1.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
NASA
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1963 photo showing Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb in background. They are discussing the
Mariner program, with a model presented.
NASA
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Seal of NASA
NASA
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At launch control for the May 28, 1964,
Saturn I SA-6 launch.
Wernher von Braun is at center.
NASA
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Mercury-Atlas 6 launch on February 20, 1962
2.
Ames Research Center
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Ames Research Center, also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in Californias Silicon Valley. It was founded as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics laboratory and that agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration on October 1,1958. NASA Ames is named in honor of Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist, at last estimate NASA Ames has over US$3.0 billion in capital equipment,2,300 research personnel and a US$860 million annual budget. Ames was founded to conduct research on the aerodynamics of propeller-driven aircraft, however, its role has expanded to encompass spaceflight. Ames plays a role in many NASA missions, Ames also develops tools for a safer, more efficient national airspace. The centers current director is Eugene Tu, the site is mission center for several key current missions and a major contributor to the new exploration focus as a participant in the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Although Ames is a NASA Research Center, and not a center, it has nevertheless been closely involved in a number of astronomy. The Pioneer programs eight successful missions from 1965 to 1978 were managed by Charles Hall at Ames. By 1972, it supported the bold flyby missions to Jupiter and Saturn with Pioneer 10 and those two missions were trail blazers for the planners of the more complex Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions, launched five years later. In 1978, the end of the program brought about a return to the solar system, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe. Lunar Prospector was the mission selected by NASA for full development. Based on Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer data, mission scientists have determined that there is indeed water ice in the craters of the Moon. The 11-pound GeneSat-1, carrying bacteria inside a laboratory, was launched on December 16,2006. The very small NASA satellite has proven that scientists can quickly design, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission to look for water on the moon was a secondary payload spacecraft. LCROSS began its trip to the moon on the rocket as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It launched in April 2009 on an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy Space Center, the Kepler mission is NASAs first mission capable of finding Earth-size and smaller planets. The Kepler mission will monitor the brightness of stars to find planets that pass in front of them during the planets orbits, during such passes or transits, the planets will slightly decrease the stars brightness. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is a joint venture of the U. S, the aircraft is supplied by the U. S. and the infrared telescope by Germany
Ames Research Center
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Aerial view of Moffett Field and Ames Research Center
Ames Research Center
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Hangar One, originally a US Navy
airship hangar, in Mountain View, California
Ames Research Center
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IBM 7090 mainframe computer at Ames in 1961. Smith DeFrance, Ames' founding director, is second from the left.
Ames Research Center
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One of the air intakes of the 80 by 120 foot wind tunnel (world's largest), located at NASA Ames Research Center.
3.
TRW Inc.
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TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software, TRW built many spacecraft, including Pioneer 1, Pioneer 10, and several space-based observatories. It was #57 on the Fortune 500 list, and had 122,258 employees, tRW’s roots were founded in 1901, and it lasted for more than a century until being acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002. Persons coming from TRW were important to build up corporations like SpaceX, in 1953, the company was recruited to lead the development of the United States first ICBM. Starting with the design by Convair, the multi-corporate team launched Atlas in 1957. It flew its full range in 1958, and was adapted to fly the Mercury astronauts into orbit, TRW also led development of the Titan missile, which was later adapted to fly the Gemini missions. The company served the US Air Force as systems engineers on all subsequent ICBM development efforts, in 1960, Congress spurred the formation of the non-profit Aerospace Corporation to provide systems engineering to the US government, but TRW continued to guide the ICBM efforts. TRW originated in 1901 with the Cleveland Cap Screw Company, founded by David Kurtz and their initial products were bolts with heads electrically welded to the shafts. In 1904, a welder named Charles E. Thompson adapted their process to making automobile engine valves, and, by 1915, Charles Thompson was named General Manager of the company, which became Thompson Products in 1926. Their experimental hollow sodium-cooled valves aided Charles Lindberghs solo flight across the Atlantic, in 1937, Thompson Motor Products bought J. A. Drake and Sons. The company made high performance valves that were used in racing engines of the day. Dale Drake bought the Offy engine design with his partner Louis Meyer in 1946 and won the Indianapolis 500 twenty-seven times, more than any other engine design. During the period leading up to World War II, through the end of the Korean war, Thompson Products was a key manufacturer of component parts for aircraft engines, including aircraft valves. The TAPCO plant, owned by the U. S. Government and it employed over 16,000 workers at the peak of WW II production. They grew frustrated with Howard Hughes’ management, and formed the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation in September 1953, the detonation of a thermonuclear bomb by the Soviet Union spurred Trevor Gardner to form the Teapot Committee in October 1953. Chaired by John von Neumann, its purpose was to study the development of ballistic missiles, Ramo and Wooldridge were committee members, and Ramo-Wooldridge Corp. became the lead contractor of the resulting ICBM development effort, reporting to the United States Air Force. With continued backing from Thompson Products, Ramo-Wooldridge diversified into computers and electronic components and they also produced scientific spacecraft such as Pioneer 1. Thompson Products and Ramo-Wooldridge merged in October 1958 to form Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. unofficially known as TRW, in February 1959, Jimmy Doolittle became Chairman of the Board of Space Technology Laboratories, the division which continued to support the Air Force ICBM efforts
TRW Inc.
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TRW Inc.
4.
Atlas-Centaur
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The Atlas-Centaur was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas D missile. Launches were conducted from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Convair, the manufacturer of the Atlas, developed the Centaur upper stage specifically for that booster, sharing its inflated balloon skin. It was also the first production rocket stage to liquid hydrogen. Despite high performance, LH2 nonetheless had problems because it had to be chilled at extremely low temperatures, however, the progress made during the aborted venture was picked up by Convair and others for rocket stage use. Although originally under ARPA supervision, Centaur was transferred to NASA in July 1959, however, the Air Force retained ultimate supervision in part because they intended to use Centaur for an ambitious network of military communications satellites known as ADVENT. A constellation of ten satellites would provide round-the-clock instant communications for the three branches of the US military. The first three would be launched on an Atlas-Agena, then the remainder on Centaur, ADVENT never got off the drawing board, but Centaur quickly found a use for several NASA planetary probe projects, namely Mariner and Surveyor. Centaur development was somewhat difficult by the insistence on modifying Atlas components rather than develop totally new ones. This was done for time and budget reasons and because it allowed the Centaur to be manufactured on the existing Atlas assembly line at Convair, the engines were manufactured by Pratt and Whitney. He preferred the use of a Saturn-Agena combo for planetary probes and this and lack of funds caused the project to drag on far longer than intended. Under original timetables, Centaur was to make its first flight in January 1961, in April, NASA Lunar and Planetary Programs director Oran Nicks suggested that it might be necessary to use Atlas-Agena for Mariner instead. By September, there was no launch date anywhere in sight while program costs rose higher and higher, the first Atlas-Centaur, Vehicle F-1, arrived at Cape Canaveral in October 1961 and was erected at the newly completed LC-36A, a pad built specifically for A/C flights. Flight plans amounted to more than a single burn with a partially fueled Centaur. The mission at last got under way on 8 May 1962, all went well until about T+53 seconds when the Centaur stage ruptured and disintegrated, taking the Atlas with it in a matter of seconds. It was unclear what had caused the failure at first, as tracking camera footage showed a large white cloud enveloping the booster followed by explosion of the entire launch vehicle. Scott Carpenters Mercury flight was only days away, and if the failure were caused by the Atlas, it could mean significant delays for that mission, which used a similar Atlas D derived booster. However, analysis of data and closer examination of the launch films quickly confirmed the Centaur as the source of trouble. The failure was determined to be caused by a panel that ripped off the Centaur during ascent, causing the LH2 to overheat
Atlas-Centaur
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An Atlas-Centaur launching
Surveyor 1
Atlas-Centaur
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Main articles
5.
