Your Life as a Cosmonaut

1. Explain why your weight is less on the ISS but your mass remains the same.
2. Give three ways space travel has effected your body and how you will deal with the changes when you return to Earth.
3. Describe how have you had to adapt to space life and key ways your daily activities are different then when on Earth.
4. Discuss the more positive aspects of space life and the disadvantages you have faced.

 

1. Your weight is less because there is no gravity in space but it will not affect your mass.

2.

– Gravity: You have to get used to no gravity in space and adapt.

– The food: Your digestive system has to adapt to the food you get in space as it is all dehydrated.

– Movement: In space you cannot as easily manoeuvre your body as you do on Earth, and you have to learn to move in space.

3. In space your daily activities would roughly be the same as on Earth, the only difference would be the way you do it because of all the changes you experience in space, for example when sleeping you may need to tie yourself to the bed otherwise they will float around.

4.

Positive things in space: Awesome view of the universe, zero gravity experience, space walks and the knowledge that you are one of the few to ever be in space.

Negative things in space: No contact with Earth or family, food is terrible, uncomfortable toilet, uncomfortable beds, confined space and spending lots of time with strangers

Satellites

Today we will read Chapter 6.5 of the text. Use the text and web to answer the following questions on your blog:

1. How many satellites are currently orbiting the Earth?
2. What are the various heights of the satellites orbiting Earth?
3. Why are the satellites at different heights?
4. How are geostationary satellites unique?  How many of them do we need to cover the entire Earth’s surface?
5. Give three different types of satellites that there are in space.
6. For each of the different types of satellites listed, give how they are useful in today’s society.
7. Finally, for each of the different types of satellites listed, give how they have impacted today’s society. Impacts can either be positive or negative.

Be sure to include an image in your blog and a link to the webpage where you found the information.

 

1. 8681

2. 200 – 2000 kilometres away

3. They are designed for specific purposes.

4. They are unique because they never move or orbit around the Earth

5. Navigation, Communication and astronomy satellites

6. They are all useful in their own way and represent their purpose.

7. They provide a positive impact on the Earth. They give us communication and the ability to access the internet, but they also have negative traits, one of which is that they cost us a lot of money.

Telescopes

Telescopes collect electromagnetic radiation which provide images and data about various aspects of the universe.

Hubble Telescope Update: What’s happened since 2005?

There have been four previous servicing missions to Hubble: Servicing Missions 1, 2, 3A and 3B. The upcoming Servicing Mission 4, (SM4) scheduled to launch May 11, 2009, will be the final trip to Hubble. The astronauts’ goals for SM4 are to install new instruments, replace degraded systems, and bring inactive instruments back to life.

ISS Update:

Chandra X-Observatory Update:

Earth Telescope: Name. date, location, type, information

Type of EM radiation emitted by stars

1. Radiation is energy emitted in waves or particles.

2. Radiation in the EM Spectrum: Lowest to Highest

Radio, Microwaves, Inferred, Visible, Ultraviolet, X-rays, Gamma Rays

3. Ultraviolet, Radio, X-rays and Gamma rays are emitted by stars.

4. Both microwaves and gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. The diffrerence is in the range of wavelengths that they fall in.

5. Visible Spectrums, radio frequencies and some ultraviolet wavelengths can reach the Earth from space. Electromagnetic Radiation cannot reach us from space. This can be due to the lack of wavelength.

Life of a star

1. Explain the difference between apparent and an absolute magnitude.

2. Using the H – R diagram on page 143:
a) What is the temperature rang of white dwarfs?

b) What is the range for absolute magnitude for super giants?

c) Give a description of the Sun using the info on the diagram.

3. What 2 forces keep a main sequence star stable?

4. What is the relationship between the colour of a star + the temperature?

5. Find one star that interests you and give some characteristics of it:

Answers:
1. Apparent Magnitude is the star’s brightness as it appears from earth. absolute magnitude is the apparent brightness of a star if viewed from a distance of 32.6 light years away.

2.
a) 4400 – 9430

b) -7.5 – -5

c) The sun has a temperature near 5700 degrees Celsius and Absolute magnitude of +4

3. Gravity and Nuclear Fusion

4. The temperature of a star is reflected by the colour. The hotter the star is the bluer is it. The cooler the redder.

5. The Sun. It is about 1 million km wide and is 4.5 billion years old, but when it grows older it will no longer be the size of an average yellow sun.

 

How a Star is Born

Hot Neighbour – The Sun

• The Sun is the closest Star to Earth and is small in mass compared to other large stars, like Cygnus.
• http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/197366main_image_feature_736_946x710.jpg

• The Sun produces heat and light through the process of nuclear fusion.
• http://i51.tinypic.com/10poqwo.jpg

• The Sun releases massive amounts of power and energy into space. This can be seen interfering with the Earth’s magnetic field in the North + South Poles.
• http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/jupiter/magfield-small.gif

• Aurora australis produces beautiful patterns across the night sky because of the Sun’s particles.
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Aurora_Timelapse.ogv/seek%3D9-Aurora_Timelapse.ogv.jpg

Astronomy Terms

1 AU = 150 000 000 km

AU = Astronomical unit

ILY= 9.46×10^12 km or 300 000 m/s

LY = Light Years

Metre = Length = M

Kilogram = Mass = Kg

Second = Time = S

Kelvin = Thermodynamic temperature = K

Ampere = Electric Current = A

Candela = Light Intensity = CA

Mole = Amount of Subspace – Mol or M

Radian = Ratio between arc and its radius = Rad

10^3 = Mega = M

10^6 = Kilo = K

10^9 = Giga =G

Natural Selection and Biodiversity

1. Darwin believed that organisms that have variations allow survival and passing on of traits to offspring. Lamarck believed that organisms change depending on their needs.

2. Natural selection is when genes are passed on naturally through animal mating. Artificial selection is when they are passed on unnaturally through human intervention.

3. Biodiversity is a degree of changes in lifeforms within a specific species. 

4. It would cause extinction to certain people. 

5. It would cause great benefit to the ecosystem. Examples of this would be clearer air and purer water.