7~ Space Exploration & History

The Speed of Light

186,000 miles/second or 300,000 km/second

Soyuz

A Russian spacecraft that is the only way for astronauts to get to and from the ISS today.

Yuri Gagarin

A Soviet Union astronaut, the first human in space.

Starliner

Boeing space capsule designed to carry astronauts on low-Earth orbit missions.

ESA

European Space Agency

ISS

International Space Station

JAXA

Japanese Space Agency

per aspera ad astra

Latin meaning, "through hardship to the stars", motto used by NASA after the Apollo 1 tragedy and often quoted by those working hard to achieve their dreams.

Kennedy Space Center

NASA center in Cape Canaveral, Florida that was the sight for manned rocket launches. Recently modified as a "spaceport" to support commercial partner rocket launches.

SpaceX

NASA commercial partner lead by CEO Elon Musk

Apollo 1

NASA mission that lost the lives of astronauts Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffe on January 27, 1967

Project Mercury

NASA mission to put the first manned spacecraft into orbit around the Earth and bring it back safely. NASA's first mission.

Artemis

NASA mission using the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. Using the moon as a training ground and stepping stone to Mars by 2030.

Gemini Mission

NASA missions to practice rendezvous and docking in space while learning about the effect of space on the human body

Voyager I & II

NASA space probes launched in 1977 that are transmitting data from the edge of our solar system.

SLS

NASA's Space Launch System rocket that will carry the Orion space capsule and send it with astronauts to back to the Moon and then on to Mars.

Orion

NASA's next generation manned space capsule designed to carry four astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit.... to Mars!

James Webb (JWST)

NASA's next generation space telescope set to launch on March 30, 2021

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration founded in 1958, a government agency funded by taxpayers that leads American missions in space.

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"

Neil Armstrong's words after stepping on the moon.

Roscosmos

Russian space agency

Falcon rocket & Dragon capsule

SpaceX spacecraft designed to carry cargo and astronauts to the ISS and on other low-Earth orbit missions.

Skylab

The United States first space station

15

The number of nations working together on the ISS

Keck Telescopes

Twin Earthbound telescopes located atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volacano on the island of Hawaii

observatory

a building that houses a large optical telescope

Cape Canaveral

a cape on the northeast coast of Florida where the Kennedy Space Center is located.

the Moon

a natural satellite of the Earth

Hubble

a reflecting space telescope launched in 1990 into low Earth orbit on the Space Shuttle Discovery

Space Shuttle

a reusable spacecraft NASA used to carry astronauts and equipment into low earth orbit (LEO).

electromagnetic spectrum

a scale showing the range of radiation based on wave lengths and frequency. Higher frequency waves have more energy.

optical telescope

a tool that refracts or reflects light to magnify distant objects.

rocket

a vehicle designed to propel itself by burning fuel and carried oxygen. The exhausted gases out of one end move it forward or upward... even in the vacuum of space.

Boeing

aircraft company working as a NASA commercial partner to develop spacecraft for manned low-Earth orbit missions.

space probe

an unmanned space craft that explores beyond Earth's orbit to gather information and send it back to Earth.

Robert Goddard

considered the "father of rocketry", an American that created and launched the first liquid fueled rocket.

Alan Shepard

first U.S. astronaut in space.

John Glenn

first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth.

Neil Armstrong

first man to step on the moon.

Newton's 3rd Law

for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

spacesuit

garment designed to keep humans alive in space.

light pollution

light from cars, buildings and street lights that obstructs astronomers' night time view of natural light from space.

Johnson Space Center

located in Houston, the NASA center for manned space flight and astronaut training, also known as Mission Control for the ISS and all manned missions.

radio waves

lowest energy waves of the electromagnetic spectrum that can penetrate Earth's atmosphere and travel at the speed of light.

space junk

manmade debris orbiting Earth that serves no purpose

satellite

natural (like a moon) or manmade, any object that revolves around another object in space

vacuum

nothing. No matter, no air, no air pressure = space, a vacuum.

astronomer

scientist that studies the universe beyond Earth

Columbia

space shuttle that was lost on re-entry claiming the lives of 7 astronauts due to a faulty heat shield on February 1, 2003.

Challenger

space shuttle that was lost on take off claiming the lives of 7 astronauts, including school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, on January 28, 1986

Saturn V

still the largest rocket every launched, it carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon.

Nancy Grace Roman

the "mother of Hubble", Born May 16, 1925. Died December 26, 2018

Apollo 11

the Apollo mission that landed the first two men on the moon

Galileo Galilei

the Italian astronomer that made the telescope (refracting) famous by constructing it of higher power and turning it upward to study space

Apollo

the NASA mission charged with the task of landing humans on the moon.

Mir

the Russian's first space station, modular in design

John F. Kennedy

the U.S. president that in 1961 challenged NASA to put a man on the moon "before this decade is out"

Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

the area 125-350 miles from Earth's surface where most manmade satellites, Hubble and the ISS orbit

orbit

the curved path a satellite follows as it revolves around another object in space.

July 20, 1969

the date Apollo 11 astronauts walked on the moon

April 12, 1981

the date of the first space shuttle, Columbia, launch.

April 12, 1961

the date the first human launches into space, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union.

space race

the dueling Soviet Union and American space programs fueled by Cold War fears.

Ed White

the first US astronaut to walk in space, killed on Apollo 1

1972

the last year that humans were beyond Low Earth Orbit (Apollo 17)

the Eagle

the name of the Lunar Lander module for the Apollo 11 mission.

Sputnik

the name of the first manmade satellite put into Earth's orbit (Soviet Union)

12

the number of humans who have walked on the moon.. All Americans, All men.

Sputnik II

the second Soviet satellite placed into low-Earth orbit that carried a dog.

Buzz Aldrin

the second man to step on the moon

astronomy

the study of objects and events outside Earth's atmosphere.

Space X and Boeing

the two American companies that NASA has partnered with to bring astronauts to the ISS in 2019.

Michael Collins

the unsung hero that manned the command module on Apollo 11

2030

the year NASA hopes to have astronauts in Mars orbit.

2011

the year the Space Shuttle was retired.

1990

the year the space shuttle, Discovery, put Hubble into space.