Star 37
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The Star is a family of American solid-fuel rocket motor used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages. It is used almost exclusively as an upper stage, the Star 27 is a solid apogee kick motor. It burns HTPB fuel with an average rate of 0.0011 inches per second. When used on the Pegasus air-launch rocket payloads are capable of leaving Earth orbit, a modified version, designated Star 27H, was used in the launch of the IBEX spacecraft. The spacecraft had a mass of 105 kg by itself and together with its Star 27 motor,462 kg, the Star 27H helped it get to a higher orbit, beyond Earths magnetosphere. The Star 37 was first used as the engine for the Thor-Burner upper stage, the Burner I used the Thiokol FW-4 engine and the Burner 2 used the Thiokol. The -37 designation refers to the diameter of the fuel casing in inches, Thiokol had also manufactured other motors such as the Star-40. Internally, Thiokols designation was TE-M-364 for early versions, TE-M-714 for later ones, subtypes are given one or more letter suffixes after the diameter number, or a trailing number after the internal designation. Not surprisingly, the T prefix stands for Thiokol, and the letter refers to the company division that developed the rocket motor. In this case, M refers to the Magna, UT Division, E refers to the Elkton, MD division. The Star 37FM rocket motor was developed and qualified for use as an apogee kick motor on FLTSATCOM, the motor is a replacement for the Star 37E Delta, which has been discontinued. The Nozzle assembly uses a 3D carbon-carbon throat and an exit cone. Maximum propellant weight is 2350 pounds, while the motor has been qualified for propellant off-loading to 2257 pounds, the Star 37XFP rocket motor has been qualified as the orbit insertion motor for Rockwell Internationals Global Positioning Satellite, and as the apogee motor for the RCA SATCOM Ku-Band satellite. The Star 37XFP motor can be used as a replacement for the Star 37F motor, a spin-stablized or thrust-vectoring verion of Star 37 is used as the final stage of the Minotaur V launch vehicle. Thiokol Star-37 family The Star 48 is a type of rocket motor developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion, and is now manufactured by Orbital ATK. The 48 designation refers to the diameter of the fuel casing in inches, Thiokol had also manufactured other motors such as the Star 37. Internally, Thiokols designation was TE-M-711 for early versions, and TE-M-799 for later ones, subtypes are given one or more letter suffixes after the diameter number, or a trailing number after the internal designation. Not surprisingly, the T prefix stands for Thiokol, and the letter refers to the company division that developed the rocket motor
Star 37
6.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Commands 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida, CCAFS is the primary head of Americas Eastern Range with three launch pads currently active. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip provides a 10, 000-foot runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy, a number of American space exploration firsts were launched from CCAFS, including the first U. S. Earth satellite, first U. S. astronaut, first U. S. astronaut in orbit, first two-man U. S. spacecraft, first U. S. unmanned lunar landing, and first three-man U. S. spacecraft. The CCAFS area had used by the United States government to test missiles since 1949. On June 1,1948, the U. S. Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station to the U. S. Air Force, with USAF renaming the facility the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base on June 10,1949. On October 1,1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was transferred from the Air Materiel Command to the Air Force Division of the Joint Long Range Proving Ground. On May 17,1950, the base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base, in 1951, the Air Force established the Air Force Missile Test Center. Early American sub-orbital rocket flights were achieved at Cape Canaveral in 1956 and these flights occurred shortly after sub-orbital flights launched from White Sands Missile Range, such as the Viking 12 sounding rocket on February 4,1955. Following the Soviet Unions successful Sputnik 1, the US attempted its first launch of a satellite from Cape Canaveral on December 6,1957. However, the rocket carrying Vanguard TV3 blew up on the launch pad, NASA was founded in 1958, and Air Force crews launched missiles for NASA from the Cape, known then as Cape Canaveral Missile Annex. The row of Titan and Atlas launch pads along the coast came to be known as Missile Row in the 1960s, nASAs first manned spaceflight program was prepared for launch from Canaveral by U. S. Air Force crews. Mercurys objectives were to place a spacecraft in Earth orbit, investigate human performance and ability to function in space. Suborbital flights were launched by derivatives of the Armys Redstone missile from LC-5, Orbital flights were launched by derivatives of the Air Forces larger Atlas D missile from LC-14. The first American in orbit was John Glenn on February 20,1962, three more orbital flights followed through May 1963. Flight control for all Mercury missions was provided at the Mercury Control Center located at Canaveral near LC-14 and he had also convinced Gov. C. Farris Bryant to change the name of Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy and this resulted in some confusion in public perception, which conflated the two. This name was used through the Gemini and early Apollo programs, however, the geographical name change proved to be unpopular, owing to the historical longevity of Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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A
Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral, on July 24, 1950.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
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Alan Shepard watches Gus Grissom's
Liberty Bell 7 launch in the Mercury Control Center
7.
Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36
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Launch Complex 36 —formerly known as Space Launch Complex 36 from 1997 to 2010—is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County, Florida. It was used for Atlas launches by NASA and the US Air Force from 1962 until 2005, Blue Origin has leased the launch site since 2015 in order to build a new launch site for launching Blues orbital rockets. Orbital launches are expected to begin from LC36 no earlier than 2020, historically, the complex consisted of two launch pads, SLC-36A and SLC-36B, and was the launch site for the Pioneer, Surveyor, and Mariner probes in the 1960s and 1970s. There were a total of 68 and 77 launches from pads 36A and 36B, respectively, the Atlas rockets launched from Complex 36 were subsequently replaced by the Atlas V launch vehicle which launches from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral beginning in 2002. LC-36A was the scene of the biggest on-pad explosion in Cape history when Atlas-Centaur AC-5 fell back onto the pad on March 2,1965, the accident spurred NASA to complete work on LC-36B which had been abandoned when it was 90% finished. In March 2010, the USAF 45th Space Wing issued Real Property Licenses to Space Florida for Space Launch Complexes 36 and 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Moon Express leased the pad in February 2015 from Space Florida as a development and test site for its commercial lunar operations, as of 2016, orbital launches are expected to begin from LC-36 no earlier than 2020. The legacy Atlas-Centaur umbilical towers of both pads were demolished in 2006, the mobile service towers were both demolished in controlled explosions on June 16,2007. Tower B was demolished at 13,59 GMT and tower A followed twelve minutes later at 14,11, on September 15,2015, Blue Origin announced it would use Launch Complex 36 for launches of its orbital launch vehicle later in the decade. As of 2015, the first Blue launch from LC36 was planned for before 2020, as of October 2015, the pad design and configuration was not yet known. Blue broke ground for the facility to initiate construction activity on the site in June 2016, the New Glenn will be a very large 7. 0-meter -diameter vehicle. The first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 methane/oxygen engines producing 17.1 meganewtons total thrust at launch, the first stage will be reusable and is designed to land vertically. List of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island launch sites Patrick Air Force Base
Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36
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An
Atlas-Centaur at LC-36 prior to the launch of
Pioneer 10
Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36
Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36
8.
Jupiter
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Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity, the Romans named it after their god Jupiter. Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium and it may also have a rocky core of heavier elements, but like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface. Because of its rotation, the planets shape is that of an oblate spheroid. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence, a prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere, Jupiter has at least 67 moons, including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has a greater than that of the planet Mercury. Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter. In late February 2007, Jupiter was visited by the New Horizons probe, the latest probe to visit the planet is Juno, which entered into orbit around Jupiter on July 4,2016. Future targets for exploration in the Jupiter system include the probable ice-covered liquid ocean of its moon Europa, Earth and its neighbor planets may have formed from fragments of planets after collisions with Jupiter destroyed those super-Earths near the Sun. Astronomers have discovered nearly 500 planetary systems with multiple planets, Jupiter moving out of the inner Solar System would have allowed the formation of inner planets, including Earth. Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter and it is the largest of the four giant planets in the Solar System and hence its largest planet. It has a diameter of 142,984 km at its equator, the average density of Jupiter,1.326 g/cm3, is the second highest of the giant planets, but lower than those of the four terrestrial planets. Jupiters upper atmosphere is about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of gas molecules, a helium atom has about four times as much mass as a hydrogen atom, so the composition changes when described as the proportion of mass contributed by different atoms. Thus, Jupiters atmosphere is approximately 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, the atmosphere contains trace amounts of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds. There are also traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide, neon, oxygen, phosphine, the outermost layer of the atmosphere contains crystals of frozen ammonia. The interior contains denser materials - by mass it is roughly 71% hydrogen, 24% helium, through infrared and ultraviolet measurements, trace amounts of benzene and other hydrocarbons have also been found
Jupiter
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Jupiter in natural color, photographed by the
Cassini spacecraft in 2001
Jupiter
Jupiter
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Jupiter's diameter is one
order of magnitude smaller (×0.10045) than the Sun, and one order of magnitude larger (×10.9733) than the Earth. The Great Red Spot is roughly the same size as the Earth.
