1. Rockets and Space Exploration

2. Traveling into Space Rocket – a device that expels gas in one direction to move in the opposite direction. – The first rockets were made in China in the 1100s – Modern rockets were first developed in the early 1900s by Russian and American physicists. – Rocket design made major advances during World War II, when Germans used a rocket called the V2 to destroy both civilian and military targers.

3. How do Rockets Work? A rocket moves forward when gases shooting out the back of the rocket push it in the opposite direction. Action and Reaction Forces – Basic physics law: For every force or action, there is an equal and opposite force or reaction. – Thrust – the reaction force that propels a rocket forward. Amount of thrust depends on mass and speed of gases propelled out of the rocket. Greater thrust, greater velocity. – Velocity – the speed in any given direction.

4. Orbital and Escape Velocity Orbital Velocity – the velocity a rocket must achieve to establish an orbit around Earth. – If a rocket moves slower than orbital velocity, Earth’s gravity will cause it to fall back to the surface. Escape Velocity – the velocity a rocket must reach to fly beyond a planet’s gravitational pull – A rocket with a velocity of 40,200 km/hr or more can escape Earth’s gravity and fly off into space.

5. Multistage Rockets The main advantage of a multistage rocket is that the total weight of the rocket is greatly reduced as the rocket rises. – Smaller rockets, or stages, are placed one on top of the other and fired in succession. In the 1960s, multistage rockets, such as the Saturn V made it possible to send spacecraft to the moon and the solar system beyond. Today, multistage rockets are used to launch a variety of satellites and space probes.

6. The Race for Space In the 1950s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Russia) began to compete in space exploration, called the “space race”. – At the time, the Soviet Union was the greatest rival to the U.S. in politics and military power – Cold War. In 1957, the Soviets launched a satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit.

7. First Artificial Satellite Satellite – an object that revolves around another object in space. – The moon is a natural satellite of Earth. A space craft orbiting Earth is an artificial satellite. Sputnik I is an example of this. – Soviet success in satellite launching caused alarm for the U.S. U.S. responded in 1958, launching the Explorer I into orbit. – Late 1958 – U.S. created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a government agency in charge of space program.

8. Humans in Space 1961 – space race heated up! – Soviets launched the first human into space. Yuri Gagarin flew one orbit around Earth aboard Vostok 1. – Less than one month later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard Freedom 7. First American to orbit Earth – John Glenn in 1962, aboard Friendship 7. – Spacecraft he traveled in was called a space capsule because it was like a small cap on the end of the rocket. The capsule orbited Earth three times.

9. Missions to the Moon May 1961 – President John F. Kennedy launched an enormous program of space exploration & scientific research – Apollo program was the American effort to land astronauts on the moon. – Unpiloted U.S. spacecraft Surveyor landed on the moon and did not sink, proving the moon had a solid surface.

10. The Moon Landings July 1969 – 3 American astronauts aboard Apollo 11 circled the moon. – Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong entered the tiny spacecraft, Eagle, and on July 20 landed on the Sea of Tranquility, a flat area on the moon’s surface.

11. Exploring Space Today Space Shuttles – spacecrafts that an carry a crew into space, return to Earth, and then be reused for the same purpose. – Before 1983, spacecraft could only be used once. – NASA has used space shuttles to perform many important tasks, such as: taking satellites into orbit, repairing damaged satellites, and carrying astronauts to and from space stations.

12. Space Stations Space Station – a large artificial satellite on which people can live and work for long periods. – A space station provides a place where long-term observations and experiments can be carried out in space. – In the 1970s and 1980s, both the U.S. and Soviet Union placed space stations in orbit. – In the 1980s, the U.S. and 15 other countries began planning the construction of the International Space Station. – In 1998 – first section placed into orbit. Since then, many other modules have been added on.

13. Space Probes Space Probe – a spacecraft that carries scientific instruments that can collect data, but has no human crew – Space probes gather data about distant parts of the solar system where humans cannot easily travel. – Each probe is designed for a specific mission. Some probes are designed to land on certain planets Some probes are designed to fly by and collect data – Each probe has a power system to produce electricity, a communication system to send and receive signals, and scientific instruments to collect data or perform experiments.

14. Space Probes, cont’d The scientific instruments that a probe contains depend on the probe’s mission. Some are equipped to photograph and analyze the atmosphere of a planet. – Others are equipped to land on a planet and analyze the materials on its surface. – Some probes have small robots called rovers that move around on the surface A rover typically has instruments that collect and analyze soil and rock samples.