Geosciences in the Cinema: Homework 9

9.17. In Wikipedia, look up "Space debris" and answer this question: How many pieces of debris of any size are estimated to be in orbit around the Earth?

More than 100 million

9.20. In Wikipedia, look up "Artificial gravity" and answer this question: True or False: In a spacecraft, an inertial force that mimics the effects of a gravity can be created by spinning the spacecraft.

True

9.5. In Wikipedia, look up "Soyuz 11" and answer this question: True or False: The three crew members of Soyuz 11 are the only humans to have died in space.

True

9.15. In Wikipedia, look up "Colonization of Mars", read the intro and then scroll down to "Radiation", look at the plot of Compares of radiation doses, and answer this question: Compared to the US Annual Average of radiation exposure (Dose Equivalent), how much more radiation will an astronaut experience by traveling to Mars or living on its surface for 500 days (note that this plot is logarithmic)?

100 times

9.1. In Wikipedia, look up "Apollo 1" and answer this question: What killed the Apollo 1 astronauts?

A cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test.

9.18. In Wikipedia, look up "Kessler syndrome" and answer this question: What is the Kessler syndrome?

A scenario in which collisions between space debris in orbit could cause a cascade in which each collision generates more space debris that causes further collisions.

9.13. In Wikipedia, look up "Solar Wind" and answer this question: What is the solar wind?

A stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun.

9.3. In Wikipedia, look up "Apollo 13" and answer this question: What killed the Apollo 13 astronauts?

Actually, the astronauts survived an oxygen tank explosion.

9.16. In Wikipedia, look up "2009 satellite collision" and answer this question: Which statement of the 2009 satellite collision is true?

By 2011 over 2000 large debris fragments were catalogued.

9.7. In Wikipedia, look up "Space Shuttle Challenger disaster" and answer this question: What was the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster?

The failure of O-ring seals in a joint in one of the solid rocket boosters.

9.9. In Wikipedia, look up "Space Shuttle Columbia disaster" and answer this question: What killed the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts?

The vehicle disintegrated during reentry.

9.6. In Wikipedia, look up "Space Shuttle Challenger disaster" and answer this question: What killed the Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts?

The vehicle exploded early in its flight.

9.11. In Wikipedia, look up "Micrometeoroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Effect on spacecraft operations", and answer this question: What is the danger of micrometeoroids to space exploration?

Their extremely high velocity

9.14. In Wikipedia, look up "Solar flare" and answer this question: Which is not a danger of a solar flare?

They can scorch the Earth (set forests on fire)

9.4. In Wikipedia, look up "Apollo 13" and answer this question: After the oxygen tank explosion damaged the service module, how did the astronauts survive the return back to Earth?

They used the lunar module as a lifeboat.

9.8. In Wikipedia, look up "Space Shuttle Challenger disaster" and answer this question: According to the Roger's commission, what administrative failures within the Space Shuttle program led to the Challenger disaster?

All of the above (NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes were flawed, Test data revealed a potentially catastrophic flaw in the design of the boosters and neither NASA nor SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol addressed the issue, NASA managers disregarded engineers' warnings about the dangers of launching in cold temperatures and did not report these technical concerns to their superiors)

9.10. In Wikipedia, look up "Jerrie Cobb" and answer this question: Which of the following did Jerry Cobb accomplish in her lifetime?

All of the above (She was also part of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent physiological screening tests at the same time as the original Mercury Seven astronauts; She set numerous aviation records and became a consultant for NASA; She conducted over 30 years of missionary work in South America and was honored by 5 governments)

9.2. In Wikipedia, look up "Apollo 1", read the intro and then scroll down to "Choice of pure oxygen atmosphere", and answer this question: North American Aviation had suggested using an oxygen/nitrogen mixture for the Apollo capsules, but NASA overruled this. What did NASA judge to be the advantages of using a pure oxygen environment?

All of the above (it was safer, it was less complicated, it was lighter in weight)

9.19. In Wikipedia, look up "Effect of spaceflight on the human body" and answer this question: Which of the following is not an effect of prolonged weightlessness?

All the above are effects of prolonged weightlessness (muscle atrophy, deterioration of the skeleton, changes in the immune system)

9.12. In Wikipedia, look up "Micrometeoroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Effect on spacecraft operations", and answer this question: How does a Whipple shield (meteor bumper) protect a spacecraft from micrometeoroid impacts?

An outer thin foil film vaporizes the micrometeoroid, diffusing its energy before it impacts with the spacecraft outer wall.