Category Science

Mars is nicknamed the Red Planet because of its rusty soil. Like Earth, it has a rocky surface, polar ice caps, mountains, valleys, and clouds in the sky. However, the fourth planet from the Sun has a far more extreme environment than ours. It is very cold and dry with a thin unbreathable atmosphere. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.

There are signs of ancient floods on Mars, but now water mostly exists in icy dirt and thin clouds. On some Martian hillsides, there is evidence of liquid salty water in the ground.

Scientists want to know if Mars may have had living things in the past. They also want to know if Mars could support life now or in the future

Mars’ moons

Mars has two moons, called Phobos and Deimos, which are much smaller than Earth’s Moon. Their names mean “panic” and “fear”. They were probably asteroids pulled towards Mars by its gravity.

 Phobos is a bit larger than Deimos, and orbits only 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the Martian surface. No known moon orbits closer to its planet. It whips around Mars three times a day, while the more distant Deimos takes 30 hours for each orbit. Phobos is gradually spiraling inward, drawing about six feet (1.8 meters) closer to the planet each century. Within 50 million years, it will either crash into Mars or break up and form a ring around the planet.

To someone standing on the Mars-facing side of Phobos, Mars would take up a large part of the sky. And people may one day do just that. Scientists have discussed the possibility of using one of the Martian moons as a base from which astronauts could observe the Red Planet and launch robots to its surface, while shielded by miles of rock from cosmic rays and solar radiation for nearly two-thirds of every orbit.

Like Earth’s Moon, Phobos and Deimos always present the same face to their planet. Both are lumpy, heavily-cratered and covered in dust and loose rocks. They are among the darker objects in the solar system. The moons appear to be made of carbon-rich rock mixed with ice and may be captured asteroids.

Olympus Mons

Towering high above the Martian landscape is Olympus Mons. It is the largest volcano in our Solar System and nearly three times as high as Mount Everest!

Olympus Mons holds the title for tallest mountain in the solar system, and it is the second tallest mountain in the Universe. It likely became so large because Mars does not have tectonic plates. Therefore, the lava was likely able to flow outwards from a hotspot in the same place for quite a long time with no crust shifts to impede it.

The volcano is located in Mars’s western hemisphere near the uplifted Tharsis bulge region. Since Mars is a small planet, and the slopes of Olympus Mons are so gradual, the edge of the volcano cannot be seen as it extends further than the horizon. Olympus Mons is so tall that it is often the only thing visibly protruding through Mars’s massive dust storms.

Valles Marineris

 Valles Marineris is a 4,000 km (2500 mile) crack across the surface of Mars, at parts 7 km (4 miles) deep. It is a system of canyons, including the vast Coprates Chasma. Measuring the length of the entire United States, Mars’ Valles Marineris—Mariner Valley—is an enormous canyon that makes our Grand Canyon appear minuscule. Located along Mars’ equator, Valles Marineris spans one-fifth of the entire circumference of the planet. With depths of up to 4 miles and widths reaching up to 120 miles, the 2,500-mile-long canyon system is one of the largest in the entire Solar System. To put things into perspective, the Grand Canyon is a fraction of the size, running 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and with a depth of only up to a little over a mile.

Picture Credit : Google

In outer space there is no air to breathe and the temperature can quickly change from being very hot to very cold. To survive astronauts must wear spacesuits. They are like an astronaut’s personal spacecraft, allowing them to do important jobs – such as repairing the space station.

Lots of layers

Spacesuits have 14 layers of material to help keep astronauts safe. The liquid cooling and ventilation garment makes up the first three layers. On top of this garment is the bladder layer. It creates the proper pressure for the body. It also holds in the oxygen for breathing. The next layer holds the bladder layer to the correct shape around the astronaut’s body and is made of the same material as camping tents. The rip stop liner is the tear-resistant layer. The next seven layers are Mylar insulation and make the suit act like a thermos. The layers keep the temperature from changing inside. They also protect the spacewalker from being harmed by small, high-speed objects flying through space. The outer layer is made of a blend of three fabrics. One fabric is waterproof. Another is the material used to make bullet-proof vests. The third fabric is fire-resistant.

