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NASA
The Future of Space Travel
In the future, will space travel become as common as the annual family vacation to Disney World?
We've already had several space tourists. The first space tourist in history was Dennis Tito, a multimillionaire who had a dream of going to space and was financially able to make that dream come true. Tito doesn't like being called a space tourist. He prefers to be called an "independent researcher" since he did perform several experiments while on his trip, er, mission.
Dennis Tito made an arrangement with the space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., and joined Soyuz TM-32 on April 28, 2001. It was reported that Tito paid $20 million to go on the "mission," but some of his friends say that it was a mere $12 million.
Mark Shuttleworth was the second space tourist to pay for a trip to space. Shuttleworth, another multimillionaire (surprise, surprise) is reported to have paid $20 million for his 2002 space adventure as well. Shuttleworth's space flight was also arranged by Space Adventures, Ltd. He went to space aboard the Russian Soyuz TM-34 mission.
The third space tourist was Gregory Olsen in 2005. Olsen trained as a scientist, and his company produces specialty high-sensitivity cameras. Olsen used his time on the ISS to conduct a number of experiments mostly to test his company's products.
In September 2006, Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian American, went to space aboard Soyuz TMA-9 and became the fourth space tourist. Ms. Ansari prefers to be called a spaceflight participant.
Then on April 7, 2007, Charles Simonyi, an American billionaire of Hungarian descent, became the fifth space tourist when he flew about the Soyuz TMA-10.
Is there a future for the space flight industry? My guess is yes! There have already been five. Prices will decrease as space flight becomes more common, and someday a space vacation will be a viable option.
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Short focal Length Lense and Deep Sky Objects?
Galaxies
The Planet Saturn
The planet Saturn resembles the planet Jupiter in many ways. Saturn is also a planet that has very little if any solid matter. It is believed that there is a hard rocky core, but that belief is unproven (albeit very probable) theory. Saturn, like Jupiter, is made up of gases and liquids. There is an internal heat source. We know this because Saturn radiates more energy than it receives.
Saturn rotates fast. It makes one complete revolution once every 10 or 11 hours. Saturn rotates around the sun once every 29.5 years. Because it rotates so fast, Saturn is flattened at the poles, making it an almost oblate planet.
The space probes, Pioneer 11, Mariner 11 and 12, and Voyager I and II, provide the best and most accurate information to astronomers about the planet Saturn, even though the Hubble space telescope takes very good images of Saturn. The space probes get "up close and personal," so to speak, and have provided information about Saturn that nothing else could have provided.
Wind velocity on Saturn is extreme. Wind speeds of more than 1,118 mph have been recorded. Unlike the winds on Jupiter, however, wind speeds on Saturn do not seem to be closely related to the positions of the belts and bands.
The rings around Saturn are one of the most interesting features. Really high-resolution pictures taken on the Voyager missions tell us that the rings are actually made up of hundreds of thousands of very small rings. The evidence suggests that the rings are composed of particles that are mostly ice crystals. A lot has been learned about the rings of Saturn over the last 20 or so years, but there is so much about them that is still a mystery. |
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More articles:
The Nine Planets Solar System Tour
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
NASA - Home
Galaxies
Daily Update: February 23, 2008
The Hubble Space Telescope
History of Astronomy
Astronomy is the oldest of all sciences. It has its roots back in the beginning of time. There is evidence of astronomy playing a large role in religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history. Mankind has always looked to the heavens with wonder mixed with a healthy dose of curiosity.
In the earliest cultures, heavenly bodies were identified as gods or spirits, and these gods and spirits were thought to control such things as rain, drought, seasons, and the tides. The first astronomers are believed to have been priests or Magi. The earliest calendars were based upon the phases of the moon and the time between phases.
Western astronomy has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia astrology. The modern practice of dividing a circle into 360 degrees, of 60 minutes each, began in ancient Mesopotamia with the Sumerians.
The oldest astronomical writing that we have is Tablet 63 of the Enuma Anu Enlil. It is called the Venus tablet of Ammi-saduqa. The Venus tablet lists the first and last visible risings of Venus over a period of about 21 years, and it is the earliest conclusive evidence that the phenomena of a planet were recognized.
Since the beginning of time, man has looked up. The sky, particularly the night sky, has been full of mystery that humankind wanted to understand.
The old civilizations of China, India, Greece, and Rome all looked to the stars for explanations to earthly situations and problems, inspiration and guidance. They found all of those things, but they also found knowledge, and over the centuries our knowledge of astronomy has grown. But there are those who believe that we have only just begun to learn all the heavens have to teach us.
Related Topics: The Future of Space Travel,
Buying a Telescope, Our Solar System
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