Aerospace Technology

The first spacecraft to leave the asteroid belt, Pioneer 10, has a really long history. Launched on March 2, 1972 in Cape Kennedy , it is still traveling towards Aldebaran, Taurus. Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. Roughly, it would take the spacecraft about two million years to arrive at the star. Pioneer 10 is the first spacecraft to pass through the Asteroid belt and the first manmade object to break from our solar system and travel on a flight path towards interstellar space. It’s main purpose of creation was to study many different unknown questions occurred only in deep outer space such as interplanetary and outer planetary magnetic fields and the transition region of the heliosphere.

Pioneer 10 was part of the Pioneer program from the NASA Ames Research Center. It was about 260 kg where most consisted of instruments and fuel. It is fueled by radioisotope thermoelectric generators containing plutonium-238. NASA, assuming that Pioneer 10 will eventually lose signal with them, placed a plaque that identified humans and the earth in case of extraterrestrial  life. Eric Burgess believed that a Pioneer spacecraft should carry a plaque featuring humanity in case the spacecraft be intercepted by extraterrestrial life. After Dr. Carl Sagan’s lecture on communication with extraterrestrial intelligence at a conference in Crimea, Eric Burgess collaborated and they both decided to present the idea to NASA. NASA approved the plan and gave  three weeks to prepare the message. During that time, Dr. Sagan and Dr. Frank Drake designed the plaque where afterward, Dr. Sagan’s wife created the artwork. The plaque is made out of 6061 T6 gold-anodized aluminum and weighs about 0.120 kilograms. It has a width of 229 mm and the length of 152 mm, and about 1.27 thick. The plaque contains two nude people which Dr. Sagan and Dr. Frank Drake believed that extraterrestrials should know the true body of humans. It also engraves the solar system and notifies the earth on the plaque. A small spacecraft is visible in the solar system where it leaves a trail from Earth which represents the Pioneer 10. There is a silhouette of the Pioneer 10 behind the man and woman. Again, this plaque was created in order to communicate with extraterrestrial life forms.

Pioneer 10 is currently tracked by the Deep Space Network and very weak signals were produced by the spacecraft on April 27, 2002. People believe that the reason behind the weak signals were not caused by physical damage on the craft but the slowly increasing distance and its very weak power source.  The Deep Space Network continued to be alert for a signal from Pioneer 10 when on January 23, 2006, Pioneer 10 sent its last signal notifying that he was 7.5 billion miles away from the Earth. The Deep Space Network tried to track the spacecraft March 4, 2006 but resulted in failure. However, the DSN is continuously checking their instruments to track their project that was launched about 30 years ago. It is clearly shown that the DSN do not want to give up their very old and successful Pioneer project.

Information from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/pioneer/index.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_plaque, http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2003/03_25HQ.html, and http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03may_1.htm

Launched on August 4, 2007, the Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars’s northern artic pole on May 25, 2008. Designed to study the history of water and search for life in Mars’s artic soil, the Phoenix spacecraft is part of Project Constellation’s exploration purpose. To briefly summarize Project Constellation, it is part of George W. Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration policy that was declared after the Columbia disaster in order to inspire and motivate people towards space exploration. Project Constellation’s purpose is to build a moon base and send people to Mars. As the scientists and engineers are building the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Ares V rocket, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Principal Investigator (PI), and the Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMSS) are gathering information brought from the Phoenix spacecraft. What I believe is that this information will be used for the creation of new space suits that will occur after humans have built a moon base. Before the moon base is constructed, I think that the Phoenix spacecraft or the Phoenix Rover in 2009 will have started gathering head-start information in preparation for Project Constellation.

The Phoenix spacecraft is operated under the Mars Scout Program which consists of the JPL, PI, and the LMSS. It is the third successful lander. It is mostly recognized because it is the first to have a successful landing on the artic pole of Mars. A very unique technology in the Phoenix is the Robotic Arm (RA). Not only can it dig 0.5 meters through icy soil, it contains a Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) made by the University of Arizona and Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research located in Germany. The RAC can take full-colored pictures of the area around the Phoenix, verify the samples the RA’s scoop of Martian soil, and can examine the grains where the RA had dug. The Phoenix also is has a Surface Stereo Imager (ISS) created by the University of Arizona that has high resolution and can “measure the atmospheric distortion of the Martian atmospere…” (Wikipedia) As you can see, the Phoenix is equipped with modern technology that the United States can provide. Comparing the Phoenix Mars Lander with the Viking 2, that landed on Mars 32 years ago, the Phoenix has much more technological benefits to scientific research. With the recent technology on Mars, I believe that Project Constellation is getting closer to resolution.

