What technology is used to discover objects outside of Earth’s atmosphere? By: chloe de beaupré

Technology Spacecrafts/shuttles Satellites Space Stations Telescopes

Video https://youtu.be/HO4R4VMrvb0

Spacecraft Used as transportation Apollo 11 3 parts: Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module Eagle The Command Module carried the 3 astronauts

Space Shuttles Used for transportation The first launch of a shuttle to reach orbit was the Columbia, April 12, 1981 Orbited the Earth 36 times in 2 days Built to be reusable Launched as a rocket Returned as a glider

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Columbia The largest contribution made by the shuttle was building the International Space Station 2 solid rocket boosters (80% thrust) External Tank (Only part that was not reusable) fed 3 engines Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen was used as fuel Motor contained more than 1 billion pounds of propellant: solid mixture of ammonium perchlorate (NH4ClO4) and aluminum

After Columbia disintegrated during re-entry in 2003 NASA looked to test new safety features Tiles were used as a heat protection layer Made of porous silicon, very heat resistant Covers the entire body of the shuttle Width depends on the placement of tiles 24,300 tiles

Canadarm Built in 1981 Debuted on the Columbia Used on various space shuttles to deploy, maneuver and capture payloads Series of robotic arms This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

International Space Station An orbiting research laboratory Built by collaborative teams from Canada, USA, Japan, Russia and Europe Canada contributed the Mobile Servicing System: Robotics suite that assembled the Station in space, module by module. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Mobile Servicing System The MSS has: The Canadarm2, Dextre and the Mobile Base Dextre is the Station’s two-armed robotic “handyman” The Mobile Base is a moveable work platform and storage facility The ISS always has a crew of 3-6 members conducting experiments

Telescope Optical instrument used to observe remote objects First known were built in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century using glass lenses Now there are many types: reflecting, radio and infrared The 0.7 meter diameter telescope at SFU is reflecting as it uses mirrors to collect and focus light

Hubble Telescope 1990, the space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit Still in operation today Has a 2.4 meter mirror One of the largest and most versatile space telescopes This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Hubble Telescope Observes in the near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared spectra Outside of Earth’s atmosphere: takes extremely high resolution images with much lower background light than ground telescopes Has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images ever

Hubble Telescope Led to breakthrough in astrophysics Accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe

Conclusion Responsible for discovering what we have found We will never know about everything that is out there Technology keeps improving and advancing

Sources https://www.nasa.gov/ https://www.livescience.com/11518-nasa-pushes-safety-tech-years- columbia.html https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/apollo- 11/about-the-spacecraft.cfm http://www.sfu.ca/science/alumni- community/trottierobservatory/observatory.html https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2017/02/23/arizona-scientists-play-key-role- in-nasas-new-telescope/ http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/default.asp