THE ROSWELL INCIDENT
--------------------
Forty-seven years ago an incident occurred in the southwestern desert of the United States that could have significant implications for all mankind. It involved the recovery by the U.S. Military of material alleged to be of extraterrestrial origin. The event was announced by the Army Air Force on July 8, 1947 through a press release carried by newspapers throughout the country. It was subsequently denied by what is now believed to be a cover story claiming the material was nothing more than a weather balloon. It has remained veiled in government secrecy ever since.
The press release announcing the unusual event was issued by the Commander of the 509th Bomb Group at Roswell Army Air Field, Colonel William Blanchard, who later went on to become a four-star general and Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. That the weather balloon story was a cover-up has been confirmed by individuals directly involved, including the late General Thomas DuBose, who took the telephone call from Washington, D.C. ordering the cover-up. Numerous other credible military and civilian witnesses have testified that the original press release was correct and that the Roswell wreckage was of extraterrestrial origin. One such individual was Major Jesse Marcel, the Intelligence Officer of the 509th Bomb Group and one of the first military officers at the scene.
On January 12, 1994, United States Congressman Steven Schiff of Albuquerque, New Mexico, announced to the press that he had been stonewalled by the Defense Department when requesting information on the 1947 Roswell event on behalf of constituents and witnesses. Indicating that he was seeking further investigation into the matter, Congressman Schiff called the Defense Department's lack of response "astounding" and concluded it was apparently "another government cover-up."
History has shown that unsubstantiated official assurances or denials by government are often meaningless. Nevertheless, there is a logical and straightforward way to ensure that the truth about Roswell will emerge: an Executive Order declassifying any information regarding the existence of UFOs or extraterrestrial intelligence. Because this is a unique issue of universal concern, such an action would be appropriate and warranted. To provide positive assurance for all potential witnesses, it would need to be clearly stated and written into law. Such a measure is essentially what presidential candidate Jimmy Carter promised and then failed to deliver to the American people eighteen years ago in 1976.
If, as is officially claimed, no information on Roswell, UFOs, or extraterrestrial intelligence is being withheld, an Executive Order declassifying it would be a mere formality, as there would be nothing to disclose. The Order would, however, have the positive effect of setting the record straight once and for all. Years of controversy and suspicion would be ended, both in the eyes of the United States' own citizens and in the eyes of the world.
If, on the other hand, the Roswell witnesses are telling the truth and information on extraterrestrial intelligence does exist, it is not something to which a privileged few in the United States Government should have exclusive rights. It is knowledge of profound importance to which all people throughout the world should have an inalienable right. Its release would unquestionably be universally acknowledged as an historic act of honesty and goodwill.
I support the request, as outlined above, for an Executive Order declassifying any U.S. Government information regarding the existence of UFOs or extraterrestrial intelligence. Whether such information exists or whether it does not, I feel that the people of the world have a right to know the truth about this issue and that it is time to put an end to the controversy surrounding it.
THE ROSWELL INCIDENT FILM
-------------------------
This film was taken by a high security government photographer, in the summer of 1947, when the most thoroughly documented and witnessed crash of a flying saucer occurred in a remote desert of New Mexico. (see the book, The Truth about the UFO Crash at Roswell, by Randle and Schmitt)
After filming the amazing events, including the crash site and two autopsies, the cameraman turned over 300 minutes of 16mm black and white film to the Pentagon. He still had 90 minutes of film left to develop at his private lab. Incredibly, the Pentagon never retrieved these remaining reels from him. He ended up taking them home with him in 1952, when he went on to civilian work. He secretly kept the film reels in his house, under his bed, for over forty years.
The footage was sold by the cameraman (now 80 years old), last November, to London producer Ray Santilli, who is preparing to release this important film to the public in the near future. A number of U.S. Senators and Representatives recently saw the autopsy footage, and it appears that an investigation is in progress. We may soon know how much has been covered up by the military all these years.
It seems that those who have said we are not alone in the Universe were right.
So far, this does not appear to be a hoax. If it is a hoax, it is an incredibly elaborate one, costing a fortune. Prepare yourself for a shock. Below, you'll find several still frames from the film. Just a taste of things to come.
Above, the being, apparently non-human, and dead, is ready for the autopsy to proceed, at a Dallas, Texas operating theater, in 1947. The being appears to be about 5 feet tall. The right hand is severed. That may be a crash related injury, along with the burned or damaged thigh. Note the way the head flares out toward the back. It is huge. Note also the fact that this humanoid being has six digits on each limb, bizarre hips, odd musculature, and other anomalies. At first glance, many people believe that it is a female, but given the absence of a navel or even nipples, that may be jumping to conclusions. There are many creatures who's males have no external genitals.
Above, the surgeon, who is dressed in a full biohazard suit, uses a scalpel to make the first incisions. Note the black eyes, the lack of teeth, the muzzle around the mouth, the lack of hair, and the very low, strangely shaped ears.
In this still frame from the film, the surgeon is removing the thin black membrane that covered the left eye, using tweezers. The right eye still has its covering.
This frame shows the damaged thigh tissues, and the right hand. Note how thin the thumb is, and how long the pinkie finger is.
In this frame from the film, the left hand is being examined. You can clearly see five fingers, plus a very delicate thumb. The six toes of the feet are visible as well. Note that, unlike humans in general, the big toe is longer than any of the other toes. And there are no visible indications of toe or fingernails.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
The Big Bang comparisive of two major theories
Big Bang
It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whether if and when it will end.
Astronomers construct hypotheses called cosmological models that try to find the answer.
There are two types of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, through many
observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can best explain the creation of the
universe.
The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe
violently exploded into being, in an event called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all
of the matter and radiation of our present universe were packed together in the primeval
fireball - an extremely hot dense state from which the universe rapidly expanded. The
Big Bang was the start of time and space. The matter and radiation of that early stage
rapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, it condensed into galaxies. The
universe has continued to expand, and the galaxies have continued moving away from
each other ever since. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomers have
observed.
The Steady State model says that the universe does not evolve or change in time. There
was no beginning in the past, nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes
the perfect cosmological principle. This principle says that the universe is the same
everywhere on the large scale, at all times. It maintains the same average density of
matter forever.
There are observational evidences found that can prove the Big Bang model is more
reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift
is a Doppler effect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectral line of that
galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more
shift it has. If the galaxy is moving closer, the spectral line will show a blue shift. If the
galaxy is not moving, there is no shift at all. However, as astronomers observed, the
more distance a galaxy is located from Earth, the more redshift it shows on the spectrum.
This means the further a galaxy is, the faster it moves. Therefore, the universe is
expanding, and the Big Bang model seems more reasonable than the Steady State model.
The second observational evidence is the radiation produced by the Big Bang. The Big
Bang model predicts that the universe should still be filled with a small remnant of
radiation left over from the original violent explosion of the primeval fireball in the past.
The primeval fireball would have sent strong shortwave radiation in all directions into
space. In time, that radiation would spread out, cool, and fill the expanding universe
uniformly. By now it would strike Earth as microwave radiation. In 1965 physicists
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected microwave radiation coming equally from all
directions in the sky, day and night, all year. And so it appears that astronomers have
detected the fireball radiation that was produced by the Big Bang. This casts serious
doubt on the Steady State model. The Steady State could not explain the existence of this
radiation, so the model cannot best explain the beginning of the universe.
Since the Big Bang model is the better model, the existence and the future of the
universe can also be explained. Around 15 to 20 billion years ago, time began. The
points that were to become the universe exploded in the primeval fireball called the Big
Bang. The exact nature of this explosion may never be know. However, recent
theoretical breakthroughs, based on the principles of quantum theory, have suggested that
space, and the matter within it, masks an infinitesimal realm or utter chaos, where events
happen randomly, in a state called quantum weirdness.
Before the universe began, this chaos was all there was. At some time, a portion of this
randomness happened to form a bubble, with a temperature in excess of 10 to the power
of 34 degrees Kelvin. Being that hot, naturally it exploded. For an extremely brief and
short period, billionths and billionths of a second, it inflated. At the end of this period of
inflation, the universe may have a diameter of a few centimetres. The temperature had
cooled enough for particles of matter and antimatter to form, and they instantly destroyed
each other, producing fire and a thin haze of matter apparently because slightly more
matter than antimatter was formed. The fireball, and the smoke of its buring, was the
universe at an age of a trillionth a second.
The temperature of the expanding fireball dropped rapidly, cooling to a few billion
degrees in a few minutes. Matter continued to condense out of energy, first protons and
neutrons, then electrons, and finally neutrinos. After about an hour, the temperature had
dropped below a billion degrees, and protons and neutrons combined and formed
hydrogen, deuterium, and helium. In a billion years, this cloud of energy, atoms, and
neutrinos had cooled enough for galaxies to form. The expanding cloud cooled still
further, until today its temperature is a couple of degrees above absolute zero.
In the future, the universe may end up in two possible situations. From the initial Big
Bang, the universe attained a speed of expansion. If that speed is greater than the
universe's own escape velocity, then the universe will not stop its expansion. Such a
universe is said to be open. If the velocity of expansion is slower than the escape
velocity, the universe will eventually reach the limit of its outward thrust, just like a ball
thrown in the air comes to the top of its arc, slows, stops, and starts to fall. The crash of
the long fall may be the Big Bang to the beginning of another universe, as the fireball
formed at the end of the contraction leaps outward in another great expansion. Such a
universe is said to be closed, and pulsating.
If the universe has achieved escape velocity, it will continue to expand forever. The
stars will redden and die, the universe will be like a limitless empty haze, expanding
infinitely into the darkness. This space will become even emptier, as the fundamental
particles of matter age, and decay through time. As the years stretch on into infinity,
nothing will remain. A few primitive atoms such as positrons and electrons will be
orbiting each other at distances of hundreds of astronomical units. These particles will
spiral slowly toward each other until touching, and they will vanish in the last flash of
light. After all, the Big Bang model is only an assumption. No one knows for sure that
exactly how the universe began and how it will end. Man will never know the exact truth
about the roots of our universe, however, the Big Bang model is the most logical and
reasonable theory to explain the universe in modern science.
It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whether if and when it will end.
Astronomers construct hypotheses called cosmological models that try to find the answer.
There are two types of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, through many
observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can best explain the creation of the
universe.
The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe
violently exploded into being, in an event called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all
of the matter and radiation of our present universe were packed together in the primeval
fireball - an extremely hot dense state from which the universe rapidly expanded. The
Big Bang was the start of time and space. The matter and radiation of that early stage
rapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, it condensed into galaxies. The
universe has continued to expand, and the galaxies have continued moving away from
each other ever since. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomers have
observed.
The Steady State model says that the universe does not evolve or change in time. There
was no beginning in the past, nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes
the perfect cosmological principle. This principle says that the universe is the same
everywhere on the large scale, at all times. It maintains the same average density of
matter forever.
There are observational evidences found that can prove the Big Bang model is more
reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift
is a Doppler effect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectral line of that
galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more
shift it has. If the galaxy is moving closer, the spectral line will show a blue shift. If the
galaxy is not moving, there is no shift at all. However, as astronomers observed, the
more distance a galaxy is located from Earth, the more redshift it shows on the spectrum.
This means the further a galaxy is, the faster it moves. Therefore, the universe is
expanding, and the Big Bang model seems more reasonable than the Steady State model.
The second observational evidence is the radiation produced by the Big Bang. The Big
Bang model predicts that the universe should still be filled with a small remnant of
radiation left over from the original violent explosion of the primeval fireball in the past.
The primeval fireball would have sent strong shortwave radiation in all directions into
space. In time, that radiation would spread out, cool, and fill the expanding universe
uniformly. By now it would strike Earth as microwave radiation. In 1965 physicists
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected microwave radiation coming equally from all
directions in the sky, day and night, all year. And so it appears that astronomers have
detected the fireball radiation that was produced by the Big Bang. This casts serious
doubt on the Steady State model. The Steady State could not explain the existence of this
radiation, so the model cannot best explain the beginning of the universe.
Since the Big Bang model is the better model, the existence and the future of the
universe can also be explained. Around 15 to 20 billion years ago, time began. The
points that were to become the universe exploded in the primeval fireball called the Big
Bang. The exact nature of this explosion may never be know. However, recent
theoretical breakthroughs, based on the principles of quantum theory, have suggested that
space, and the matter within it, masks an infinitesimal realm or utter chaos, where events
happen randomly, in a state called quantum weirdness.
Before the universe began, this chaos was all there was. At some time, a portion of this
randomness happened to form a bubble, with a temperature in excess of 10 to the power
of 34 degrees Kelvin. Being that hot, naturally it exploded. For an extremely brief and
short period, billionths and billionths of a second, it inflated. At the end of this period of
inflation, the universe may have a diameter of a few centimetres. The temperature had
cooled enough for particles of matter and antimatter to form, and they instantly destroyed
each other, producing fire and a thin haze of matter apparently because slightly more
matter than antimatter was formed. The fireball, and the smoke of its buring, was the
universe at an age of a trillionth a second.
The temperature of the expanding fireball dropped rapidly, cooling to a few billion
degrees in a few minutes. Matter continued to condense out of energy, first protons and
neutrons, then electrons, and finally neutrinos. After about an hour, the temperature had
dropped below a billion degrees, and protons and neutrons combined and formed
hydrogen, deuterium, and helium. In a billion years, this cloud of energy, atoms, and
neutrinos had cooled enough for galaxies to form. The expanding cloud cooled still
further, until today its temperature is a couple of degrees above absolute zero.
In the future, the universe may end up in two possible situations. From the initial Big
Bang, the universe attained a speed of expansion. If that speed is greater than the
universe's own escape velocity, then the universe will not stop its expansion. Such a
universe is said to be open. If the velocity of expansion is slower than the escape
velocity, the universe will eventually reach the limit of its outward thrust, just like a ball
thrown in the air comes to the top of its arc, slows, stops, and starts to fall. The crash of
the long fall may be the Big Bang to the beginning of another universe, as the fireball
formed at the end of the contraction leaps outward in another great expansion. Such a
universe is said to be closed, and pulsating.
If the universe has achieved escape velocity, it will continue to expand forever. The
stars will redden and die, the universe will be like a limitless empty haze, expanding
infinitely into the darkness. This space will become even emptier, as the fundamental
particles of matter age, and decay through time. As the years stretch on into infinity,
nothing will remain. A few primitive atoms such as positrons and electrons will be
orbiting each other at distances of hundreds of astronomical units. These particles will
spiral slowly toward each other until touching, and they will vanish in the last flash of
light. After all, the Big Bang model is only an assumption. No one knows for sure that
exactly how the universe began and how it will end. Man will never know the exact truth
about the roots of our universe, however, the Big Bang model is the most logical and
reasonable theory to explain the universe in modern science.
Evolution of Satalites
satellite is probably the most useful invention since the wheel. Satellites have the capability to let you talk with someone across the nation or let you close a business deal through video communication. Almost everything today is heading towards the use of satellites, such as telephones. At&t has used this communications satellite (top right) ever since the late 1950s. TVS and radios are also turning to the use of satellites. RCA and Sony have released satellite dishes for Radio and Television services. New technology also allows the military to use satellites as a weapon. The new ION cannon is a satellite that can shoot a particle beam anywhere on earth and create an earthquake. They can also use it's capability for imaging enhancement, which allows you to zoom in on someone's nose hairs all the way from space.
Robert Gossard (left) was one of the most integral inventors of the satellite. He was born on October 5, 1882. He earned his Masters and Doctoral degree in Physics at Clark University. He conducted research on improving solid-propellant rockets. He is known best for firing the world's first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. This was a simple pressure-fed rocket that burned gasoline and liquid oxygen. It traveled only 56m (184 ft) but proved to the world that the principle was valid. Gossard Died August 10, 1945. Gossard did not work alone, he was also in partnership with a Russian theorist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Tsiolkovsky was born on September 7, 1857. As a child Tsiolkovsky educated himself and rose to become a High School teacher of mathematics in the small town of Kaluga, 145km (90mi) south of Moscow. In his early years Tsiolkovsky caught scarlet fever and became 80% deaf. Together, the theoretical work of Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experimental work of American Robert Gossard, confirmed that a satellite might be launched by means of a rocket.
I chose the satellite to research because many things such as computers, TVS and telephones are using satellites, and I thought it would be a good idea to figure out how they work and the history behind them before we start to use them more rapidly. I also picked the satellite because I think that my life would differ without it. For instance, The Internet or World Wide Web would run very slowly or would cease to exist altogether. We wouldn't be able to talk to people across the world because telephone wires would have to travel across the Atlantic, and if they did, the reception would be horrible. We wouldn't know what the weather would be like on earth, or what the stars and planets are like in space. We wouldn't be able to watch live television premiers across the country because all those are via satellite.
A satellite is a secondary object that revolves in a closed orbit around a planet or the sun, but an artificial satellite is used to revolve around the earth for scientific research, earth applications, or Military Reconnaissance. All artificial satellites consist of certain features in common. They include radar for altitude measurements, sensors such as optical devices in observation satellites, receivers and transmitters in communication satellites, and stable radio-signal sources in navigation satellites. Solar cells generate power from the sun , and storage batteries are used for the periods when the satellite is blocked from the sun by the Earth. These batteries in turn are recharged by the solar cells. The Russians launched Sputnik 1 (left) on October 4, 1957, as the first satellite ever to be in space. The United States followed by launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In the years that followed, more than 3,500 satellites were launched by the end of 1986. A science physicist said that "If you added up all the radio waved sent and received by satellites, it wouldn't equal the energy of a snowflake hitting the ground. Satellites were built and tested on the ground. They were then placed into a rocket and launched into space, where they were released and placed into orbit. The rocket would then become space junk, and the owner of the satellite would lose a tremendous amount of money. Now that NASA has created a space shuttle, several satellites can be launched simultaneously from the shuttle and the shuttle can then land for reuse and financial purposes. The space shuttles also have the capability to retrieve a satellite from orbit and bring it down to earth for repairs or destruction. Once the satellite is released from the space shuttle, the antenna on the satellite will receive a signal from earth that will activate it's rockets to move it into orbit. Once in orbit, The antenna will receive another signal telling the satellite to erect it's solar panels (bottom). Then the control center on earth will upload a program to the satellite telling it to use it's censors to maintain a natural orbit with earth. The satellite will then pick a target point on earth, and stay above that point for the remainder of it' s life. Once a satellite shuts down, the program uploaded to the satellite will tell it to fold up it's solar panels and remain in its orbit. Several days after the shut down, a space shuttle will pick up the satellite for repairs or replacement of new cells.
