Unit E Section 4.1

Question 1

What happened in 1969 on Apollo 11?

Answer 1

to the change in frequency of sound, light, and other waves, which results from the relative motion between an observer and the source of the waves

Question 2

What happened in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger:

Answer 2

In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger experienced a catastrophic explosion shortly after take-off, killing all seven astronauts aboard

Question 3

What is “space junk,”?

Answer 3

By mid-2001, about 2700 satellites were known to be orbiting Earth. Only about one-third of those are actually working. The rest are “space junk,” and most will eventually burn up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Question 4

What went wrong with During Apollo 11’s mission to the Moon in 1969?

Answer 4

During Apollo 11’s mission to the Moon in 1969, the
the original landing site for the Eagle was found to be too rocky for the lunar module to set down safely. 

Faced with having to choose another place to
land, the astronauts knew they had to find the right spot with one try.

They didn’t have enough fuel to change their minds and find another site—not if they wanted to get back to Earth after their visit to the Moon.

Question 5

What factors can interfere with launching a rocket?

Answer 5

Poor weather conditions,
malfunctioning equipment,
even the presence of birds

Question 6

Dangers of being a manned craft is in space?

Answer 6

floating debris,
meteoroids, and
harmful doses of radiation must be faced
Outside of Earth’s protective atmosphere, the effects of solar and cosmic radiation are magnified because there is no protection

Question 7

What is “coronal mass ejection”?

Answer 7

the huge blast of electrically charged particles that the Sun sometimes emits

also known to follow solar flares and comes from the corona region of the sun.

Question 8

What harm can “coronal mass ejection” or solar flares do to humans?

Answer 8

this dose of radiation also kills cells in vital organs and damages bone marrow

Question 9

What harm can “coronal mass ejection” or solar flares do to devices?

Answer 9

can burn up the electronic circuits in a satellite

Question 10

how can astronauts protect themselves from coronal mass ejection or solar flares and other types of radiation?

Answer 10

they can protect themselves

inside polyethylene shielding that absorbs the radiation

Question 11

Where does cosmic radiation emit from?

Answer 11

Cosmic radiation comes from the Milky Way and other galaxies.

Question 12

Why is returning to Earth also dangerous for a spacecraft?

Answer 12

If the path into Earth atmosphere is too shallow an angle, the craft can bounce off the atmosphere and back into space

If it is too steep an angle, the craft can move too quickly through the atmosphere and burn up.

Question 13

What is space junk?

Answer 13

Space junk refers to all the pieces of debris that have fallen off rockets, satellites, space shuttles and space stations, and remain floating in space

Question 14

What does the debris of space junk include?

Answer 14

• bits as small as flecks of paint or a bolt,
• large items such as dead satellites.
• Lost antennas,
• tools from past shuttle flights,
• even a camera released by an astronaut

Question 15

How many missions have been sent into space since 1957?

Answer 15

Since 1957, more than 4000 missions have been sent into space

Question 16

What are micrometeorites?

Answer 16

• tiny pieces of space debris
• These are very hard to detect in space and travel with lethal velocities

-A micrometeorite piercing the hull of a spacecraft
would cause catastrophic damage.

Question 17

How can micrometeorite or space junk cause damage?

Answer 17

Since micrometeorite or space junk move at the speed of 20 000 km/h, when they collide with a big object such as a satellite, it can cause a catastrophic damage

That small object would have a higher impact velocity than a fired bullet.

Question 18

What will happen to the space junk that is near Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 18

it will remain a very real threat to anyone or anything

traveling into space.

Question 19

How does some space junk pose a risk to Earth as well?

Answer 19

There is always the possibility that pieces of obsolete satellites can make their way back to Earth’s surface.

On re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, the satellite
disintegrated, showering radioactive debris over 124 000 km2