Astronomy, space and time

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 From the Ground Up 3 Rockets and Satellites 4 To the Moon 15 Humans versus Robots 18 CHAPTER 2: A SPACE ROBOT IS BORN 23 Scientific Conception 25 Proving Technology 33 The Political Push 36 Paper Spacecraft 38 It'sJust a Phase I'm Going Through 48 CHAPTER 3: ANATOMY OF A SPACE PROBE 53 Bits and Pieces 55 Power 57 Vll Contents Communication 65 Structures 70 Thermal Control 73 Attitude Control 77 Propulsion 86 Data Handling 89 Mechanisms 93 The Kidnap ofLuna 1 95 CHAPTER 4: BUILDING AND TESTING 97 The Spacecraft Garage 97 Keep it Clean 100 Planetary Protection 102 Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll 108 Shaken, not stirred 110 Canned space 112 Antenna testing 112 Special cases 113 Breaking the software 114 CHAPTER 5: INSTRUMENTS OFS CIENCE 115 The More we Learn, the More we Don't Know 116 Let's get Physical 118 It's All in the Data 121 Many Eyes 122 123 Visible light instruments There is more than meets the eye 126 Messenger's Instruments 129 Roving Around 132 Diving through an Atmosphere 140 142 Primeval soup Going down 142 CHAPTER 6: LAUNCH 149 On the Road 149 Spaceports 150 Preparing for Launch 153 Up and Away 156 Rockets 159 162 Orbits Vlll Contents CHAPTER 7: DISTANT DESTINATIONS 167 To the Moon 170 The first visits 170 Preparing for Apollo 172 Robot rovers 175 Modern missions 176 A new Moon 177 Unromantic Venus 179 Greenhouse nightmare 179 Into the unknown 180 Magellan 186

The aim of State of the Universe 2007 (and subsequent volumes issued annually) is to provide an annual astronomy review suitable for the popular science level reader to be published every year in September in a format that will be suitable for an appeal to the Christmas market.

If you have ever gazed through the eyepiece of a telescope at the magnificent rings and banded globe of Saturn, or found yourself breathless at the sight of long shadows jutting across crater floors on the terminator of the Moon, then you will understand the power of those direct visual experiences.

Two books in this series, Small Astronomical Observatories, have been widely read and used.

The proper study of mankind is not merely Man, but Intelligence.

Global warming is extremely complex because it deals with so many different characteristics of the Earth and their complex interactions.

I was delighted to be invited by my colleagues Alessandra Celletti and Ettore Perozzi to provide a foreword to their book, Celestial Mechanics: The Waltz of the Planets.

The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars fills a need for a complete history of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, drawing on many photographs never before published.

Philip Baker charts the history of manned space stations from the very beginning in a logical, chronological order.

For the majority of amateur astronomers, who live at the latitudes of North America, the British Isles and Australia, the aurora is a relatively infrequent visitor to the night sky.

CHAPTER 1: DISCOVERING DISTANT WORLDS 3 CHAPTER 2: MERCURY: THE IRON PLANET 21 CHAPTER 3: VENUS: THE RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE 45 CHAPTER 4: THE MOON: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT 69 5: MARS: THE RED PLANET CHAPTER 101 CHAPTER 6: ASTEROIDS: VERMIN OF THE SKIES 129 CHAPTER 7: JUPITER: KING OF THE PLANETS 147 CHAPTER 8: SATURN: LIGHTWEIGHT LORD OF THE RINGS 185 CHAPTER 9: URANUS: THE TOPPLED GIANT 217 CHAPTER 10: NEPTUNE: THE LAST GIANT 237 CHAPTER 11: PLUTO: KING OF THE KUIPER BELT 257 CHAPTER 12: COMETS: COSMIC ICEBERGS 269 APPENDICES 1: Lunar and Planetary Missions 285 2: Planetary Data 298 3: Satellite Data 299 4: Planetary Rings 305 5: The Largest Known Kuiper Belt Objects 307 6: Lunar and Planetary Firsts 308 7: Selected Reading List 310 8: Selected Websites 314 INDEX 317 VII Until about 500 years ago, the Earth was believed to lie at Pluto and its recently discovered, larger cousin in the far the center of the Universe, with the Sun and five planets reaches of the Sun's realm.

