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| Objectives were to place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth, investigate man’s performance capabilities and ability to function in the environment of space, and recover the man and the spacecraft safely. |
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| Objectives were to subject two men and supporting equipment to long duration flights, effect rendezvous and docking with other orbiting vehicles and maneuver the docked vehicles in space using the propulsion system of the target vehicle, perfect methods of reentry and landing the spacecraft, and to gain additional information concerning the effects of weightlessness on crew members and to record the physiological reactions of crew members during long duration flights. |
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| Main program objectives were to land a man on the moon and perform testing on lunar materials. Each mission had its own objectives ranging from evaluating control surfaces and propulsion to landing safely to testing human factors. |
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| The Challenger spacecraft broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff. All seven astronauts aboard the craft were killed. The disaster occurred due to the failure of an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster. The failure of this seal allowed pressurized hot gas to escape and come into contact with the adjacent SRB and external fuel tank. This led to a loss in structural integrity, causing the rest of the craft to burn and fall apart in-flight. There are several ethical issues involved, including the fact that decision makers ignored warnings about the dangers of launching in low temperatures and the fact that the astronauts were not informed of this concern. |
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| The Columbia disaster occurred on 1 February 2003 and was the result of damage to foam insulation sustained during launch. The debris from this damage struck the leading edge of the left wing, compromising the thermal protection system. Upon re-entry, the shuttle disintegrated due to the extreme heat. All seven crew members died. Some engineers suspected damage before the incident, but NASA managers determined that the crew would not be able to fix the problem. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined that a rescue mission using Atlantis may have been possible. |
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| The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. |
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| A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time |
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| The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit. |
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| Reactions of the Human Body to Microgravity |
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| In microgravity situations, the human body doesn’t perform as well as it normally would in Earth’s gravity conditions. Bone loss occurs at a rate of 1-1.5% a month, causing acceleration of age-related changes such as osteoporosis. Prolonged exposure can increase the risk of kidney stones and bone fractures and can inhibit the ability of bones to heal. Muscle mass is also lost in microgravity, including cardiac muscle. This can result in heart arrhythmia and blood pressure drops upon return to Earth. The neurovestibular system is also affected, resulting in disorientation and decreased neuromuscular coordination in space and problems standing up, stabilizing gaze, walking, and turning on Earth. |
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| Characteristics of the Moon |
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| The Moon is the only moon orbiting Earth. It completes one rotation in 27.3 days and completes one orbit around Earth in the same amount of time; therefore, the moon shows us the same face. Although it is a moon, it is larger than Pluto. The current explanation of how the moon formed is that a giant impact knocked the raw ingredients for the moon off of Earth’s surface. It has a small core and a rocky mantle made of dense rocks rich in iron and magnesium. The crust is covered in impact craters. Due to the lack of an atmosphere and, in turn, weather, no erosion has taken place to wash away the craters. The Moon is rich in oxygen, silicon, magnesium, and iron. The gravitational pull of the moon causes tides in the sea, lakes, the atmosphere, and the crust here on Earth. This gravitational pull also slows Earth’s rotation by 2.3 ms per century. Galileo was the first to make scientific observations of the Moon and noted that it had a mountainous surface. |
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| Similarities between Earth and Mars |
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| One of the biggest similarities is that both planets have large, sustained polar caps. They also have similar axial tilts, have roughly the same amount of land surface area, have volcanoes, have meteorite craters, and have relatively non-eccentric orbits. |
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| Differences between Earth and Mars |
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| One of the biggest differences between Mars and Earth is that Mars doesn’t have life. Other than that, Mars is mostly red while Earth is mostly blue, Mars has no liquid water, Earth is larger, Mars has a lower gravity, has two moons, has an atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide, and has a thinner atmosphere with fewer weather patterns and highly variable temperatures. |
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| Suggested Ways to Terraform Mars |
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| Terraforming Mars will be a giant undertaking which will have to be done over several millennia or even thousands of millennia. Some possible ways of terraforming Mars include putting large orbital mirrors above Mars which will heat the Martian surface, creating greenhouse-gas producing factories to trap solar radiation, and smashing ammonia-heavy asteroids into the planet to raise the greenhouse gas level. If we were to melt the polar ice caps, it could be possible to release the greenhouse gases stored within them to trap solar heat. |
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| When and How We Plan to Travel to Mars |