As you can see, the satellite is a very complicated piece of technology, but it's capabilities are endless. By the end of the year 2000, there will be an estimated 7,000 satellites in orbit! That's a satellite per 36,000 people. Satellites are becoming more and more useful as technology advances. Computers are turning towards the Internet, telephones are turning towards video-communication, and televisions are looking for better cable services. So as long as satellites orbit the earth, you might as well take advantage of them now, before it's too late.
Robert Gossard (left) was one of the most integral inventors of the satellite. He was born on October 5, 1882. He earned his Masters and Doctoral degree in Physics at Clark University. He conducted research on improving solid-propellant rockets. He is known best for firing the world's first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. This was a simple pressure-fed rocket that burned gasoline and liquid oxygen. It traveled only 56m (184 ft) but proved to the world that the principle was valid. Gossard Died August 10, 1945. Gossard did not work alone, he was also in partnership with a Russian theorist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Tsiolkovsky was born on September 7, 1857. As a child Tsiolkovsky educated himself and rose to become a High School teacher of mathematics in the small town of Kaluga, 145km (90mi) south of Moscow. In his early years Tsiolkovsky caught scarlet fever and became 80% deaf. Together, the theoretical work of Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experimental work of American Robert Gossard, confirmed that a satellite might be launched by means of a rocket.
I chose the satellite to research because many things such as computers, TVS and telephones are using satellites, and I thought it would be a good idea to figure out how they work and the history behind them before we start to use them more rapidly. I also picked the satellite because I think that my life would differ without it. For instance, The Internet or World Wide Web would run very slowly or would cease to exist altogether. We wouldn't be able to talk to people across the world because telephone wires would have to travel across the Atlantic, and if they did, the reception would be horrible. We wouldn't know what the weather would be like on earth, or what the stars and planets are like in space. We wouldn't be able to watch live television premiers across the country because all those are via satellite.
A satellite is a secondary object that revolves in a closed orbit around a planet or the sun, but an artificial satellite is used to revolve around the earth for scientific research, earth applications, or Military Reconnaissance. All artificial satellites consist of certain features in common. They include radar for altitude measurements, sensors such as optical devices in observation satellites, receivers and transmitters in communication satellites, and stable radio-signal sources in navigation satellites. Solar cells generate power from the sun , and storage batteries are used for the periods when the satellite is blocked from the sun by the Earth. These batteries in turn are recharged by the solar cells. The Russians launched Sputnik 1 (left) on October 4, 1957, as the first satellite ever to be in space. The United States followed by launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In the years that followed, more than 3,500 satellites were launched by the end of 1986. A science physicist said that "If you added up all the radio waved sent and received by satellites, it wouldn't equal the energy of a snowflake hitting the ground. Satellites were built and tested on the ground. They were then placed into a rocket and launched into space, where they were released and placed into orbit. The rocket would then become space junk, and the owner of the satellite would lose a tremendous amount of money. Now that NASA has created a space shuttle, several satellites can be launched simultaneously from the shuttle and the shuttle can then land for reuse and financial purposes. The space shuttles also have the capability to retrieve a satellite from orbit and bring it down to earth for repairs or destruction. Once the satellite is released from the space shuttle, the antenna on the satellite will receive a signal from earth that will activate it's rockets to move it into orbit. Once in orbit, The antenna will receive another signal telling the satellite to erect it's solar panels (bottom). Then the control center on earth will upload a program to the satellite telling it to use it's censors to maintain a natural orbit with earth. The satellite will then pick a target point on earth, and stay above that point for the remainder of it' s life. Once a satellite shuts down, the program uploaded to the satellite will tell it to fold up it's solar panels and remain in its orbit. Several days after the shut down, a space shuttle will pick up the satellite for repairs or replacement of new cells.
As you can see, the satellite is a very complicated piece of technology, but it's capabilities are endless. By the end of the year 2000, there will be an estimated 7,000 satellites in orbit! That's a satellite per 36,000 people. Satellites are becoming more and more useful as technology advances. Computers are turning towards the Internet, telephones are turning towards video-communication, and televisions are looking for better cable services. So as long as satellites orbit the earth, you might as well take advantage of them now, before it's too late.
The Big Bang comparisive of two major theories
Big Bang
It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whether if and when it will end.
Astronomers construct hypotheses called cosmological models that try to find the answer.
There are two types of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, through many
observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can best explain the creation of the
universe.
The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe
violently exploded into being, in an event called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all
of the matter and radiation of our present universe were packed together in the primeval
fireball - an extremely hot dense state from which the universe rapidly expanded. The
Big Bang was the start of time and space. The matter and radiation of that early stage
rapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, it condensed into galaxies. The
universe has continued to expand, and the galaxies have continued moving away from
each other ever since. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomers have
observed.
The Steady State model says that the universe does not evolve or change in time. There
was no beginning in the past, nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes
the perfect cosmological principle. This principle says that the universe is the same
everywhere on the large scale, at all times. It maintains the same average density of
matter forever.
There are observational evidences found that can prove the Big Bang model is more
reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift
is a Doppler effect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectral line of that
galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more
shift it has. If the galaxy is moving closer, the spectral line will show a blue shift. If the
galaxy is not moving, there is no shift at all. However, as astronomers observed, the
more distance a galaxy is located from Earth, the more redshift it shows on the spectrum.
This means the further a galaxy is, the faster it moves. Therefore, the universe is
expanding, and the Big Bang model seems more reasonable than the Steady State model.
The second observational evidence is the radiation produced by the Big Bang. The Big
Bang model predicts that the universe should still be filled with a small remnant of
radiation left over from the original violent explosion of the primeval fireball in the past.
The primeval fireball would have sent strong shortwave radiation in all directions into
space. In time, that radiation would spread out, cool, and fill the expanding universe
uniformly. By now it would strike Earth as microwave radiation. In 1965 physicists
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected microwave radiation coming equally from all
directions in the sky, day and night, all year. And so it appears that astronomers have
detected the fireball radiation that was produced by the Big Bang. This casts serious
doubt on the Steady State model. The Steady State could not explain the existence of this
radiation, so the model cannot best explain the beginning of the universe.
Since the Big Bang model is the better model, the existence and the future of the
universe can also be explained. Around 15 to 20 billion years ago, time began. The
points that were to become the universe exploded in the primeval fireball called the Big
Bang. The exact nature of this explosion may never be know. However, recent
theoretical breakthroughs, based on the principles of quantum theory, have suggested that
space, and the matter within it, masks an infinitesimal realm or utter chaos, where events
happen randomly, in a state called quantum weirdness.
Before the universe began, this chaos was all there was. At some time, a portion of this
randomness happened to form a bubble, with a temperature in excess of 10 to the power
of 34 degrees Kelvin. Being that hot, naturally it exploded. For an extremely brief and
short period, billionths and billionths of a second, it inflated. At the end of this period of
inflation, the universe may have a diameter of a few centimetres. The temperature had
cooled enough for particles of matter and antimatter to form, and they instantly destroyed
each other, producing fire and a thin haze of matter apparently because slightly more
matter than antimatter was formed. The fireball, and the smoke of its buring, was the
universe at an age of a trillionth a second.
The temperature of the expanding fireball dropped rapidly, cooling to a few billion
degrees in a few minutes. Matter continued to condense out of energy, first protons and
neutrons, then electrons, and finally neutrinos. After about an hour, the temperature had
dropped below a billion degrees, and protons and neutrons combined and formed
hydrogen, deuterium, and helium. In a billion years, this cloud of energy, atoms, and
neutrinos had cooled enough for galaxies to form. The expanding cloud cooled still
further, until today its temperature is a couple of degrees above absolute zero.
In the future, the universe may end up in two possible situations. From the initial Big
Bang, the universe attained a speed of expansion. If that speed is greater than the
universe's own escape velocity, then the universe will not stop its expansion. Such a
universe is said to be open. If the velocity of expansion is slower than the escape
velocity, the universe will eventually reach the limit of its outward thrust, just like a ball
thrown in the air comes to the top of its arc, slows, stops, and starts to fall. The crash of
the long fall may be the Big Bang to the beginning of another universe, as the fireball
formed at the end of the contraction leaps outward in another great expansion. Such a
universe is said to be closed, and pulsating.
If the universe has achieved escape velocity, it will continue to expand forever. The
stars will redden and die, the universe will be like a limitless empty haze, expanding
infinitely into the darkness. This space will become even emptier, as the fundamental
particles of matter age, and decay through time. As the years stretch on into infinity,
nothing will remain. A few primitive atoms such as positrons and electrons will be
orbiting each other at distances of hundreds of astronomical units. These particles will
spiral slowly toward each other until touching, and they will vanish in the last flash of
light. After all, the Big Bang model is only an assumption. No one knows for sure that
exactly how the universe began and how it will end. Man will never know the exact truth
about the roots of our universe, however, the Big Bang model is the most logical and
reasonable theory to explain the universe in modern science.
It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whether if and when it will end.
Astronomers construct hypotheses called cosmological models that try to find the answer.
There are two types of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, through many
observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can best explain the creation of the
universe.
The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe
violently exploded into being, in an event called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all
of the matter and radiation of our present universe were packed together in the primeval
fireball - an extremely hot dense state from which the universe rapidly expanded. The
Big Bang was the start of time and space. The matter and radiation of that early stage
rapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, it condensed into galaxies. The
universe has continued to expand, and the galaxies have continued moving away from
each other ever since. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomers have
observed.
The Steady State model says that the universe does not evolve or change in time. There
was no beginning in the past, nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes
the perfect cosmological principle. This principle says that the universe is the same
everywhere on the large scale, at all times. It maintains the same average density of
matter forever.
There are observational evidences found that can prove the Big Bang model is more
reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift
is a Doppler effect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectral line of that
galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more
shift it has. If the galaxy is moving closer, the spectral line will show a blue shift. If the
galaxy is not moving, there is no shift at all. However, as astronomers observed, the
more distance a galaxy is located from Earth, the more redshift it shows on the spectrum.
This means the further a galaxy is, the faster it moves. Therefore, the universe is
expanding, and the Big Bang model seems more reasonable than the Steady State model.
The second observational evidence is the radiation produced by the Big Bang. The Big
Bang model predicts that the universe should still be filled with a small remnant of
radiation left over from the original violent explosion of the primeval fireball in the past.
The primeval fireball would have sent strong shortwave radiation in all directions into
space. In time, that radiation would spread out, cool, and fill the expanding universe
uniformly. By now it would strike Earth as microwave radiation. In 1965 physicists
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected microwave radiation coming equally from all
directions in the sky, day and night, all year. And so it appears that astronomers have
detected the fireball radiation that was produced by the Big Bang. This casts serious
doubt on the Steady State model. The Steady State could not explain the existence of this
radiation, so the model cannot best explain the beginning of the universe.
Since the Big Bang model is the better model, the existence and the future of the
universe can also be explained. Around 15 to 20 billion years ago, time began. The
points that were to become the universe exploded in the primeval fireball called the Big
Bang. The exact nature of this explosion may never be know. However, recent
theoretical breakthroughs, based on the principles of quantum theory, have suggested that
space, and the matter within it, masks an infinitesimal realm or utter chaos, where events
happen randomly, in a state called quantum weirdness.
Before the universe began, this chaos was all there was. At some time, a portion of this
randomness happened to form a bubble, with a temperature in excess of 10 to the power
of 34 degrees Kelvin. Being that hot, naturally it exploded. For an extremely brief and
short period, billionths and billionths of a second, it inflated. At the end of this period of
inflation, the universe may have a diameter of a few centimetres. The temperature had
cooled enough for particles of matter and antimatter to form, and they instantly destroyed
each other, producing fire and a thin haze of matter apparently because slightly more
matter than antimatter was formed. The fireball, and the smoke of its buring, was the
universe at an age of a trillionth a second.
The temperature of the expanding fireball dropped rapidly, cooling to a few billion
degrees in a few minutes. Matter continued to condense out of energy, first protons and
neutrons, then electrons, and finally neutrinos. After about an hour, the temperature had
dropped below a billion degrees, and protons and neutrons combined and formed
hydrogen, deuterium, and helium. In a billion years, this cloud of energy, atoms, and
neutrinos had cooled enough for galaxies to form. The expanding cloud cooled still
further, until today its temperature is a couple of degrees above absolute zero.
In the future, the universe may end up in two possible situations. From the initial Big
Bang, the universe attained a speed of expansion. If that speed is greater than the
universe's own escape velocity, then the universe will not stop its expansion. Such a
universe is said to be open. If the velocity of expansion is slower than the escape
velocity, the universe will eventually reach the limit of its outward thrust, just like a ball
thrown in the air comes to the top of its arc, slows, stops, and starts to fall. The crash of
the long fall may be the Big Bang to the beginning of another universe, as the fireball
formed at the end of the contraction leaps outward in another great expansion. Such a
universe is said to be closed, and pulsating.
If the universe has achieved escape velocity, it will continue to expand forever. The
stars will redden and die, the universe will be like a limitless empty haze, expanding
infinitely into the darkness. This space will become even emptier, as the fundamental
particles of matter age, and decay through time. As the years stretch on into infinity,
nothing will remain. A few primitive atoms such as positrons and electrons will be
orbiting each other at distances of hundreds of astronomical units. These particles will
spiral slowly toward each other until touching, and they will vanish in the last flash of
light. After all, the Big Bang model is only an assumption. No one knows for sure that
exactly how the universe began and how it will end. Man will never know the exact truth
about the roots of our universe, however, the Big Bang model is the most logical and
reasonable theory to explain the universe in modern science.
Evolution of Satalites
satellite is probably the most useful invention since the wheel. Satellites have the capability to let you talk with someone across the nation or let you close a business deal through video communication. Almost everything today is heading towards the use of satellites, such as telephones. At&t has used this communications satellite (top right) ever since the late 1950s. TVS and radios are also turning to the use of satellites. RCA and Sony have released satellite dishes for Radio and Television services. New technology also allows the military to use satellites as a weapon. The new ION cannon is a satellite that can shoot a particle beam anywhere on earth and create an earthquake. They can also use it's capability for imaging enhancement, which allows you to zoom in on someone's nose hairs all the way from space.
Robert Gossard (left) was one of the most integral inventors of the satellite. He was born on October 5, 1882. He earned his Masters and Doctoral degree in Physics at Clark University. He conducted research on improving solid-propellant rockets. He is known best for firing the world's first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. This was a simple pressure-fed rocket that burned gasoline and liquid oxygen. It traveled only 56m (184 ft) but proved to the world that the principle was valid. Gossard Died August 10, 1945. Gossard did not work alone, he was also in partnership with a Russian theorist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Tsiolkovsky was born on September 7, 1857. As a child Tsiolkovsky educated himself and rose to become a High School teacher of mathematics in the small town of Kaluga, 145km (90mi) south of Moscow. In his early years Tsiolkovsky caught scarlet fever and became 80% deaf. Together, the theoretical work of Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experimental work of American Robert Gossard, confirmed that a satellite might be launched by means of a rocket.
I chose the satellite to research because many things such as computers, TVS and telephones are using satellites, and I thought it would be a good idea to figure out how they work and the history behind them before we start to use them more rapidly. I also picked the satellite because I think that my life would differ without it. For instance, The Internet or World Wide Web would run very slowly or would cease to exist altogether. We wouldn't be able to talk to people across the world because telephone wires would have to travel across the Atlantic, and if they did, the reception would be horrible. We wouldn't know what the weather would be like on earth, or what the stars and planets are like in space. We wouldn't be able to watch live television premiers across the country because all those are via satellite.
A satellite is a secondary object that revolves in a closed orbit around a planet or the sun, but an artificial satellite is used to revolve around the earth for scientific research, earth applications, or Military Reconnaissance. All artificial satellites consist of certain features in common. They include radar for altitude measurements, sensors such as optical devices in observation satellites, receivers and transmitters in communication satellites, and stable radio-signal sources in navigation satellites. Solar cells generate power from the sun , and storage batteries are used for the periods when the satellite is blocked from the sun by the Earth. These batteries in turn are recharged by the solar cells. The Russians launched Sputnik 1 (left) on October 4, 1957, as the first satellite ever to be in space. The United States followed by launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In the years that followed, more than 3,500 satellites were launched by the end of 1986. A science physicist said that "If you added up all the radio waved sent and received by satellites, it wouldn't equal the energy of a snowflake hitting the ground. Satellites were built and tested on the ground. They were then placed into a rocket and launched into space, where they were released and placed into orbit. The rocket would then become space junk, and the owner of the satellite would lose a tremendous amount of money. Now that NASA has created a space shuttle, several satellites can be launched simultaneously from the shuttle and the shuttle can then land for reuse and financial purposes. The space shuttles also have the capability to retrieve a satellite from orbit and bring it down to earth for repairs or destruction. Once the satellite is released from the space shuttle, the antenna on the satellite will receive a signal from earth that will activate it's rockets to move it into orbit. Once in orbit, The antenna will receive another signal telling the satellite to erect it's solar panels (bottom). Then the control center on earth will upload a program to the satellite telling it to use it's censors to maintain a natural orbit with earth. The satellite will then pick a target point on earth, and stay above that point for the remainder of it' s life. Once a satellite shuts down, the program uploaded to the satellite will tell it to fold up it's solar panels and remain in its orbit. Several days after the shut down, a space shuttle will pick up the satellite for repairs or replacement of new cells.
As you can see, the satellite is a very complicated piece of technology, but it's capabilities are endless. By the end of the year 2000, there will be an estimated 7,000 satellites in orbit! That's a satellite per 36,000 people. Satellites are becoming more and more useful as technology advances. Computers are turning towards the Internet, telephones are turning towards video-communication, and televisions are looking for better cable services. So as long as satellites orbit the earth, you might as well take advantage of them now, before it's too late.
