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Amateur Astronomy
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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The Planet Mars
Earthlings have always been fascinated by the planet, Mars. The "little green men from Mars" invading Earth has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles did a dramatization of H. G. Wells's "War of the Worlds" on the Mercury Theatre on the Air radio show. During the four commercial breaks of the program, there were disclaimers aired telling the audience that the content was fictional. Still, panic erupted in towns across America.
There was a new 40-inch telescope being built by the University of Chicago in 1895. An astronomy professor, Samual Leland Phelps, wrote a book about the project called "World Making." In the book, the professor wrote, "It will be possible to see cities on Mars, to detect navies in [its] harbors, and the smoke of great manufacturing cities and towns...Is Mars inhabited? There can be little doubt of it...conditions are all favorable for life, and life, too, of a high order. Is it possible to know this of a certainty? Certainly." Well…not exactly, professor!
From observations of Mars from stationary observatories on earth, astronomers concluded that:
1. The reddish color of Mars is caused by red rocks and dust.
2. The polar ice caps increase and decrease according to seasons.
3. There are what were thought to be canals on the surface. (That has since been disproved)
4. There are areas of Mars that change color. (It was believed that this was vegetation, but that has been disproved, as well.)
5. Mars has an atmosphere.
Space probes, beginning with Mariner 4, 6, 7, and 9 from 1965 through 1971, and the Viking 1 and 2 probes in 1976, disproved many of the previously held beliefs about Mars. We are learning more about Mars all the time, and one important fact is that there aren't any little green (or any other color) men living on Mars. |
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Mirrors and Lenses
Many people believe that the main function of a telescope is just to make distant celestial objects appear bigger so that astronomers (even amateur astronomers) can see them better, but that really is a misconception. The fact is that telescopes work by gathering light. Magnifying distant objects is secondary. Telescopes gather light basically in two ways: through the use of lenses, and through the use of mirrors. The third way that telescopes gather light is by using a combination of lenses and mirrors.
A telescope that gathers light through the use of a lens is called a refractor telescope. The truth is that how much you spend on a refractor telescope is the determining factor of how well you will be able to see celestial objects. Inexpensive refractor telescopes (2.4 inch) have not-so-good optics and low light grasp. High-end refractor telescopes (3.5 inch) have almost perfect optics and much, much better light grasp.
Telescopes that gather light through the use of a mirror are called reflector telescopes. Refractors cost less per inch of aperture. They are less costly to manufacture because there is only one optical surface, and they lend themselves well to different designs and uses. Also, because the light doesn't have to pass through glass, the images are basically color free. Probably the best telescope for a novice astronomer is the Newtonian reflector. The cost factor is a plus for the refractor telescope, but the corresponding minus (there always is one) is that the primary mirror is ground to a concave shape, so the outside zone has a little longer focal length than the inner zone.
A catadioptic telescope is a compromise between a refractor and a reflector, because both lens and a mirror are used. Catadioptic telescopes are portable. They do not cost as much as a high-quality refractor telescope, but they cost a little more than a good-quality reflector telescope. Still, they are the best of both worlds.
Related Topics: Telescope Accessories,
Solar Eclipses, Nicolaus Copernicus
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