Life support system

The PLSS is worn like a backpack. It provides astronauts many of the things they need to survive on a spacewalk. Its tanks supply oxygen for the astronauts to breathe. It removes exhaled carbon dioxide. It contains a battery for electrical power.

The PLSS also holds water-cooling equipment, a fan to circulate oxygen and a two-way radio. A caution and warning system in this backpack lets spacewalkers know if something is wrong with the suit. The unit is covered with protective cloth layers. 

Spacesuit gloves have heaters in the fingertips to stop an astronaut’s fingers from getting cold! EVA gloves are made to protect astronauts from the space environment. They are also made so spacewalkers can move their fingers as easily as possible. The fingers are the part of the body that gets coldest in space. These gloves have heaters in the fingertips. A piece called a bearing connects the glove to the sleeve. The bearing allows the wrist to turn.

Astronauts see out of a clear plastic bubble, and also have a visor to protect them from the Sun’s harmful rays. The helmet keeps the oxygen at the right pressure around the head. The main part of the helmet is the clear plastic bubble.

The bubble is covered by the Extravehicular Visor Assembly. The visor is coated with a thin layer of gold that filters out the sun’s harmful rays. The visor also protects the spacewalker from extreme temperatures and small objects that may hit the spacewalker.

A TV camera and lights can be attached to the helmet.

Display unit

This module is the control panel for the mini-spacecraft. Switches, controls, gauges and an electronic display are on the module. The astronaut can operate the Primary Life Support Subsystem from this module.

Astronauts can attach their boots to special foot restraints on the space station to make working in space easier.

Flying free

This space jetpack is called a “Manned Maneuvering Unit”. It was used by astronauts in the 1980s to travel in space without being tied to their spacecraft. Today, astronauts have smaller versions in case of emergencies. The MMU is a self-contained astronaut backpack propulsion device that allows astronauts to venture untethered from an orbiting spacecraft.  The unit is powered by 24 nitrogen gas thrusters, and its main structure is aluminum.  Other elements include two 16.8-volt silver zinc batteries, a control electronics assembly, and two hand controllers.

To use the MMU, an astronaut exits the Space Shuttle crew compartment through an airlock into the cargo bay.  There the astronaut dons the MMU and releases himself from the flight support station.  To maneuver in space, the astronaut uses the hand controllers.  The control electronics assembly translates the hand controller movements and fires the thrusters.  The astronaut can activate an auto-pilot system which will hold his attitude.

When not in use, the MMU is stowed and recharged in the flight support stations located in the forward end of the orbiter’s payload bay.

Picture Credit : Google

The International Space Station (ISS) is the biggest object ever flown in space. It orbits at around 400 km (250 miles) above Earth and a team of astronauts have lived and worked here since the year 2000. It is our first step towards exploring deeper into the Solar System.

Astronauts do lots of scientific experiments on the space station to help us understand more about the effects of living in space. This will be useful knowledge for future deep-space exploration.

Keeping fit

There is no gravity in space, so astronauts exercise every day. It keeps them healthy and stops their muscles from getting weak. The heart and blood change in space. When we stand up on Earth, blood goes to our legs. The heart has to work extra hard against gravity to move the blood all around the body. In space, without the pull of gravity, the blood moves to the upper body and head. Water in the body also does the same thing. It makes the astronauts’ faces look puffy. The blood and water are fluids in the body. These fluids move from the bottom of the body to the top. The brain thinks that there are too many fluids. It will tell the body to make less. When the astronauts come back to Earth, they do not have enough fluids in their systems. It takes their bodies a few days to make more blood and water. The astronauts have to rest so their bodies have time to make new blood and water. If they don’t, they can feel very weak. They might even faint! 

Space walk

Sometimes astronauts have to go outside on spacewalks to repair the ISS. They wear special suits to protect them from the harsh environment of space. Inside spacesuits, astronauts have the oxygen they need to breathe. They have the water they need to drink.