Robert Gossard (left) was one of the most integral inventors of the satellite. He was born on October 5, 1882. He earned his Masters and Doctoral degree in Physics at Clark University. He conducted research on improving solid-propellant rockets. He is known best for firing the world's first successful liquid-propellant rocket on March 16, 1926. This was a simple pressure-fed rocket that burned gasoline and liquid oxygen. It traveled only 56m (184 ft) but proved to the world that the principle was valid. Gossard Died August 10, 1945. Gossard did not work alone, he was also in partnership with a Russian theorist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Tsiolkovsky was born on September 7, 1857. As a child Tsiolkovsky educated himself and rose to become a High School teacher of mathematics in the small town of Kaluga, 145km (90mi) south of Moscow. In his early years Tsiolkovsky caught scarlet fever and became 80% deaf. Together, the theoretical work of Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experimental work of American Robert Gossard, confirmed that a satellite might be launched by means of a rocket.
I chose the satellite to research because many things such as computers, TVS and telephones are using satellites, and I thought it would be a good idea to figure out how they work and the history behind them before we start to use them more rapidly. I also picked the satellite because I think that my life would differ without it. For instance, The Internet or World Wide Web would run very slowly or would cease to exist altogether. We wouldn't be able to talk to people across the world because telephone wires would have to travel across the Atlantic, and if they did, the reception would be horrible. We wouldn't know what the weather would be like on earth, or what the stars and planets are like in space. We wouldn't be able to watch live television premiers across the country because all those are via satellite.
A satellite is a secondary object that revolves in a closed orbit around a planet or the sun, but an artificial satellite is used to revolve around the earth for scientific research, earth applications, or Military Reconnaissance. All artificial satellites consist of certain features in common. They include radar for altitude measurements, sensors such as optical devices in observation satellites, receivers and transmitters in communication satellites, and stable radio-signal sources in navigation satellites. Solar cells generate power from the sun , and storage batteries are used for the periods when the satellite is blocked from the sun by the Earth. These batteries in turn are recharged by the solar cells. The Russians launched Sputnik 1 (left) on October 4, 1957, as the first satellite ever to be in space. The United States followed by launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In the years that followed, more than 3,500 satellites were launched by the end of 1986. A science physicist said that "If you added up all the radio waved sent and received by satellites, it wouldn't equal the energy of a snowflake hitting the ground. Satellites were built and tested on the ground. They were then placed into a rocket and launched into space, where they were released and placed into orbit. The rocket would then become space junk, and the owner of the satellite would lose a tremendous amount of money. Now that NASA has created a space shuttle, several satellites can be launched simultaneously from the shuttle and the shuttle can then land for reuse and financial purposes. The space shuttles also have the capability to retrieve a satellite from orbit and bring it down to earth for repairs or destruction. Once the satellite is released from the space shuttle, the antenna on the satellite will receive a signal from earth that will activate it's rockets to move it into orbit. Once in orbit, The antenna will receive another signal telling the satellite to erect it's solar panels (bottom). Then the control center on earth will upload a program to the satellite telling it to use it's censors to maintain a natural orbit with earth. The satellite will then pick a target point on earth, and stay above that point for the remainder of it' s life. Once a satellite shuts down, the program uploaded to the satellite will tell it to fold up it's solar panels and remain in its orbit. Several days after the shut down, a space shuttle will pick up the satellite for repairs or replacement of new cells.
As you can see, the satellite is a very complicated piece of technology, but it's capabilities are endless. By the end of the year 2000, there will be an estimated 7,000 satellites in orbit! That's a satellite per 36,000 people. Satellites are becoming more and more useful as technology advances. Computers are turning towards the Internet, telephones are turning towards video-communication, and televisions are looking for better cable services. So as long as satellites orbit the earth, you might as well take advantage of them now, before it's too late.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The Creation of the Universe
The Creation of the Universe
This paper will go over the creation of the universe. There are many theories about this
issue. I will briefly summarize a few of them, and then give whatever evidence is available for or
against each.
There are many theories regarding the creation of the universe, for example, there is an
ancient Egyptian legend that says that Osiris Khepera created himself out of a dark, boundless ocean
called "Nu". Then out of this ocean, he created the universe. I will be writing about these theories:
The Big Bang theory is what most people believe, also there is a theory called "Steady State", which
is the opposite of the Big Bang theory. There is the theory of an "Oscillating Universe", which is sort
of a compromise between the Big Bang theory, and the Steady State theory. There is also the
religious theory, in which God created everything.
There are a lot of different theories regarding the creation of the universe. It is a very
controversial topic, because most theories don't follow the story of Genesis in the bible. There is the
"Big Bang" theory, the "Steady State" theory, and the religious theory. The theory that best explains
creation is the Big Bang theory,
This paper will go over the creation of the universe. There are many theories about this
issue. I will briefly summarize a few of them, and then give whatever evidence is available for or
against each.
There are many theories regarding the creation of the universe, for example, there is an
ancient Egyptian legend that says that Osiris Khepera created himself out of a dark, boundless ocean
called "Nu". Then out of this ocean, he created the universe. I will be writing about these theories:
The Big Bang theory is what most people believe, also there is a theory called "Steady State", which
is the opposite of the Big Bang theory. There is the theory of an "Oscillating Universe", which is sort
of a compromise between the Big Bang theory, and the Steady State theory. There is also the
religious theory, in which God created everything.
There are a lot of different theories regarding the creation of the universe. It is a very
controversial topic, because most theories don't follow the story of Genesis in the bible. There is the
"Big Bang" theory, the "Steady State" theory, and the religious theory. The theory that best explains
creation is the Big Bang theory,
Solar Oven
SOLAR OVEN
Why it will work:
It will work because the cold air under the box will be separated by
four (4) wood pegs. The black, non-glossy paint will attract heat, rather
than reflect it. The glass, double panel, will allow heat to pass through, but
not allow it to escape. The charcoal cubes and shavings will absorb the heat
in the box and store the excess heat allowing the flow to continuously warm
the oven. The tin foil will reflect heat and subsequently heat up the oven.
The polyurethane material will trap the heat inside the oven. The mirrors
will help the heat stay inside the box.
Materials used:
Shoe Box
Tin Foil
Sheets of Glass
Charcoal Cubes and Shavings
Scissors
Glue
Knives
Polyurethane
Non-Glossy, Black Spay Paint
Four (4) Wood Pegs
Mirrors
Sealer
Why it will work:
It will work because the cold air under the box will be separated by
four (4) wood pegs. The black, non-glossy paint will attract heat, rather
than reflect it. The glass, double panel, will allow heat to pass through, but
not allow it to escape. The charcoal cubes and shavings will absorb the heat
in the box and store the excess heat allowing the flow to continuously warm
the oven. The tin foil will reflect heat and subsequently heat up the oven.
The polyurethane material will trap the heat inside the oven. The mirrors
will help the heat stay inside the box.
Materials used:
Shoe Box
Tin Foil
Sheets of Glass
Charcoal Cubes and Shavings
Scissors
Glue
Knives
Polyurethane
Non-Glossy, Black Spay Paint
Four (4) Wood Pegs
Mirrors
Sealer
Copernicus
Copernicus' work on planetary motion stood an a very high mathematical level for his times. His
theory explained how all the celestial bodies move around the Sun. It took Nicolaus 30 years of mathematical research to form a theory about planetary motion. The three most popular instruments which Copernicus used were quadrant, armilla, and triquetrum. All furnish some measure of the position of the heavenly body. It took an endless amount of mathematical calculations to come up with the Copernicus' theory. He had to find out how fast the Earth spins around the Sun, and how far the Sun is. He also had to calculate the length of the orbit of the Earth. People use math in every walk of life. In our days everything is related to math, and Copernicus used his knowledge of mathematics to provide the human kind with an important discovery.
Only a small amount of people are interested in Copernicus' work. If it wasn't for Copernicus' love of scientific truth, the people would not know that the Earth spins around the Sun, and not the other way around. That's way we should live with the knowledge that someone spent 30 years researching and finding the truth, and that man was Nicolaus Copernicus.
theory explained how all the celestial bodies move around the Sun. It took Nicolaus 30 years of mathematical research to form a theory about planetary motion. The three most popular instruments which Copernicus used were quadrant, armilla, and triquetrum. All furnish some measure of the position of the heavenly body. It took an endless amount of mathematical calculations to come up with the Copernicus' theory. He had to find out how fast the Earth spins around the Sun, and how far the Sun is. He also had to calculate the length of the orbit of the Earth. People use math in every walk of life. In our days everything is related to math, and Copernicus used his knowledge of mathematics to provide the human kind with an important discovery.
Only a small amount of people are interested in Copernicus' work. If it wasn't for Copernicus' love of scientific truth, the people would not know that the Earth spins around the Sun, and not the other way around. That's way we should live with the knowledge that someone spent 30 years researching and finding the truth, and that man was Nicolaus Copernicus.
Atmospheric Circulation
Atmospheric Circulation and More
The global energy balance and atmospheric motion mainly determine
the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. There is a hierarchy of motion
in atmospheric circulation. Each control can be broken down into smaller
controlling factors. The global energy balance is an equal balance of
short-wave radiation coming into the atmosphere and long-wave radiation
going out of the atmosphere. This is called thermal equilibrium. The
earth is at thermal equilibrium; however, there can have a surplus or
deficit of energy in parts of the heat budget. If you have a net
radiation surplus warm air will rise, and a net radiation deficit will
make the air cool an fall. Air gets heated at the equator because of the
inter tropical convergence zone and rises to the poles. There the air is
cooled and it floats back down to the equator where the process is
repeated. Another major contributing factor to the circulation of the air
is due to the subtropical highs. These highs like the ITCZ migrate during
the different seasons.
The idealized belt model is a great representation of the general
circulation of the atmosphere. The equatorial belt of variable winds and
calms ranges from 5 degrees north to 5 degrees south. This wind belt is
characterized by weak winds and low pressure from the inter tropical
convergence zone. As you go further north or south you encounter the
Hadley Cells. Hadley cell circulation is caused by the movement of high
pressure from the latitudes at 5 to 30 degrees north and 5 to 30 degrees
south to low pressure areas around the equator.
The movement of air from high pressure to low pressure causes
convergence. This convergence generates the production of wind. The
winds that are produced from this are the trade winds. The winds blow
from a northwest direction in the northern hemisphere, and in the southern
hemisphere the winds blow from a southeast direction. The trade winds are
the largest wind belt. The westerlies, they lie between 35 and 60 degrees
north and south latitude. The wind blows from the west , thus their name.
The westerlies are in the Ferrell cell. Cold air from the polar regions
falls down and then is heated up and pushed upward with the westerlies.
>From 65 to 90 degrees north and south lie the polar easterlies. It exists
because of the pressure gradient that is created by the temperatures. The
winds are also deflected by the coralias effect. This deflection air is
to the right in the northern hemisphere, and to the left in the southern
hemisphere. The reason that this happens is because of the rotation of
the earth on its axis.
Two moving patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere
are the cyclones and anticyclones. Cyclones are low pressure systems
characterized by converging and rising air. On the other hand
anticyclones are characterized by high pressure because they have
diverging air that is descending. There are also land and sea breezes
which are produced by daily differences in cooling and heating of the land
and water. Sea breezes bring cooler air in the day, while land breezes
push cooler air over the water at nighttime.
There also exists radiation surpluses and deficits through out the
earth. There is a constant surplus between the latitudes of 15 degrees
north and 15 degrees south. In the latitudes between 15 and 38 degrees
north and south there is a net radiation surplus that varies annually.
There is a net radiation deficit annually in the latitudes from 38 to 90
degrees north and south. These surpluses and deficits are due to the high
sun angle in the low latitudes, as well as the increased length of
daytime.
Finally the seasons of the earth are determined by the tilt of the
earth on its axis. The earth is on a tilt of 23.5 degrees. When it
revolves around the sun the earth is exposed to the sun at different
degrees at different months of the year. Because of this phenomenon we
get seasons on the earth. The earth and all of its circulation patterns,
energy balances, and motions of the atmosphere are all very complex;
however, it can be easily understood by my wonderful summary.
The global energy balance and atmospheric motion mainly determine
the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. There is a hierarchy of motion
in atmospheric circulation. Each control can be broken down into smaller
controlling factors. The global energy balance is an equal balance of
short-wave radiation coming into the atmosphere and long-wave radiation
going out of the atmosphere. This is called thermal equilibrium. The
earth is at thermal equilibrium; however, there can have a surplus or
deficit of energy in parts of the heat budget. If you have a net
radiation surplus warm air will rise, and a net radiation deficit will
make the air cool an fall. Air gets heated at the equator because of the
inter tropical convergence zone and rises to the poles. There the air is
cooled and it floats back down to the equator where the process is
repeated. Another major contributing factor to the circulation of the air
is due to the subtropical highs. These highs like the ITCZ migrate during
the different seasons.
The idealized belt model is a great representation of the general
circulation of the atmosphere. The equatorial belt of variable winds and
calms ranges from 5 degrees north to 5 degrees south. This wind belt is
characterized by weak winds and low pressure from the inter tropical
convergence zone. As you go further north or south you encounter the
Hadley Cells. Hadley cell circulation is caused by the movement of high
pressure from the latitudes at 5 to 30 degrees north and 5 to 30 degrees
south to low pressure areas around the equator.
The movement of air from high pressure to low pressure causes
convergence. This convergence generates the production of wind. The
winds that are produced from this are the trade winds. The winds blow
from a northwest direction in the northern hemisphere, and in the southern
hemisphere the winds blow from a southeast direction. The trade winds are
the largest wind belt. The westerlies, they lie between 35 and 60 degrees
north and south latitude. The wind blows from the west , thus their name.
The westerlies are in the Ferrell cell. Cold air from the polar regions
falls down and then is heated up and pushed upward with the westerlies.
>From 65 to 90 degrees north and south lie the polar easterlies. It exists
because of the pressure gradient that is created by the temperatures. The
winds are also deflected by the coralias effect. This deflection air is
to the right in the northern hemisphere, and to the left in the southern
hemisphere. The reason that this happens is because of the rotation of
the earth on its axis.
Two moving patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere
are the cyclones and anticyclones. Cyclones are low pressure systems
characterized by converging and rising air. On the other hand
anticyclones are characterized by high pressure because they have
diverging air that is descending. There are also land and sea breezes
which are produced by daily differences in cooling and heating of the land
and water. Sea breezes bring cooler air in the day, while land breezes
push cooler air over the water at nighttime.
There also exists radiation surpluses and deficits through out the
earth. There is a constant surplus between the latitudes of 15 degrees
north and 15 degrees south. In the latitudes between 15 and 38 degrees
north and south there is a net radiation surplus that varies annually.
There is a net radiation deficit annually in the latitudes from 38 to 90
degrees north and south. These surpluses and deficits are due to the high
sun angle in the low latitudes, as well as the increased length of
daytime.
Finally the seasons of the earth are determined by the tilt of the
earth on its axis. The earth is on a tilt of 23.5 degrees. When it
revolves around the sun the earth is exposed to the sun at different
degrees at different months of the year. Because of this phenomenon we
get seasons on the earth. The earth and all of its circulation patterns,
energy balances, and motions of the atmosphere are all very complex;
however, it can be easily understood by my wonderful summary.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Neptune
Neptune is the outermost planet of the gas giants. It has an equatorial diameter of 49,500 kilometers (30,760 miles) and is the eighth planet from the sun. If Neptune were hollow, it could contain nearly 60 Earth's. Neptune orbits the Sun every 165 years. It has eight moons, six of which were found by Voyager 2. A day on Neptune is 16 hours and 6.7 minutes. Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle, of the Berlin Observatory. Neptune got its named from the Roman God of the Sea.
Much of what is know today about Neptune was discovered in 1989 by the U.S Voyager 2 spacecraft during its 1989 flyby f Neptune. Neptune as compared to Earth is 3.9 times the diameter, 30 times the distance from the sun, 17 times as massive, and 0.3 times the density.
Neptune travels around the Sun in an elliptical orbit at an average distance of 4.504 billion km (2.799 billion miles). Neptune consists largely of hydrogen and helium, and it has no apparent solid surface. The first two thirds of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and methane. The outer third is a mixture of heated gases comprised of hydrogen, helium, water and methane. The atmospheric composition is 85% Hydrogen, 13% Helium, and 2% methane. The planet's atmosphere, particularly the outer layers, contains substantial amounts of methane gas. Absorption of red light by the atmospheric methane is responsible for Neptune's deep blue color.
Neptune is a dynamic planet with several large, dark spots reminiscent of Jupiter's hurricane-like storms. The largest spot, known as the Great Dark Spot, is about the size of the earth and is similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
Neptune receives less than half as much sunlight as Uranus, but heat escaping from its interior makes Neptune slightly warmer than Uranus. The heat liberated may also be responsible for Neptune's stormier atmosphere, which exhibits the fastest winds seen on any planet in the solar system. Most of the winds there blow westward, opposite to the rotation of the planet. Near the Great Dark Spot, winds blow up to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) an hour. Voyager 2 found that the winds averaged about 300 meters per second (700 miles/hour) in the planet's atmosphere.
Long bright clouds, similar to cirrus clouds on Earth, were seen high in Neptune's atmosphere. At low northern latitudes, Voyager captured images of cloud streaks casting their shadows on cloud decks below.
Feathery white clouds fill the boundary between the dark and light blue regions on the Great Dark Spot. The pinwheel shape of both the dark boundary and the white cirrus suggests that the storm system rotates counterclockwise. Periodic small scale patterns in the white cloud, possibly waves, are short lived and do not persist from one Neptunian rotation to the next. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)
Until the Voyager 2 encounter in 1989, the rings surrounding Neptune were thought to be arcs. We now know that the rings completely circle the planet, but the thickness of each ring varies along its length. Neptune has a set of four rings which are narrow and very faint. The rings are made up of dust particles thought to have been made by tiny meteorites smashing into Neptune's moons. From ground based telescopes the rings appear to be arcs but from Voyager 2 the arcs turned out to be bright spots or clumps in the ring system. The exact cause of the bright clumps is unknown.
The magnetic field of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is highly tilted at 47 degrees from the rotation axis and offset at least 13,500 kilometers or 8,500 miles from the physical center. Comparing the magnetic fields of the two planets, scientists think the extreme orientation may be characteristic of flows in the interior of the planet and not the result of that planet's sideways orientation or of any possible field reversals within the planet.
Neptune also has eight known satellites. Only two of these, Triton and Nereid, had been observed prior to the Voyager 2 flyby. Triton is the largest of the eight satellites and is almost as big as the Earth's Moon. The other Neptunian satellites range in diameter from 58 to 416 km (36 to 258 miles). Apart from Triton, the moons of Neptune are irregularly shaped and have very dark surfaces.