Jupiter
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This view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings was obtained by
Voyager 1 on February 25, 1979, when the spacecraft was 9.2 million km (5.7 million mi) from Jupiter. The white oval storm directly below the Great Red Spot is approximately the same diameter as Earth.
9.
Saturn
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Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with a radius about nine times that of Earth. Although it has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive, Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture, its astronomical symbol represents the gods sickle. Saturns interior is composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock. This core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. Saturn has a yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Saturns magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiters, the outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, higher than on Jupiter, sixty-two moons are known to orbit Saturn, of which fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of moonlets comprising the rings, Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core, Saturns rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid, that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator. Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%,60,268 km versus 54,364 km, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent. Saturn is the planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. Although Saturns core is considerably denser than water, the specific density of the planet is 0.69 g/cm3 due to the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times the Earths mass, while Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth, together, Jupiter and Saturn hold 92% of the total planetary mass in the Solar System. On 8 January 2015, NASA reported determining the center of the planet Saturn, the temperature, pressure, and density inside Saturn all rise steadily toward the core, which causes hydrogen to transition into a metal in the deeper layers. Standard planetary models suggest that the interior of Saturn is similar to that of Jupiter, having a rocky core surrounded by hydrogen. This core is similar in composition to the Earth, but more dense, in 2004, they estimated that the core must be 9–22 times the mass of the Earth, which corresponds to a diameter of about 25,000 km. This is surrounded by a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, followed by a liquid layer of helium-saturated molecular hydrogen that gradually transitions to a gas with increasing altitude
Saturn
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Saturn in natural color, photographed by
Cassini in 2004
Saturn
Saturn
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Composite image roughly comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth
Saturn
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Auroral lights at Saturn’s north pole.
10.
Robotic spacecraft
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A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft, usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to lower cost, in addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, many artificial satellites are robotic spacecraft, as are many landers and rovers. The first robotic spacecraft was launched by the Soviet Union on 22 July 1951, four other such flights were made through the fall of 1951. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was put into a 215-by-939-kilometer Earth orbit by the USSR) on 4 October 1957, on 3 November 1957, the USSR orbited Sputnik 2. Weighing 113 kilograms, Sputnik 2 carried the first living animal into orbit, since the satellite was not designed to detach from its launch vehicles upper stage, the total mass in orbit was 508.3 kilograms. In a close race with the Soviets, the United States launched its first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, into a 193-by-1, 373-nautical-mile orbit on 31 January 1958. Explorer I was a 80. 75-inch long by 6. 00-inch diameter cyllynder weighing 30.8 pounds, compared to Sputnik 1, a 58-centimeter sphere which weighed 83.6 kilograms. Explorer 1 carried sensors which confirmed the existence of the Van Allen belts, on 17 March 1958, the US orbited its second satellite, Vanguard 1, which was about the size of a grapefruit, and remains in a 360-by-2, 080-nautical-mile orbit as of 2016. Nine other countries have successfully launched satellites using their own vehicles, France, Australia, Japan and China, the United Kingdom, India, Israel, Iran. In spacecraft design, the United States Air Force considers a vehicle to consist of the mission payload, the bus provides physical structure, thermal control, electrical power, attitude control and telemetry, tracking and commanding. JPL divides the system of a spacecraft into subsystems. These include, This is the backbone structure. It, provides overall mechanical integrity of the spacecraft ensures spacecraft components are supported and can withstand launch loads This is sometimes referred to as the command, components in the telecommunications subsystem include radio antennas, transmitters and receivers. These may be used to communicate with stations on Earth. The supply of power on spacecraft generally come from photovoltaic cells or from a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Other components of the subsystem include batteries for storing power and distribution circuitry that connects components to the power sources, spacecraft are often protected from temperature fluctuations with insulation
Robotic spacecraft
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An artist's interpretation of the
MESSENGER spacecraft at Mercury
Robotic spacecraft
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AERCam Sprint released from the shuttle bay
Robotic spacecraft
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Departure shot of
Pluto by
New Horizons, showing Pluto's atmosphere backlit by the Sun.
Robotic spacecraft
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General
11.
Space probe
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A space probe is a robotic spacecraft that does not orbit the Earth, but, instead, explores further into outer space. A space probe may approach the Moon, travel through space, flyby, orbit, or land on other planetary bodies. Approximately fifteen missions are currently operational, once a probe has left the vicinity of Earth, its trajectory will likely take it along an orbit around the Sun similar to the Earths orbit. To reach another planet, the simplest practical method is a Hohmann transfer orbit, more complex techniques, such as gravitational slingshots, can be more fuel-efficient, though they may require the probe to spend more time in transit. Some high Delta-V missions can only be performed, within the limits of modern propulsion, a technique using very little propulsion, but requiring a considerable amount of time, is to follow a trajectory on the Interplanetary Transport Network. First man-made object to land on the Moon, or any other extra terrestrial surface. First mission to photograph the far side of the Moon, launched in 1959, first robotic sample return probe from the Moon. It was sent to the Moon on November 10,1970, first successful in-place analysis of another planet. It may have also been the first space probe to impact the surface of another planet, the Venera 7 probe was the first spacecraft to successfully soft land on another planet and to transmit data from there back to Earth. Upon its arrival at Mars on November 13,1971, Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit around another planet. Although, the spacecraft failed shortly after landing, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity surface and geology, and searched for clues to past water activity on Mars. They were each launched in 2003 and landed in 2004, communication with Spirit stopped on sol 2210. JPL continued to attempt to regain contact until May 24,2011, Opportunity arrived at Endeavour crater on 9 August 2011, at a landmark called Spirit Point named after its rover twin, after traversing 13 miles from Victoria crater, over a three-year period. As of January 26,2016, Opportunity has lasted for more than twelve years on Mars — although the rovers were intended to last only three months. The first dedicated missions to a comet, in this case and they dropped landers and balloons at Venus before their rendezvous with Halleys Comet. This Japanese probe was the first non-US, non-Soviet interplanetary probe, a second Japanese probe, it made ultraviolet wavelength observations of the comet. The first space probe to penetrate a comets coma and take images of its nucleus. First solar wind sample return probe from sun-earth L1, first sample return probe from a comet tail
Space probe
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A planned 1974 probe,
Pioneer H, on display in a museum.
Space probe
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The
Huygens landing site on
Titan
Space probe
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Photograph of
Voyager 1 /
Voyager 2
Space probe
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Artist's concept of
Pioneer 10 /
Pioneer 11
12.
Asteroid belt
–
The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets, the asteroid belt is also termed the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. About half the mass of the belt is contained in the four largest asteroids, Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately 4% that of the Moon, or 22% that of Pluto, and roughly twice that of Plutos moon Charon. Ceres, the belts only dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle, the asteroid material is so thinly distributed that numerous unmanned spacecraft have traversed it without incident. Nonetheless, collisions between large asteroids do occur, and these can form a family whose members have similar orbital characteristics. Individual asteroids within the belt are categorized by their spectra. The asteroid belt formed from the solar nebula as a group of planetesimals. Planetesimals are the precursors of the protoplanets. Between Mars and Jupiter, however, gravitational perturbations from Jupiter imbued the protoplanets with too much energy for them to accrete into a planet. Collisions became too violent, and instead of fusing together, the planetesimals, as a result,99. 9% of the asteroid belts original mass was lost in the first 100 million years of the Solar Systems history. Some fragments eventually found their way into the inner Solar System, Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about the Sun forms an orbital resonance with Jupiter. At these orbital distances, a Kirkwood gap occurs as they are swept into other orbits. Classes of small Solar System bodies in other regions are the objects, the centaurs, the Kuiper belt objects, the scattered disc objects, the sednoids. On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on Ceres, the detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding was unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are considered to sprout jets. According to one of the scientists, The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids. This pattern, now known as the Titius–Bode law, predicted the semi-major axes of the six planets of the provided one allowed for a gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
Asteroid belt
–
By far the largest object within the belt is
Ceres. The total mass of the asteroid belt is significantly less than
Pluto 's, and approximately twice that of Pluto's moon
Charon.
Asteroid belt
–
Sun Jupiter trojans Orbits of
planets
Asteroid belt
–
Giuseppe Piazzi, discoverer of
Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. For several decades after its discovery Ceres was known as a planet, after which it was reclassified as asteroid number 1. In 2006 it was recognized to be a dwarf planet.