Astronauts put on their spacesuits several hours before a spacewalk. The suits are pressurized. This means that the suits are filled with oxygen.

Once in their suits, astronauts breathe pure oxygen for a few hours. Breathing only oxygen gets rid of all the nitrogen in an astronaut’s body. If they didn’t get rid of the nitrogen, the astronauts might get gas bubbles in their body when they walked in space. These gas bubbles can cause astronauts to feel pain in their shoulders, elbows, wrists and knees. This pain is called getting “the bends” because it affects the places where the body bends. Scuba divers can also get “the bends.”

Astronauts are now ready to get out of their spacecraft. They leave the spacecraft through a special door called an airlock. The airlock has two doors. When astronauts are inside the spacecraft, the airlock is airtight so no air can get out. When astronauts get ready to go on a spacewalk, they go through the first door and lock it tight behind them. They can then open the second door without any air getting out of the spacecraft. After a spacewalk, astronauts go back inside through the airlock.

Nice view

From the space station you can see entire countries, storms from above, and 16 sunsets and sunrises every day! Artificial structures visible from earth orbit without magnification include highways, dams, and cities. The Great Wall of China, often cited as the only human-made structure visible from space, is not visible from low Earth orbit without magnification, and even then can be seen only under perfect conditions. From US Space Shuttles, which typically orbited at around 135 mi (217 km), cities were easily distinguishable from surrounding countryside. Using binoculars, astronauts could even see roads, dams, harbours, even large vehicles such as ships and planes. At night, cities are also easily visible from the higher orbit of the ISS.

Metropolitan areas are clear at night, particularly in industrialized countries, due to a multitude of street lights and other light sources in urban areas

Robonaut

Robonaut 2 is a NASA (US space agency) robot astronaut that lives on the space station and helps the crew with sample tasks, such as changing air filters. Its head has cameras, which work like eyes, and its hands can operate simple tools.

One advantage of a humanoid design is that Robonaut can take over simple, repetitive, or especially dangerous tasks on places such as the International Space Station. Because R2 is approaching human dexterity, tasks such as changing out an air filter can be performed without modifications to the existing design.

Another way this might be beneficial is during a robotic precursor mission. R2 would bring one set of tools for the precursor mission, such as setup and geologic investigation. Not only does this improves efficiency in the types of tools, but also removes the need for specialized robotic connectors. Future missions could then supply a new set of tools and use the existing tools already on location.

Picture Credit : Google

In the middle of the 20th century the USA and the Soviet Union were struggling to be the most powerful country in the world. Both countries wanted to be the first to send spacecraft and people into space, and so the Space Race began.

The first man-made object to travel into space was the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1. It was launched on 4 October 1957.

A month later, on 3 November 1957, the Soviet Union sent a dog into space. She was called Laika, became the first living creature to orbit the Earth.

In April 1959, the US introduced its first group of astronauts, known as the Mercury 7. They were an elite group of pilots who did special training to travel to space.

But the Soviet Union sent a human to space first! On 12 April 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth.

In September 1962, US President John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

But the Soviets were still ahead, and in June 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space.

In a further triumph, on 18 March 1965 the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to walk in space!

However, the United States were first to the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission launched on 16 July 1969 and successfully landed on the Moon four days later.

On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon. The Space Race was over.

Picture Credit : Google

Scientists think the Moon was formed when the Solar System was very young and an object about the size of Mars collided with the young Earth. They think the Moon is debris from the collision, pulled together in Earth’s orbit by gravity.

The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact suggests that the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon; about 20 to 100 million years after the Solar System coalesced. The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, from the name of the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon. Analysis of lunar rocks, published in a 2016 report, suggests that the impact may have been a direct hit, causing a thorough mixing of both parent bodies.

The giant-impact hypothesis is currently the favoured scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. Supporting evidence includes:

• Earth’s spin and the Moon’s orbit have similar orientations.
• Moon samples indicate that the Moon’s surface was once molten.
• The Moon has a relatively small iron core.
• The Moon has a lower density than Earth.
• There is evidence in other star systems of similar collisions, resulting in debris disks.
• Giant collisions are consistent with the leading theories of the formation of the Solar System.
• The stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying a common origin.