Triton is the largest moon of Neptune, with a diameter of 2,700 kilometers (1,680 miles). It was discovered by William Lassell, a British astronomer, in 1846 scarcely a month after Neptune was discovered. Triton is colder than any other measured object in the Solar System with a surface temperature of -235° C (-391° F). It has an extremely thin atmosphere. Nitrogen ice particles might form thin clouds a few kilometers above the surface. The atmospheric pressure at Triton's surface is about 14 microbars, 1/70,000th the surface pressure on Earth.
Triton is the only large satellite in the solar system to circle a planet in a retrograde direction -- in a direction opposite to the rotation of the planet. It also has a density of about 2.066 grams per cubic centimeter (the density of water is 1.0 gram per cubic centimeter). This means Triton contains more rock in its interior than the icy satellites of Saturn and Uranus do. The relatively high density and the retrograde orbit has led some scientists to suggest that Triton may have been captured by Neptune as it traveled through space several billion years ago. If that is the case, tidal heating could have melted Triton in its originally eccentric orbit, and the satellite might even have been liquid for as long as one billion years after its capture by Neptune.
Triton is scarred by enormous cracks. Voyager 2 images showed active geyser-like eruptions spewing nitrogen gas and dark dust particles several kilometers into the atmosphere.
Much of what is know today about Neptune was discovered in 1989 by the U.S Voyager 2 spacecraft during its 1989 flyby f Neptune. Neptune as compared to Earth is 3.9 times the diameter, 30 times the distance from the sun, 17 times as massive, and 0.3 times the density.
Neptune travels around the Sun in an elliptical orbit at an average distance of 4.504 billion km (2.799 billion miles). Neptune consists largely of hydrogen and helium, and it has no apparent solid surface. The first two thirds of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and methane. The outer third is a mixture of heated gases comprised of hydrogen, helium, water and methane. The atmospheric composition is 85% Hydrogen, 13% Helium, and 2% methane. The planet's atmosphere, particularly the outer layers, contains substantial amounts of methane gas. Absorption of red light by the atmospheric methane is responsible for Neptune's deep blue color.
Neptune is a dynamic planet with several large, dark spots reminiscent of Jupiter's hurricane-like storms. The largest spot, known as the Great Dark Spot, is about the size of the earth and is similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
Neptune receives less than half as much sunlight as Uranus, but heat escaping from its interior makes Neptune slightly warmer than Uranus. The heat liberated may also be responsible for Neptune's stormier atmosphere, which exhibits the fastest winds seen on any planet in the solar system. Most of the winds there blow westward, opposite to the rotation of the planet. Near the Great Dark Spot, winds blow up to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) an hour. Voyager 2 found that the winds averaged about 300 meters per second (700 miles/hour) in the planet's atmosphere.
Long bright clouds, similar to cirrus clouds on Earth, were seen high in Neptune's atmosphere. At low northern latitudes, Voyager captured images of cloud streaks casting their shadows on cloud decks below.
Feathery white clouds fill the boundary between the dark and light blue regions on the Great Dark Spot. The pinwheel shape of both the dark boundary and the white cirrus suggests that the storm system rotates counterclockwise. Periodic small scale patterns in the white cloud, possibly waves, are short lived and do not persist from one Neptunian rotation to the next. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)
Until the Voyager 2 encounter in 1989, the rings surrounding Neptune were thought to be arcs. We now know that the rings completely circle the planet, but the thickness of each ring varies along its length. Neptune has a set of four rings which are narrow and very faint. The rings are made up of dust particles thought to have been made by tiny meteorites smashing into Neptune's moons. From ground based telescopes the rings appear to be arcs but from Voyager 2 the arcs turned out to be bright spots or clumps in the ring system. The exact cause of the bright clumps is unknown.
The magnetic field of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is highly tilted at 47 degrees from the rotation axis and offset at least 13,500 kilometers or 8,500 miles from the physical center. Comparing the magnetic fields of the two planets, scientists think the extreme orientation may be characteristic of flows in the interior of the planet and not the result of that planet's sideways orientation or of any possible field reversals within the planet.
Neptune also has eight known satellites. Only two of these, Triton and Nereid, had been observed prior to the Voyager 2 flyby. Triton is the largest of the eight satellites and is almost as big as the Earth's Moon. The other Neptunian satellites range in diameter from 58 to 416 km (36 to 258 miles). Apart from Triton, the moons of Neptune are irregularly shaped and have very dark surfaces.
Triton is the largest moon of Neptune, with a diameter of 2,700 kilometers (1,680 miles). It was discovered by William Lassell, a British astronomer, in 1846 scarcely a month after Neptune was discovered. Triton is colder than any other measured object in the Solar System with a surface temperature of -235° C (-391° F). It has an extremely thin atmosphere. Nitrogen ice particles might form thin clouds a few kilometers above the surface. The atmospheric pressure at Triton's surface is about 14 microbars, 1/70,000th the surface pressure on Earth.
Triton is the only large satellite in the solar system to circle a planet in a retrograde direction -- in a direction opposite to the rotation of the planet. It also has a density of about 2.066 grams per cubic centimeter (the density of water is 1.0 gram per cubic centimeter). This means Triton contains more rock in its interior than the icy satellites of Saturn and Uranus do. The relatively high density and the retrograde orbit has led some scientists to suggest that Triton may have been captured by Neptune as it traveled through space several billion years ago. If that is the case, tidal heating could have melted Triton in its originally eccentric orbit, and the satellite might even have been liquid for as long as one billion years after its capture by Neptune.
Triton is scarred by enormous cracks. Voyager 2 images showed active geyser-like eruptions spewing nitrogen gas and dark dust particles several kilometers into the atmosphere.
Atmospheric Circulation
Atmospheric Circulation and More
The global energy balance and atmospheric motion mainly determine
the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. There is a hierarchy of motion
in atmospheric circulation. Each control can be broken down into smaller
controlling factors. The global energy balance is an equal balance of
short-wave radiation coming into the atmosphere and long-wave radiation
going out of the atmosphere. This is called thermal equilibrium. The
earth is at thermal equilibrium; however, there can have a surplus or
deficit of energy in parts of the heat budget. If you have a net
radiation surplus warm air will rise, and a net radiation deficit will
make the air cool an fall. Air gets heated at the equator because of the
inter tropical convergence zone and rises to the poles. There the air is
cooled and it floats back down to the equator where the process is
repeated. Another major contributing factor to the circulation of the air
is due to the subtropical highs. These highs like the ITCZ migrate during
the different seasons.
The idealized belt model is a great representation of the general
circulation of the atmosphere. The equatorial belt of variable winds and
calms ranges from 5 degrees north to 5 degrees south. This wind belt is
characterized by weak winds and low pressure from the inter tropical
convergence zone. As you go further north or south you encounter the
Hadley Cells. Hadley cell circulation is caused by the movement of high
pressure from the latitudes at 5 to 30 degrees north and 5 to 30 degrees
south to low pressure areas around the equator.
The movement of air from high pressure to low pressure causes
convergence. This convergence generates the production of wind. The
winds that are produced from this are the trade winds. The winds blow
from a northwest direction in the northern hemisphere, and in the southern
hemisphere the winds blow from a southeast direction. The trade winds are
the largest wind belt. The westerlies, they lie between 35 and 60 degrees
north and south latitude. The wind blows from the west , thus their name.
The westerlies are in the Ferrell cell. Cold air from the polar regions
falls down and then is heated up and pushed upward with the westerlies.
>From 65 to 90 degrees north and south lie the polar easterlies. It exists
because of the pressure gradient that is created by the temperatures. The
winds are also deflected by the coralias effect. This deflection air is
to the right in the northern hemisphere, and to the left in the southern
hemisphere. The reason that this happens is because of the rotation of
the earth on its axis.
Two moving patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere
are the cyclones and anticyclones. Cyclones are low pressure systems
characterized by converging and rising air. On the other hand
anticyclones are characterized by high pressure because they have
diverging air that is descending. There are also land and sea breezes
which are produced by daily differences in cooling and heating of the land
and water. Sea breezes bring cooler air in the day, while land breezes
push cooler air over the water at nighttime.
There also exists radiation surpluses and deficits through out the
earth. There is a constant surplus between the latitudes of 15 degrees
north and 15 degrees south. In the latitudes between 15 and 38 degrees
north and south there is a net radiation surplus that varies annually.
There is a net radiation deficit annually in the latitudes from 38 to 90
degrees north and south. These surpluses and deficits are due to the high
sun angle in the low latitudes, as well as the increased length of
daytime.
Finally the seasons of the earth are determined by the tilt of the
earth on its axis. The earth is on a tilt of 23.5 degrees. When it
revolves around the sun the earth is exposed to the sun at different
degrees at different months of the year. Because of this phenomenon we
get seasons on the earth. The earth and all of its circulation patterns,
energy balances, and motions of the atmosphere are all very complex;
however, it can be easily understood by my wonderful summary.
The global energy balance and atmospheric motion mainly determine
the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. There is a hierarchy of motion
in atmospheric circulation. Each control can be broken down into smaller
controlling factors. The global energy balance is an equal balance of
short-wave radiation coming into the atmosphere and long-wave radiation
going out of the atmosphere. This is called thermal equilibrium. The
earth is at thermal equilibrium; however, there can have a surplus or
deficit of energy in parts of the heat budget. If you have a net
radiation surplus warm air will rise, and a net radiation deficit will
make the air cool an fall. Air gets heated at the equator because of the
inter tropical convergence zone and rises to the poles. There the air is
cooled and it floats back down to the equator where the process is
repeated. Another major contributing factor to the circulation of the air
is due to the subtropical highs. These highs like the ITCZ migrate during
the different seasons.
The idealized belt model is a great representation of the general
circulation of the atmosphere. The equatorial belt of variable winds and
calms ranges from 5 degrees north to 5 degrees south. This wind belt is
characterized by weak winds and low pressure from the inter tropical
convergence zone. As you go further north or south you encounter the
Hadley Cells. Hadley cell circulation is caused by the movement of high
pressure from the latitudes at 5 to 30 degrees north and 5 to 30 degrees
south to low pressure areas around the equator.
The movement of air from high pressure to low pressure causes
convergence. This convergence generates the production of wind. The
winds that are produced from this are the trade winds. The winds blow
from a northwest direction in the northern hemisphere, and in the southern
hemisphere the winds blow from a southeast direction. The trade winds are
the largest wind belt. The westerlies, they lie between 35 and 60 degrees
north and south latitude. The wind blows from the west , thus their name.
The westerlies are in the Ferrell cell. Cold air from the polar regions
falls down and then is heated up and pushed upward with the westerlies.
>From 65 to 90 degrees north and south lie the polar easterlies. It exists
because of the pressure gradient that is created by the temperatures. The
winds are also deflected by the coralias effect. This deflection air is
to the right in the northern hemisphere, and to the left in the southern
hemisphere. The reason that this happens is because of the rotation of
the earth on its axis.
Two moving patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere
are the cyclones and anticyclones. Cyclones are low pressure systems
characterized by converging and rising air. On the other hand
anticyclones are characterized by high pressure because they have
diverging air that is descending. There are also land and sea breezes
which are produced by daily differences in cooling and heating of the land
and water. Sea breezes bring cooler air in the day, while land breezes
push cooler air over the water at nighttime.
There also exists radiation surpluses and deficits through out the
earth. There is a constant surplus between the latitudes of 15 degrees
north and 15 degrees south. In the latitudes between 15 and 38 degrees
north and south there is a net radiation surplus that varies annually.
There is a net radiation deficit annually in the latitudes from 38 to 90
degrees north and south. These surpluses and deficits are due to the high
sun angle in the low latitudes, as well as the increased length of
daytime.
Finally the seasons of the earth are determined by the tilt of the
earth on its axis. The earth is on a tilt of 23.5 degrees. When it
revolves around the sun the earth is exposed to the sun at different
degrees at different months of the year. Because of this phenomenon we
get seasons on the earth. The earth and all of its circulation patterns,
energy balances, and motions of the atmosphere are all very complex;
however, it can be easily understood by my wonderful summary.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
What are NEOs
NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
What are NEOs? Where do they come from? Do they pose any real threat to
Earth? Can they provide viable space resources? All of these questions are now under investigation by planetary scientist. There are two highly recognized research programs that I will discuss with you. The Spaceguard program is sponsored and run by NASA Ames Space Science Division: Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazard. Also under the direction of Dr. Tom Gehrels the University of Arizona has the Spacewatch program.
NEOs can be either asteroid or comets. Ninety percent of the information that I came across discussed asteroids. Therefore, I will concentrate on asteroids alone. I'm not fully knowledgeable on the subject but I did learn a great deal.
What are NEOs? The "Webster's New World Dictionary" states, "Any of the small planets between Mars and Jupiter". The "Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia from Infopedia" states, "One of the many small or minor planets that are members of the solar system and that move in elliptical orbits primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter".
Where dot they come from? The NEOs are small objects (<7 miles) with a range of compositions spanning all common asteroid types. They are derived from a mixture of main-belt collisional fragments and burned-out short-period comets. According to Dr. Tom Gehrels of the University of Arizona Spacewatch program, "The total number of NEOs over 100 meters is estimated to be about 100,000, with 150 or so currently known".
Do they pose any real threat to Earth? The Earth orbits the Sun in sort of a cosmic shooting gallery, subject to impacts from asteroids. It is only fairly recent that we have come to appreciate that these impacts by asteroids pose a significant hazard to life and property. Although the annual probability of the Earth being struck by a large asteroid is extremely small, the consequences of such a collision are so devastating that it is prudent to assess the nature of the threat and prepare to deal with it.
Studies have shown that the risk from a cosmic impact increases with the size of the projectile. The greatest risk is associated with objects large enough to perturb the Earth's climate on a global scale by injecting large quantities of dust into the stratosphere. Such an event could depress temperatures around the globe, leading to massive loss of food crops and possible breakdown of society. Global catastrophes are qualitatively different from other more common hazards that we face (except nuclear war), because of their potential effect on the entire planet and its population.
Various studies have suggested that the minimum mass impacting body to produce such global consequences is several ten of billions of tons, resulting in a groundburst explosion with energy in the vicinity if a million megatons of TNT. The diameter for Earth-crossing asteroids are between 1 3/5 and 3 1/4 miles. Smaller objects (down to 32 feet in diameter) can cause severe local damage but pose no global threat.
According to Spaceguard, "Of approximately 200 Earth-crossing asteroids, fewer that 200 have actually been discovered. At present no asteroid is known to be on a collision course with the Earth. David Morrison of the NASA Spaceguard Research Center states, "The chances of a collision within the next century with an object 1 3/5 mile in diameter or more are very small (less than 1 in a 100). But, such a collision is possible and could happen at any time. If we did have sufficient warning, however, the incoming object could be deflected or destroyed". Cosmic impacts are the only known natural disaster that could be avoided entirely by the appropriate application of space technology.
The Spacewatch telescope located on Kitt Peak is used to survey for moving objects, including asteroids whose orbits approach or cross the orbit of the Earth. Among these are asteroids that may someday be used as sources of raw materials. Spacewatch uses a Charg-Coupled Device or (CCD) and an automated computer program to discover NEOs.
`The Spacewatch Observatory has already detected one of the smallest asteroids known, and also the one that passed very close to Earth, the Apollo asteroid 1991 BA. The semi-automatic Spacewatch system at the University of Arizona has considerably increased the discovery rate, and will have profound consequences on the utility of NEOs as near-Earth space resources.
What are NEOs? Where do they come from? Do they pose any real threat to
Earth? Can they provide viable space resources? All of these questions are now under investigation by planetary scientist. There are two highly recognized research programs that I will discuss with you. The Spaceguard program is sponsored and run by NASA Ames Space Science Division: Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazard. Also under the direction of Dr. Tom Gehrels the University of Arizona has the Spacewatch program.
NEOs can be either asteroid or comets. Ninety percent of the information that I came across discussed asteroids. Therefore, I will concentrate on asteroids alone. I'm not fully knowledgeable on the subject but I did learn a great deal.
What are NEOs? The "Webster's New World Dictionary" states, "Any of the small planets between Mars and Jupiter". The "Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia from Infopedia" states, "One of the many small or minor planets that are members of the solar system and that move in elliptical orbits primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter".
Where dot they come from? The NEOs are small objects (<7 miles) with a range of compositions spanning all common asteroid types. They are derived from a mixture of main-belt collisional fragments and burned-out short-period comets. According to Dr. Tom Gehrels of the University of Arizona Spacewatch program, "The total number of NEOs over 100 meters is estimated to be about 100,000, with 150 or so currently known".
Do they pose any real threat to Earth? The Earth orbits the Sun in sort of a cosmic shooting gallery, subject to impacts from asteroids. It is only fairly recent that we have come to appreciate that these impacts by asteroids pose a significant hazard to life and property. Although the annual probability of the Earth being struck by a large asteroid is extremely small, the consequences of such a collision are so devastating that it is prudent to assess the nature of the threat and prepare to deal with it.
Studies have shown that the risk from a cosmic impact increases with the size of the projectile. The greatest risk is associated with objects large enough to perturb the Earth's climate on a global scale by injecting large quantities of dust into the stratosphere. Such an event could depress temperatures around the globe, leading to massive loss of food crops and possible breakdown of society. Global catastrophes are qualitatively different from other more common hazards that we face (except nuclear war), because of their potential effect on the entire planet and its population.
Various studies have suggested that the minimum mass impacting body to produce such global consequences is several ten of billions of tons, resulting in a groundburst explosion with energy in the vicinity if a million megatons of TNT. The diameter for Earth-crossing asteroids are between 1 3/5 and 3 1/4 miles. Smaller objects (down to 32 feet in diameter) can cause severe local damage but pose no global threat.
According to Spaceguard, "Of approximately 200 Earth-crossing asteroids, fewer that 200 have actually been discovered. At present no asteroid is known to be on a collision course with the Earth. David Morrison of the NASA Spaceguard Research Center states, "The chances of a collision within the next century with an object 1 3/5 mile in diameter or more are very small (less than 1 in a 100). But, such a collision is possible and could happen at any time. If we did have sufficient warning, however, the incoming object could be deflected or destroyed". Cosmic impacts are the only known natural disaster that could be avoided entirely by the appropriate application of space technology.