Information from www.wikipedia.org, www.nasa.org, http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

Since the last lunar landing from Apollo 17 on December 7, 1972, humans have not set foot on the moon since, and President Bush has declared his Vision for Space Exploration policy on January 14, 2004. Project Constellation, a project from NASA that its goal is to explore the moon, is part of President Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration plan. To be even more specific, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle for future generation of astronauts is part of the Project Constellation. After the Vision for Space Exploration policy was announced, NASA began the construction of the International Space Station. However, since the ISS is almost fully constructed, NASA administrators including Michael Griffin, head of administration of NASA, began developing ideas for future space exploration. Since our neighbor, the moon, is closest, NASA wanted to explore the moon, build a lunar base, and send astronauts to Mars. However to do that, scientists must develop high technological space suits, new space vehicles, and the first thing they must do is to create a spacecraft that will send astronauts to the moon. Currently, engineers are constructing the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle that will send astronauts to Mars.

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) will have the job to ferry astronauts and scientists to the International Space Station from Earth. However, its main purpose in the future is to carry astronauts to other worlds beyond Earth’s orbit. Its ancestor, the Apollo Command Module also had the capability to reach beyond Earth’s orbit which it did and reached the moon. The Orion CEV will be the first to reach beyond Earth’s orbit since 1972. The CEV will have the shape of its Apollo ancestors but will contain twice the volume of an Apollo Command Module. Engineers believe that the interior of the CEV must be large enough to support a crew of six astronauts to the ISS and a crew of four for a long period of time for its future journeys to Mars.

The 16.5 feet wide Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle will be sent to space by the Ares V rocket also known as the Cargo Launch Vehicle or CalV. The Ares V rocket will consist of two types of propulsion, liquid and solid. The first stage of launch will be fired by liquid propulsion from two SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) already used from prior shuttle launches and an upgraded external tank. These components of the Ares V rocket provide liquid propulsion but this isn’t enough to thrust through Earth’s gravitational pull. The second stage which provides solid propulsion will have a single J-2X rocket engine that will cause the Ares V to have a continuous circular orbit. The Earth Departure Stage that contains the Orion CEV will then use the single J-2X engine to head in a trajectory line towards the moon. The Earth Departure Stage will then disconnect the Orion CEV and the Service Module. As the Orion CEV and the Service Module reach the moon, the Service Module will land on the moon while the Orion CEV orbits in the moon’s gravitational pull. After the astronauts resolve their experiments, they will board the Service Module and connect with the Orion CEV. With the Service Module’s propulsion, they will both reach the Earth where the Orion CEV will disconnect and fly through Earth’s atmosphere. As the Orion CEV is in a strong gravitational pull, it will open parachutes to decrease hard compact against Earth’s oceans.The Orion CEV’s first manned flight to the ISS is no later than 2014. Its first manned flight to the moon will be no later than 2020. A reason why the U.S. government decided to approve the Orion CEV and its launch rocket, Ares V, is because NASA will end its use of space shuttles at 2010. The shuttle’s main purpose was to transport people and space components to low-Earth orbit.

 Not only is Project Constellation developing new plans to transport people and objects into low-Earth orbit but is also developing advanced ways to send people and objects to the moon and eventually, to Mars. The reason why Project Constellation even started was not to create a new highly advanced spacecraft that overpowered the space shuttles but because of President Bush’s attempt to inspire the United States after the Columbia Disaster. After the Columbia Disaster, President Bush declared his Vision for Space Exploration to represent his will to continue space exploration regardless of the accidents that may occur. I, personally, share my opinion with President Bush. I believe that space exploration should continue regardless of accidents that may occur. For example, Christopher Columbus risked his life to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. If he had died, I believe that another expedition would be organized and sent. During times of discovery, risk is always experienced since the unknown is never fully revealed until it is too late. The same reason applies to space exploration. Exploration is to reveal the unknown which simply tells that anything can happen during explorations. Based on my brief personal thoughts, I agree with President Bush’s will to continue space exploration regardless of risks. Besides, exploration is exploration.

Information thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29, http://www.space.com/news/cs_060823_orion.html, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/index.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_V, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/index.html, and http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.htmlOrion about to be connected onto the ISS. Orion re-entry.

Many people in their childhoods have seen a space shuttle in a picture book or image. However, the early stages of a child causes them to assume from the picture that the shuttle is another big rocket flying into space without any thought of the space shuttle´s true purpose or technology behind it. As children grow into teenagers and then reach adulthood, education reveals the true purpose of space shuttles, the history, and its technological benefits to human society. Many people don´t realize but space shuttles have been a major role in space transportation that allowed space stations to be created and even allowed astronauts to return to damaged satellites and repair them. Without space shuttles, the Hubble Space Telescope could not have existed in space which then, the incredible images taken from the telescope would have not existed. In my opinion, space shuttles have a great part in human technology and advancement in knowledge.

The Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), is a currently used manned spacecraft purposely created to transport astronauts and space components into space. It consists of two white Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), a rust colored external tank (ET), and the Orbiter Vehicle (OV). These major components in a space shuttle each have their roles and technological benefits for a successful shuttle launch and allow astronauts to return to Earth safely. The Space Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft that has reusable components. For example, the shuttle´s Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) reinforce the thrust into the atmosphere but eventually both SRBs parachute into the ocean where it can be reused. Another reusable component is the orbiter where after each mission, the orbiter carries its astronauts back to Earth and lands on an airstrip safely. Before the creation of space shuttles, the government realized that they were spending too much money on rockets that were not reusable. As a result, Maxime Faget designed the Space Transportation System where it consisted of reusable solid rocket boosters and orbiters which decreased the financial expenses on space exploration as requested by the Nixon administration. The creation of space shuttles was a major achievement in space exploration because of its unique reusable system which caused lower costs for space exploration in contrast of the rocket systems that were not reusable which caused a large financial expense to the government.

The “Stack” in the space shuttle consists of the Orbiter Vehicle (OV), the two white Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), and the external tank (ET). Each of these major components in the space shuttle carries a role during a mission. The orbiter, a white winged space plane, carries astronauts and loads such as satellites and space station parts into low orbit located in the thermosphere. The crew in an orbiter is usually five to seven astronauts each contributing different roles in the STS´s specific launch. Usually, the crew is made up of a commander, pilot, several mission specialists, and rarely, a flight engineer. In some occasions, there are some exceptions such as an extra astronaut or in an emergency mission where eleven astronauts are fit in. The orbiter´s wings contain four elevons located at the edge of the wings that helps the orbiter´s pitch and roll stabilization. It also possesses a rudder brake and a body flap that controls the orbiter during the descending and landing process. Most of the orbiter´s body is the cargo bay measuring 15 by 60 feet.  There are three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) in the OV located on the fuselage. The engines allow the orbiter to thrust itself through the atmosphere and use a bit of its thrust during the descending process to change direction and for steering to be possible. Aluminum alloy is the material used in the OV´s structure but exceptionally, titanium alloy is used for the engine´s thrust structure. The Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are rocket boosters located at the sides of the external tank. The SRB´s role in a launch is to thrust the shuttle enough for it to escape the gravitational pull from Earth and also give enough thrust to have sufficient speed to break through the atmosphere very quickly. The SRBs help the shuttle for the initial two minutes and afterwards separates itself from the external tank, and dropping into the Atlantic Ocean with parachute. They are picked up by ships and brought back to the space centers to be reused. The solid rocket motor in the SRBs is the largest solid propellant motor ever developed for space flight. It consists of a solid motor case loaded with solid propellants, an ignition system, a movable nozzle, and instrumentation and integration hardware. Each of the SRBs contains 1,000,000 lbs of propellant which requires special mixing in special plants located in Utah. The propellant is actually powdered aluminum similar to the aluminum foil wraps at home but mixed with oxygen provided by a chemical called ammonium perchlorate. In total, each SRB weighs 1,300,00 lbs including the propellant which weighs about 1,107,00 lbs. The external tank (ET) is the major backbone of the space shuttle. Without it, the shuttle´s structural design would be different. The ET is the component that puts the OV and SRBs together. The SRBs are stuck together onto the ET and the ET disconnects them after the initial two minutes of launch. Before the shuttle reaches the boundaries of Earth, the ET disconnects from the OV(orbiter) and falls to the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast of the OV and SRBs, the ET is not reusable and is design to break up before impact into the oceans. STS-1 and 2´s ET have been painted white in order for all the three major components to look alike. However, scientists noticed that the white paint gave a huge amount of additional weight onto the shuttle which meant one worrying thought to the government, money loss. The extra paint caused the scientists to use more propellant in order for the shuttle to carry the weight into space. As a result, from STS-3 and on, the ET remained rust colored. This caused less propellant to be applied during shuttle missions. The ET´s major role in a shuttle launch is to hold the main components together and contribute its propellant in order for the shuttle to escape the gravitational pull and reach the boundaries of the Earth. After the ET releases itself from the OV, the OV uses its thrusters to adjust itself in low orbit.

The creation of Space Shuttles allowed a variety of options for the government to use in space exploration and knowledge. Satellites were transported by the STS missions and satellite repairing was possible due to manned STS missions. Also, one of a minor purpose the space shuttle was created was the government´s desire for its people to get excited about space exploration. Although the creation of space shuttles was not as exciting as the space race and the landing of the moon. However, the space shuttle reduced expenses for the government and lots of new knowledge can be revealed through the research in space stations located in Earth´s orbit. The space shuttle´s job in the conquest of space knowledge is to be a STS, a Space Transportation System. However, many people believe that the space shuttles do more than transport astronauts and components to space, but also, an icon of hope for future space knowledge seekers.

