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The Planet Jupiter
The First Seven Astronauts
Everything starts somewhere, and the space program began in earnest with the selection of the first seven astronauts that would participate in manned space flight. The NASA selection committee was made up of Charles Donlan, a senior management engineer; Warren North, a test pilot engineer; Stanley White and William Argerson, flight surgeons; Allen Gamble and Robert Voas, psychologists; and George Ruff and Edwin Levy, psychiatrists.
When the selection committee began their task, they received 508 applications. This number was reduced to 110 candidates after records were reviewed. The 110 candidates were brought together at an undisclosed location. A battery of tests were given and interviews were conducted. It took a month but the number of possible candidates was reduced to 32.
The 32 candidates were then subjected to even more stressful physical, psychological, and mental examinations. They were given full-body x-rays, tested in pressure suits, endured a variety of cognitive tests and really intense interviews. Finally, 18 or the 32 were recommended to the Mercury program without any medical reservations.
The final choices were made by Robert Gilruth, who was the head of the Space Task Group, as well as Charles Donlan, Warren North, and Stanley White.
The first seven astronauts selected for the Mercury program (the first manned space flight program) were Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton. Their names will resound through history forever.
Six of the original seven flew in Project Mercury. Only "Deke" Slayton did not fly because of a heart condition that had not been discovered. Deke later flew as a crewmember of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
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Carl Sagan
The Planet Jupiter
The planet Jupiter is was named by the Romans after their god Jupiter, who was also sometimes called Jove. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system by far. It is more than twice as large as all of the other planets combined.
Jupiter might well have become a star when it was born, had it been larger. There is very little (if any) solid matter on Jupiter. If there is any at all, it is hidden deeply inside the planet. Jupiter is made up entirely (as far as we know now) of gases and liquids.
The very composition of Jupiter means that its parts do not rotate at the same speed, but rotation is fast. Jupiter makes one complete revolution in a little less than 10 hours. This very fast rotation plus the makeup of gases and liquids are what causes the bulge at the equator of Jupiter.
Jupiter has an internal heat source. We are sure of this because it actually emits more radiation than it gets from the sun.
There are four large moons and dozens of small moons that rotate around Jupiter, making it a kind of small solar system unto itself.
One of the more outstanding features about Jupiter is the never-ending hurricane called "The Giant Red Spot" in the southern hemisphere. This disturbance has been going on for the last 400 years that we know of. It never abates…probably because it never passes over land (there isn't any) like hurricanes on earth do.
An explanation for the color of the clouds on Jupiter still eludes astronomers. With the conditions that exist, clouds should be colorless, but they are anything but colorless, and they change color over time. We still have a lot to learn! |
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The Planet Jupiter
Sir Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren once said, "In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another, great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of optics and
geometry." For those of you who do not know, Christopher Wren was an English architect and mathematician who became Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford in 1661. He is most famous for the buildings that he designed after the Great Fire of London.
Wren was interested in many things, and over his lifetime, he made many contributions to scientific knowledge and in many different ways. For example, he constructed a transparent beehive for the purpose of scientific observation; he studied the moon and experimented on terrestrial magnetism; and he also performed the first successful injection of a substance into a dog's bloodstream.
Along with Sir Paul Neile, Wren constructed a 35-foot telescope. During this timeframe, Wren also studied and improved the microscope and the telescope.
Wren was fascinated by the planet, Saturn. He began his observations of Saturn about 1652 with the intention of explaining the rings. Wren developed a hypothesis which he wrote in De Corpore Saturni. Before his work could be published however, Christian Huygens (a Dutch astronomer) presented his theory of the rings of Saturn. Wren immediately recognized the fact that Huygens' was a better hypothesis than his own, so De Corpore Saturni was never published.
Wren constructed a beautifully detailed model of the moon and gave it to the king. Although Sir Christopher Wren eventually turned his attention to architecture, he remained fascinated by astronomy all of his life.
Related Topics: Galaxies,
Buying a Telescope, The Hubble Space Telescope
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