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| The President’s current goal for sending a human to Mars is in the 2030s. With current technology, it will take about 8 months to travel to Mars. There are several different mission scenarios, including the short, 30-day surface stay mission, the long-stay with minimum energy option, and the long-stay with fast transit option. The long-stay missions allow stays from 365-600+ days. Multiple spacecraft will be used to deliver everything that needs to be delivered. The propulsion methods currently being evaluated by NASA for a human trip to Mars include nuclear thermal, nuclear electric, solar electric, and various chemical propellant. |
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| Benefits of a Robot Mission to Mars |
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Definition
| Allows us to explore the surface of Mars to determine properties that are relevant to sustaining human life, allows us to gain navigational information which will make travelling upon Mars more efficient, and is more versatile, since life supporting measures are not necessary. |
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| Benefits of a Manned Mission to Mars |
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| Allows in-person observation of the planet and develops insight about the planet that can’t be grasped using robotic methods. |
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| First human and American Astronaut to walk on the Moon. |
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| U.S. President who, in 1961, dramatically expanded the U.S. space program and prompted the mission to the Moon. |
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| Former NASA astronaut and commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered a critical failure but was able to return to Earth. |
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| Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Had the longest career of any astronaut at 6 space flights and 42 years of service. Flew on the first manned Gemini mission, first person to orbit the moon alone on Apollo 10, one of only three who have journeyed to the moon twice and drove a rover on the moon’s surface. Commanded two space shuttle flights. |
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| The first human and Soviet/Russian Cosmonaut to conduct an EVA, or spacewalk. |
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| First American to walk in space. He died during prelaunch testing of the first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 1. |
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| NASA astronaut for 30 years. Flew on six spaceflights. Performed the first shuttle spacewalk on Challenger’s first flight. Lead spacewalker on the Hubble Telescope repair mission. Only astronaut to have flown missions on all 5 space shuttles. |
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| German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and a leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during WWII. Credited as the Father of Rocket Science. Chief architect of the Saturn V rocket. Worked on the US Army Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. |
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| Italian astronomer who inadvertently popularized the false idea of canals on the surface of Mars. |
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| American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator. Wrote the novel Contact, the basis for the film of the same name. |
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| Chief scientists for astrobiology at the Johnson Space Center. Trained the first men to walk on the moon. First author of a scientific paper postulating past life on Mars on the basis of Martian meteorite ALH 84001. |
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| A planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. Studies planetary atmospheres, astrobiology, and terraforming (biocentric). |
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| US engineer and multimillionaire who is known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. He spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1. Launched by Soyuz TM-32 and landed by Soyuz TM-31. |
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| First Population of the ISS |
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| 2 November 2000 (Docking of Expedition 1) |
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| Degrees Per Second: Measure of Angular Speed. |
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| Flight Deck, Flight Day, Fault Detection, Flight Director |
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| Flight Dynamics Officer: Responsible for the flight path of spacecraft. |
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| Farthest point away from the primary focus of the orbit. |
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| Closest point to the primary focus of the orbit. |
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| The gravitational constant; a term for accelerations felt as weight and measurable by accelerometers. |
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| A prize given to the winner of a public competition which rewards technological development that could benefit mankind. |
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| The functional cargo block, first module of the ISS. Provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly. |
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| The smaller, outer Martian moon. |
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| The larger, inner Martian moon. |
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| A Soviet human spaceflight program that was part of a moon landing project intended to land a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. |
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| The brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus and the third brightest star in the night sky. It is the closest star to the solar system. Binary: A and B |
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| Carbon Dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. It is given off by living organisms, combustion, fermentation, etc. and is absorbed by plants. |
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| A radiation dosage is the recommended maximum amount of radiation exposure which has been deemed safe for humans. The EPA limit is 1 mSv. 5 rem/year for an 18 year old male, 500 millirems during pregnancy. |
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| Time to Travel to the Moon |
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| Acceleration Due to Gravity |
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| 330 km (205 mi) - 435 km (270 mi) |
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| Pressurization of Space Suits |
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| 32.4 kPa (Pure-Oxygen Space Suit) |
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