back to Earth.

Rockets For many years, NASA used to watch 3,000 metric tons of metal and other materials burn up after take off.

Rockets These early rockets were used to launch a small capsule holding astronauts into orbit. Then the sections of the rocket separated from the rest and burned when reentering the atmosphere.

How Rockets Work Rockets work in much the same way that a balloon is propelled through the air by releasing gas. A rocket moves forward when gases expelled from the rear of the rocket push it in the opposite direction. For every force or action there is an equal and opposite force or reaction.

How Rockets Work (Continued) Balloon-Force=air going out Equal Force (reaction)=pushes the balloon forward Rockets=fuel burned to make hot gas which is forced out of narrow nozzles in the back (force) Equal force=propels the rocket forward

Multistage Rockets Early rockets (year 1000) used gunpowder as fuel which burns quickly and is explosive. If they wanted to go outside Earth’s atmosphere they needed something that would burn slowly and continuously. Robert H. Goodard experimented with liquid fuels in 1920s. He showed liquid fuels can provide continuous power, and solid fuels burn slowly and continuously.

How Rockets Work (Continued) Still had the problem of the rockets could only carry so much fuel. When fuel is used up, rocket falls back to Earth. 1903 Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky came up with idea of multistage rocket. As each stage or section of rocket uses up its fuel the empty container drops off. Then the next stage ignites and continues up toward the rocket’s destination. Development of powerful multistage rockets in 1950s and 1960s has made it possible to send rockets to the moon and farther.

Space Shuttle On April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia became the first shuttle to orbit the Earth.

Space Shuttle The space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft that transports astronauts, satellites, and other materials to and from space.

Space Shuttle The shuttle is connected to an external liquid-fuel tank and two solid-fuel booster rockets.

Space Shuttle The space shuttle has a cargo bay that can be used as a science laboratory.

Space Shuttle When the cargo bay isn’t being used as a laboratory, the shuttle can launch, repair, and retrieve satellites.

Astronaut An astronaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.

Astronaut The Russian term for an astronaut is called cosmonaut.

“Space Race” The Soviet Union or Russia was the country that put the first human in space. On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the world's first artificial satellite called the Sputnik 1.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the first spaceflight that landed humans on the Moon Apollo 11 was the first spaceflight that landed humans on the Moon. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Armstrong spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft, and together with Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material for return to Earth. The third member of the mission, Michael Collins, piloted the command spacecraft alone in lunar orbit until Armstrong and Aldrin returned to it just under a day later for the trip back to Earth.

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility currently in orbit around the Earth. It shared by space programs from 16 countries.

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born 29 August 1959) is a retired Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space. An engineer and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station.

Hadfield, who was raised on a farm in southern Ontario, was inspired as a child when he watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing on TV. He attended high school in Oakville and Milton and earned his glider pilot licence as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces and earned an engineering degree at Royal Military College. While in the military he learned to fly various types of aircraft and eventually became a test pilot and flew several experimental planes. As part of an exchange program with the United States Navy and United States Air Force, he obtained a master's degree in aviation systems at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. In 1992, he was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program by the Canadian Space Agency.

Missions to Mars Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars Pathfinder were the two most successful missions in exploring Mars. The Mars Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander missions ended in failure.

The End