The Spacewatch telescope located on Kitt Peak is used to survey for moving objects, including asteroids whose orbits approach or cross the orbit of the Earth. Among these are asteroids that may someday be used as sources of raw materials. Spacewatch uses a Charg-Coupled Device or (CCD) and an automated computer program to discover NEOs.
`The Spacewatch Observatory has already detected one of the smallest asteroids known, and also the one that passed very close to Earth, the Apollo asteroid 1991 BA. The semi-automatic Spacewatch system at the University of Arizona has considerably increased the discovery rate, and will have profound consequences on the utility of NEOs as near-Earth space resources.
Stars
STARS
Magnitudes
The magnitude scale was invented by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus in about 150 BC He ranked the stars he could see in terms of their brightness, with 1 representing the brightest down to 6 representing the faintest. Modern astronomy has extended this system to stars brighter than Hipparchus' 1st magnitude stars and ones much, much fainter than 6.
As it turns out, the eye senses brightness logarithmically, so each increase in 5 magnitudes corresponds to a decrease in brightness by a factor 100. The absolute magnitude is the magnitude the stars would have if viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs or some 32.6 light years. Obviously, Deneb is intrinsically very bright to make this list from its greater distance. Rigel, of nearly the same absolute magnitude, but closer, stands even higher in the list. Note that most of these distances are really nearby, on a cosmic scale, and that they are generally uncertain by at least 20%. All stars are variable to some extent; those which are visibly variable are marked with a "v".
What are apparent and absolute magnitudes? Apparent is how bright the appear to us in the sky. The scale is somewhat arbitrary, as explained above, but a magnitude difference of 5 has been set to exactly a factor of 100 in intensity. Absolute magnitudes are how bright a star would appear from some standard distance, arbitrarily set as 10 parsecs or about 32.6 light years. Stars can be as bright as absolute magnitude -8 and as faint as absolute magnitude +16 or fainter. There are thus (a very few) stars more than 100 times brighter than Sirius, while hardly any are known fainter than Wolf 356.
Star, large celestial body composed of gravitationally contained hot gases emitting electromagnetic radiation, especially light, as a result of nuclear reactions inside the star. The sun is a star. With the sole exception of the sun, the stars appear to be fixed, maintaining the same pattern in the skies year after year. In fact the stars are in rapid motion, but their distances are so great that their relative changes in position become apparent only over the centuries.
The number of stars visible to the naked eye from earth has been estimated to total 8000, of which 4000 are visible from the northern hemisphere and 4000 from the southern hemisphere. At any one time in either hemisphere, only about 2000 stars are visible. The other 2000 are located in the daytime sky and are obscured by the much brighter light of the sun. Astronomers have calculated that the stars in the Milky Way, the galaxy to which the sun belongs, number in the hundreds of billions. The Milky Way, in turn, is only one of several hundred million such galaxies within the viewing range of the larger modern telescopes. The individual stars visible in the sky are simply those that lie closest to the solar system in the Milky Way.
The star nearest to our solar system is the triple star Proxima Centauri, which is about 40 trillion km (about 25 trillion mi) from earth. In terms of the speed of light, the common standard used by astronomers for expressing distance, this triple-star system is about 4.29 light-years distant; light traveling at about 300,000 km per sec (about 186,000 mi per sec) takes more than four years and three months to travel from this star to earth (see LIGHT-YEAR).
Physical Description
The sun is a typical star, with a visible surface called a photosphere, an overlying atmosphere of hot gases, and above them a more diffuse corona and an outflowing stream of particles called the solar (stellar) wind. Cooler areas of the photosphere, such as the sunspots (see SUN) on the sun, are likely present on other typical stars; their existence on some large nearby stars has been inferred by a technique called speckle interferometry. The internal structure of the sun and other stars cannot be directly observed, but studies indicate convection currents and layers of increasing density and temperature until the core is reached where thermonuclear reactions take place. Stars consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, with varying amounts of heavier elements.
The largest stars known are supergiants with diameters that are more than 400 times that of the sun, whereas the small stars known as white dwarfs have diameters that may be only 0.01 times that of the sun. Giant stars are usually diffuse, however, and may be only 40 times more massive than the sun, whereas white dwarfs are extremely dense and may have masses about 0.1 times that of the sun despite their small size. Supermassive stars are suspected that could be 1000 times more massive than the sun, and, at the lower range, hot balls of gases may exist that are too small to initiate nuclear reactions. One possible such brown dwarf was first observed in 1987, and others have been detected since then.
Star brightness is described in terms of magnitude. The brightest stars may be as much as 1,000,000 times brighter than the sun; white dwarfs are about 1000 times less bright.
Magnitudes
The magnitude scale was invented by an ancient Greek astronomer named Hipparchus in about 150 BC He ranked the stars he could see in terms of their brightness, with 1 representing the brightest down to 6 representing the faintest. Modern astronomy has extended this system to stars brighter than Hipparchus' 1st magnitude stars and ones much, much fainter than 6.
As it turns out, the eye senses brightness logarithmically, so each increase in 5 magnitudes corresponds to a decrease in brightness by a factor 100. The absolute magnitude is the magnitude the stars would have if viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs or some 32.6 light years. Obviously, Deneb is intrinsically very bright to make this list from its greater distance. Rigel, of nearly the same absolute magnitude, but closer, stands even higher in the list. Note that most of these distances are really nearby, on a cosmic scale, and that they are generally uncertain by at least 20%. All stars are variable to some extent; those which are visibly variable are marked with a "v".
What are apparent and absolute magnitudes? Apparent is how bright the appear to us in the sky. The scale is somewhat arbitrary, as explained above, but a magnitude difference of 5 has been set to exactly a factor of 100 in intensity. Absolute magnitudes are how bright a star would appear from some standard distance, arbitrarily set as 10 parsecs or about 32.6 light years. Stars can be as bright as absolute magnitude -8 and as faint as absolute magnitude +16 or fainter. There are thus (a very few) stars more than 100 times brighter than Sirius, while hardly any are known fainter than Wolf 356.
Star, large celestial body composed of gravitationally contained hot gases emitting electromagnetic radiation, especially light, as a result of nuclear reactions inside the star. The sun is a star. With the sole exception of the sun, the stars appear to be fixed, maintaining the same pattern in the skies year after year. In fact the stars are in rapid motion, but their distances are so great that their relative changes in position become apparent only over the centuries.
The number of stars visible to the naked eye from earth has been estimated to total 8000, of which 4000 are visible from the northern hemisphere and 4000 from the southern hemisphere. At any one time in either hemisphere, only about 2000 stars are visible. The other 2000 are located in the daytime sky and are obscured by the much brighter light of the sun. Astronomers have calculated that the stars in the Milky Way, the galaxy to which the sun belongs, number in the hundreds of billions. The Milky Way, in turn, is only one of several hundred million such galaxies within the viewing range of the larger modern telescopes. The individual stars visible in the sky are simply those that lie closest to the solar system in the Milky Way.
The star nearest to our solar system is the triple star Proxima Centauri, which is about 40 trillion km (about 25 trillion mi) from earth. In terms of the speed of light, the common standard used by astronomers for expressing distance, this triple-star system is about 4.29 light-years distant; light traveling at about 300,000 km per sec (about 186,000 mi per sec) takes more than four years and three months to travel from this star to earth (see LIGHT-YEAR).
Physical Description
The sun is a typical star, with a visible surface called a photosphere, an overlying atmosphere of hot gases, and above them a more diffuse corona and an outflowing stream of particles called the solar (stellar) wind. Cooler areas of the photosphere, such as the sunspots (see SUN) on the sun, are likely present on other typical stars; their existence on some large nearby stars has been inferred by a technique called speckle interferometry. The internal structure of the sun and other stars cannot be directly observed, but studies indicate convection currents and layers of increasing density and temperature until the core is reached where thermonuclear reactions take place. Stars consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, with varying amounts of heavier elements.
The largest stars known are supergiants with diameters that are more than 400 times that of the sun, whereas the small stars known as white dwarfs have diameters that may be only 0.01 times that of the sun. Giant stars are usually diffuse, however, and may be only 40 times more massive than the sun, whereas white dwarfs are extremely dense and may have masses about 0.1 times that of the sun despite their small size. Supermassive stars are suspected that could be 1000 times more massive than the sun, and, at the lower range, hot balls of gases may exist that are too small to initiate nuclear reactions. One possible such brown dwarf was first observed in 1987, and others have been detected since then.
Star brightness is described in terms of magnitude. The brightest stars may be as much as 1,000,000 times brighter than the sun; white dwarfs are about 1000 times less bright.
Hale Bopp
As I am sure all of you know, we have recently been able to see a new but not permanent additon to the night sky. This addition is known as Hale-Bopp, a comet that is about 122 million miles (about 1.3 times the distance of the sun to the earth) from the earth and is approximately 25 miles wide. Hale-Bopp was discovered on July 23,1995 by two scientists named Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona. This is the first discovery for both of them, although Alan Hale is one of the top visual comet observers in the world, having seen about 200 comet apparitions. That is one of the reasons they put his name first.
Alan Hale comments, "I love the irony -- I've spent over 400 hours of my life looking for comets, and haven't found anything, and now, suddenly, when I'm not looking for one, I get one dumped in my lap. I had obtained an observation of P/Clark earlier, and needed to wait an hour or so before P/d'Arrest got high enough to look at, and was just passing the time til then, and I decided to look at some deep-sky objects in Sagittarius. When I turned to M70, I saw a fuzzy object in the same field, and almost immediately suspected a comet, since I had been looking at M70 last month, and *knew* there wasn't any other objects there."
Thomas Bopp explains his story like this, "On the night of July 22, 1995 some friends and I headed out into the desert for a dark of the moon observing session. The site, which is west of Stanfield, AZ and a few mile south of Interstate 8 is about 90 miles southwest from my home.
My friend Jim Stevens had brought his 17-1/2" Dobsonian. We started the evening observing some of the Messier objects such as the Veil and North American Nebulae in Cygnus, when Jim said " Let's look at some of the globulars in Sagittarius." We started our tour with M22 and M28, observing at 50X and then at 180X. Around 11:00 local time, we had M-70 in the field when Jim went to the charts to determine the next object of investigation. I continued watching M-70 slowly drift across the field, when it reached a point 3/4 of the way across a slight glow appeared on the eastern edge. I repositioned the scope to center on the new object but was unable to resolve it. I called to Jim and asked him if he knew what it might be, after a visual inspection he stated he wasn't familiar with it but would check the charts. After determining the general position of the object he was unable to find it on either Sky Atlas 2000.0 or Uranometria.
The moment Jim said "we might have something" excitement began to grow among our group and I breathed a silent prayer thanking God for his wondrous creation. My friend, Kevin Gill then took a position from his digital setting circles and estimated a magnitude.
At 11:15 I said that we needed to check the object for motion and should watch it for an hour. The group observed it change position against the star field over that period and at 12:25 I decided to drive home and report our finding.
Arriving at home initial attempts to send the telegram were unsuccessful due to an incomplete address I had. After searching my library I was able to located the correct address and confirmation was requested.
At 8:25 AM July 23, 1995 Daniel Green of the Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory telephoned and said, "Congratulations Tom, I believe you discovered a new comet." and that was one of the most exciting moments of my life.
The comet is visible in the evening. Look about 40 degrees west of North and about 20 degrees off the horizon at about 8:00 p.m. The comet will be the brightest object in the northwest sky.The comet is traveling at about 28 km per second and the orbit of this comet is about 4,200 years since the last appearance and because of gravitational tugs by the planets, especially Jupiter, the next appearance will be in about 2380 years or the year 4377. Hale-Bopp has been through our solar system before which surprisingly means it is not a new comet from the Oort Cloud. Its orbit is a very long, stretched out orbit and the comet is part of our solar system in orbit around our Sun. Sadly, this excitment will end in October when Hale-Bopp will disapear to the naked eye.
(Special thanks to Kevin Gill of the Black Mountain Observatory for Alan Hale's and Thomas Bopp's quotes.)
Alan Hale comments, "I love the irony -- I've spent over 400 hours of my life looking for comets, and haven't found anything, and now, suddenly, when I'm not looking for one, I get one dumped in my lap. I had obtained an observation of P/Clark earlier, and needed to wait an hour or so before P/d'Arrest got high enough to look at, and was just passing the time til then, and I decided to look at some deep-sky objects in Sagittarius. When I turned to M70, I saw a fuzzy object in the same field, and almost immediately suspected a comet, since I had been looking at M70 last month, and *knew* there wasn't any other objects there."
Thomas Bopp explains his story like this, "On the night of July 22, 1995 some friends and I headed out into the desert for a dark of the moon observing session. The site, which is west of Stanfield, AZ and a few mile south of Interstate 8 is about 90 miles southwest from my home.
My friend Jim Stevens had brought his 17-1/2" Dobsonian. We started the evening observing some of the Messier objects such as the Veil and North American Nebulae in Cygnus, when Jim said " Let's look at some of the globulars in Sagittarius." We started our tour with M22 and M28, observing at 50X and then at 180X. Around 11:00 local time, we had M-70 in the field when Jim went to the charts to determine the next object of investigation. I continued watching M-70 slowly drift across the field, when it reached a point 3/4 of the way across a slight glow appeared on the eastern edge. I repositioned the scope to center on the new object but was unable to resolve it. I called to Jim and asked him if he knew what it might be, after a visual inspection he stated he wasn't familiar with it but would check the charts. After determining the general position of the object he was unable to find it on either Sky Atlas 2000.0 or Uranometria.
The moment Jim said "we might have something" excitement began to grow among our group and I breathed a silent prayer thanking God for his wondrous creation. My friend, Kevin Gill then took a position from his digital setting circles and estimated a magnitude.
At 11:15 I said that we needed to check the object for motion and should watch it for an hour. The group observed it change position against the star field over that period and at 12:25 I decided to drive home and report our finding.
Arriving at home initial attempts to send the telegram were unsuccessful due to an incomplete address I had. After searching my library I was able to located the correct address and confirmation was requested.
At 8:25 AM July 23, 1995 Daniel Green of the Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory telephoned and said, "Congratulations Tom, I believe you discovered a new comet." and that was one of the most exciting moments of my life.
The comet is visible in the evening. Look about 40 degrees west of North and about 20 degrees off the horizon at about 8:00 p.m. The comet will be the brightest object in the northwest sky.The comet is traveling at about 28 km per second and the orbit of this comet is about 4,200 years since the last appearance and because of gravitational tugs by the planets, especially Jupiter, the next appearance will be in about 2380 years or the year 4377. Hale-Bopp has been through our solar system before which surprisingly means it is not a new comet from the Oort Cloud. Its orbit is a very long, stretched out orbit and the comet is part of our solar system in orbit around our Sun. Sadly, this excitment will end in October when Hale-Bopp will disapear to the naked eye.
(Special thanks to Kevin Gill of the Black Mountain Observatory for Alan Hale's and Thomas Bopp's quotes.)
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Star Mars
Star Mars
Since the boom in space technology about 30 years ago, man has found the method for expanding his existence beyond the many once thought "unbreakable barriers." Together with this development in space technology came a large quantity of information and discoveries of the compounds of the universe, and scientific questions seemed to jump out in equal number. The question that captures the eye of the media today causing a bitter controversy is probably the most easy to understand, considering the complex astronomy jargon. Is life possible on Mars? The fact is we still don't know. "Some of the early arguments we now know to be almost certainly erroneous, but even the most recent pieces of evidence do not unambiguously demonstrate the existence of life on Mars." ( Sagan and Shklovskii 273)
Some scientist believe man should look up in the sky searching for new habitats for future generations, since human kind today seems to be going backwards in many aspects of the earth's ecology. The first attempt would be to study the moon; the second, our neighbor planet. Unfortunately, our actual technology slightly provides strong, useful information about the red planet because of the vast distance between us.
While people such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas try to convince us with hundred million dollar movies that we are not alone, engineers and geologists like from the NASA-Stanford University team pursue, based on true evidence, the idea of possible life on Mars. However, the burden of proof is sometimes too heavy even based on real evidence. The tough debate started on August 1996, when scientists from the NASA-SU team announced that a meteorite found on the Antartica contained evidence of past life on the red planet. They supported their conclusion on the basis of organic molecules, carbonates, and minerals found inside the rock, which are basic components of living things. This announcement astonished the world, but not the critics who skeptically stated opposite explanations for each of the components discovered. The main discussion focused by critics like Allan Treiman arguing that "This scientist have lowered the standards of evidence rather than raised them, which is what you would expect for a claim this extraordinary." (qtd. in Begley and Rogers 58) The problem raises when it is proved that those kinds of minerals and organic molecules found in the meteorite, which fell from Mars about 13,000 years ago, can also be formed during nonbiological reactions such as very high temperatures.
For us, the common magazine readers, it is difficult to deal with these two positions: the final acceptance of extraterrestrial life, which is the strong motivation of the NASA-SU team, or the final submission to the fact that we stand as the only life form here and everywhere. This assumption is kind of complicated as well considering the enormous size of the Solar System; moreover, we know that our System resembles a grain of sand in the unimaginable vastness of the universe.
I strongly believe in the scientific method, the experiment conducted to reach the solution to a problem using true information, gathered and analyzed in an objective way to minimize the possibility of error or bias. I like to see irrefutable proof on the table, not just to hear them strong from highly renowned people. Scientists have made numerous mistakes in the past, and will continue to do so even though our technology is becoming more accurate year by year. I find some weaknesses in certain points cited by planetary geologist David McKay. He admits that "The evidence is somewhat circumstantial, but there is enough to support the hypothesis of ancient life on Mars." (qtd. In Begley and Roberts 57) Enough to support the hypothesis, but not the thesis, I would say.
The debate continues today and new information will be revealed to the world next April at Houston's Johnson Space Center, when the Mars workshop will be open. The media will have to wait until then just to put the story in the eye of the hurricane, again.
Since the boom in space technology about 30 years ago, man has found the method for expanding his existence beyond the many once thought "unbreakable barriers." Together with this development in space technology came a large quantity of information and discoveries of the compounds of the universe, and scientific questions seemed to jump out in equal number. The question that captures the eye of the media today causing a bitter controversy is probably the most easy to understand, considering the complex astronomy jargon. Is life possible on Mars? The fact is we still don't know. "Some of the early arguments we now know to be almost certainly erroneous, but even the most recent pieces of evidence do not unambiguously demonstrate the existence of life on Mars." ( Sagan and Shklovskii 273)
Some scientist believe man should look up in the sky searching for new habitats for future generations, since human kind today seems to be going backwards in many aspects of the earth's ecology. The first attempt would be to study the moon; the second, our neighbor planet. Unfortunately, our actual technology slightly provides strong, useful information about the red planet because of the vast distance between us.