Information thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program, www.nasa.gov, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_tank. Shuttle cargo bay opened. SRBs being carried back. SRB releasing process

Although this may not be a particular subject that relates to aerospace technology, this  news about a discovery from disaster that happened five years ago somehow made me want to tell this to everyone. Many people still remember the Columbia Disaster and some forget after new discoveries are made and breaking news is heard. However, a data recovery from the disaster completed the crew’s main purpose which was to use their experiments to discover new knowledge. I wanted to write this post to give credit to a man that completed the crew of STS-107’s exploration purpose, Jon Edwards. 

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry over the Earth’s atmosphere. The disaster was caused because of a piece of foam insulation that broke off the shuttle’s external tank during launch and allowed hot gases to enter the internal wing structure which eventually destroyed the shuttle during re-entry. Although the disaster happened about five years ago, Jon Edwards, a data-recovery specialist from Kroll Ontrack, managed to recover information from a melted 400 MB hard-disk drive manufactured by Seagate that survived the explosion of the shuttle and fell from the sky along with hundreds of other debris during the Columbia Disaster. According to MSNBC, Jon Edwards has a record of recovering data from computers that has been damaged from floods, fires, and even computers dumped in lakes. During the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia crew was experimenting the properties of liquid xenon and stored valuable data into the disc drive. The series of tests and experiments of liquid xenon revealed the way xenon gas flows without the use of Earth’s gravity. The 370 hours of testing cost the government millions of dollars and the valuable information could have been lost along with the seven crew members during the Columbia Disaster. Although lots of the information was radioed back to Earth from the shuttle, the remainder of the information stayed hidden for five years until Jon Edwards managed to discover the rest of the information. The remainder of the information from the disc drive allowed researchers to publish the experiment about liquid xenon without gravity in the April issue of a science journal called Physical Review E. 

Physical Review E not only did it contain information about liquid xenon, it retold the salvage efforts of Kroll Ontrack. They said that six months after the disaster, a NASA contractor sent the disc drive to Kroll Ontrack because of their specialization in data recovery. However, the particular job was assigned to Jon Edwards, an engineer at Kroll Ontrack, because of his record of data recovery against innumerable odds. As I stated before, he has been able to recover data from computers that has been affected by floods, fires, and computers dumped in lakes. Because of his unique reputation, Jon Edwards was given the challenge which was to extract data from a disc drive that survived an explosion of a space shuttle and fell from the sky that landed in Texas. Edwards states, ‘When we got it, it was two hunks of metal stuck together. We couldn’t even tell it was a hard drive. It was burned and the edges were melted. It looked pretty bad at first glance, but we always give it a shot.’ (MSNBC) During the beginning of the data recovery operation, Edwards was thinking negatively and believed that the results would not be positive. I feel that he had good reasons to be very negative. For example, the drive’s metal and plastic was melted but the seal on the sides that kept dust and dirt out was also melted. This made the drive exposed to particles that could affect tiny materials in the drive that holds data and depending on the magnetic charge of the particles, it can destroy the tiny material’s ability to contain data. Since the drive was only half full, the magnetic particles only affected the part that did not contain data and fortunately for Edwards, the data in the drive remained in the drive. He later used a chemical solution to clean the platters of the drive and restored the data into another disc drive. This process took two days and he managed to extract 99% of the data into the disc drive. After Edwards was rewarded by Kroll Ontrack, he was given two more disc drives from the Columbia Disaster but unfortunately, the disc drives were severely blasted by the entry from the atmosphere and the metals no longer had a magnetic charge thus, the disc drive contained no data. However, the discovery of lost data from the Columbia Disaster saved the government millions of dollars from preventing another shuttle launch in order to receive information that had been lost from the Columbia Disaster and it also completed the crew of STS-107’s purpose of research to gain and spread knowledge to people.Information from www.wikipedia.org, www.news.softpedia.com, www.msnbc.msn.com, and www.cnn.com   

Since the birth of the Soviet Union’s Salyut and Mir space stations, the United States began developing a counterpart space station. However, it was cancelled due to the end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Cold War. After the space race, the U.S. began negotiating with international partners from Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada in the 1990’s to develop a huge international space station. As the project continued till now, 16 nations, Canada, Japan, Russia, 11 countries from the European Space Agency, and Brazil, began contributing technological and scientific resources. The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility where it gives scientists the opportunity to experiment using zero gravity. The size of the ISS is equivalent to a football field and therefore, is currently being assembled in orbit. The ISS is split into many different parts where different research modules are owned by different countries. For example, Japan owns the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module but American or Russian space shuttles will transport it to the space station. Currently, the ISS is 70% complete and an estimated time for ISS´s finished construction is in 2010. The U.S. again estimates that the ISS will be used till 2017. Till then, many people contributing to the program believes it is a research benefit to the developing space exploration program.

