NCEIV35 0-0805 Flashcards
Lesson 35
Lesson 35 Space odyssey
The Moon is lik
The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System, supplying the rocket fuels fro its ships, easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the form of liquid oxygen.
The reason lies
The reason lies in its gravity.
Because the Moo
Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth’s mass, it requires 97 per cent less energy to travel the quarter of a million miles from the Moon to Earth-orbit than the 200 mile-journey from Earth’s surface into orbit!
This may sound
This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated.
To escape from
To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second.
The comparable
The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second.
Because the gra
Because the gravity on the Moon’s surface is only a sixth of Earth’s (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along), it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5 miles per second than it does on Earth.
Moon-dwellers w
Moon-dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three per cent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three per cent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.
Arthur C. Clark
Arthur C. Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:
1 ‘It’s impossi
1 ‘It’s impossible – don’t waste my time.’
2 ‘It’s possibl
2 ‘It’s possible, but not worth doing.’
3 ‘I said it wa
3 ‘I said it was a good idea all along.’
The idea of col
The idea of colonizing Mars – a world 160 times more distant time the Moon – will move decisively from the second phase to the third, when a significant number of people are living permanently in space.
Mars has an ext
Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers.
