Chapter 8-Space Exploration Flashcards
Newton’s third law of motion
When an object pushes against another object, the second object pushes back with the same force in the opposite direction.
Rocket
Is a device that moves by pushing matter (usually hot gases) out its end.
Congreve Rocket
In early solid-fuel rocket designed by Sir William Congreve of England.
Hale Rocket
A 19th-century military rock that carried an explosive warhead in the nose, had three curved fins in the exhaust stream to impart a stabilizing spin, and had a greater range than the artillery of its day.
William Congreve
Was an English artillery engineer and prolific inventor.
Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
He was a Russian schoolteacher who began writing science fiction stories about space travel but eventually became the first theoretical astronautics scientist. He is often called the Father of Astronautics.
Hermann Oberth
He was a Romanian-born physicist who mentored Wernher Von Braun and developed the idea of multistage rockets.
Robert H. Goddard
Head a gifted American physicist who is noted for developing liquid-fuel rocket propulsion.
Gyro
Is a device that uses the inherent stability of a rapidly spinning wheel or mass as a means of providing directional information.
Wernher Von Braun
Was a German rocket scientist who was influential in developing the rockets of the modern U.S. Space program.
Ballistic missiles
Is one that is launched in a high, arching path like a standard racket and then falls to its target under the influence of gravity alone.
ICBMs
Acronym for intercontinental ballistic missile, a type of long rage, rocket powered weapon capable of crossing the distances between continents.
Satellite
Is any object in orbit around a celestial body.
Stage
A unit containing rocket engines, fuel, and/or instruments that is attached to other similar units to form a multistage rocket.
Low Earth orbit
In orbital path relatively close to the earth.
Polar orbit
Polar orbital path that takes an earth satellite over the poles during earth orbit.
Sun-synchronous orbit
One of the popular orbits designed to place the satellite over a certain place on the earth’s surface at the same time every day.
Geosynchronous orbit
In equatorial orbit that has a period of one 24 hour day
Scientific satellite
A satellite that is designed mainly to acquire scientific information, such as an earth resource satellite or an orbiting telescope.
CGRO
Was taken out of orbit in 2000 after nine successful years and space.
Applications satellites
A satellite that is used for a specific purpose other than pure scientific data collection.
GPS
A system of 24 satellites that provide latitude, longitude, and altitude positions to every accurate standards.
Probe
In instrumented, unmanned, expendable vehicle used to explore space.
Sounding rocket
A rocket and it’s instrumented probe used to obtain environmental and meteoric data in the upper atmosphere
Sounding
In general, taking a measurement from a remote location.
Outer planet
Any plan to be on the orbit of Mars.
Kuiper Belt Object
KBO
Are rocky cometlike bodies that have been identified beyond the orbit of Uranus.
Earth-trailing orbit
A special space probe orbit that follows the earth around the sun at about the same distance from the sun as the Earth.
Halo orbit
Follows the path with the gravitational force from two bodies balances exactly.
Heliopause
The point where the solar wind is balanced by the interstellar wind.
Yuri Gagarin
Was an officer in the former Soviet Union Air Force who was the first human to orbit Earth.
Valentina Tereshkova
Was selected for the Soviet cosmonaut program because she was an accomplished amateur parachutist.
Alan B. Shepard
In addition to being the first American in space, he also commanded Apollo 14, which lodged many first on the surface of the moon.
John H. Glenn
He holds the distinction of being the oldest person to travel into space, serving as a payload specialist on space shuttle mission in 1998 at the age of 77 years.
Capsule
A small space vehicle with extremely limited living and working areas, designed to carry humans or animals into orbit around the earth or the moon.
Project Mercury
The first manned US space program established to place a man in a low Earth orbit.
Project Gemini
In early US man space program using two-man crews to prepare the project Apollo flights.
Project Apollo
The man the US space program established to land on and briefly explore the moon.
Space station
A habitable structure in Earth orbit from which astronomical observations and scientific research may be conducted.
Neil Armstrong
You commanded the Gemini 8 orbital docking mission and the first Apollo moon landing mission.
Edwin Aldrin
He was a lunar excursion module pilot for the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Michael Collins
He flew in Gemini 10 and was the command module pilot for Apollo 11 mission
International space station
ISS
Is a continually manned orbital scientific and technological research outposts sponsored by 16 nations.
Microgravity
Absence or greatly reduced sensation of gravitational force, as one in orbit around the earth.
Space Shuttle
A reusable manned space vehicle designed to carry heavy satellites, space probes, and equipment to earth orbit.
