Science Club Space Vocab
Globalstar
A company that developed fleets, or constellations of satellites to operate in low-Earth orbit to provide global phone and data service
Iridium
A company that developed fleets, or constellations of satellites to operate in low-Earth orbit to provide global phone and data service
ORBCOMM
A company that developed fleets, or constellations of satellites to operate in low-Earth orbit to provide global phone and data service
DigitalGlobe
A company that developed satellites to provide high-resolution images of Earth for both governments and businesses
Orbimage
A company that developed satellites to provide high-resolution images of Earth for both governments and businesses
Space Imaging
A company that developed satellites to provide high-resolution images of Earth for both governments and businesses
Sirius Satellite Radio
A company that launched satellites to provide commercial-free radio programming to subscribers in a way similar to DTH television
XM Satellite Radio
A company that launched satellites to provide commercial-free radio programming to subscribers in a way similar to DTH television
Orion
A crewed spacecraft for the Constellation Program
Orbit
A fixed "racetrack" on which the spacecraft travels around a planet or other celestial body.
Constellation
A fleet of identical spacecraft placed in different orbits to provide the necessary coverage to satisfy a mission.
Wide-Band Global Satcom
A high-capacity satellite communications system that supports the Department of Defense's warfighting information exchange requirements, enabling execution of tactical command and control, communications, and computers; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR); battle management; and combat support information.
Ballistic Missile
A rocket launched into space that reenters the atmosphere to deliver warheads to a predetermined target.
X-15
A rocket-propelled spaceplane planned to exceed Mach 8 and climb more than 112 km above Earth.
Communication Satellites
A satellite sent to space for the purpose of telecommunications.
Advanced Extremely High Frequency
A series of communications satellites operated by the United States Air Force Air Force Space Command.
Mariner
A series of missions designed to be the first U.S. spacecraft to other planets, specifically Venus and Mars and Mercury. The first Mariner spacecraft were launched in 1962.
Chang'e
A series of robotic probes to the Moon launched by China
Mission Operations Systems
All facilities and infrastructure needed to design, assemble, integrate, verify, launch, and operate a space mission.
Contact Forces
Forces that act only on the surface of an object
Limited by Geometric Constraints
Limited by the geometric cone of visibility and the edge of radio horizon.
Total Dose
Long-term damage to the crystal structure of semi-conductors within a spacecraft's computer caused by electrons and protons in the solar wind and the Van Allen belts
Thrusters
Small rocket engines that adjust the spacecraft's orientation and maintain the orbit's size, shape, and orientation.
Focus
The planets moved around the Sun in elliptical orbits, with the Sun not at the center but at a _.
Magnetopause
The point of contact between the charged particles of the solar wind and the magnetic field lines
Bow Shock
The point of contact between the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field
Shock Front
The point of contact between the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field
Subject
The primary focus of the mission.
Launch Vehicle
The rocket that supplies the necessary velocity change to get a spacecraft into orbit.
Astronautics
The science and technology of spaceflight.
Astronomy
The science of the heavens.
Redstone
A U.S. rocket developed from the German V-2 rocket.
Bell X-1A
Experimental aircraft that flew to the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
Astrodynamics
A branch of astronautics deals with quantifying its effects on spacecraft and planetary motion
Perturbation
A wobble in a planet's orbit.
Flight Control
Directs mission events thru communication between ground team and vehicle crew and/or computers.
Mir Space Station
A Soviet expandable space station designed to extend the length of human presence in space.
Ariane
A European built expendable rocket
Huygens
A European-built probe called _, deployed by Casinsi, that descended through the atmosphere and landed on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in early 2005
Global Change Observation Mission-Water
A Japanese spacecraft to study climate change, is also part of the A-Train
Mars Science Laboratory
A Mars mission featuring a rover named Curiosity. This one-ton, nuclear-powered rover landed on Mars in August 2012 in a large feature named Gale Crater. MSL is equipped with instruments designed to study Martian rocks and soil to help scientists understand the planet's history, including looking for evidence of past liquid water and organic materials that are the building blocks of life.
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
A NASA program to create systems to transport cargo to and from the ISS
CloudSat
A NASA satellite which examines how clouds regulate Earth's climate
Aura
A NASA satellite which studies atmospheric chemistry
New Horizons
A NASA spacecraft launched in early 2006, will fly past Pluto in July 2015 to study it and its several moons
Vanguard
A Navy rocket that exploded on the launch pad on December 6, 1957 in the first attempt to launch a satellite by the U.S.
Dosage
A measure of accumulated radiation exposure
Sievert
A measure of the biological effect of ionizing radiation on an organism
Space Shuttle
A piloted reusable spacecraft that carried men and cargo back and forth to the ISS.