Human civilization has evolved to the point at which we can consider tapping space resources and expanding beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Hidden from human view, accessible only to sensitive receivers attached to huge radio telescopes, giant versions of backyard satellite dishes, the invisible universe beyond our senses continues to fascinate and intrigue our imaginations.

While most amateur astronomers know about the red shift, have a general idea of the way that the emission and absorption lines in stellar spectra provide an insight into the atomic processes of the star, it is unusual to find someone who has any kind of detailed knowledge.

I have owned telescopes for over 25 years since I was a young lad.

Explains the methods that rocket scientists use-expressed in a way that could be applied in everyday life.

Advances over the past decades in space flight technology have allowed U.

In 'Paving the Way for Apollo 11' David Harland explains the lure of the Moon to classical philosophers, astronomers, and geologists, and how NASA set out to investigate the Moon in preparation for a manned lunar landing mission.

This book is about an audacious idea: asteroengineering-literally, the physical engineering of a star, especially the star we call our Sun.

Scientists will often tell you that now is the most exciting time for a particular interest.

Amateur astronomers - particularly deep-sky observers - are always on the lookout for new observing challenges.

The questions of our origin and cosmic abundance of life are among the most compelling facing humanity.

Many people know something about communication - it is after all an innate human ability - but a full comprehension of how to do science communication effectively is not acquired easily.

Calibrating the Cosmos describes hard science, but is gently written.

Ironically, the loss of Challenger in January 1986 fired my interest in space exploration more than any other single event.

Many readers will doubtless be astonished to learn that animals were being fired aloft in U.

Russia's accomplishments in planetary space exploration were not achieved easily.

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth.

Mounting pressure in the early 1960s from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to study ways of expanding the role of astronauts to conduct science on future space missions led to NASA's conclusion that flying scientifically trained crewmembers would generate greater returns from each mission.

Sirius - A Diamond in the Night will tell two stories.

Public interest in the first lunar landing transcended political, economic and social borders - the world was briefly united by the courage of the crew, and the wonder of the accomplishment.

The aim of the Space Exploration - 2007 is to provide an annual update on recent space launches, missions and results, to be published every year in September.

Can you remember being impressed by a clear starry sky?

This well-illustrated monograph is devoted to classic fundamentals, current practice, and perspectives of modern plasma astrophysics.

2 With a global average irradiance of 342 W/m , the Sun is by far the largest source of energy for planet Earth.

UNDERSTANDING THE PLANET MERCURY Thirty years have elapsed since the one and only mission to Mercury, Mariner 10, performed three ?

Neutron stars play a unique role in physics and astrophysics.

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) concerns the interaction between magnetic fields and conducting fluids.

Special and General Relativity are concisely developed together with essential aspects of nuclear and particle physics.

This is without doubt the largest and most comprehensive atlas of the universe ever created for amateur astronomers.

For years, the images have blazed through your imagination.

Supernova explosions, which mark the deaths of massive stars or of white dwarf stars in binary systems,are unbelievably violent events.

Prominent progress in science is inevitably associated with controversies.

It is well known, that the Sun as central star of our solar system gravitationally controls the orbits of planets and minor bodies.

This review emerged from several interdisciplinary meetings and schools gathering a group of astronomers, geologists, biologists, and chemists, attempting to share their specialized knowledge around a common question: how did life emerge on Earth?

Fundamentals of Space Biology is the third textbook addressing Space Life Sciences in this Space Technology Library series.

This volume on the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission continues a Solar Physics tradition of special topical issues dedicated to major solar space missions.

On 25 May 1961, John F Kennedy announced the goal of landing an American man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

The impact of Einstein's relativity is perhaps most dramatic in astronomy, radically altering our interpretation of the observations of the stars and galaxies.