Asteroid belt
–
951 Gaspra, the first asteroid imaged by a spacecraft, as viewed during
Galileo ' s 1991 flyby; colors are exaggerated
13.
Solar wind
–
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. This plasma consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with thermal energies between 1.5 and 10 keV. Embedded within the plasma is the interplanetary magnetic field. The solar wind varies in density, temperature and speed over time and its particles can escape the Suns gravity because of their high energy resulting from the high temperature of the corona, which in turn is a result of the coronal magnetic field. At a distance of more than a few radii from the sun. The flow of the wind is no longer supersonic at the termination shock. The Voyager 2 spacecraft crossed the shock more than five times between 30 August and 10 December 2007, Voyager 2 crossed the shock about a billion kilometers closer to the Sun than the 13.5 billion kilometer distance where Voyager 1 came upon the termination shock. The spacecraft moved outward through the shock into the heliosheath. Other related phenomena include the aurora, the tails of comets that always point away from the Sun. The existence of flowing outward from the Sun to the Earth was first suggested by British astronomer Richard C. In 1859, Carrington and Richard Hodgson independently made the first observation of what would later be called a solar flare, george FitzGerald later suggested that matter was being regularly accelerated away from the Sun and was reaching the Earth after several days. In 1910 British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington essentially suggested the existence of the wind, without naming it. The idea never caught on even though Eddington had also made a similar suggestion at a Royal Institution address the previous year. In the latter case, he postulated that the material consisted of electrons while in his study of Comet Morehouse he supposed them to be ions. The first person to suggest that the material consisted of both ions and electrons was Kristian Birkeland. His geomagnetic surveys showed that activity was nearly uninterrupted. In 1916, Birkeland proposed that, From a physical point of view it is most probable that solar rays are neither exclusively negative nor positive rays, in other words, the solar wind consists of both negative electrons and positive ions. Three years later in 1919, Frederick Lindemann also suggested that particles of both polarities, protons as well as electrons, come from the Sun
Solar wind
–
Ulysses measures the variable speed of the slow and fast solar wind at 400 and 750 km/s, respectively.
Solar wind
–
Laboratory simulation of the magnetosphere's influence on the Solar Wind; these auroral-like
Birkeland currents were created in a
terrella, a magnetised anode globe in an evacuated chamber.
Solar wind
–
Apollo's
SWC experiment
Solar wind
–
Internal structure
14.
Cosmic ray
–
Cosmic rays are high-energy radiation, mainly originating outside the Solar System. Upon impact with the Earths atmosphere, cosmic rays can produce showers of particles that sometimes reach the surface. Composed primarily of protons and atomic nuclei, they are of mysterious origin. Data from the Fermi space telescope have been interpreted as evidence that a significant fraction of cosmic rays originate from the supernovae explosions of stars. Active galactic nuclei probably also produce cosmic rays, the term ray is a historical accident, as cosmic rays were at first, and wrongly, thought to be mostly electromagnetic radiation. In current usage, the cosmic ray almost exclusively refers to massive particles. Massive particles – those that have rest mass – can gain additional, kinetic, mass-energy when they are moving, through this process, some particles acquire tremendously high mass-energies. These are significantly higher than the energy of even the highest-energy photons detected to date. The energy of the massless photon depends solely on frequency, not speed, at the higher end of the energy spectrum, relativistic kinetic energy is the main source of the mass-energy of cosmic rays. Hence, the highest-energy detected fermionic cosmic ray was around 3×106 times more energetic than the highest-energy detected cosmic photons, of primary cosmic rays, which originate outside of Earths atmosphere, about 99% are the nuclei of well-known atoms, and about 1% are solitary electrons. Of the nuclei, about 90% are simple protons, i. e. hydrogen nuclei, 9% are alpha particles, identical to helium nuclei, a very small fraction are stable particles of antimatter, such as positrons or antiprotons. The precise nature of this fraction is an area of active research. An active search from Earth orbit for anti-alpha particles has failed to detect them, one can show that such enormous energies might be achieved by means of the Centrifugal mechanism of acceleration in Active galactic nuclei. At 50 J, the highest-energy ultra-high-energy cosmic rays have energies comparable to the energy of a 90-kilometre-per-hour baseball. As a result of discoveries, there has been interest in investigating cosmic rays of even greater energies. Most cosmic rays, however, do not have such extreme energies, however, his paper published in Physikalische Zeitschrift was not widely accepted. In 1911 Domenico Pacini observed simultaneous variations of the rate of ionization over a lake, over the sea, Pacini concluded from the decrease of radioactivity underwater that a certain part of the ionization must be due to sources other than the radioactivity of the Earth. In 1912, Victor Hess carried three enhanced-accuracy Wulf electrometers to an altitude of 5300 meters in a balloon flight
Cosmic ray
–
Pacini makes a measurement in 1910.
Cosmic ray
–
Cosmic ray flux versus particle energy
Cosmic ray
–
Increase of ionization with altitude as measured by Hess in 1912 (left) and by Kolhörster (right)
Cosmic ray
–
Hess lands after his balloon flight in 1912.
15.
Exploration of Saturn
–
The exploration of Saturn has been solely performed by unmanned probes. Three missions were flybys, which formed a foundation of knowledge about the system. The Cassini–Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997, the Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit since 2004, Saturn was first visited by Pioneer 11 in September 1979. It flew within 20,000 km of the top of the cloud layer. Low-resolution images were acquired of the planet and a few of its moons, Pioneer 11 also measured the temperature of Titan at 250 K. In November 1980, the Voyager 1 probe visited the Saturn system and it sent back the first high-resolution images of the planet, rings, and satellites. Surface features of various moons were seen for the first time, because of the earlier discovery of a thick atmosphere on Titan, the Voyager controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory elected for Voyager 1 to make a close approach of Titan. This greatly increased knowledge of the atmosphere of the moon, but also proved that Titans atmosphere is impenetrable in visible wavelengths, so no surface details were seen. The flyby also changed the spacecrafts trajectory out from the plane of the Solar System which prevented Voyager 1 from completing the Planetary Grand Tour of Uranus, Neptune, almost a year later, in August 1981, Voyager 2 continued the study of the Saturn system. More close-up images of Saturns moons were acquired, as well as evidence of changes in the rings, Voyager 2 probed Saturns upper atmosphere with its radar, to measure temperature and density profiles. Voyager 2 found that at the highest levels Saturns temperature was 70 K, the north pole was found to be 10 K cooler, although this may be seasonal. Unfortunately, during the flyby, the probes turnable camera platform stuck for a couple of days, Saturns gravity was used to direct the spacecrafts trajectory towards Uranus. The probes discovered and confirmed several new satellites orbiting near or within the planets rings and they also discovered the small Maxwell and Keeler gaps in the rings. On July 1,2004, the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft performed the SOI maneuver, before the SOI, Cassini had already studied the system extensively. In June 2004, it had conducted a close flyby of Phoebe, sending back high-resolution images, the orbiter completed two Titan flybys before releasing the Huygens probe on December 25,2004. Huygens descended onto the surface of Titan on January 14,2005, sending a flood of data during the atmospheric descent, during 2005 Cassini conducted multiple flybys of Titan and icy satellites. On March 10,2006, NASA reported that the Cassini probe found evidence of water reservoirs that erupt in geysers on Saturns moon Enceladus. On September 20,2006, a Cassini probe photograph revealed a previously undiscovered planetary ring, outside the main rings of Saturn
Exploration of Saturn
–
Artwork utilizing exploration data, as revealed in "Sternstunden" in Oberhausen
Exploration of Saturn
–
Pioneer 11 image of Saturn.
Exploration of Saturn
–
Saturn eclipses the Sun, as seen from Cassini.
Exploration of Saturn
–
Missions to Saturn face competition from missions to other Solar System bodies
16.
