Space Exploration - Section 2 Flashcards
What have the three biggest challenges of exploring space been?
To go fast enough to achieve orbit around Earth or break free of Earths gravity to travel to other planets
To keep equipment operating in the extreme environment of space
To transport people out and safely back
How do rockets fly?
Use gas under pressure confined in a chamber or tank
An opening in the chamber allows the gas to released, producing thrust and causing the rocket to be propelled in the opposite direction
What are three basic components of rockets?
Structural and Mechanical Element
Fuel
Payload
What are structural and mechanical elements in a rocket?
Is everything from the rocket itself to engines, storage, tanks, and the fins on the outside
What are fuel elements in a rocket?
Can be any number of materials, including liquid oxygen, gasoline, and liquid hydrogen
What are payload elements in a rocket?
Refers to the material needed for the flight, including crew cabins, food, water, air and people
What are ion drives?
Engines that use xenon gas instead of chemical fuel
What are the pros and cons to ion drives?
Pros: the thrust from an ion drives lasts an extremely long time, the amount of fuel required is about 1/10 of what is used by a typical spacecraft
Cons: the thrust generated is 10 000 Times weaker than the thrust achieved by chemically fuelled rocket engines
What are solar sails?
Instead of harnessing air currents for energy, solar sails would use Suns light
What are the three types of spacecraft in use?
Shuttles
Space Probes
Space Stations
What are shuttles?
Transport personnel and equipment to orbiting spacecraft
What are space probes?
Contain instrumentation for carrying out robotic exploration of space
What are space stations?
Orbiting spacecraft that have living quarters, with areas, and all support systems needed to allow people to live and work in space for extended periods
What is the International Space Station?
Serves as a permanent lab and building/launch site for interplanetary rockets
What are some environmental hazards to space?
Damaging effects of cosmic rays and solar radiation
Risk of being hit with meteoroids
There is no atmosphere so temperatures can range from extremely cold to extremely hot
The gases that we require to live do not exist in space
There is no atmospheric pressure, which helps us regulate our heartbeats
What is microgravity?
Is a condition in which the gravitational forces that act on mass are greatly reduced
What changes can the body undergo in conditions of weightlessness?
Bones have much less pressure on them than normal and so they expand
The heart does not have to pump as hard to circulate blood
Muscles used for waking and lifting do not get used as much and therefore weaken
What does every spacesuit need to be equipped with?
Air, water, a heating and cooling system and maybe a portable toilet
Must be flexible to allow the astronaut to grasp a wrench or twist a bolt
What do space stations need to be equipped with?
Clean water, breathable air, comfortable temperatures and air pressure
Must carry its own source of power
How do space stations recycle water?
Certain devices can recycle almost 100% of the water in the station
This includes wastewater, water used for hygiene and moisture in the air
What are some things devices can do to help people on the space station?
Recycle wastewater to produce drinking water
Using recycled water to produce oxygen
Removing carbon dioxide from the air
Filtering micro-organisms and dust from the air
Keeping the air pressure, temperature, and humidity stable
What is electrolysis?
The process of using electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen
What are satellites?
Objects that are built and sent into the Earths orbit by humans
What are natural satellites?
Any small body that orbits a larger body, such as a moon orbiting a planet