While people such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas try to convince us with hundred million dollar movies that we are not alone, engineers and geologists like from the NASA-Stanford University team pursue, based on true evidence, the idea of possible life on Mars. However, the burden of proof is sometimes too heavy even based on real evidence. The tough debate started on August 1996, when scientists from the NASA-SU team announced that a meteorite found on the Antartica contained evidence of past life on the red planet. They supported their conclusion on the basis of organic molecules, carbonates, and minerals found inside the rock, which are basic components of living things. This announcement astonished the world, but not the critics who skeptically stated opposite explanations for each of the components discovered. The main discussion focused by critics like Allan Treiman arguing that "This scientist have lowered the standards of evidence rather than raised them, which is what you would expect for a claim this extraordinary." (qtd. in Begley and Rogers 58) The problem raises when it is proved that those kinds of minerals and organic molecules found in the meteorite, which fell from Mars about 13,000 years ago, can also be formed during nonbiological reactions such as very high temperatures.
For us, the common magazine readers, it is difficult to deal with these two positions: the final acceptance of extraterrestrial life, which is the strong motivation of the NASA-SU team, or the final submission to the fact that we stand as the only life form here and everywhere. This assumption is kind of complicated as well considering the enormous size of the Solar System; moreover, we know that our System resembles a grain of sand in the unimaginable vastness of the universe.
I strongly believe in the scientific method, the experiment conducted to reach the solution to a problem using true information, gathered and analyzed in an objective way to minimize the possibility of error or bias. I like to see irrefutable proof on the table, not just to hear them strong from highly renowned people. Scientists have made numerous mistakes in the past, and will continue to do so even though our technology is becoming more accurate year by year. I find some weaknesses in certain points cited by planetary geologist David McKay. He admits that "The evidence is somewhat circumstantial, but there is enough to support the hypothesis of ancient life on Mars." (qtd. In Begley and Roberts 57) Enough to support the hypothesis, but not the thesis, I would say.
The debate continues today and new information will be revealed to the world next April at Houston's Johnson Space Center, when the Mars workshop will be open. The media will have to wait until then just to put the story in the eye of the hurricane, again.
Gamma Rays
Gamma Rays are Waves on the electromagnetic Spectrum that have a
Wavelength of 10 or Higher and 11 down. Gamma Rays are produced in labs
through the process of nuclear collision and also through the artificial
Radioactivity that accompanies these interactions. The high energy nuclei
needed for the collisions are accelerated by such devices such as the
Cyclotron and synchrotron.
There are also many uses for Gamma rays in Medicine. Gamma Rays
are used in medicine to kill and treat certain types of cancers and tumors.
Gamma rays passing through the tissue of the body produce ionization in the
tissue. Gamma rays can harm the cells in our body. The rays can also detect
brain and Cardiovascular Abnormalities. These are some of the many uses of
Gamma Rays in Medicine.
Gamma Rays are also Used a great deal in modern day industries.
Gamma Rays can be used to examine metallic castings or welds in oil
pipelines for weak points. The rays pass through the metal and darken a
photographic film at places opposite weak points. In industry, Gamma rays
are also used for detecting internal defects in metal castings and in welded
structures. Gamma rays are used to kill pesticides and bugs in food. Gamma
rays are also used in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs.
Gamma rays are often used in the food industry. The radioisotopes
preserve foods. Although the rays never come in contact with the food, Beta
radiation kills various organisms such as bacteria, yeast, and insects. Gamma
rays are sometimes used in science. They are used to detect Beryllium. They
also played a very important role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Gamma Rays can be very dangerous to use or be in contact with.
Gamma rays bombard our bodies constantly. They come from the naturally
radioactive materials in rocks and soil. We take some of these materials into
our bodies from the air we breath and the water we drink. Gamma rays
passing through our bodies produce ionization in the tissue. High levels of
gamma Radiation can produce ionization of the tissue and cause skin cancer.
There are many ways in which we can protect ourselves from these
harmful affects Protection from gamma rays can be obtained Using a sheet of
iron that is a 1/2 inch thick. This kind of shielding will block only 50% of 1
million electron volts of Gamma rays. We can also protect ourselves from
gamma rays with 4 inches of water. Lead provides the most protection from
gamma rays. A 1/4 of an inch absorbs all the gamma ray exposure.
Many Gamma rays also come from outer space in a few major bursts
the sun produces gamma rays with energies up to one million electron volts.
The interaction of high energy electrons, Protons, and Nuclei of the sun, emit
the rays. Gamma rays can also come from the other stars in space, Through
the creation and death of the stars along with the creation of solar flares.
Astronomers have studied gamma rays to gain a better understanding of the
astronomical process. Gamma rays are a form of Electromagnetic radiation
similar to X-rays. Gamma rays carry millions of electron volts. As gamma
rays pass through matter, They lose energy, But at the same time Knock
electrons loose from the atom which ionizes them. Uranium and other
naturally occurring radioactive elements, which emit alpha and beta particles
from their nuclei which transforming into new elements, also emit gamma
rays.
Long before experiments gamma rays emitted by cosmic sources,
scientists had known that the universe should be producing such photons.
Hard work by several brilliant scientists had shown that a number of different
processes which were occurring in the universe would result in gamma ray
emissions. These processes included cosmic ray interactions with interstellar
gases, supernova explosions, and interactions of energetic electrons with
magnetic fields. In the 1960's we finally developed thew ability to actually
detect these emissions and we have been looking at them ever since.
Wavelength of 10 or Higher and 11 down. Gamma Rays are produced in labs
through the process of nuclear collision and also through the artificial
Radioactivity that accompanies these interactions. The high energy nuclei
needed for the collisions are accelerated by such devices such as the
Cyclotron and synchrotron.
There are also many uses for Gamma rays in Medicine. Gamma Rays
are used in medicine to kill and treat certain types of cancers and tumors.
Gamma rays passing through the tissue of the body produce ionization in the
tissue. Gamma rays can harm the cells in our body. The rays can also detect
brain and Cardiovascular Abnormalities. These are some of the many uses of
Gamma Rays in Medicine.
Gamma Rays are also Used a great deal in modern day industries.
Gamma Rays can be used to examine metallic castings or welds in oil
pipelines for weak points. The rays pass through the metal and darken a
photographic film at places opposite weak points. In industry, Gamma rays
are also used for detecting internal defects in metal castings and in welded
structures. Gamma rays are used to kill pesticides and bugs in food. Gamma
rays are also used in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs.
Gamma rays are often used in the food industry. The radioisotopes
preserve foods. Although the rays never come in contact with the food, Beta
radiation kills various organisms such as bacteria, yeast, and insects. Gamma
rays are sometimes used in science. They are used to detect Beryllium. They
also played a very important role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Gamma Rays can be very dangerous to use or be in contact with.
Gamma rays bombard our bodies constantly. They come from the naturally
radioactive materials in rocks and soil. We take some of these materials into
our bodies from the air we breath and the water we drink. Gamma rays
passing through our bodies produce ionization in the tissue. High levels of
gamma Radiation can produce ionization of the tissue and cause skin cancer.
There are many ways in which we can protect ourselves from these
harmful affects Protection from gamma rays can be obtained Using a sheet of
iron that is a 1/2 inch thick. This kind of shielding will block only 50% of 1
million electron volts of Gamma rays. We can also protect ourselves from
gamma rays with 4 inches of water. Lead provides the most protection from
gamma rays. A 1/4 of an inch absorbs all the gamma ray exposure.
Many Gamma rays also come from outer space in a few major bursts
the sun produces gamma rays with energies up to one million electron volts.
The interaction of high energy electrons, Protons, and Nuclei of the sun, emit
the rays. Gamma rays can also come from the other stars in space, Through
the creation and death of the stars along with the creation of solar flares.
Astronomers have studied gamma rays to gain a better understanding of the
astronomical process. Gamma rays are a form of Electromagnetic radiation
similar to X-rays. Gamma rays carry millions of electron volts. As gamma
rays pass through matter, They lose energy, But at the same time Knock
electrons loose from the atom which ionizes them. Uranium and other
naturally occurring radioactive elements, which emit alpha and beta particles
from their nuclei which transforming into new elements, also emit gamma
rays.
Long before experiments gamma rays emitted by cosmic sources,
scientists had known that the universe should be producing such photons.
Hard work by several brilliant scientists had shown that a number of different
processes which were occurring in the universe would result in gamma ray
emissions. These processes included cosmic ray interactions with interstellar
gases, supernova explosions, and interactions of energetic electrons with
magnetic fields. In the 1960's we finally developed thew ability to actually
detect these emissions and we have been looking at them ever since.
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (AS-508)
Houston, we have a problem.
The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 2:13 p.m. EST, April 11, 1970 from launch
complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The space vehicle crew consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr.
commander, John L. Swigert, Jr., command module pilot and Fred W.
Haise, Jr. lunar module pilot.
The Apollo 13 Mission was planned as a lunar landing mission but
was aborted en route to the moon after about 56 hours of flight due to loss
of service module cryogenic oxygen and consequent loss of capability to
generate electrical power, to provide oxygen and to produce water.
Spacecraft systems performance was nominal until the fans in cryogenic oxygen tank 2 were
turned on at 55:53:18 ground elapsed time (GET). About 2 seconds after energizing the fan circuit,
a short was indicated in the current from fuel cell 3, which was supplying power to cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 fans. Within several additional seconds, two other shorted conditions occurred.
Electrical shorts in the fan circuit ignited the wire insulation, causing temperature and
pressure to increase within cryogenic oxygen tank 2. When pressure reached the cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 relief valve full-flow conditions of 1008 psi, the pressure began decreasing
for about 9 seconds, at which time the relief valve probably reseated, causing the pressure
to rise again momentarily. About a quarter of a second later, a vibration disturbance was
noted on the command module accelerometers.
The next series of events occurred within a fraction of a second between the
accelerometer disturbances and the data loss. A tank line burst, because of heat, in the
vacuum jacket pressurizing the annulus and, in turn, causing the blow-out plug on the
vacuum jacket to rupture. Some mechanism in bay 4 combined with the oxygen buildup in
that bay to cause a rapid pressure rise which resulted in separation of the outer panel. The
panel struck one of the dishes of the high-gain antenna. The panel separation shock closed
the fuel cell 1 and 3 oxygen reactant shut-off valves and several propellant and helium
isolation valves in the reaction control system. Data were lost for about 1.8 seconds as the
high-gain antenna switched from narrow beam to wide beam, because of the antenna being hit and
damaged.
As a result of these occurrences, the CM was powered down and the LM was configured
to supply the necessary power and other consumables.
The CSM was powered down at approximately 58:40 GET. The surge tank and
repressurization package were isolated with approximately 860 psi residual pressure (approx. 6.5
lbs of oxygen total). The primary water glycol system was left with radiators bypassed.
All LM systems performed satisfactorily in providing the necessary power and
environmental control to the spacecraft. The requirement for lithium hydroxide to remove carbon
dioxide from the spacecraft atmosphere was met by a combination of the CM and LM cartridges
since the LM cartridges alone would not satisfy the total requirement. The crew, with direction
from Mission Control, built an adapter for the CM cartridges to accept LM hoses.
The service module was jettisoned at approximately 138 hours
GET, and the crew observed and photographed the bay-4 area where the
cryogenic tank anomaly had occurred. At this time, the crew remarked
that the outer skin covering for bay-4 had been severely damaged, with a
large portion missing. The LM was jettisoned about 1 hour before entry,
which was performed nominally using primary guidance and navigation system.
Houston, we have a problem.
The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 2:13 p.m. EST, April 11, 1970 from launch
complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The space vehicle crew consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr.
commander, John L. Swigert, Jr., command module pilot and Fred W.
Haise, Jr. lunar module pilot.
The Apollo 13 Mission was planned as a lunar landing mission but
was aborted en route to the moon after about 56 hours of flight due to loss
of service module cryogenic oxygen and consequent loss of capability to
generate electrical power, to provide oxygen and to produce water.
Spacecraft systems performance was nominal until the fans in cryogenic oxygen tank 2 were
turned on at 55:53:18 ground elapsed time (GET). About 2 seconds after energizing the fan circuit,
a short was indicated in the current from fuel cell 3, which was supplying power to cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 fans. Within several additional seconds, two other shorted conditions occurred.
Electrical shorts in the fan circuit ignited the wire insulation, causing temperature and
pressure to increase within cryogenic oxygen tank 2. When pressure reached the cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 relief valve full-flow conditions of 1008 psi, the pressure began decreasing
for about 9 seconds, at which time the relief valve probably reseated, causing the pressure
to rise again momentarily. About a quarter of a second later, a vibration disturbance was
noted on the command module accelerometers.
The next series of events occurred within a fraction of a second between the
accelerometer disturbances and the data loss. A tank line burst, because of heat, in the
vacuum jacket pressurizing the annulus and, in turn, causing the blow-out plug on the
vacuum jacket to rupture. Some mechanism in bay 4 combined with the oxygen buildup in
that bay to cause a rapid pressure rise which resulted in separation of the outer panel. The
panel struck one of the dishes of the high-gain antenna. The panel separation shock closed
the fuel cell 1 and 3 oxygen reactant shut-off valves and several propellant and helium
isolation valves in the reaction control system. Data were lost for about 1.8 seconds as the
high-gain antenna switched from narrow beam to wide beam, because of the antenna being hit and
damaged.
As a result of these occurrences, the CM was powered down and the LM was configured
to supply the necessary power and other consumables.
The CSM was powered down at approximately 58:40 GET. The surge tank and
repressurization package were isolated with approximately 860 psi residual pressure (approx. 6.5
lbs of oxygen total). The primary water glycol system was left with radiators bypassed.
All LM systems performed satisfactorily in providing the necessary power and
environmental control to the spacecraft. The requirement for lithium hydroxide to remove carbon
dioxide from the spacecraft atmosphere was met by a combination of the CM and LM cartridges
since the LM cartridges alone would not satisfy the total requirement. The crew, with direction
from Mission Control, built an adapter for the CM cartridges to accept LM hoses.
The service module was jettisoned at approximately 138 hours
GET, and the crew observed and photographed the bay-4 area where the
cryogenic tank anomaly had occurred. At this time, the crew remarked
that the outer skin covering for bay-4 had been severely damaged, with a
large portion missing. The LM was jettisoned about 1 hour before entry,
which was performed nominally using primary guidance and navigation system.
Apollo 13 again
Apollo 13 (AS-508)
Houston, we have a problem.
The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 2:13 p.m. EST, April 11, 1970 from launch
complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The space vehicle crew consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr.
commander, John L. Swigert, Jr., command module pilot and Fred W.
Haise, Jr. lunar module pilot.
The Apollo 13 Mission was planned as a lunar landing mission but
was aborted en route to the moon after about 56 hours of flight due to loss
of service module cryogenic oxygen and consequent loss of capability to
generate electrical power, to provide oxygen and to produce water.
Spacecraft systems performance was nominal until the fans in cryogenic oxygen tank 2 were
turned on at 55:53:18 ground elapsed time (GET). About 2 seconds after energizing the fan circuit,
a short was indicated in the current from fuel cell 3, which was supplying power to cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 fans. Within several additional seconds, two other shorted conditions occurred.
Electrical shorts in the fan circuit ignited the wire insulation, causing temperature and
pressure to increase within cryogenic oxygen tank 2. When pressure reached the cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 relief valve full-flow conditions of 1008 psi, the pressure began decreasing
for about 9 seconds, at which time the relief valve probably reseated, causing the pressure
to rise again momentarily. About a quarter of a second later, a vibration disturbance was
noted on the command module accelerometers.
The next series of events occurred within a fraction of a second between the
accelerometer disturbances and the data loss. A tank line burst, because of heat, in the
vacuum jacket pressurizing the annulus and, in turn, causing the blow-out plug on the
vacuum jacket to rupture. Some mechanism in bay 4 combined with the oxygen buildup in
that bay to cause a rapid pressure rise which resulted in separation of the outer panel. The
panel struck one of the dishes of the high-gain antenna. The panel separation shock closed
the fuel cell 1 and 3 oxygen reactant shut-off valves and several propellant and helium
isolation valves in the reaction control system. Data were lost for about 1.8 seconds as the
high-gain antenna switched from narrow beam to wide beam, because of the antenna being hit and
damaged.
As a result of these occurrences, the CM was powered down and the LM was configured
to supply the necessary power and other consumables.
The CSM was powered down at approximately 58:40 GET. The surge tank and
repressurization package were isolated with approximately 860 psi residual pressure (approx. 6.5
lbs of oxygen total). The primary water glycol system was left with radiators bypassed.
All LM systems performed satisfactorily in providing the necessary power and
environmental control to the spacecraft. The requirement for lithium hydroxide to remove carbon
dioxide from the spacecraft atmosphere was met by a combination of the CM and LM cartridges
since the LM cartridges alone would not satisfy the total requirement. The crew, with direction
from Mission Control, built an adapter for the CM cartridges to accept LM hoses.
The service module was jettisoned at approximately 138 hours
GET, and the crew observed and photographed the bay-4 area where the
cryogenic tank anomaly had occurred. At this time, the crew remarked
that the outer skin covering for bay-4 had been severely damaged, with a
large portion missing. The LM was jettisoned about 1 hour before entry,
which was performed nominally using primary guidance and navigation system.
Houston, we have a problem.
The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 2:13 p.m. EST, April 11, 1970 from launch
complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The space vehicle crew consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr.
commander, John L. Swigert, Jr., command module pilot and Fred W.
Haise, Jr. lunar module pilot.
The Apollo 13 Mission was planned as a lunar landing mission but
was aborted en route to the moon after about 56 hours of flight due to loss
of service module cryogenic oxygen and consequent loss of capability to
generate electrical power, to provide oxygen and to produce water.
Spacecraft systems performance was nominal until the fans in cryogenic oxygen tank 2 were
turned on at 55:53:18 ground elapsed time (GET). About 2 seconds after energizing the fan circuit,
a short was indicated in the current from fuel cell 3, which was supplying power to cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 fans. Within several additional seconds, two other shorted conditions occurred.