Exploration of Jupiter
–
The exploration of Jupiter has been conducted via close observations by automated spacecraft. It began with the arrival of Pioneer 10 into the Jovian system in 1973 and these probes make Jupiter the most visited of the Solar Systems outer planets as all missions to the outer Solar System have used Jupiter flybys to reduce fuel requirements and travel time. On 5 July 2016, spacecraft Juno arrived and entered the planets orbit—the second craft ever to do so, sending a craft to Jupiter entails many technical difficulties, especially due to the probes large fuel requirements and the effects of the planets harsh radiation environment. The first spacecraft to visit Jupiter was Pioneer 10 in 1973, aside from taking the first close-up pictures of the planet, the probes discovered its magnetosphere and its largely fluid interior. Ulysses further studied Jupiters magnetosphere in 1992 and then again in 2000, the Cassini probe approached the planet in 2000 and took very detailed images of its atmosphere. The New Horizons spacecraft passed by Jupiter in 2007 and made improved measurements of its and its satellites parameters, the Galileo spacecraft was the first to have entered orbit around Jupiter, arriving in 1995 and studying the planet until 2003. It also discovered a field around Ganymede. As it approached Jupiter, it witnessed the impact of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. In December 1995, it sent a probe into the Jovian atmosphere. In July 2016, the Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011, completed its orbital insertion maneuver successfully, JUICE is proposed to be launched in 2022. Flights from Earth to other planets in the Solar System have an energy cost. It requires almost the same amount of energy for a spacecraft to reach Jupiter from Earths orbit as it does to lift it into orbit in the first place, in astrodynamics, this energy expenditure is defined by the net change in the spacecrafts velocity, or delta-v. The energy needed to reach Jupiter from an Earth orbit requires a delta-v of about 9 km/s, ion thrusters capable of a delta-v of more than 10 kilometers/s were used on the Dawn spacecraft. This is more than enough delta-v to do a Jupiter fly-by mission from an orbit of the same radius as that of Earth without gravity assist. A major problem in sending space probes to Jupiter is that the planet has no solid surface on which to land, any probes descending into the atmosphere are eventually crushed by the immense pressures within Jupiter. Another major issue is the amount of radiation to which a probe is subjected. The subsequent and far more technologically advanced Voyager spacecraft had to be redesigned to cope with the radiation levels, over the eight years the Galileo spacecraft orbited the planet, the probes radiation dose far exceeded its design specifications, and its systems failed on several occasions. The radiation also caused shifts in Galileos ultra-stable quartz oscillator
Exploration of Jupiter
–
Jupiter as seen by the space probe
Cassini. This is the most detailed global color portrait of Jupiter ever assembled.
Exploration of Jupiter
–
Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter.
Exploration of Jupiter
–
The most detailed map of Jupiter ever produced was taken by Cassini. This projection shows the South pole at the center, and the equator at the edge.
Exploration of Jupiter
–
A sequence of
Galileo images taken several seconds apart shows the appearance of the fireball appearing on the dark side of Jupiter from one of the fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 hitting the planet.
17.
Escape velocity
–
The escape velocity from Earth is about 11.186 km/s at the surface. More generally, escape velocity is the speed at which the sum of a kinetic energy. With escape velocity in a direction pointing away from the ground of a massive body, once escape velocity is achieved, no further impulse need be applied for it to continue in its escape. When given a speed V greater than the speed v e. In these equations atmospheric friction is not taken into account, escape velocity is only required to send a ballistic object on a trajectory that will allow the object to escape the gravity well of the mass M. The existence of escape velocity is a consequence of conservation of energy, by adding speed to the object it expands the possible places that can be reached until with enough energy they become infinite. For a given gravitational potential energy at a position, the escape velocity is the minimum speed an object without propulsion needs to be able to escape from the gravity. Escape velocity is actually a speed because it does not specify a direction, no matter what the direction of travel is, the simplest way of deriving the formula for escape velocity is to use conservation of energy. Imagine that a spaceship of mass m is at a distance r from the center of mass of the planet and its initial speed is equal to its escape velocity, v e. At its final state, it will be a distance away from the planet. The same result is obtained by a calculation, in which case the variable r represents the radial coordinate or reduced circumference of the Schwarzschild metric. All speeds and velocities measured with respect to the field, additionally, the escape velocity at a point in space is equal to the speed that an object would have if it started at rest from an infinite distance and was pulled by gravity to that point. In common usage, the point is on the surface of a planet or moon. On the surface of the Earth, the velocity is about 11.2 km/s. However, at 9,000 km altitude in space, it is less than 7.1 km/s. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the escaping object and it does not matter if the mass is 1 kg or 1,000 kg, what differs is the amount of energy required. For an object of mass m the energy required to escape the Earths gravitational field is GMm / r, a related quantity is the specific orbital energy which is essentially the sum of the kinetic and potential energy divided by the mass. An object has reached escape velocity when the orbital energy is greater or equal to zero
Escape velocity
–
Luna 1, launched in 1959, was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth (see below table).
Escape velocity
–
General
18.
Solar System
–
The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets, of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons, two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury. The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast majority of the mass is in the Sun. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being composed of rock. The four outer planets are giant planets, being more massive than the terrestrials. All planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a flat disc called the ecliptic. The Solar System also contains smaller objects, the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal. Beyond Neptunes orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc, which are populations of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices, within these populations are several dozen to possibly tens of thousands of objects large enough that they have been rounded by their own gravity. Such objects are categorized as dwarf planets, identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceres and the trans-Neptunian objects Pluto and Eris. In addition to two regions, various other small-body populations, including comets, centaurs and interplanetary dust clouds. Six of the planets, at least four of the dwarf planets, each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun, the heliopause is the point at which pressure from the solar wind is equal to the opposing pressure of the interstellar medium, it extends out to the edge of the scattered disc. The Oort cloud, which is thought to be the source for long-period comets, the Solar System is located in the Orion Arm,26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. For most of history, humanity did not recognize or understand the concept of the Solar System, the invention of the telescope led to the discovery of further planets and moons. The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99. 86% of the known mass. The Suns four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the mass, with Jupiter. The remaining objects of the Solar System together comprise less than 0. 002% of the Solar Systems total mass, most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earths orbit, known as the ecliptic
Solar System
–
The
Sun and
planets of the Solar System (distances not to scale)
Solar System
–
Solar System
Solar System
–
Andreas Cellarius 's illustration of the Copernican system, from the Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660)
Solar System
–
The eight planets of the Solar System (by decreasing size) are
Jupiter,
Saturn,
Uranus,
Neptune,
Earth,
Venus,
Mars and
Mercury.
19.
Pioneer 10
–
Pioneer 10 is an American space probe, launched in 1972 and weighing 258 kilograms, that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. Thereafter, Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to escape velocity from the Solar System. This space exploration project was conducted by the NASA Ames Research Center in California, Pioneer 10 was assembled around a hexagonal bus with a 2.74 meters diameter parabolic dish high-gain antenna, and the spacecraft was spin stabilized around the axis of the antenna. Its electric power was supplied by four radioisotope thermoelectric generators that provided a combined 155 watts at launch and it was launched on March 2,1972, by an Atlas-Centaur expendable vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Between July 15,1972, and February 15,1973, photography of Jupiter began November 6,1973, at a range of 25,000,000 kilometers, and a total of about 500 images were transmitted. The closest approach to the planet was on December 4,1973, radio communications were lost with Pioneer 10 on January 23,2003, because of the loss of electric power for its radio transmitter, with the probe at a distance of 12 billion kilometers from Earth. An advocacy group named the Outer Space Panel and chaired by American space scientist James A. Van Allen, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center put together a proposal for a pair of Galactic Jupiter Probes that would pass through the asteroid belt and visit Jupiter. These were to be launched in 1972 and 1973 during favorable windows that occurred only a few weeks every 13 months, Launch during other time intervals would have been more costly in terms of propellant requirements. Approved by NASA in February 1969, the spacecraft were designated Pioneer F and Pioneer G before launch, later they were named Pioneer 10. They formed part of the Pioneer program, a series of United States unmanned space missions launched between 1958 and 1978 and this model was the first in the series to be designed for exploring the outer Solar System. More than 150 scientific experiments were proposed for the missions, the experiments to be carried on the spacecraft were selected in a series of planning sessions during the 1960s, then were finalized by early 1970. NASA Ames Research Center, rather than Goddard, was selected to manage the project as part of the Pioneer program, the Ames Research Center, under the direction of Charles F. Hall, was chosen because of its previous experience with spin-stabilized spacecraft. The requirements called for a small, lightweight spacecraft which was magnetically clean and it was to use spacecraft modules that had already been proven in the Pioneer 6 through 9 missions. In February 1970, Ames awarded a combined $380 million contract to TRW for building both of the Pioneer 10 and 11 vehicles, bypassing the usual bidding process to save time, B. J. OBrien and Herb Lassen led the TRW team that assembled the spacecraft. Design and construction of the spacecraft required an estimated 25 million man-hours, to meet the schedule, the first launch would need to take place between February 29 and March 17 so that it could arrive at Jupiter in November 1974. The encounter trajectory for Pioneer 10 was selected to maximize the information returned about the environment around Jupiter. It would come within three times the radius of the planet, which was thought to be the closest it could approach. The trajectory chosen would give the spacecraft a good view of the sunlit side, the Pioneer 10 bus measured 36 centimeters deep and with six 76-centimeter long panels forming the hexagonal structure
Pioneer 10
–
Artist's impression of Pioneer 10 's flyby of
Jupiter
Pioneer 10
–
Pioneer 10 in the final stages of construction
Pioneer 10
–
Pioneer 10 on a Star-37E kick motor just prior to being encapsulated for launch
Pioneer 10
–
Two of the SNAP-19 RTGs mounted on an extension boom
20.
