Space Technology

S.Komala

Introduction
Space technology is technology that is related to entering, and retrieving objects or life forms from space. The Space technology used to explore space are Rockets, space shuttles, satellites, telescopes, and space stations. Without them, space exploration would be impossible. [ "Every day" technologies such as weather forecasting, remote sensing, GPS systems, satellite television, and some long distance communications systems critically rely on space infrastructure. Of sciences, astronomy and Earth sciences (via remote sensing) most notably benefit from space technology. ] Rockets and space shuttles help transport people to space Satellites, telescopes, and space stations help people explore space. They also help us understand space better by taking pictures of stellar objects.

Rockets
Rocket is a self-propelled device [ carries its own fuel.]

Also carries the oxygen, or other chemical agent, needed to burn the fuel.
At the very top is a small capsule. That is where the astronauts stay. The rest are just fuel tanks. They carry a lot of fuel. When coming back down there is a parachute that comes out of the capsule. The capsule then lands in an ocean and the astronauts make it home safely.

Space Shuttle
Space shuttles are multipurpose, reusable vehicles that transport humans into orbit around the Earth. It was built to hold up to seven people with a payload of 30,000 kg (65,000 lbs.) The saga of the space shuttle started on April 12, 1981 with the space shuttle Columbia.[first test launch for space shuttles]. That launch was a success and NASA conducted a couple more test launches. On the 5th launch, which was b/w Nov 11 to 16, 82, Columbia launched 2 commercial satellites into the orbit.[ Sally Ride] & many other successful launches.

Unfortunately in January 28, 1986, a terrible thing happened. The space shuttle Challenger exploded a few minutes after the launch. All 7 of the crew members onboard died. After the Challenger explosion, all launches were halted until September 29, 1988.

Satellites
Satellites are objects that orbit another object in space. They are highly specialized tools that do different tasks every day. Different types of satellites [2 do different things] Weather satellites take pictures of how the weather is. Communications satellites transmit TV or telephone signals to Earth. 2 important parts payload and the bus.

Telescopes
The telescope makes far and faint objects appear brighter and bigger. They are typically used to observe the sky. Different types [ Some big, some small] "Optical Telescopes, Radio Telescopes, Infrared Telescopes, Ultraviolet Telescopes, X-Ray Telescopes, and Gamma-Ray Telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope was built in 1990, and it provides us with the best pictures of space so far. This because on the Earth's surface, the atmosphere creates a blanket that is hard to see through. The Hubble Space Telescope is outside of the atmosphere and it can take far clearer pictures.

A picture of the Hubble Space Telescope

Space Stations
The first space stations were Salyut (Russian) and Skylab (U.S.). These space stations were used to perform experiments out in space. They gave us valuable information about the stars too. People could dock up to a space station and enter it. Astronauts or cosmonauts could live in space for long periods of time. For example, two cosmonauts, Vladimir Titov and Muso Manarov, lived the Russian space station Mir from April 1987 to December 21, 1988.

Skylab

(cont..)
On April 19, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the space station Salyut 1. There were several dockings with the space station. A three member crew of Soyuz 11 docked with Salyut 1 and stayed at the Salyut 1 for a period of 24 days. Afterward, on the way back to land, all three crew members died. Later on, it was found that there was an air leak, and because the crew wore no space suits, they died very quickly. The USSR launched another space station calledSalyut 2. Unfortunately, this space station broke apart before any person could live inside of it.Mir was launched was a successor to the Salyut stations. It could hold a two member crew and it had six docking areas. The U.S. launched Skylab in May 25, 1973 as a space laboratory. Skylab was much larger than the Salyut space stations by almost three and a half times larger. It could also hold up to three crew members. Skylab was used also to make observations of the Sun and other astronomical bodies, make medical studies of what would happen to a human in space, and do other scientific experiments. There were in all a total of three dockings that took place. Afterwards on July 11, 1979, Skylab fell through the Earth's atmosphere and most of the debris landed in Australia. The Internaional Space Station, which began construction in 1998, will be finished in 2004. It is a joint operation of the U.S., Russia, Canada, Japan, and a thirteen member European Space Agency. The ISS will take up space enough to fill up 2 football fields and it can house 7 astronauts. Overall, the ISS has 100 modules used for experiments, observations, and research. All of it is put together by astronauts in many launches. It is to be completed by 2004

Space Exploration
Space exploration is our human response to curiosity about Earth, the moon, the planets, the sun and other stars, and the galaxies. Space exploration helps us compare Earth to the rest of the universe. Such exploration could reveal how the sun, the planets, and the stars were formed and whether life exists beyond our own world.

Space Pictures

Massive Solar Loop on Sun

Spacewalking Cosmonauts

Lowell Observatory's Clark Telescope

Hubble Telescope's Hidden Photo

Sun Zoom Arc

"Auriga's Wheel" --A Strange Ring Galaxy

Auriga's Wheel as seen in the g (left) and r (right) filters from Subaru.

Billions of Years of Mars' History Etched into Mount Sharp's Layers

Photos: NASA's Space Exploration Vehicle for Asteroids & Beyond

Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) approaches an asteroid

Photos: NASA's Space Exploration Vehicle for Asteroids & Beyond

SEV Takes Sample from Asteroid

(cont..)

an astronaut has egressed from the Space Exploration Vehicle to perform Extravehicular Activities (EVA) near an asteroid

Operation 'Plymouth Rock: Astronauts on an

Asteroid

This artist's illustration depicts a 'Plymouth Rock' asteroid mission with astronauts and NASA's Orion spacecraft

Curiosity

The Strangest Black Holes in the Universe

(cont..)
Black holes are gigantic cosmic monsters, exotic objects whose gravity is so strong that not even light can escape their clutches Black holes come in a wide variety of forms, from small stellar-mass bodies to the supermassive beasts that reside at the hearts of galaxies. Here are 10 of the most extreme black holes, from the smallest to the largest and from cannibals to rogues.

The Biggest Black Holes

Nearly all galaxies are thought to harbor at their cores super-massive black holes millions to billions of times the mass of our sun. Scientists recently discovered the largest black holes known in two nearby galaxies. One of these galaxies, known as NGC 3842 the brightest galaxy in the Leo cluster nearly 320 million light years away has a central black hole containing 9.7 billion solar masses.

The other, NGC 4889, the brightest galaxy in the Coma cluster more than 335 million light years away, has a black hole of comparable or larger mass.

The gravitational range, or "event horizon," of these black holes is about five times the distance from the sun to Pluto.

For comparison, these black holes are 2,500 times as massive as the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, whose event horizon is one-fifth the orbit of Mercury.

The Smallest Black Hole

The smallest black hole discovered to date may be less than three times the mass of This would put this little monster, officially called IGR J17091-3624, near the theoretical minimum limit needed for a black hole to be stable. As tiny as this black hole may be, it looks fierce, capable of 20 million mph winds (32 million kph) the fastest yet observed from a stellar-mass black hole by nearly 10 times

our sun.

Bullet-shooting Black Hole

H1743-322, which harbors five to 10 times the mass of the sun and is located about 28,000 light-years from Earth,

Satellite image of earth. Isnt it Beautiful??

Thank You