The ISS uses the sun to power electricity with its numerous solar panels. The solar panels are programmed to adjust its angle towards the sun’s rays to maximize its power supply. However, some countries such as Russia, needs to depend on American solar panels for energy. The Environmental Control and Life Support System aboard the ISS provides and controls the atmospheric pressure, oxygen, water, and among others. It can store water and waste used by the resident crew and can even recycle urine and water used by the showers. This system is used to achieve more time a crew will be able to operate since waste is a big problem in long-termed orbits. However, this system can also remove human sweat from the air which will prevent it from neutralizing or disturbing technological equipment. Another important system in the ISS is the altitude control. As many people know, we still have gravitational pull outside our atmosphere and it is how space stations can become orbited. When a satellite is launched into orbit, gravity slowly pulls it closer to the Earth’s atmosphere and as a result, the satellite burns in the atmosphere. Its remains will be scattered somewhere in the oceans since engineers calculate the designated re-entry area. Contrasting from ordinary satellites, the ISS will have an altitude control where it is thrust several kilometers higher. This process must be done several times each year since the ISS is very close to the atmosphere (ISS can be visible with the naked eye) which results in a stronger gravitational pull. Every month, the ISS is pulled 2.5 kilometers.

The purpose of the construction of the International Space Station is to research many different things that cannot be done without the support of zero-gravity. One of the things that scientists want to research aboard the ISS is to invent a new combustion form. They believe that combustion is a major part in human’s way of life but it increases pollution and global warming. Because of their observations of combustion in daily life, they want to try and develop a new form of combustion in zero-gravity. Another very unique research the scientists want to perform is the development of protein crystals. According to astronaut Dan Bursch, “The National Institute of Health has said that protein crystal growth is the number one research tool that we’ll be using in the next century…” These protein crystals are imperfect during its creation in a gravity environment. However, in zero-gravity, the protein crystals have a perfect form and content. These crystals can be useful in food and medicine. Although the ISS is not fully constructed, it is still habitable. Dennis Tito, an American billionaire, paid 20 million dollars for a trip to the ISS and became the first space tourist ever. As shown in the example, the ISS is a very expensive tourist site where beforehand, must pass G-force tests and must be able to perform various tests in order to support the launch and 0-gravity. Many people believe that “floating in space” is very cool and want to try it. I, personally, wouldn’t go to space even if I had the chance. Zero-gravity is equivalent to the highest freefall rollercoaster in the world and the feeling you acquire from it, multiply it by four. When in orbit, you are basically “falling” to Earth because of the fact that gravity is pulling you except in a long distance. For example, when you jump inside our atmosphere, we fall very quickly since the Earth is really close to us. However, in orbit, gravity is pulling you with less force therefore, you fall very slowly. As you are falling, you will feel the same feeling as if you jumped from the highest building in the world and had that feeling for your duration of the trip. Because of this problem, space tourists such as Dennis Tito, must be able to cope with the feeling and must take tests if he is able to resist zero-gravity in space.

The ISS project will cost about 157 billion dollars. However, many different space agencies and organizations will all contribute money in order to receive the 157 billion. NASA will contribute 100 billion dollars since they will construct most of the key components of the station. Also, the space shuttle launches to transport components of the station will be paid by NASA. The European Space Agency (ESA) will contribute 9 billion euros since they are in charge of the Columbus Control Center and the Ariane 5 launches. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will contribute over 10 billion dollars to ISS program. Their main contribution is the Japanese Experiment Module which will cost them about 2.8 billion dollars. The Russian Space Agency has contributed many different key components of the space station, however, since the exchange rate of the ruble and US dollars are not accurate, people currently does not know how much Russia is contributing in dollars. Canada is contributing 1.4 billion dollars to the program and is currently developing the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, a very unique and important component of the ISS. All of these nations are contributing billions of dollars for the development of the International Space Station. As you can see, lots of NASA´s funds are going into the ISS program. However, many people criticize that the money used towards the ISS program could be used for robotic space exploration. Others argue that the program produces very little research that does not help space exploration. Many others argue about the excess use of maintenance and risky space shuttle docking procedures where more than once, docking problems occurred that could have caused the destruction of the ISS. Others with their opinions against the ISS have not been revealed however, the final performance from the ISS will determine the amount of benefit from NASA´s spent money.Because of the ISS´s size and reflections from the gigantic numerous solar panels, a human’s naked eye will be able to see the ISS. NASA provides the public with a schedule where it tracks the ISS´s location. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html(For Costa Rican residents, every Tuesday at 3:50 AM [unfortunately], the ISS will approach from the north)The ISS is a currently under construction space station that will be achieved with the cooperation from 16 different nations, each contributing money and technological resources. Since a large amount of money is taken out from NASA´s funds, many people argue over the excess use of money towards a single project. However, if NASA wants to prove that their decision to participate in the ISS program was beneficial, the completion of the ISS and further research benefits will altogether prove its effectiveness.Information from www.wikipedia.org and http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/benefits/index.html

