|
Astronomy28
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.
See Also:
Petition to put Carl Sagan on a stamp
Astronomy28
The Planet Uranus
William Herschel accidentally discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. Uranus had been seen many times before, but it had always been dismissed as a star.
Uranus is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium like Jupiter and Saturn, but it has higher concentrations of heavy elements. Our closest look at Uranus was given to us by Voyager 2 in 1986.
Uranus is one of the four "Giant Gas Planets" (the other three are Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune). The rings around Uranus are made up of rock, rather than ice like those of Saturn. We do know that there are five large moons and at least 10 smaller moons. The rotational period of Uranus is a little over 17 hours, and its orbital period is 84 years.
Uranus appears to be a giant blue featureless ball. Voyager 2 got relatively close to Uranus and could not pick up any distinguishable features. It is believed that the upper atmosphere of Uranus has a high-level petrochemical haze that probably obscures features lower in the atmosphere. The blue color is caused by methane gas in the atmosphere. Methane gas absorbs red and orange light, which leaves more blue light.
Voyager 2 confirmed that Uranus has a magnetic field. The field is more than 50 times stronger than that of Earth and is tilted about 60 degrees.
The latest scientific data suggests that Uranus is surrounded by at least five rings. The brightest ring is called the Epsilon ring. Voyager 2 located two small shepherd moons for it, one just inside and one just outside. These two shepherd moons have been named Ophelia and Cordelia.
The most interesting moon that circles Uranus is Miranda. Miranda isn't very big, but it has some very interesting geological features. |
|
More articles:
Telescopes.com: Shop Telescopes and Telescope Eyepieces
Saturday's Rent A Coder Bids: clone of www. user test ing [dot] com
Petition to put Carl Sagan on a stamp
Sun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Curious About Astronomy? Careers in Astronomy
Nicolaus Copernicus
Inspired by Maria Mitchell
Generations of women scientists in all of the scientific disciplines have been inspired by Maria Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell was a woman ahead of her time who left an indelible mark on science and the role that women play in scientific research and discovery.
Maria Mitchell was born in 1818. A Quaker couple, William and Lydia Mitchell, had 10 children; Maria was the third child. She attended Cyrus Peirce's School for Young Ladies in her early years, then was taught mostly by her father. After that she was mostly self-educated, but she was the first woman to ever have an advanced degree awarded. It was awarded by Indiana Hanover College in 1853 after she had already discovered a comet, which is named after her. She was also the first woman ever appointed to the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Maria Mitchell was the most famous American scientist of either sex in the nineteenth century. She was a most remarkable woman who left her mark on astronomy long before women gained the right to vote. In 1847, Maria discovered what we know today as the Comet Mitchell 1847VI, and that was just the first in a long list of accomplishments.
Maria Mitchell is still inspiring young astronomers today. The Maria Mitchell Observatory was established next to her home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1908, and it is still very much operational. There is an extensive public education program, and the observatory sponsors research by undergraduate students. The Maria Mitchell Observatory is funded by the National Science Foundation.
The Maria Mitchell Observatory is also home to over 8,000 historic photographic glass plates. The plates were taken by observatory astronomers and students between 1910 and 1995 and span nearly a century of the Nantucket night skies.
Related Topics: The Stars,
The Planet Neptune, Mirrors and Lenses
|