Electrical shorts in the fan circuit ignited the wire insulation, causing temperature and
pressure to increase within cryogenic oxygen tank 2. When pressure reached the cryogenic
oxygen tank 2 relief valve full-flow conditions of 1008 psi, the pressure began decreasing
for about 9 seconds, at which time the relief valve probably reseated, causing the pressure
to rise again momentarily. About a quarter of a second later, a vibration disturbance was
noted on the command module accelerometers.
The next series of events occurred within a fraction of a second between the
accelerometer disturbances and the data loss. A tank line burst, because of heat, in the
vacuum jacket pressurizing the annulus and, in turn, causing the blow-out plug on the
vacuum jacket to rupture. Some mechanism in bay 4 combined with the oxygen buildup in
that bay to cause a rapid pressure rise which resulted in separation of the outer panel. The
panel struck one of the dishes of the high-gain antenna. The panel separation shock closed
the fuel cell 1 and 3 oxygen reactant shut-off valves and several propellant and helium
isolation valves in the reaction control system. Data were lost for about 1.8 seconds as the
high-gain antenna switched from narrow beam to wide beam, because of the antenna being hit and
damaged.
As a result of these occurrences, the CM was powered down and the LM was configured
to supply the necessary power and other consumables.
The CSM was powered down at approximately 58:40 GET. The surge tank and
repressurization package were isolated with approximately 860 psi residual pressure (approx. 6.5
lbs of oxygen total). The primary water glycol system was left with radiators bypassed.
All LM systems performed satisfactorily in providing the necessary power and
environmental control to the spacecraft. The requirement for lithium hydroxide to remove carbon
dioxide from the spacecraft atmosphere was met by a combination of the CM and LM cartridges
since the LM cartridges alone would not satisfy the total requirement. The crew, with direction
from Mission Control, built an adapter for the CM cartridges to accept LM hoses.
The service module was jettisoned at approximately 138 hours
GET, and the crew observed and photographed the bay-4 area where the
cryogenic tank anomaly had occurred. At this time, the crew remarked
that the outer skin covering for bay-4 had been severely damaged, with a
large portion missing. The LM was jettisoned about 1 hour before entry,
which was performed nominally using primary guidance and navigation system.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
The Mercury Program
Project Mercury, the first manned U.S. space project, became an official NASA program
on October 7, 1958. The Mercury Program was given two main but broad objectives: 1. to
investigate man's ability to survive and perform in the space environment and 2. to develop basic
space technology and hardware for manned space flight programs to come.
NASA also had to find astronauts to fly the spacecraft. In 1959 NASA asked the U.S.
military for a list of their members who met certain qualifications. All applicants were required to
have had extensive jet aircraft flight experience and engineering training. The applicants could be
no more than five feet eleven inches tall, do to the limited amount of cabin space that the Mercury
modules provided. All who met these requirements were also required to undergo numerous
intense physical and psychological evaluations. Finally, out of a field of 500 people who met the
experience, training, and height requirements, NASA selected seven to become U.S. astronauts.
There names, Lieutenant M. Scott Carpenter; Air Force Captains L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., Virgil
"Gus" Grissom, and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton; Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr.;
and Navy Lieutenant commanders Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Of these, all
flew in Project Mercury except Deke Slayton who was grounded for medical reasons. He later
became an American crewmember of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
The Mercury module was a bell shaped craft. Its base measured exactly 74.5 inches wide
and it was nine feet tall. For its boosters NASA chose two U.S. military rockets: the Army's
Redstone, which provided 78,000 pounds of thrust, was used for suborbital flights, and the Air
Force Atlas, providing 360,000 pounds of thrust, was used for orbital fights. The Mercury craft
was fastened to the top of the booster for launch. Upon reaching the limits of Earth's atmosphere
the boosters were released from the module, and fell into uninhabited ocean.
The first Mercury launch was performed on May 5, 1961. The ship, Freedom 7, was the
first U.S. craft used for manned space flight. Astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr. remained in suborbital
flight for 15 minutes and 22 seconds, with an accumulated distance of 116 miles.
The second and final suborbital mission of the Mercury Project was launched on July 21,
1961. Gus Grissom navigated his ship, Liberty Bell 7, through flight for just 15 seconds longer
than the previous mission.
The next Mercury flight was accomplished using an Atlas booster. On February 20,1962
it fired up and launched John Glenn, Jr., inside Friendship 7, into orbit. Glenn orbited Earth three
times and when he returned the country celebrated.
Just three months later on May 24 Scott Carpenter also orbited Earth three times in Aurora
7.
On October 3, 1962 Walter Schirra, Jr. entered Earth's orbit in his ship, Sigma 7. He
completed 6 orbits and then completed the first splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. All previous
splashdowns and recoveries were performed in the Pacific.
The final Mercury mission was the longest. Launched into orbit on May 15, 1963, Faith 7,
with Gordon Cooper, Jr. inside, went around Earth 22 times in 34and a half hours. On May 16 it
too splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean where it was recovered, successfully ending the Mercury
Project.
The Mercury Project, five years and $392.6 million dollars after it began, came to a close.
The entire project was highly successful, achieving both of its goals. It paved the way for the next
generation of NASA spacecraft: Gemini.
on October 7, 1958. The Mercury Program was given two main but broad objectives: 1. to
investigate man's ability to survive and perform in the space environment and 2. to develop basic
space technology and hardware for manned space flight programs to come.
NASA also had to find astronauts to fly the spacecraft. In 1959 NASA asked the U.S.
military for a list of their members who met certain qualifications. All applicants were required to
have had extensive jet aircraft flight experience and engineering training. The applicants could be
no more than five feet eleven inches tall, do to the limited amount of cabin space that the Mercury
modules provided. All who met these requirements were also required to undergo numerous
intense physical and psychological evaluations. Finally, out of a field of 500 people who met the
experience, training, and height requirements, NASA selected seven to become U.S. astronauts.
There names, Lieutenant M. Scott Carpenter; Air Force Captains L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., Virgil
"Gus" Grissom, and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton; Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr.;
and Navy Lieutenant commanders Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Of these, all
flew in Project Mercury except Deke Slayton who was grounded for medical reasons. He later
became an American crewmember of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
The Mercury module was a bell shaped craft. Its base measured exactly 74.5 inches wide
and it was nine feet tall. For its boosters NASA chose two U.S. military rockets: the Army's
Redstone, which provided 78,000 pounds of thrust, was used for suborbital flights, and the Air
Force Atlas, providing 360,000 pounds of thrust, was used for orbital fights. The Mercury craft
was fastened to the top of the booster for launch. Upon reaching the limits of Earth's atmosphere
the boosters were released from the module, and fell into uninhabited ocean.
The first Mercury launch was performed on May 5, 1961. The ship, Freedom 7, was the
first U.S. craft used for manned space flight. Astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr. remained in suborbital
flight for 15 minutes and 22 seconds, with an accumulated distance of 116 miles.
The second and final suborbital mission of the Mercury Project was launched on July 21,
1961. Gus Grissom navigated his ship, Liberty Bell 7, through flight for just 15 seconds longer
than the previous mission.
The next Mercury flight was accomplished using an Atlas booster. On February 20,1962
it fired up and launched John Glenn, Jr., inside Friendship 7, into orbit. Glenn orbited Earth three
times and when he returned the country celebrated.
Just three months later on May 24 Scott Carpenter also orbited Earth three times in Aurora
7.
On October 3, 1962 Walter Schirra, Jr. entered Earth's orbit in his ship, Sigma 7. He
completed 6 orbits and then completed the first splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. All previous
splashdowns and recoveries were performed in the Pacific.
The final Mercury mission was the longest. Launched into orbit on May 15, 1963, Faith 7,
with Gordon Cooper, Jr. inside, went around Earth 22 times in 34and a half hours. On May 16 it
too splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean where it was recovered, successfully ending the Mercury
Project.
The Mercury Project, five years and $392.6 million dollars after it began, came to a close.
The entire project was highly successful, achieving both of its goals. It paved the way for the next
generation of NASA spacecraft: Gemini.
The Future of NASA
The Future of NASA
One hundred years from now, NASA's space program will not be so far
advanced that people will be able to beam around the Universe or travel through
time. However, unless something goes terribly wrong with the world, it is
expected to advance tremendously. New, high-tech designs for rockets will
make them more environmentally safe. Rockets will also be recycled and
reused. Systems retrieving parts of rockets that are today, left behind in space,
will be created. Astronauts will be well on their way to exploring Mars from a
hands-on perspective. Because of the overpopulated Earth, scientists may even
be considering ways to alter life on Mars, so that people would be able to live
there some day.
Some products developed in NASA's space program that we now
incorporate in our daily lives include the vacuum cleaner, pacemaker, pens that
can write upside-down, and the zero-gravity training system. The vacuum
cleaner was originally a great tool for astronauts in outer space. It is now a very
helpful tool for cleaning our homes. The pacemaker is a form of life-support on
spacecrafts, helping astronomers' hearts pump while they are outside of the
Earth's atmosphere. It is used, on Earth, for those who's hearts have problems
with pumping blood. Pens that write upside-down are used in space, where
there is no gravity and writing with pens would otherwise be impossible. They
are convenient tools on Earth when we are trying to write on vertical surfaces. A
zero-gravity training system is used to help astronauts become more comfortable
with the conditions in space. It is used in places such as Sportsland, for kids to
twirl around in.
In the future, telephones with picture screens, much like those used to
see astronauts in space with, will become common on Earth. Rooms with no
gravity may become a part of amusement parks. More solar-powered energy
sources will also be available. Space Internet may be created, so that
astronomers and anyone else that happens to be in space can upload pictures
and chat with the rest of the world while they are actually in outer space. In
general, there is a bright future in store for NASA, with new and advanced
technology waiting around the bend of the twenty-first century.
One hundred years from now, NASA's space program will not be so far
advanced that people will be able to beam around the Universe or travel through
time. However, unless something goes terribly wrong with the world, it is
expected to advance tremendously. New, high-tech designs for rockets will
make them more environmentally safe. Rockets will also be recycled and
reused. Systems retrieving parts of rockets that are today, left behind in space,
will be created. Astronauts will be well on their way to exploring Mars from a
hands-on perspective. Because of the overpopulated Earth, scientists may even
be considering ways to alter life on Mars, so that people would be able to live
there some day.
Some products developed in NASA's space program that we now
incorporate in our daily lives include the vacuum cleaner, pacemaker, pens that
can write upside-down, and the zero-gravity training system. The vacuum
cleaner was originally a great tool for astronauts in outer space. It is now a very
helpful tool for cleaning our homes. The pacemaker is a form of life-support on
spacecrafts, helping astronomers' hearts pump while they are outside of the
Earth's atmosphere. It is used, on Earth, for those who's hearts have problems
with pumping blood. Pens that write upside-down are used in space, where
there is no gravity and writing with pens would otherwise be impossible. They
are convenient tools on Earth when we are trying to write on vertical surfaces. A
zero-gravity training system is used to help astronauts become more comfortable
with the conditions in space. It is used in places such as Sportsland, for kids to
twirl around in.
In the future, telephones with picture screens, much like those used to
see astronauts in space with, will become common on Earth. Rooms with no
gravity may become a part of amusement parks. More solar-powered energy
sources will also be available. Space Internet may be created, so that
astronomers and anyone else that happens to be in space can upload pictures
and chat with the rest of the world while they are actually in outer space. In
general, there is a bright future in store for NASA, with new and advanced
technology waiting around the bend of the twenty-first century.
StarLab
IN PREPARATION FOR MY EXPERIMENT THE FIRST THING I DID WAS GATHER ALL
OF MY MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE EXPERIMENT AND PLACED
THEM BY THE BACKDOOR OF MY HOUSE, BECAUSE THE EXPERIMENT WAS GOING
TO TAKE PLACE IN MY BACKYARD. SECONDLY, I TOOK A NAP. SINCE
I WAS PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT BY MYSELF, I WANTED TO BE WELL
RESTED FOR THE 6 HR. SPAN THAT I WOULD BE OUTSIDE. THIRDLY, I ATE
SOMETHING, I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE TO INTERUPT THE EXPERIMENT BY
HAVING TO RUN TO THE REFRIGERATOR BECAUSE I COULD MISS A COUPLE OF
SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO GET A SANDWICH. MY
DOMAIN WAS THE EASTERN SKY WITH THE FOCAL POINT BEING "THE LITTLE
DIPPER" WHICH WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE.
I STARTED MY EXPERIMENT AT PRECISELY AT 11:00 PM, FRI. NOV. 15, TAG
HEUER TIME, AND ENDED THE EXPERIMENT AT 5:00 AM, SAT. NOV. 16. FROM 11:00
PM TO 12:00 AM NO "SHOOTING STARS" WERE OBSERVED IN THE SKY. FROM THE
PERIOD OF 12:00 AM TO 1:00 AM I OVSERVED 1 "SHOOTING STAR" AT
12:48 AM. NOTE: ( THE POSITION OF THE "SHOOTING STARS" AND THEIR PATHS
ARE REFLECTED ON THE STAR MAP THAT I COMPLIED). THE 1ST 2 HOURS INTO
THE EXPERIMENT WERE VERY DISCOURAGING DUE TO THE LACK OF ACTIVITY.
FROM 1:00 AM TO 2:00 AM ACTIVITY STARTED TO PICK UP WITH THE SIGHTING OF
3 "SHOOTING STARS" AT 1:04 AM, 1:12 AM, & AT 1:52 AM. BETWEEN THE HR. OF
2:00 AM & 3:00 AM, I SAW 3 "SHOOTING STARS", 1 AT 2:02 AM, 1 AT 2:36 AM, &
ANOTHER AT 2:53 AM WITH SOMEWHAT OF A LONGER VISIBLE PATH THAN
OTHERS. BY 3:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE "SHOOTING STARS" HAD NO APPARENT
ORIGIN, OR SPECIFIC PATH PATTERN. DURING THE PERIOD OF 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I
STARTED TO SEE MORE "SHOOTING STARS" CLOSER TOGETHER IN TIME AT THE
TIMES OF 3:16 AM, 3:27 AM, 3:34 AM, 3:36 AM & 3:49 AM. AFTER LOGGING THE
ACTIVITY BETWEEN 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE 3:00 AM TO 3:15 AM
TIME SLOT THERE WAS NOT A "SHOOTING STAR" SIGHTED. THAT OBSERVATION
POSED THE QUESTION; "WHEN I WENT TO THE BATHROOM, DID I MISS ANY
SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THAT 8 MIN. WINDOW?".
IN THE LAST HR. OF THE EXPERIMENT, 4:00 AM TO 5:00 AM I SIGHTED 7
"SHOOTING STARS" ALL IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF MY DOMAIN. THE TIMES OF
THE SIGHTINGS WERE 4:00 AM, 4:05 AM, 4:11 AM, 4:17 AM, 4:31 AM, 4:45 AM, AND AT
4:56 AM. CONCLUDING THAT THE 4:00 - 5:00 AM TIME FRAME WAS THE MOST
PRODUCTIVE. ALSO CONCLUDING THAT THE EARLIER IN THE MORNING, OR THE
CLOSER TO DAWN, THE NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" OBSERVED WAS
GREATER. THE ENDING NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" TALLIED DURING THE
PERIOD OF 11:00 PM - 5:00 AM, NOV. 15 - NOV. 16 WAS 20.
QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED:
QUESTION #1: WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SEE MOST METEORS LATER IN THE
NIGHT, TOWARD?
ANSWER #1: THE EARTH'S ORBITAL MOTION & ROTATIONAL MOTION ARE
MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. WHICH CAUSES THAT PART OF THE EARTH TO
MOVE FASTER. IN RESPECT TO THAT PART OF THE EARTH MOVING FASTER, IT IS
CARRIED THROUGH MORE DEBRIS AT THE TIME OF NIGHT, OR EARLY MORNING.
QUESTION #2: WAS THERE ANY PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL FOR THE
METEORS YOU SAW?
ANSWER #2: NO, THERE WAS NO PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL WHICH
MADE ME CONCLUDE THAT THEY WERE "SHOOTING STARS," NOT PART OF A
METEOR SHOWER.
QUESTION #3: DID THE METEORS SEEM TO ORIGINATE FROM ANY PARTICULAR
PLANE IN THE SKY?
ANSWER #3: FAINTER METEORS, CALLED SHOOTING STARS, OR FALLING STARS
USUALLY OCCUR SINGLY AND SPORADICALLY. AT INTERVALS, HOWEVER,
HUNDREDS OF SUCH METEORS OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY AND APPEAR TO COME
FROM A FIXED POINT. THESE SWARMS ARE CALLED METEORIC SHOWERS AND
ARE NAMED AFTER THE CONSTELLATION IN WHICH THEY SEEM TO HAVE THEIR
POINT OF ORIGIN. SOME APPEAR ANUALLY ON THE SAME DAYS OF EACH YEAR
AND ARE CALLED PERIODIC SHOWERS; OTHERS OCCUR INFREQUENTLY AT
VARYING INTERVALS.
OF MY MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE EXPERIMENT AND PLACED
THEM BY THE BACKDOOR OF MY HOUSE, BECAUSE THE EXPERIMENT WAS GOING
TO TAKE PLACE IN MY BACKYARD. SECONDLY, I TOOK A NAP. SINCE
I WAS PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT BY MYSELF, I WANTED TO BE WELL
RESTED FOR THE 6 HR. SPAN THAT I WOULD BE OUTSIDE. THIRDLY, I ATE
SOMETHING, I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE TO INTERUPT THE EXPERIMENT BY
HAVING TO RUN TO THE REFRIGERATOR BECAUSE I COULD MISS A COUPLE OF
SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO GET A SANDWICH. MY
DOMAIN WAS THE EASTERN SKY WITH THE FOCAL POINT BEING "THE LITTLE
DIPPER" WHICH WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE.
I STARTED MY EXPERIMENT AT PRECISELY AT 11:00 PM, FRI. NOV. 15, TAG
HEUER TIME, AND ENDED THE EXPERIMENT AT 5:00 AM, SAT. NOV. 16. FROM 11:00
PM TO 12:00 AM NO "SHOOTING STARS" WERE OBSERVED IN THE SKY. FROM THE
PERIOD OF 12:00 AM TO 1:00 AM I OVSERVED 1 "SHOOTING STAR" AT
12:48 AM. NOTE: ( THE POSITION OF THE "SHOOTING STARS" AND THEIR PATHS
ARE REFLECTED ON THE STAR MAP THAT I COMPLIED). THE 1ST 2 HOURS INTO
THE EXPERIMENT WERE VERY DISCOURAGING DUE TO THE LACK OF ACTIVITY.