 Construction of International Space Station

The era of satellites was born when the Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite into space called Sputnik in 1957. Since then, people have developed and created new satellite technology such as communication satellites, direct broadcasting satellites, early warning satellites, spy satellites, scientific satellites, weather satellites, infrared satellites, x-ray satellites, remote sensing satellites, and even the Hubble Space Telescope which is considered a satellite. These satellites helped develop the world with its own technological thrust with the use of different kinds of satellites mentioned above. If people think about it, without any sort of satellite, we wouldn’t be as technologically advanced in our current world and the word “modern” would be decades away. The creation and development of satellites have benefited our human community with communications, warnings, and even in-depth information about our solar system. The birth of satellites has been a benefit to our technological society.           Even if you don’t realize much about this, satellites allow many items to function. For example, your cell phone cannot work unless you can get connection from range in a base station. In addition, international calls would be impossible without the use of Iridium satellites. Iridium was the first system to become operational. It uses 66 satellites that orbit the earth at a height of about 485 miles. If someone (could be you) were to call someone in another country, your call would be linked to an Iridium satellite and it sends it to other Iridium satellites until it reaches a specific Iridium satellite that covers the area where the person who is getting called is located. If the person does not own an Iridium phone, the call will get sent to an Iridium ground station and the message would get converted into an ordinary telephone system. Iridium satellites help people call internationally. There used to be a global communication system called Ellipso and its plan was to put its satellites into “sub-constellations” because it had high and low orbits in specific populated areas where the satellites are able stay longer. However, the system became a technical challenge as the cell phones began to develop. As the cell phones became slimmer and smaller, the Ellipso system began to get challenging and consequently, the system failed and is no longer in use. Global communication satellites ensure the use of international phone calls.     During the Cold War, the United States felt that the ground-based radar sites did not provide an early warning in case of a missile attack. Therefore, the Defense Support Program (DSP) created early warning satellites to detect any launches from anywhere in the world. With these warning satellites, the United States were able to be protected by surprise missile attacks. According to Jim Winchester, the DSP was a main factor in Americans winning the Cold War. Currently, the DSP is considering launching another satellite constellation of a new type of global satellite coverage called the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). It will consist of 24 of these satellites to track all launch movements in the world. The DSP believes that the SBIRS satellites would be able to provide information about a general guess of the location of the missile’s target and is given the nickname, “Brilliant Eyes”. They will work in pairs to continuously track data with each other and will be able to keep its target in complete view. During Operation Desert Storm, the DSP detected all of the Scud missiles that were launched toward civilians and soldiers. The DSP satellites detected the missile within seconds from lift-off. As a result, many civilians and soldiers were saved because of the DSP’s warning satellites. The SBIRS program that is currently being developed will cost approximately 22 billion dollars. However, most military commanders believe that each dollar is worth of accurate knowledge of missile attacks.           Since the Space Age when Sputnik first left the earth, scientific satellites have been absorbing information about our Earth or the mysteries of space. Try to recall those moments in the elementary library where you first saw those round ball things with different sizes called planets in little science books. Those pictures and small captions of information of the planets are the results of scientific satellites. Not only does the scientific satellites provide humans with pictures and information, it saved the city of Los Alamos, New Mexico with a satellite called Landsat 7. As a uncontrollable fire was advancing towards Los Alamos, Landsat7 was able to detect the size and movement of the fire and with that information, firefighters figured out hotspots and turned off the dangerous wild fire. Several scientific satellites are studying the Sun’s magnetic field and solar wind. They have found out that an outburst from the Sun can disrupt radio communications and cause chaos in the technological society. Also, the satellites have been sent to many different planets to research their physical appearances, their history, and different moons. These satellites have found out that Mars has evidence of an ancient river valley that can signify life. Furthermore, these satellites have discovered possible oceans beneath Jupiter’s moon called Europa’s icy crust. As Jim Winchester, author of Space Missions, wrote in his book, “These and other satellite missions continue to push back the boundaries of the known universe, expand our knowledge of our own world, and increase our understanding of our place in the cosmos.”           Since the 19^th Century wars, and World War 1 time periods, reconnaissance was commonly used to spy on enemy positions. In 1960, the United States built spy satellites to spy on Russian activities. The CIA flew a spy satellite in 1960 called Corona and took pictures on film. The Soviet Union sent its first space satellite called Zenit in 1962 where it also sent filmed pictures back to the country. Since then, the United States began improving its spy satellites to target specific individuals or groups amongst the people of the criminal world. Today currently, the smallest thing that can be seen through a spy satellite is a size of a house, however, the technology is improving so fast that soon, “spy satellites could soon be reading the headlines on a newspaper” according to the National Reconnaissance Office in Washington D.C. and NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. Numerous people believe that if spy satellites were developed enough to see the physical description of an individual soldier or vehicle, combat would differ greatly. With spy satellites monitoring the ground with real-sized images from space would benefit the military commanders with new tactics and strategies against the enemy’s “exposed formation” (Jim Winchester). The use of spy satellites can be used for police purposes as in finding captives or witnessing crimes. It can also be used to gain information about the enemy by its strategies and formations during wartime. Although in my opinion, the spy satellites do not help the human population but the military commanders and police force and additionally, it doesn’t help the country’s economy but it certainly is an advantage in lowering crime rates.           Weather satellites have been created to forecast the weather. However, it may seem very beneficial to human communities but in reality, advance knowledge of dangerous rain, winds, or storms can help save crops and even lives. The world’s first weather satellite is called the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) went into orbit in 1960 and began broadcasting almost 650,000 images. After this accomplishment, other countries began launching their own meteorological satellites. Currently, more than 120 countries receive most of their weather information from United States satellites. After the weather satellite engineers gained more experience and knowledge, they began creating satellites that began recording atmospheric and ocean temperatures and even estimating rainfall. These weather satellites can help the human community by warning people of an incoming tornado 25 minutes before the storm. It can also record the world’s ocean currents and even hear signals from ships. These weather satellites help us give an image of what our next day will be like and without these satellites, many people could have been killed by an unexpected tornado or hailstorm in the middle of an outdoor party. Because of the weather satellites, people are able to predict what our next day’s weather will be but it can also warn us of an upcoming storm.           Satellites have been part of our technological society with the involvement of cell phones and the weatherman of the morning forecast in our daily news channel. It also benefits us with the warning of an incoming missile and it fills our library with information about the planets and stars with the scientific satellites. The spy satellites will be able to help the military commanders with new tactics and strategies as well as helping the police force to maintain contact with dangerous individuals and catch them in the act. The creation of satellites has been technologically beneficial to us, humans, because it is constantly providing us with daily information about weather predictions and even new knowledge about the boundaries of space limitations. In my opinion, satellite technology is a benefit to our world.Information from Space Missions From Sputnik to SpaceShip One: The History of Space Flight. Book written by Jim Winchester.            Spy satellite image                      

