11.3 - exploring space

Question 1

What is the purpose of a rocket?

Answer 1

The purpose of a rocket is to transport items such as astronauts, machines, and other materials into space.

Question 2

What are some (or 1) of the key features of a rocket?

Answer 2

A key feature of a rocket is most rockets are built with fuel, and it’ll burn, creating a crust that’ll help escape Earth’s gravity.

Question 3

How much gas does the Saturn V Rocket burn to transport astronauts to the moon?

Answer 3

The Saturn V Rocket burns 40 000 lbs of fuel a second to get to the moon.

Question 4

What is the purpose of a space suit?

Answer 4

The purpose of a space suit is to allow astronauts to survive outside of a ship or space station.

Question 5

What are some (or 1) of the key features of a space suit?

Answer 5

Some key features of a space suit are:
1. Providing oxygen to breathe.
2. Contains a communication system
3. Regulates temperature
4. Protects from the vacuum of space by keeping air pressure the same as on earth.

Question 6

What is a satellite?

Answer 6

A satellite is an electronic device that is placed in orbit around a celestial body.

Question 7

What are some important functions of a satellite?

Answer 7

Some important functions are:
1. Monitoring the environment (ocean temperature, weather, ice coverage)
2. Communication (TV, phones)
3. Navigation (GPS)
4. Military functions

Question 8

What is something people are hoping for in the future of satellites?

Answer 8

They are hoping to send them into the Earth’s orbit to provide internet connections to remote areas.

Question 9

What are probes?

Answer 9

Probes are pace vehicles sent to another celestial body without humans on board. They can fly past, land on, or orbit the celestial body.

Question 10

What are the types of probes?

Answer 10

The types are:
1. Satellites: orbit a planet or moon to gather information from space.
2. Landers: land on a surface to gather information. They are stationary.
3. Rovers: land on the surface AND can move around. They explore in ways that satellites and stationary landers cannot!

Question 11

What are some advantages of probes?

Answer 11

Some advantages are:
1. No risk to human life
2. Smaller and cheaper to get into space. (They are still very expensive!!)
3. No need to come back home to earth

Question 12

What are some disadvantages of probes?

Answer 12

Some disadvantages are:
1. Difficult to adapt to new information.
2. Can take longer to get the job done.

Question 13

How long has the curiosity rover been exploring mars?

Answer 13

The Curiosity Rover has been exploring mars since 2012 ( 10 years ).

Question 14

How long did the New horizon’s probes take to get to pluto?

Answer 14

It took 9 years.

Question 15

What is the voyager 1 probe known for?

Answer 15

It is the furthest object humans have sent to space, it was launched in 1970.

Question 16

What is the purpose of Optical Telescopes?

Answer 16

The purpose of Optical Telescopes is to gather and focus light in the visible spectrum that is emitted by distant celestial bodies.

Question 17

What are some key features of Optical Telescopes?

Answer 17

Some key features are:
1. use lenses to focus the light.

Question 18

What do we know about Optical telescopes?

Answer 18

• Often placed in dry areas or high on mountains, or even in space! This reduces the effect of the earth’s atmosphere on the images they can produce. For example, clouds would prevent an optical telescope from seeing into space!
  -Air pollution and even water vapour on a humid day could distort the images, making them less useful to study.

Question 19

What is the largest optical telescope in the world?

Answer 19

The largest is the EELT, and it’s objective is to hunt exoplanets.

Question 20

What is the purpose of Radio Telescopes?

Answer 20

to gather radio waves emitted by celestial objects. This energy can tell us different things than visible light collected by optical telescopes.

Question 21

What are some key features of a radio telescope?

Answer 21

Some key features are:
1. They must be large because radio waves are large!
2. They can also see through clouds on Earth and dust in space, making it possible to study objects that optical telescopes would be unable to study!