Outer Solar System
–
The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets, of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons, two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury. The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast majority of the mass is in the Sun. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being composed of rock. The four outer planets are giant planets, being more massive than the terrestrials. All planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a flat disc called the ecliptic. The Solar System also contains smaller objects, the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal. Beyond Neptunes orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc, which are populations of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices, within these populations are several dozen to possibly tens of thousands of objects large enough that they have been rounded by their own gravity. Such objects are categorized as dwarf planets, identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceres and the trans-Neptunian objects Pluto and Eris. In addition to two regions, various other small-body populations, including comets, centaurs and interplanetary dust clouds. Six of the planets, at least four of the dwarf planets, each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun, the heliopause is the point at which pressure from the solar wind is equal to the opposing pressure of the interstellar medium, it extends out to the edge of the scattered disc. The Oort cloud, which is thought to be the source for long-period comets, the Solar System is located in the Orion Arm,26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. For most of history, humanity did not recognize or understand the concept of the Solar System, the invention of the telescope led to the discovery of further planets and moons. The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99. 86% of the known mass. The Suns four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the mass, with Jupiter. The remaining objects of the Solar System together comprise less than 0. 002% of the Solar Systems total mass, most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earths orbit, known as the ecliptic
Outer Solar System
–
The
Sun and
planets of the Solar System (distances not to scale)
Outer Solar System
–
Solar System
Outer Solar System
–
Andreas Cellarius 's illustration of the Copernican system, from the Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660)
Outer Solar System
–
The eight planets of the Solar System (by decreasing size) are
Jupiter,
Saturn,
Uranus,
Neptune,
Earth,
Venus,
Mars and
Mercury.
21.
Atmosphere of Jupiter
–
The atmosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System. It is mostly made of hydrogen and helium in roughly solar proportions, other chemical compounds are present only in small amounts and include methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide. Although water is thought to reside deep in the atmosphere, its directly measured concentration is very low, the nitrogen, sulfur, and noble gas abundances in Jupiters atmosphere exceed solar values by a factor of about three. The atmosphere of Jupiter lacks a lower boundary and gradually transitions into the liquid interior of the planet. From lowest to highest, the layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. Each layer has characteristic temperature gradients, the lowest layer, the troposphere, has a complicated system of clouds and hazes, comprising layers of ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide and water. The upper ammonia clouds visible at Jupiters surface are organized in a dozen zonal bands parallel to the equator and are bounded by zonal atmospheric flows known as jets. The bands alternate in color, the bands are called belts. Zones, which are colder than belts, correspond to upwellings, the zones lighter color is believed to result from ammonia ice, what gives the belts their darker colors is not known with certainty. The origins of the structure and jets are not well understood. The shallow model holds that they are surface phenomena overlaying a stable interior, in the deep model, the bands and jets are just surface manifestations of deep circulation in Jupiters mantle of molecular hydrogen, which is organized into cylinders. The Jovian atmosphere shows a range of active phenomena, including band instabilities, vortices, storms. The vortices reveal themselves as red, white or brown spots. The largest two spots are the Great Red Spot and Oval BA, which is also red and these two and most of the other large spots are anticyclonic. Smaller anticyclones tend to be white, vortices are thought to be relatively shallow structures with depths not exceeding several hundred kilometers. Located in the hemisphere, the GRS is the largest known vortex in the Solar System. It could engulf two or three Earths and has existed for at least three hundred years, Oval BA, south of GRS, is a red spot a third the size of GRS that formed in 2000 from the merging of three white ovals. Jupiter has powerful storms, often accompanied by lightning strikes, the storms are a result of moist convection in the atmosphere connected to the evaporation and condensation of water
Atmosphere of Jupiter
–
The most detailed map of Jupiter ever produced; taken by
Cassini
Atmosphere of Jupiter
–
Cloud pattern on Jupiter in 2000.
Atmosphere of Jupiter
–
Images also reveal a rare wave structure in the planet's atmosphere.
Atmosphere of Jupiter
22.
Atmosphere of Saturn
–
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with a radius about nine times that of Earth. Although it has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive, Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture, its astronomical symbol represents the gods sickle. Saturns interior is composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock. This core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. Saturn has a yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Saturns magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiters, the outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, higher than on Jupiter, sixty-two moons are known to orbit Saturn, of which fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of moonlets comprising the rings, Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core, Saturns rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid, that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator. Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%,60,268 km versus 54,364 km, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, the other giant planets in the Solar System, are also oblate but to a lesser extent. Saturn is the planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. Although Saturns core is considerably denser than water, the specific density of the planet is 0.69 g/cm3 due to the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times the Earths mass, while Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth, together, Jupiter and Saturn hold 92% of the total planetary mass in the Solar System. On 8 January 2015, NASA reported determining the center of the planet Saturn, the temperature, pressure, and density inside Saturn all rise steadily toward the core, which causes hydrogen to transition into a metal in the deeper layers. Standard planetary models suggest that the interior of Saturn is similar to that of Jupiter, having a rocky core surrounded by hydrogen. This core is similar in composition to the Earth, but more dense, in 2004, they estimated that the core must be 9–22 times the mass of the Earth, which corresponds to a diameter of about 25,000 km. This is surrounded by a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, followed by a liquid layer of helium-saturated molecular hydrogen that gradually transitions to a gas with increasing altitude
Atmosphere of Saturn
–
Saturn in natural color, photographed by
Cassini in 2004
Atmosphere of Saturn
–
Composite image roughly comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth
Atmosphere of Saturn
–
Auroral lights at Saturn’s north pole.
Atmosphere of Saturn
–
A global storm girdles the planet in 2011. The head of the storm (bright area) passes the tail circling around the left limb.
23.
Radio occultation
–
Radio occultation is a remote sensing technique used for measuring the physical properties of a planetary atmosphere or ring system. Atmospheric radio occultation relies on the detection of a change in a signal as it passes through a planets atmosphere. When electromagnetic radiation passes through the atmosphere, it is refracted, the magnitude of the refraction depends on the gradient of refractivity normal to the path, which in turn depends on the density gradient. The effect is most pronounced when the radiation traverses a long atmospheric limb path, at radio frequencies the amount of bending cannot be measured directly, instead the bending can be calculated using the Doppler shift of the signal given the geometry of the emitter and receiver. The amount of bending can be related to the index by using an Abel transform on the formula relating bending angle to refractivity. In the case of the neutral atmosphere information on the temperature, pressure. GNSS or GPS radio occultation is a type of radio occultation relies on radio transmissions from GPS, or more generally from GNSS. This is a new technique for performing atmospheric measurements. It is used as a forecasting tool, and could also be harnessed in monitoring climate change. The technique involves a low-Earth orbit satellite receiving a signal from a GPS satellite, the signal has to pass through the atmosphere and gets refracted along the way. The magnitude of the refraction depends on the temperature and water vapor concentration in the atmosphere, GPS Radio occultation amounts to an almost instantaneous depiction of the atmospheric state. The relative position between the GPS satellite and the low-Earth orbit satellite changes over time, allowing for a vertical scanning of successive layers of the atmosphere, GPSRO observations can also be conducted from aircraft. Current missions include, REX on New Horizons For past missions, see Special, WhatLinksHere/Radio occultation
Radio occultation
–
Radio occultation analysis of signal delay by the tamdem
FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC used as
atmospheric sounding.
24.