The world’s first double-decked jetliner, the Airbus A3XX, renamed as the Airbus A380, is the largest passenger airliner ever built. The successful flight of the Airbus A380 on February first in 2007 using GTL (Ground to Liquid) fuel, gave possible solutions to the increase of global warming. The use of GTL reduces CO2 emissions and results in low cost since less jet kerosene fuel is used. In one of the four engines of the Airbus A380, 60% is filled with standard jet kerosene fuel and 40% is filled with GTL, which is made out of natural gas from gas plants in Malaysia. The Airbus A380 produces only 75g of CO2 per passenger, which is a very low amount of carbon dioxide. According to Airbus.com, the GTL in the engines produced a smooth sound and reduced vibrations in the aircraft, in general, a hybrid feeling. This GTL fuel may not only help the environment, but it may increase the amount of comfort. Also, Airbus notices in the experimental flight that the GTL reduced the loudness of the noise from the engines and as stated before, it may increase the amount of comfort because of the smooth noise that is produced by the GTL used engines. GTL helps the Airbus Company economically because it is much cheaper than regular jet kerosene. Producing more GTL than kerosene will help the economy of Airbus. However, more GTL is required to equalize the amount of support it gives to the gigantic aircraft. Currently, there is not enough GTL fuel to power all the commercial aircraft in the world but many people believe that in about 2015, GTL will be sold by oil companies such as Shell and will slightly change the aircraft industry in a positive way. In addition, Shell was the company that first developed GTL fuel and worked with Airbus for the creation of an experimental flight using an Airbus A380 on February first. The company decided to use this specific aircraft because of two unique aspects. The Airbus A380 is a very fuel-efficient aircraft flying today and many people believe that it would remain that way for approximately 30 years. It also contained four engines and one was needed to fill the GTL fuel. The other three engines were critically important because it contained regular fuel and if the experimental flight turned out wrong, the three engines would have enough support to bring the aircraft back to the airport. However, without these engines, the Airbus A380 wouldn’t support the weight in which the engines where designed for and without the engine support, Airbus would lose an Airbus A380 which is equivalent to 275 million dollars. The successful 3-hour experimental flight began a slight change in the aircraft industry. As www.airbus.com states, “The A380 is a new generation of aircraft.”
As many people know, the Airbus and Boeing Company have a tough rivalry. Many different people prefer either one of their luxury and comfort and both companies receive victory and losses per year. Different people prefer Boeing’s luxury or others congratulate Airbus’s early start and success. To clarify, the Boeing Company began in 1916. On the contrary, the Airbus Company was founded in 1970, fifty-nine years after Boeing’s foundation. What many people like about the Airbus is that it developed very quickly and had a rivalry with a company that started fifty-nine years before the Airbus. This accomplishment is something very unique that the Airbus cotains. People such as Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal from Saudi Arabia replaced his private Boeing 747 for a 300 million dollar Airbus A380, which placed the world record of the world’s largest private jet. The prince’s nickname for his new VIP luxurious aircraft is the “Flying Palace”. Furthermore, according to the BBC News, Boeing’s 747 Jumbo Jet dominated the aircraft market for forty years until the Airbus A380 came in. Although the Boeing has more history behind the company, Airbus being created so early has become stiff competition against Boeing. The successful creation of the Airbus A380 using GTL as power source gave a helpful economical boost as well as more public support. Two years ago, Boeing was boasting about their large orders from other aircraft companies or airlines. However, Airbus, which represented Europe, was contracted by the United States Air Force, one of Boeing’s prime customers, which embarrassed Boeing because of the fact that Boeing was an American company. The cause for the contract was that Boeing accidentally reduced the size of the tankers in a contract with the U.S. Air Force therefore, the Air Force decided to change its buyer. After the Air Force contracted Airbus, Boeing was too embarrassed to let this go and tried to persuade the Air Force to change their minds. However, the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Wynne, described Boeing and Airbus’s rivalry as “not even close” which silenced the Boeing Company. Airbus’s achievement not only gave them lots of money such as 100 billion dollars from the contract but it also succeeded in “stepping ahead” of its rival, Boeing. As a result, Airbus is now leading the competition. Currently, British billionaire Richard Branson’s (photo shown in my Commercial Spacecraft post) Virgin Group is planning to experiment bio-fuel in a Boeing 747. I believe that this was caused because of Boeing’s losing competition and Boeing’s attempt to reestablish itself in the competition. Also, I believe that the Airbus A380 was a unique and successful achievement that gave the Airbus the opportunity to help the environment and even beat their rivals, Boeing. However, this achievement will not be used as a commercial product until enough GTL fuel source is created. I think that the Airbus A380 could have been Airbus’s main source of victory and strategic power in which if used wisely, would benefit the company with financial expansion. As shown in the example of the Air Force contract, it gave Airbus an incredible amount of money, 100 billion dollars, that if Boeing were to receive it, they could have used it to surpass Airbus’s efforts. In reality, Airbus succeeded in receiving an American company to help beat an American aircraft company. The continuous efforts of Airbus may help change the world in an economical way for Airbus, but at the same time, delay global warming for at least one more day.
Some information from www.gizmag.com, www.cnn.com, www.wikipedia.org, www.airbus.com, www.surfersvillage.com, http://www.cbw.cz/en/the-wind-is-changing-in-the-boeing/airbus-rivalry/7123.html, and  www.news.bbc.co.uk. Airbus A380  Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal´s Airbus A380 “Flying Palace” interior bed.