Orthostatic Intolerance
A rapid blood pressure drop in the upper body and head with the risk of becoming syncopal (fainting) upon reaching the surface after returning from space
South Atlantic Anomaly
A region where the Van Allan radiation belts dip down closer to Earth. Here radiation levels are much higher than in all other regions around Earth.
Stages
A series of smaller rockets, in a launch vehicle, that ignite, furnish thrust, and then burn out in succession, each one handing off the next one like runners in a relay race.
Sentinel
A series of spacecraft will include radar imagers that can provide imagery of Earth through clouds and at night, as well as high-resolution cameras and other instruments for studying land, oceans, and the atmosphere
Single Event Phenomenon
A single charged particle penetrating deep into the guts of a spacecraft to disrupt electronics
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
A sophisticated satellite observator dedicated to observing the high-energy Universe. _ carries a collection of four instruments which together detected an unprecedented broad range of high-energy radiation called gamma rays.
International Space Station
A space station, or a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It is a modular structure whose first component was launched in 1998. Now the largest artificial body in orbit. The _ program is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA
Hubble Space Telescope
A space telescope launched in 1990, used to study objects both in our own solar system and in galaxies billions of light years away.
Cold War
A state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Wester Bloc (The United States, its NATO allies and others) and power in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact)
Solar Wind
A stream of charged particles flying off the Sun
Heliocentric
A sun-centered universe.
Parking Orbit
A temporary orbit where the spacecraft stays until a final "kick" sends it into a transfer orbit.
Geostatic
A universe with the Earth not moving.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
A weather satellite, operated by NOAA, that provides continuous images of cloud patterns and other data from geostationary orbit, 36,000 kilometers up
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite
A weather satellite, operated by NOAA, that provides more detailed meteorological data from orbits about 800 kilometers high
Electromagnetic Radiation
All the different kinds of energies released into space by stars such as the Sun.
Skylab
America's first space station launched in 1973.
Mars Pathfinder
An American spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander and a lightweight (10.6 kg/23 lb) wheeled robotic Mars rover named Sojourner.
Van Allen Radiation Belts
An area where high-energy particles get trapped and concentrated between the Earth's magnetic field and the atmosphere
Transfer Orbit
An intermediate orbit that takes the spacecraft from its parking orbit to its final mission orbit.
Apollo-Soyuz
Apollo 18 docked with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in July, 1975.
Sublunar Realm
Aristotle's universe composed of everything beneath the Moon's sphere.
Superlunar Realm
Aristotle's universe composed of everything from the Moon up to the sphere of the fixed stars.
Solar Cells
Convert sunlight into electricity
Spacecraft Charging
Charges that build up on different parts of the spacecraft surface as it moves through concentrated areas of charged particles
Wave-length (λ)
Classification of waves of radiant energy in terms of the distance between wave crests
Doppler
Compared to the emitted frequency, the received frequency is higher during the approach, identical at the instant of passing by, and lower during the recession.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Created in 1958 to consolidate U.S. space efforts under a single civilian agency and to put a man in space before the U.S.S.R.
Sputtering
Damage caused by particles hitting a spacecraft's surface at high speed
V-2 Rocket
Developed in Germany, the world's first ballistic missile.
Geocentric
Earth-centered universe.
Galileo Spacecraft
Entered orbit around Jupiter in late 1995, provided detailed images and other data about Jupiter and its moons, and deployed a probe into the planet's dense atmosphere
Mercury Program
Established in 1958, the Mercury program was NASA's first human spaceflight program. It's objectives were to place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the Earth, investigate man's performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space, and recover the man and the spacecraft safely.
Solar Flares
Gigantic bursts of charged particles from the Sun's surface
Solar Particle Events
Gigantic bursts of charged particles from the Sun's surface
Convection
Gravity, wind, or some other force moves a liquid or gas over a hot surface
Conduction
Heat flows directly from one point to another through a medium
Radiation
Heat transfer due to emission of electromagnetic waves is known as thermal radiation
Galactic Cosmic Rays
High-energy particles that originate outside of the solar system
Atmospheric Density
How much air is packed into a given volume
Concept of Operations (ConOps)
How we plan to conduct the mission, how all of the stakeholders and mission elements will work together to satisfy users.
Mars Exploration Rovers
In January 2004, two robotic geologists named Spirit and Opportunity landed on opposite sides of the red planet. With far greater mobility than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover, these robotic explorers have trekked for miles across the Martian surface, conducting field geology and making atmospheric observations. Carrying identical, sophisticated sets of science instruments, both rovers have found evidence of ancient Martian environments where intermittently wet and habitable conditions existed.