Picture Credit : Google

The Moon is our closet neighbour and the only place in the Solar System, other than Earth, that humans have set foot on. The Moon is desert-like, with plains, mountains and valleys, and a black sky. It is covered with craters, because there is no atmosphere to protect it from space rocks.

Like the Earth, the Moon has layers. The innermost layer is the lunar core. It only accounts for about 20% of the diameter of the Moon. Scientists think that the lunar core is made of metallic iron, with small amounts of sulfur and nickel. Astronomers know that the core of the Moon is probably at least partly molten.

Outside the core is the largest region of the Moon, called the mantle. The lunar mantle extends up to a distance of only 50 km below the surface of the Moon. Scientists believe that the mantle of the Moon is largely composed of the minerals olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. It’s also believed to be more iron-rich than the Earth’s mantle.

The outermost layer of the Moon is called the crust, which extends down to a depth of 50 km. This is the layer of the Moon that scientists have gathered the most information about. The crust of the Moon is composed mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum. There are also trace elements like titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium and hydrogen.

Moon landing

A total of twelve men have landed on the Moon. This was accomplished with two US pilot-astronauts flying a Lunar Module on each of six NASA missions across a 41-month period starting 20 July 1969 UTC, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11, and ending on 14 December 1972 UTC with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Apollo 17. Cernan was the last to step off the lunar surface.

All Apollo lunar missions had a third crew member who remained on board the Command Module. The last three missions included a drivable lunar rover, the Lunar Roving Vehicle, for increased mobility.

Moon exploration

The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made an impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation from Earth. The invention of the optical telescope brought about the first leap in the quality of lunar observations. Galileo Galilei is generally credited as the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes; having made his own telescope in 1609, the mountains and craters on the lunar surface were among his first observations using it.

NASA’s Apollo program was the first, and to date only, mission to successfully land humans on the Moon, which it did six times. The first landing took place in 1969, when astronauts placed scientific instruments and returned lunar samples to Earth.

People last visited the Moon in 1972, but the footprints they left will last for millions of years because there is no wind to blow them away. This means future Moon explorers will be able to see them.

Solar eclipse

Sometimes when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon briefly blocks out light from the Sun, causing an eclipse to be seen on Earth.

An eclipse is a natural phenomenon. However, in some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses were attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens. A total solar eclipse can be frightening to people who are unaware of its astronomical explanation, as the Sun seems to disappear during the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.

Since looking directly at the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness, special eye protection or indirect viewing techniques are used when viewing a solar eclipse. It is technically safe to view only the total phase of a total solar eclipse with the unaided eye and without protection; however, this is a dangerous practice, as most people are not trained to recognize the phases of an eclipse, which can span over two hours while the total phase can only last a maximum of 7.5 minutes for any one location. People referred to as eclipse chasers or umbraphiles will travel to remote locations to observe or witness predicted central solar eclipses.

Mining the Moon

In the future there could be a Moon base, where people could live. Some scientists are even interested in mining the Moon for resource they could turn into rocket fuel.

If human beings are to explore the Moon and, potentially, live there one day, we’ll need to learn how to deal with these challenging environmental conditions. We’ll need habitats, air, food and energy, as well as fuel to power rockets back to Earth and possibly other destinations. That means we’ll need resources to meet these requirements. We can either bring them with us from Earth – an expensive proposition – or we’ll need to take advantage of resources on the Moon itself. And that’s where the idea of “in-situ resource utilization,” or ISRU, comes in.

Underpinning efforts to use lunar materials is the desire to establish either temporary or even permanent human settlements on the Moon – and there are numerous benefits to doing so. For example, lunar bases or colonies could provide invaluable training and preparation for missions to farther flung destinations, including Mars. Developing and utilizing lunar resources will likely lead to a vast number of innovative and exotic technologies that could be useful on Earth, as has been the case with the International Space Station.

Picture Credit : Google