FROM 1:00 AM TO 2:00 AM ACTIVITY STARTED TO PICK UP WITH THE SIGHTING OF
3 "SHOOTING STARS" AT 1:04 AM, 1:12 AM, & AT 1:52 AM. BETWEEN THE HR. OF
2:00 AM & 3:00 AM, I SAW 3 "SHOOTING STARS", 1 AT 2:02 AM, 1 AT 2:36 AM, &
ANOTHER AT 2:53 AM WITH SOMEWHAT OF A LONGER VISIBLE PATH THAN
OTHERS. BY 3:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE "SHOOTING STARS" HAD NO APPARENT
ORIGIN, OR SPECIFIC PATH PATTERN. DURING THE PERIOD OF 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I
STARTED TO SEE MORE "SHOOTING STARS" CLOSER TOGETHER IN TIME AT THE
TIMES OF 3:16 AM, 3:27 AM, 3:34 AM, 3:36 AM & 3:49 AM. AFTER LOGGING THE
ACTIVITY BETWEEN 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE 3:00 AM TO 3:15 AM
TIME SLOT THERE WAS NOT A "SHOOTING STAR" SIGHTED. THAT OBSERVATION
POSED THE QUESTION; "WHEN I WENT TO THE BATHROOM, DID I MISS ANY
SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THAT 8 MIN. WINDOW?".
IN THE LAST HR. OF THE EXPERIMENT, 4:00 AM TO 5:00 AM I SIGHTED 7
"SHOOTING STARS" ALL IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF MY DOMAIN. THE TIMES OF
THE SIGHTINGS WERE 4:00 AM, 4:05 AM, 4:11 AM, 4:17 AM, 4:31 AM, 4:45 AM, AND AT
4:56 AM. CONCLUDING THAT THE 4:00 - 5:00 AM TIME FRAME WAS THE MOST
PRODUCTIVE. ALSO CONCLUDING THAT THE EARLIER IN THE MORNING, OR THE
CLOSER TO DAWN, THE NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" OBSERVED WAS
GREATER. THE ENDING NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" TALLIED DURING THE
PERIOD OF 11:00 PM - 5:00 AM, NOV. 15 - NOV. 16 WAS 20.
QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED:
QUESTION #1: WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SEE MOST METEORS LATER IN THE
NIGHT, TOWARD?
ANSWER #1: THE EARTH'S ORBITAL MOTION & ROTATIONAL MOTION ARE
MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. WHICH CAUSES THAT PART OF THE EARTH TO
MOVE FASTER. IN RESPECT TO THAT PART OF THE EARTH MOVING FASTER, IT IS
CARRIED THROUGH MORE DEBRIS AT THE TIME OF NIGHT, OR EARLY MORNING.
QUESTION #2: WAS THERE ANY PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL FOR THE
METEORS YOU SAW?
ANSWER #2: NO, THERE WAS NO PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL WHICH
MADE ME CONCLUDE THAT THEY WERE "SHOOTING STARS," NOT PART OF A
METEOR SHOWER.
QUESTION #3: DID THE METEORS SEEM TO ORIGINATE FROM ANY PARTICULAR
PLANE IN THE SKY?
ANSWER #3: FAINTER METEORS, CALLED SHOOTING STARS, OR FALLING STARS
USUALLY OCCUR SINGLY AND SPORADICALLY. AT INTERVALS, HOWEVER,
HUNDREDS OF SUCH METEORS OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY AND APPEAR TO COME
FROM A FIXED POINT. THESE SWARMS ARE CALLED METEORIC SHOWERS AND
ARE NAMED AFTER THE CONSTELLATION IN WHICH THEY SEEM TO HAVE THEIR
POINT OF ORIGIN. SOME APPEAR ANUALLY ON THE SAME DAYS OF EACH YEAR
AND ARE CALLED PERIODIC SHOWERS; OTHERS OCCUR INFREQUENTLY AT
VARYING INTERVALS.
My theory of the universe
My Theory of the Universe
You are about to be transported to a very strange world, read on if you dare! The planet you are on is a giant disco ball, rotating clockwise. (Earth) This disco ball is in a place that has two stories. It is on the first story ceiling, but the ceiling is made of glass so the disco ball can be seen from both floors. The walls of the room are black. There is a big yellow spotlight in one corner of the room that slowly moves up and down. (Sun) There is another spotlight in the opposite corner, but this one is white and has a rotating filter to block some of the light out. (Moon) This filter starts at one end of the light, works its way across, and then works its way back. (Phases of the Moon) There are many spots on the walls of the room that are just reflections off of the disco ball. (Stars) These spots seem to form different patterns on the walls and move along with the disco ball, but not always at the same rate. (Constellations) There are two very shy people in the room that sometimes leave the room. When they are in the room they stand by the walls and always wink for some reason, so all we can see of them is one of their eyes. (Mercury & Venus) Then there are three very weird people in the room that are always in the middle of the room doing the Waltz. They do this some how by themselves and they to are always winking. They are sometimes on the first floor and sometimes on the second floor. (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) There is also one guy dressed in a white polyester leisure suit, gold chains, and rings dancing to "Stayin' Alive." (comet) It seems as though everyone in the universe hears their own music. He is only in the room for a little bit; he makes his way across the room then leaves, he must get tired really quick! Sometimes when he is dancing or even when you can not see him dancing, (must have forgot his gold chains) somehow he loses a ring because we can see it fly across the sky. (shooting star) Then there are two people, one directly below the ball and one directly above the ball when they are there. They both dress in silver lamay (shiny stuff) that makes all different colors that we can see. (Northern/Southern Lights) Occasionally some stupid guy stands in front of one of the spotlights and blocks it out. He only does this until someone kicks him out and someone always does. (Eclipse) Then sometimes we receive things from this party on our ball we think that it is the people's dandruff that as been floating in the room and settles on our ball. (Meteorites) There is also a place in the room where a large number of people are standing and you can see all their eyes reflecting off the ball. Finally there is one guy who stands in the room and holds up a lighter so the band will continue to play. He only does this when he thinks the band is going to stop and when they start playing again he stops and vanishes from sight. (Supernova)
You are about to be transported to a very strange world, read on if you dare! The planet you are on is a giant disco ball, rotating clockwise. (Earth) This disco ball is in a place that has two stories. It is on the first story ceiling, but the ceiling is made of glass so the disco ball can be seen from both floors. The walls of the room are black. There is a big yellow spotlight in one corner of the room that slowly moves up and down. (Sun) There is another spotlight in the opposite corner, but this one is white and has a rotating filter to block some of the light out. (Moon) This filter starts at one end of the light, works its way across, and then works its way back. (Phases of the Moon) There are many spots on the walls of the room that are just reflections off of the disco ball. (Stars) These spots seem to form different patterns on the walls and move along with the disco ball, but not always at the same rate. (Constellations) There are two very shy people in the room that sometimes leave the room. When they are in the room they stand by the walls and always wink for some reason, so all we can see of them is one of their eyes. (Mercury & Venus) Then there are three very weird people in the room that are always in the middle of the room doing the Waltz. They do this some how by themselves and they to are always winking. They are sometimes on the first floor and sometimes on the second floor. (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) There is also one guy dressed in a white polyester leisure suit, gold chains, and rings dancing to "Stayin' Alive." (comet) It seems as though everyone in the universe hears their own music. He is only in the room for a little bit; he makes his way across the room then leaves, he must get tired really quick! Sometimes when he is dancing or even when you can not see him dancing, (must have forgot his gold chains) somehow he loses a ring because we can see it fly across the sky. (shooting star) Then there are two people, one directly below the ball and one directly above the ball when they are there. They both dress in silver lamay (shiny stuff) that makes all different colors that we can see. (Northern/Southern Lights) Occasionally some stupid guy stands in front of one of the spotlights and blocks it out. He only does this until someone kicks him out and someone always does. (Eclipse) Then sometimes we receive things from this party on our ball we think that it is the people's dandruff that as been floating in the room and settles on our ball. (Meteorites) There is also a place in the room where a large number of people are standing and you can see all their eyes reflecting off the ball. Finally there is one guy who stands in the room and holds up a lighter so the band will continue to play. He only does this when he thinks the band is going to stop and when they start playing again he stops and vanishes from sight. (Supernova)
Mercury
Laolee Xiong
Period 2
2/26/97
MERCURY
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It's average distance from the sun is approximately fifty-eight million km and it's diameter is 4875 km, making it the second smallest planet in our solar system. It's volume and mass are about 1/18 that of the earth and it's average density is approximately equal to that of the earth. Mercury's magnetic field is one-hundred times weaker than that of Earth's. Mercury has the shortest revolution of all the planets in our solar system and revolves around the sun in about eighty-eight days. Radar observations of the planet show that its period of rotation is 58.7 days, or two-thirds of its period of revolution. That means that Mercury has one and one-half days in it's year.
Mercury doesn't have an atmosphere, but it does have a thin layer of helium. The helium is actually solar wind that is trapped by Mercury's weak gravity. Scientists think that collisions with protoplanets early in the history of the solar system may have stripped away lighter materials, making Mercury a very dense planet with an iron core extending outwards 4/5 of the way to the surface.
Mercury bares a very similar resemblance to our moon because it has a lot of craters. The craters, which cover seventy-five percent of Mercury's surface, were formed by huge rocks that smashed into the planet's surface. The largest crater is called the Caloris Basin and it is 1400 km in diameter and is flooded with molten lava. Mercury also has many cliffs that are usually over 300 miles long and two miles high. The rest of the planet's surface is smooth and may have been formed by lava flowing out of cracks in the surface.
Temperatures on Mercury vary greatly because of it's closeness to the sun. The surface temperature on the sunlit side is about 430 degrees Celsius, while the dark side may reach temperatures of -170 degrees Celsius..
Mercury was a difficult planet to study before the invention of the telescope. Even then, you could only see Mercury in the morning and evening. Then the Mariner 10 was built in the 1970's to go observe Mercury. The Mariner 10 spacecraft passed Mercury twice in 1974 and once in 1975 and it took hundreds of pictures of the planet. After this, the Mariner 10 came too close to the sun and is now orbiting the sun.
Mercury has no known moons and it also has a double sunrise at perihelion (the point closest to the sun). Mercury also has the widest temperature range (500 degrees between coldest and hottest) of all the planets. But even with all this information, scientists still don't know that much about Mercury.
Period 2
2/26/97
MERCURY
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It's average distance from the sun is approximately fifty-eight million km and it's diameter is 4875 km, making it the second smallest planet in our solar system. It's volume and mass are about 1/18 that of the earth and it's average density is approximately equal to that of the earth. Mercury's magnetic field is one-hundred times weaker than that of Earth's. Mercury has the shortest revolution of all the planets in our solar system and revolves around the sun in about eighty-eight days. Radar observations of the planet show that its period of rotation is 58.7 days, or two-thirds of its period of revolution. That means that Mercury has one and one-half days in it's year.
Mercury doesn't have an atmosphere, but it does have a thin layer of helium. The helium is actually solar wind that is trapped by Mercury's weak gravity. Scientists think that collisions with protoplanets early in the history of the solar system may have stripped away lighter materials, making Mercury a very dense planet with an iron core extending outwards 4/5 of the way to the surface.
Mercury bares a very similar resemblance to our moon because it has a lot of craters. The craters, which cover seventy-five percent of Mercury's surface, were formed by huge rocks that smashed into the planet's surface. The largest crater is called the Caloris Basin and it is 1400 km in diameter and is flooded with molten lava. Mercury also has many cliffs that are usually over 300 miles long and two miles high. The rest of the planet's surface is smooth and may have been formed by lava flowing out of cracks in the surface.
Temperatures on Mercury vary greatly because of it's closeness to the sun. The surface temperature on the sunlit side is about 430 degrees Celsius, while the dark side may reach temperatures of -170 degrees Celsius..
Mercury was a difficult planet to study before the invention of the telescope. Even then, you could only see Mercury in the morning and evening. Then the Mariner 10 was built in the 1970's to go observe Mercury. The Mariner 10 spacecraft passed Mercury twice in 1974 and once in 1975 and it took hundreds of pictures of the planet. After this, the Mariner 10 came too close to the sun and is now orbiting the sun.
Mercury has no known moons and it also has a double sunrise at perihelion (the point closest to the sun). Mercury also has the widest temperature range (500 degrees between coldest and hottest) of all the planets. But even with all this information, scientists still don't know that much about Mercury.
Little Green Men or Just Little Microscopic Organisms
Little Green Men or
Just Little Microscopic Organisms?
The question of life on Mars is a puzzle that has plagued many minds throughout the world. Life on Mars, though, is a reality. When you think of Martians, you think of little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life, right? Well, some do and some do not. Though believing that there are little green men on Mars is just a fantasy, or is it? The kind of life that may have lived there is the kind you would never consider of giving the name "Martian" to. They are small organisms such as microbes or bacteria.
Proof of this was found in a meteorite containing the fossils of the microscopic organisms intact. Two highly regarded chemistry professors from Stanford, Claude Maechling and Richard Zare, dissected three meteorites that were about 2 to 8 millimeters long and found trace elements of a big mumbo jumbo word- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. That pretty much means that there once was a warmer climate and maybe even lakes or oceans. Life on Mars is now a real idea.
The climate of Mars about 3.8 billion years ago was much similar to the young Earth. Microbes and bacteria probably sprouted everywhere in the warm and wet climate. Although now we only see a cold red planet, which was probably due to a collision of an astroid that would have set back the evolution process of Mars, causing it to be a harsh planet. A Viking spacecraft which landed on Mars in 1976 found that the planet was bathed in ultraviolet radiation, "intense enough so it would probably fry any microbe we know on this planet,"says Jack Farmer, an Ames researcher who calls himself an "exopaleontologist"-a searcher for fossils on other worlds. The redness of Mars is due to the chemical assault known as oxidation, which turns iron compounds into rust, and it would surely kill anything that sticks its head up.
"So why do you still believe that there is life on Mars?" you say. Life on Mars is not located on the ultraviolet radiation oxidized surface. The microbes are found below it, probably located in the boiling hot springs, or in frozen time capsules. Life here on Earth are located in some strange places so why wouldn't the Martian microbes be found in strange places if they were trying to survive? Scientists have found bacteria here on Earth that were living inside rocks where they got all of their nourishment from the rocks and from some water. Martians probably do the same thing.
The Marsokhod, which is Russian for "Mars Rover"- a six-wheeled vehicle about the size of a golf cart, with an arm for carrying a camera or other instruments, is planned to launch in 1998. The rover might actually find the truth that there was once life and that there is still life on Mars.
Who knows, but what if the once ancient microbes or bacteria have evolved into little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life? What if there was a whole colony of Martians in underground tunnels all over Mars? How did we evolve? From microscopic microbes, right? They may have evolved, too. When I read all of this I am reminded by a quote from a character on Jurassic Park named Ian Malcolm who said, "Life finds a way."
Bibliography
Chui, Glennda. "Life on Mars II". [http://www.sjmercury.com/news/nation/mars.htm.] December 19, 1995.
Davidson, Keay. "New Signs That There Was Life On Mars." San Francisco Examiner. March 16, 1995. Pg. A2. SIRS Physical Science, Electronic Only 1995. Art.104. SIRS Researcher CD-ROM, CD-ROM. SIRS. Fall 1996.
Just Little Microscopic Organisms?
The question of life on Mars is a puzzle that has plagued many minds throughout the world. Life on Mars, though, is a reality. When you think of Martians, you think of little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life, right? Well, some do and some do not. Though believing that there are little green men on Mars is just a fantasy, or is it? The kind of life that may have lived there is the kind you would never consider of giving the name "Martian" to. They are small organisms such as microbes or bacteria.
Proof of this was found in a meteorite containing the fossils of the microscopic organisms intact. Two highly regarded chemistry professors from Stanford, Claude Maechling and Richard Zare, dissected three meteorites that were about 2 to 8 millimeters long and found trace elements of a big mumbo jumbo word- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. That pretty much means that there once was a warmer climate and maybe even lakes or oceans. Life on Mars is now a real idea.
The climate of Mars about 3.8 billion years ago was much similar to the young Earth. Microbes and bacteria probably sprouted everywhere in the warm and wet climate. Although now we only see a cold red planet, which was probably due to a collision of an astroid that would have set back the evolution process of Mars, causing it to be a harsh planet. A Viking spacecraft which landed on Mars in 1976 found that the planet was bathed in ultraviolet radiation, "intense enough so it would probably fry any microbe we know on this planet,"says Jack Farmer, an Ames researcher who calls himself an "exopaleontologist"-a searcher for fossils on other worlds. The redness of Mars is due to the chemical assault known as oxidation, which turns iron compounds into rust, and it would surely kill anything that sticks its head up.
"So why do you still believe that there is life on Mars?" you say. Life on Mars is not located on the ultraviolet radiation oxidized surface. The microbes are found below it, probably located in the boiling hot springs, or in frozen time capsules. Life here on Earth are located in some strange places so why wouldn't the Martian microbes be found in strange places if they were trying to survive? Scientists have found bacteria here on Earth that were living inside rocks where they got all of their nourishment from the rocks and from some water. Martians probably do the same thing.
The Marsokhod, which is Russian for "Mars Rover"- a six-wheeled vehicle about the size of a golf cart, with an arm for carrying a camera or other instruments, is planned to launch in 1998. The rover might actually find the truth that there was once life and that there is still life on Mars.
Who knows, but what if the once ancient microbes or bacteria have evolved into little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life? What if there was a whole colony of Martians in underground tunnels all over Mars? How did we evolve? From microscopic microbes, right? They may have evolved, too. When I read all of this I am reminded by a quote from a character on Jurassic Park named Ian Malcolm who said, "Life finds a way."
Bibliography
Chui, Glennda. "Life on Mars II". [http://www.sjmercury.com/news/nation/mars.htm.] December 19, 1995.
Davidson, Keay. "New Signs That There Was Life On Mars." San Francisco Examiner. March 16, 1995. Pg. A2. SIRS Physical Science, Electronic Only 1995. Art.104. SIRS Researcher CD-ROM, CD-ROM. SIRS. Fall 1996.
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