Fluid Shift
In free fall, the body has no weight to fight against to maintain blood pressure in the upper body and head. Yet the vascular system habitually continues to exert pressure on the lower torso and legs, resulting in a pronounced increase in blood volume in the upper body, especially notable as puffiness or edema in the face
Free Fall
In orbit, spacecraft (and everything in them) are weightless when they have no contact forces (such as thrust from a rocket engine) acting on them. This weightless condition is _ , meaning the spacecraft is falling toward Earth because of gravity but missing it continually because of its forward speed.
Free Fall
In orbit, spacecraft (and everything in them) are weightless when they have no contact forces (such as thrust from a rocket engine) acting on them. This weightless condition is free fall, meaning the spacecraft is falling toward Earth because of gravity but missing it continually because of its forward speed.
Ionospheric Scintillation
Interference with radio signals, causing a reduction of signal strength and distortion of information
Limited by Physical Constraints
Limited by the capabilities of the equipment such as the lens, the image plane, or the antenna beam pattern.
Chanda X-Ray Observatory
Launched by NASA in 1999 to study the universe at x-ray wavelengths.
Spitzer Space Telescope
Launched in 2003, an infrared observatory.
Dawn Spacecraft
Launched in 2007, used its ion propulsion system to visit the asteroid Vesta in 2011 with a follow-on visit to Ceres in early 2015, becoming the first space probe to orbit two different bodies
Kepler Spacecraft
Launched in 2009, _ focuses on only a small sliver of the sky, but monitors more than 100,000 stars to look for any brief, periodic drops in brightness caused when a planet orbiting that star passes in front of it
Echo
Launched on August 12, 1960, an aluminum -coated, 30.4 meter diameter plastic sphere that passively reflected voice and picture signals.
Out-gassing
Loss of gas in a vacuum due to evaporation or sublimation
Magnetosphere
Magnetic field lines that wrap around Earth
Viking
Martian space probes that analyzed Martian soil, weather, and atmospheric composition as well as captured more than 4500 spectacular images of the Red Planet's surface.
Relativity
Motion depends on the perspective or frame of reference of the observer.
Aqua
NASA satellite which studies the water cycle
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's _ blasted off from Cape Canaveral in 2005, on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time.
Orbiting Climate Observatory 2
NASA's first dedicated Earth remote sensing satellite to study atmospheric carbon dioxide from space.
Degree
One part of a circle divided into 360 equal parts.
Minute of Arc
One part of a degree divided into 60 equal parts.
Oxidation
Oxygen molecules in the air combine with the metal, creating an oxide-rust
Solar Radiation Pressure
Pressure exerted by tiny bundles of energy called photons
Constellation Program
Program to implement the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), designing a crewed spacecraft called Orion, a rocket to launch Orion called Ares I, and a heavy-lift launch vehicle called Ares V
Charged Particles
Protons and electrons. Protons have a positive charge, and electrons have a negative charge
Atomic Oxygen
Radiation causes Oxygen molecules to split apart and they're sometimes left by themselves as O
Roentgen Equivalent Man (REM)
Radiation exposures measured in terms of a dosage measurement over a person's lifetime
Flight Controllers
Receive and monitor data on the spacecraft's health and decide how to command the spacecraft's functions remotely from Earth.
GLONASS
Russian satellite navigation system
Remote-Sensing
Satellites used to gather information about the nature and condition of Earth's land, sea, and atmosphere.
Position, Navigation, and Timing
Services provided by space satellites in the form of communication transmissions, navigational position, navigation, and timing.
Acute Dosages
Short-term dosages that are damaging primarily to fast reproducing cells within our bodies
Challenger
Space Shuttle that exploded minutes after launch, killing her crew.
Cassini
Space probe that arrived at Saturn in 2004 capable of taking accurate measurements and detailed images in a variety of atmospheric conditions and light spectra. It continues to return data.
Voyager
Space probes that investigated Jupiter and Saturn and their moons. Voyager 2 went on the take evelatory photographs or Uranus and Neptune.
Mission Support
Technical and non-technical jobs in the aerospace industry that are needed for mission success.
Space-Based Telescopes
Telescopes placed in space above Earth's atmosphere.
Single Event Upset
The impact of a high-energy particle resets one part of a computer's memory from 1 to 0, or vice versa
Mobile User Objective System
The U.S. Navy's _ is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve ground communications for U.S. forces on the move. _ will provide military users more communications capability over existing systems, including simultaneous voice, video and data - similar to the capabilities experienced today with smartphones.
