ASTRON 0087 1st EditionExam #2 Study Guide Chapters: 6-8Chapter 6: HistoryHistory of the Space RaceWhat was Sputnik?Sputnik was a satellite that was launched by the Russians and essentially started the space age. It could take basic measurements of the temperature around it and the how dense the orbit was. IT WAS LAUNCHED OCTOBER 4, 1957 (this will be on the test). How did it influence the world, especially the United States?Sputnik was huge. Everyone knew about it, people were worried that the Russians were spying on us, tons of people joined the army in order to become engineers and fight the Russians on the “new frontier.” The US educational system was harshly criticized because of its lack of emphasis on science and engineering. We were “falling behind the Russians” in the race to space. What was the rocket that launched Sputnik like?It had three stages. 1st Stage: to 35 miles, 3500 mph. 2nd Stage: 140 miles, 12500 mph, 3rd Stage: coasted horizontally for 5 minutes and then its speed increased to 18000 mph. What was Sputnik 2?Sputnik 2 was a second satellite launched by the Russians. It had a live dog in it named Laika. It was launched on Nov. 3, 1957. At this point in the space race, how was the US doing?Not well. Sputnik had a mass of 83 kg and Sputnik 2 had a higher mass. In contrast, the US satellite, the Explorer had a mass of 14 kg and was launched Jan 31, 1958.Who was Yuri Gagarin?He lived from 1934-1968. On April 12, 1961, he captained the first manned spaceflight in human history. He was a Russian and piloted the Vostok 1 spacecraft for 108 minutes. He made one orbit. He’s pretty important. At this point, how was the US doing?We were still behind. On Nov. 29, 1961, we managed to send a 5.5 year old chimpanzee named Enos up in the Mercury Spacecraft. Enos made two orbits of the Earth. During this time, he ate and drank and did some basic tests to check mental functioning. Who was Alan Sheperd?Alan Sheperd (1923-1998) was a US pilot who flew the Mercury 3 on May 5, 1961. He was the first US citizen to go into space and the second person worldwide. He wasn’t able to orbit the earth, unlike Yuri Gagarin.Who was John Glenn?John Glenn piloted the Friendship 7 (Mercury 6) on Feb. 20, 1962. He is the first US citizen to orbit the Earth. He completed three orbits. His trip was highly televised. What’s JFK’s role in all of this?JFK was a huge proponent of the space program. He wanted to make sure that the US didn’t fall behind and made several speeches to try to motivate US students to go into engineering and learn more about space. When he was assassinated, his successor LBJ took the momentum from his death to make the space program happen. He is a huge reason why the space program had as much funding as it did.When did we finally get to the moon?We made it to the moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong was the first person from Earth to set foot on the moon. He flew Apollo 11, whose crew included Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. When the Apollo 11 returned to Earth, it had to land in the water (splash landing).When did we first orbit the moon?We sent a manned spacecraft to orbit the moon in December 1968. The US was the first countryto do it, with the Apollo 8. Rocket HistoryWhat were the earliest rockets?The earliest rockets were basically just Chinese fireworks. They started being used as early 400 BC and were used for warfare starting in 1000 AD. What’s considered the age of modern rocketry?Modern rocketry is basically when we started using rockets for space travel.How are explosions created?Explosions are created when fuel that is either in a solid or liquid state is converted to a gaseousstate very quickly. This is because the fuel is able to occupy a lot more room when it is in a gaseous state. Even though you produce a gas when you burn charcoal, it is not an explosive because burning is confined to its surface and the process is slow. What’s gunpowder?Gunpowder is a combination of saltpeter (or potassium nitrate) that makes up 40-75% of the mixture by mass, sulfur, and some charcoal. If you change the amount of saltpeter in the mixture, you will change the properties of the explosion. The basic formula is 2KNO3(s) + 3C(s) +2S(s) -> N2(g) + CO2(g) + K2S(s) + energy. The “energy” is required to heat the gases, increase the pressure, and create an explosion. What are some other common explosives?Other common explosives include nitroglycerin, TNT (trinitrotoluene), and ammonium nitrate (used often as a fertilizer). Why can’t we use TNT as a way to power a rocket?You can’t use TNT because it would destroy the rocket, since you can’t actually control the release of the gases. For rockets, the gases need to be channeled in a single direction in order toproduce a thrust. Historical Space Flight (mostly in literature and stuff)What were some of the ideas that people had about getting humans to the moon in the past?The Man in the Moon, a book by Bishop Franci Godwin (1566-1633), featured a protagonist whoharnessed the power of moon geese (gansas) to carry him to the moon on their annual migration. Cyrano de Bergerac published Other Worlds, which also talked about people going to space. Jules Verne wrote, From the Earth to the Moon, in 1865. He imagined a gigantic gun that would shoot a spacecraft shaped like a bullet into space. The problems with this last idea included the issue with getting back to earth, the air resistance would cause the bullet to get really hot and possibly destroy it, and you would also need to slow down before you hit the moon. Finally, the initial shock of taking off would probably kill the person inside of the bullet. Actual HistoryWho was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)?He’s the father of modern astronautics. He proposed exploring space through the use of a rocket, suggested using liquid fuels for rockets in 1903, thought of how we’d have to use airlocksin order to get in and out of spacecraft, figured out the basics of the rocket formula that we currently use, and reasoned that we might need multi-stage rockets. He also developed 16 stages of space exploration that end with us going to other planets in the solar system when Earth dies.Who was Dr. Robert H. Goddard?He’s “the father of American rocketry.” He worked with equations of rocketry, efficiency, and theory and experiment. He launched the first successful, liquid fuel rocket on March 16, 1926. Ithad an average speed of 64 mph. He came to several