Saturnian system
–
The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets less than 1 kilometer across to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has 62 moons with confirmed orbits,53 of which have names and only 13 of which have larger than 50 kilometers. Seven Saturnian moons are large enough to be ellipsoidal in shape, twenty-four of Saturns moons are regular satellites, they have prograde orbits not greatly inclined to Saturns equatorial plane. They include the seven satellites, four small moons that exist in a trojan orbit with larger moons. Two other known regular satellites orbit within gaps in Saturns rings, the relatively large Hyperion is locked in a resonance with Titan. The remaining regular moons orbit near the edge of the A Ring, within G Ring. The regular satellites are traditionally named after Titans and Titanesses or other associated with the mythological Saturn. The remaining 38, all small except one, are irregular satellites, whose orbits are farther from Saturn, have high inclinations. These moons are probably captured minor planets, or debris from the breakup of such bodies after they were captured, the irregular satellites have been classified by their orbital characteristics into the Inuit, Norse, and Gallic groups, and their names are chosen from the corresponding mythologies. The largest of the moons is Phoebe, the ninth moon of Saturn. The rings of Saturn are made up of objects ranging in size from microscopic to moonlets hundreds of meters across, before the advent of telescopic photography, eight moons of Saturn were discovered by direct observation using optical telescopes. Saturns largest moon, Titan, was discovered in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens using a 57-millimeter objective lens on a telescope of his own design. Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus were discovered between 1671 and 1684 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Mimas and Enceladus were discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Hyperion was discovered in 1848 by W. C, the use of long-exposure photographic plates made possible the discovery of additional moons. The first to be discovered in this manner, Phoebe, was found in 1899 by W. H. Pickering, in 1966 the tenth satellite of Saturn was discovered by Audouin Dollfus, when the rings were observed edge-on near an equinox. A few years later it was realized that all observations of 1966 could only be explained if another satellite had been present and this object is now known as Epimetheus, the eleventh moon of Saturn. It shares the orbit with Janus—the only known example of co-orbitals in the Solar System. In 1980 three additional Saturnian moons were discovered from the ground and later confirmed by the Voyager probes and they are trojan moons Dione, Tethys
Saturnian system
–
Saturn, its rings and major icy moons—from Mimas to Rhea
Saturnian system
–
Images of several moons of Saturn. From left to right: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea; Titan in the background; Iapetus (top) and irregularly shaped Hyperion (bottom). Some small moons are also shown. All to scale.
Saturnian system
–
Saturn (
overexposed) and the moons Iapetus, Titan, Dione, Hyperion, and Rhea viewed through a 12.5-inch telescope
Saturnian system
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Four moons of Saturn can be seen on this image by the Cassini spacecraft: Huge Titan and Dione at the bottom, small Prometheus (under the rings) and tiny Telesto above center.
25.
Voyager Program
–
The Voyager program is a continuing American scientific program that employs two robotic probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, to study the outer Solar System. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of an alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Their mission has been extended three times, and both continue to collect and relay useful scientific data. Neither Uranus nor Neptune has been visited by any other than Voyager 2. On August 25,2012, data from Voyager 1 indicated that it had become the first human-made object to enter space, traveling further than anyone, or anything. As of 2013, Voyager 1 was moving with a velocity of 17 kilometers per second relative to the Sun, Data and photographs collected by the Voyagers cameras, magnetometers, and other instruments revealed previously unknown details about each of the giant planets and their moons. Close-up images from the spacecraft charted Jupiter’s complex cloud forms, winds, saturn’s rings were found to have enigmatic braids, kinks, and spokes and to be accompanied by myriad ringlets. At Uranus Voyager 2 discovered a magnetic field around the planet and 10 additional moons. Its flyby of Neptune uncovered three complete rings and six hitherto unknown moons as well as a magnetic field and complex. Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to have visited the ice giants, the two Voyager space probes were originally conceived as part of the Mariner program, and they were thus initially named Mariner 11 and Mariner 12. The Voyager Program was similar to the Planetary Grand Tour planned during the late 1960s, the Grand Tour would take advantage of an alignment of the outer planets discovered by Gary Flandro, an aerospace engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This alignment, which occurs once every 175 years, would occur in the late 1970s and make it possible to use gravitational assists to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The Planetary Grand Tour was to several pairs of probes to fly by all the outer planets along various trajectories, including Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto. Limited funding ended the Grand Tour program, but elements were incorporated into the Voyager Program, Voyager 2 was the first to launch. Its trajectory was designed to allow flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and this encounter sent Voyager 1 out of the plane of the ecliptic, ending its planetary science mission. Had Voyager 1 been unable to perform the Titan flyby, the trajectory of Voyager 2 could have altered to explore Titan, forgoing any visit to Uranus. Voyager 1 was not launched on a trajectory that would have allowed it to continue to Uranus and Neptune, but could have continued from Saturn to Pluto without exploring Titan. The New Horizons probe, which had a higher velocity than Voyager 1, is traveling more slowly due to the extra speed Voyager 1 gained from its flybys of Jupiter
Voyager Program
–
Montage of planets and some moons the two Voyager spacecraft have visited and studied
Voyager Program
–
This diagram about the heliosphere was released on June 28, 2013 and incorporates results from the Voyager spacecraft.
Voyager Program
–
Humanity's Farthest Journey
Voyager Program
–
Probes
26.
Pioneer program
–
The Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that were designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 carry a golden plaque, depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, should any extraterrestrials find them someday. Credit for naming the first probe has been attributed to Stephen A. Saliga, while he was at a briefing, the spacecraft was described to him as a lunar-orbiting vehicle with an infrared scanning device. Saliga thought the title too long and lacked theme for an exhibit design, the earliest missions were attempts to achieve Earths escape velocity, simply to show it was feasible and study the Moon. This included the first launch by NASA which was formed from the old NACA and these missions were carried out by the US Air Force and Army. Most missions here are listed with their most recognised name, while successful, the missions returned much poorer images than the Voyager program probes would five years later. In 1978, the end of the program saw a return to the inner Solar System, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe, the new missions were numbered from Pioneer 6.8 AU distance to the Sun. Their orbital periods are slightly shorter than Earths. Pioneer 7 and Pioneer 8 are in orbits with 1.1 AU distance to the Sun. Their orbital periods are slightly longer than Earths. Since the probes orbital periods differ from that of the Earth, from time to time, the probes can sense parts of the Sun several days before the Suns rotation reveals it to ground-based Earth orbiting observatories. If a powerful solar magnetic storm is formed, they can warn Earth in advance, Pioneer 10 – Jupiter, interstellar medium, launched March 1972 Pioneer 11 – Jupiter, Saturn, interstellar medium, launched April 1973 Pioneer H – identical to Pioneers 10 and 11. Proposed out-of-the-ecliptic mission for 1974, but was not built
Pioneer program
–
Pioneer 10, undergoing construction in 1971. Pioneer 10 and
11 are the most famous probes in the Pioneer program, the first probes to visit the
outer planets, and the first to go beyond the orbit of
Pluto.
Pioneer program
–
The
Pioneer plaque attached to Pioneers 10 and 11
Pioneer program
–
Artist's conception of the Pioneer 6–9 spacecraft
Pioneer program
–
Artist's conception of the Pioneer Venus spacecraft
27.
NASA Ames Research Center
–
Ames Research Center, also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in Californias Silicon Valley. It was founded as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics laboratory and that agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration on October 1,1958. NASA Ames is named in honor of Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist, at last estimate NASA Ames has over US$3.0 billion in capital equipment,2,300 research personnel and a US$860 million annual budget. Ames was founded to conduct research on the aerodynamics of propeller-driven aircraft, however, its role has expanded to encompass spaceflight. Ames plays a role in many NASA missions, Ames also develops tools for a safer, more efficient national airspace. The centers current director is Eugene Tu, the site is mission center for several key current missions and a major contributor to the new exploration focus as a participant in the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Although Ames is a NASA Research Center, and not a center, it has nevertheless been closely involved in a number of astronomy. The Pioneer programs eight successful missions from 1965 to 1978 were managed by Charles Hall at Ames. By 1972, it supported the bold flyby missions to Jupiter and Saturn with Pioneer 10 and those two missions were trail blazers for the planners of the more complex Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions, launched five years later. In 1978, the end of the program brought about a return to the solar system, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe. Lunar Prospector was the mission selected by NASA for full development. Based on Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer data, mission scientists have determined that there is indeed water ice in the craters of the Moon. The 11-pound GeneSat-1, carrying bacteria inside a laboratory, was launched on December 16,2006. The very small NASA satellite has proven that scientists can quickly design, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission to look for water on the moon was a secondary payload spacecraft. LCROSS began its trip to the moon on the rocket as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It launched in April 2009 on an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy Space Center, the Kepler mission is NASAs first mission capable of finding Earth-size and smaller planets. The Kepler mission will monitor the brightness of stars to find planets that pass in front of them during the planets orbits, during such passes or transits, the planets will slightly decrease the stars brightness. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is a joint venture of the U. S, the aircraft is supplied by the U. S. and the infrared telescope by Germany
NASA Ames Research Center
–
Aerial view of Moffett Field and Ames Research Center
NASA Ames Research Center
–
Ames Research Center
NASA Ames Research Center
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Hangar One, originally a US Navy
airship hangar, in Mountain View, California
NASA Ames Research Center
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IBM 7090 mainframe computer at Ames in 1961. Smith DeFrance, Ames' founding director, is second from the left.