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)
The World Air Sports Federation, is the world governing body for air sports, aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland.
U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS)
The _ is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more _ satellites.
Field-of-View (FOV)
The _ is the actual area the sensor or communication gear can access at any one time when it focuses on the Earth.
James Webb Space Telescope
The _ will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5 meter primary mirror. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
Parallax
The apparent shift in the position of bodies when viewed from different locations.
Magnetotail
The area of the solar wind tht is directly behind the Earth
Systems Engineering
The art and science of designing and building systems that deliver capabilities to meet the user's need.
Operationally Responsive Space
The goal of the _ Office is to find ways to develop military space systems more rapidly, and at lower costs, than conventional systems
Scintillation
The blurring of "starlight" as it passes through the atmosphere that gives stars the appearance of twinkling
Scintillation
The blurring of starlight as it passes through the atmosphere that give stars the appearance of twinkling.
Vestibular Functions
The body's built-in ability to sense movement
Space Mission Architecture
The collection of spacecraft, orbits, launch vehicles, operations systems, and all other things that make a space mission possible.
Bus
The collection of subsystems that support the payload.
Project Management
The discipline of planning, organizing, monitoring, and controlling all the resources needed to achieve the mission's intended purpose.
Light Year
The distance light travels in one year at a speed of 300,000 km/s (186,000 ml/s).
Light Year
The distance light travels in one year at a speed of 300,000 km/s [186,000 mi/s]
Hydrostatic Gradient Changes
The distribution of fluids within our bodies
Communications
The exchange of commands and engineering data between a spacecraft and its ground controllers. It includes the processing and transmitting or payload data to users.
Telstar
The first active communications satellite, launched on July 10, 1962, relayed communication between far-flung points on the Earth.
Explorer 1
The first satellite successfully launched by the U.S.
Sputnik-1
The first unmanned satellite, launched by the Russians in 1957.
Atmospheric Pressure
The force per unit area exerted by the weight of the atmosphere pushing on us
Drag
The force you feel pushing your hand backward when you stick it out the window of a car rushing along the freeway
Atmosphere
The gases that surround a planet that are retained there by gravity
Red-Shift
The lengthening or electromagnetic waves as a source and observer move apart.
Ozone
The molecule, O3. It blocks harmful radiation, especially ultraviolet radiation.
X PRIZE
The most high-profile _ to date was the Ansari _ relating to spacecraft development awarded in 2004. This prize was intended to inspire research and development into technology for space exploration.
Need
The need a mission is addressing
Payload
The part of the spacecraft that actually performs the mission
Trajectory
The path an object follows through space.
Soyuz
The second-generation Soviet vehicle capable of carrying humans into space. The Soyuz would be able to conduct active maneuvering, orbital rendezvous and docking. These capabilities were all necessary for a flight around the Moon and to support lunar landing.
Eccentricity
The shape of an orbit as a ratio of the distance between the two foci and the length of the major axis.
Field-of-Regard (FOR)
The spacecraft's _ refers to the total area it can access at any one time based on physical limits of sensors of communication gear.
Upper Stage
The stage the provides the extra kicks of energy needed to transfer the spacecraft from its parking orbit to its mission orbit.
Spectroscopy
The study of radiated energy in visible bands.
Cosmic Year
The time it takes to revolve once around the center of the galaxy
Swath Width
The width or diameter of a specific total area on Earth's surface potentially visible at any one time, depending on the sensor's field of regard and the height of its orbit.
Landsat
These satellites have produced images of most of Earth's land masses, useful for analyzing long-term and quick-response changes
Gravitational Environment
This environment causes some physiological and fluid containment problems but also provides opportunities for manufacturing
Photons
Tiny, massless bundles of energy emitted from the source at the speed of light
Cold Welding
Two mechanical parts with very little separation between them effectively "weld" together when the hard vacuum in space eliminates this tiny air space
Apollo Program
U.S. space program whose goal was to put a man on the moon by 1970.
Plasma
Under extreme heat atoms will break into their basic particles and form a hot plasma. Inside the Sun, we have a swirling hot soup of charged particles—free electrons and protons. (A neutron quickly decays into a proton plus an electron.)
Stakeholders
Users, sponsors, and other people or organizations who have a stake in the mission's outcome.
Vacuum
Vacuum is space that is devoid of matter. An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure.
Goals
What we want to accomplish during the mission and how well.
Objectives
What we want to accomplish during the mission and how well.
Kármán Line
Where air ends and space begins at 100 km.
Atlas
_ is a family of United States missiles and space launch vehicles
Delta
_ is a versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960
Mars Global Surveyor
_ was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the atmosphere to the surface.