28.
Pioneer H
–
Pioneer H is an unlaunched unmanned space mission that was part of the US Pioneer program for a planned 1974 launch. Had this mission and spacecraft been launched, it would have been designated Pioneer 12, as planning for the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions progressed, mission scientists found themselves desiring a third probe. In 1971, a formal study was proposed for a spacecraft to be launched to Jupiter in 1974. This was the first Out-Of-The-Ecliptic mission proposed, for Jupiter and solar observations, nASA/Ames Research Center would have managed the project. The NASA contractor TRW Systems Group would have constructed Pioneer H from the spare components intended for the Pioneer F and G probes. NASA management did not approve the proposal, and it was never launched in 1974. In 1976 NASA transferred the craft to the Smithsonian Institution, in January 1977, Pioneer H was moved to the National Air and Space Museum, where it was eventually displayed as a replica of Pioneer 10. The Pioneer H mission concept was realized with the Ulysses mission. The Juno mission, currently at Jupiter in an orbit, is taking the magnetometer observations of Jupiters poles that Pioneer H would have performed. Pioneer H hangs in the Milestones of Flight Gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, while described in official Smithsonian records as a replica, the spacecraft was considered fully functional by Pioneer mission planners. However, our case fell on deaf ears at NASA headquarters, and the spare spacecraft now hangs in the main gallery of the National Air and Space Museum, at 1 AU and zero ecliptic latitude
Pioneer H
–
Pioneer H at NASM, behind James A. Van Allen
Pioneer H
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Pioneer H (diagram), uses same design as Pioneer 10 and 11
Pioneer H
–
Pioneer H as it hangs in the National Air and Space Museum
Pioneer H
–
Orbiters
29.
National Air and Space Museum
–
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the NASM, is a museum in Washington, D. C. It holds the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1946 as the National Air Museum and opened its building on the National Mall near LEnfant Plaza in 1976. In 2014, the museum saw approximately 6.7 million visitors, the museum contains the Apollo 11 module, the Friendship 7 capsule which was flown by John Glenn, the Bell X-1 which broke the sound barrier, and the Wright brothers plane near the entrance. The National Air and Space Museum is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and spaceflight, as well as science and terrestrial geology. Almost all space and aircraft on display are originals or the original backup craft and it operates an annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, at Dulles International Airport, which opened in 2003 and itself encompasses 760,000 square feet. The museum currently conducts restoration of its collection at the Paul E. St, the mass of the museum is similar to the National Gallery of Art across the National Mall, and uses the same pink Tennessee marble as the National Gallery. Built by Gilbane Building Company, the museum was completed in 1976, the west glass wall of the building is used for the installation of airplanes, functioning as a giant door. The Air and Space Museum was originally called the National Air Museum when formed on August 12,1946 by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. The String fellow steam engine intended for aircraft was added to the collection in 1889, some pieces were on display in the Arts and Industries Building, some were stored in the Aircraft Building, a large temporary metal shed in the Smithsonian Castles south yard. Larger missiles and rockets were displayed outdoors in what was known as Rocket Row, the shed housed a large Martin bomber, a LePere fighter-bomber, and an Aeromarine 39B floatplane. Still, much of the collection remained in storage due to a lack of display space, the current Garber Facility was ceded to the Smithsonian by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1952 after the curator Paul E. Garber spotted the wooded area from the air. Bulldozers from Fort Belvoir and prefabricated buildings from the United States Navy kept the initial costs low, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opened in 2003, funded by a private donation. The museum also holds the mirror for the Hubble which. The Smithsonian has also promised the International Cometary Explorer, which is currently in a solar orbit that occasionally brings it back to Earth. The Air and Space Museum announced a renovation of its main entrance hall. The renovation to the hall was funded by a $30 million donation from Boeing. The gift, which will be paid over seven years, is the largest corporate donation ever received by the Air, Boeing had previously given donations totaling $58 million
National Air and Space Museum
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National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
–
The Milestones of Flight entrance hall of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Among the visible aircraft are
Spirit of St. Louis, the
Apollo 11 command module,
Space Ship One, and
Bell X-1.
National Air and Space Museum
–
Macchi C.202 &
P-51D Mustang
National Air and Space Museum
–
Ad Astra ("to the stars"), the sculpture at the entrance to the building
30.
Washington, D.C.
–
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
Washington, D.C.
–
Clockwise from top left:
Smithsonian Institution Building,
Rock Creek Park,
National Mall (including the
Lincoln Memorial in the foreground),
Howard Theatre and the
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Washington, D.C.
–
Map of the District of Columbia in 1835, prior to the
retrocession
Washington, D.C.
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Ford's Theatre in the 19th century, site of the 1865
assassination of
President Lincoln
Washington, D.C.
–
Crowds surrounding the
Reflecting Pool during the 1963
March on Washington
31.
Voyager program
–
The Voyager program is a continuing American scientific program that employs two robotic probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, to study the outer Solar System. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of an alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Their mission has been extended three times, and both continue to collect and relay useful scientific data. Neither Uranus nor Neptune has been visited by any other than Voyager 2. On August 25,2012, data from Voyager 1 indicated that it had become the first human-made object to enter space, traveling further than anyone, or anything. As of 2013, Voyager 1 was moving with a velocity of 17 kilometers per second relative to the Sun, Data and photographs collected by the Voyagers cameras, magnetometers, and other instruments revealed previously unknown details about each of the giant planets and their moons. Close-up images from the spacecraft charted Jupiter’s complex cloud forms, winds, saturn’s rings were found to have enigmatic braids, kinks, and spokes and to be accompanied by myriad ringlets. At Uranus Voyager 2 discovered a magnetic field around the planet and 10 additional moons. Its flyby of Neptune uncovered three complete rings and six hitherto unknown moons as well as a magnetic field and complex. Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to have visited the ice giants, the two Voyager space probes were originally conceived as part of the Mariner program, and they were thus initially named Mariner 11 and Mariner 12. The Voyager Program was similar to the Planetary Grand Tour planned during the late 1960s, the Grand Tour would take advantage of an alignment of the outer planets discovered by Gary Flandro, an aerospace engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This alignment, which occurs once every 175 years, would occur in the late 1970s and make it possible to use gravitational assists to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The Planetary Grand Tour was to several pairs of probes to fly by all the outer planets along various trajectories, including Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto. Limited funding ended the Grand Tour program, but elements were incorporated into the Voyager Program, Voyager 2 was the first to launch. Its trajectory was designed to allow flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and this encounter sent Voyager 1 out of the plane of the ecliptic, ending its planetary science mission. Had Voyager 1 been unable to perform the Titan flyby, the trajectory of Voyager 2 could have altered to explore Titan, forgoing any visit to Uranus. Voyager 1 was not launched on a trajectory that would have allowed it to continue to Uranus and Neptune, but could have continued from Saturn to Pluto without exploring Titan. The New Horizons probe, which had a higher velocity than Voyager 1, is traveling more slowly due to the extra speed Voyager 1 gained from its flybys of Jupiter
Voyager program
–
Montage of planets and some moons the two Voyager spacecraft have visited and studied
Voyager program
–
This diagram about the heliosphere was released on June 28, 2013 and incorporates results from the Voyager spacecraft.
Voyager program
–
Humanity's Farthest Journey
Voyager program
–
Probes
_launch.jpg)
Media related to Pioneer 11 Jupiter encounter at Wikimedia Commons
.jpg)