Many little children on Earth have always wanted to become an astronaut and go to space. As they grow on, they realize that only a few per year are chosen to work in government owned organizations such as NASA. However, currently, there are privately owned companies that are being formed that allow new astronautical careers. The Virgin Galactic Spaceline Company is a company that is creating spacecraft for commercial purposes. Burt Rutan, a famous aerospace engineer, develops and designs the spacecraft for the Virgin Galactic Spaceline Company and is known because of his creation of SpaceShipOne and currently constructing SpaceShipTwo. He is one of the best influential designers of aircraft and airframes in the 20th Century. Burt has also won the Ansari X-Prize for the SpaceShipOne´s historical flight on June 21. The Virgin Galactic Spaceline Company will allow astronautical careers to form and an expansion of an aerospace industry. Since this company is privately owned, astronauts and engineers will not be considered working for the government but commercially hired. The Virgin Galactic Spaceline Company are working with the Rutan Aircraft Factory commonly referred as the Scaled Composites company. The Scaled Composites Company was founded by Burt Rutan and has achieved creating lots of aircraft such as the famous Orbital Science Pegasus rocket, the rocket that carried the first hypersonic jet plane into action(X-43A scramjet) and the historical 318 White Knight that carried the first commercial spacecraft into high altitude and allowed SpaceShipOne to be blasted into space. These commercial spacecraft companies will allow more aerospace engineering jobs to expand and career astronaut seeking people will have a better chance of accomplishing their dreams.SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo are both commercial spacecrafts that transports passengers into low orbit and allows them to view and observe the earth from above the atmosphere. They are privately funded thus, did not receive any help from NASA or any other government organizations. On June 21, SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded manned spacecraft to leave the earth´s atmosphere. This accomplishment gave a name for the date, “historical flight”. To improve the engines of the SpaceShipOne, aerospace engineers are currently developing the engine by inserting a hybrid rocket engine that uses both liquid (nitrous oxide oxidizer) and solid(solid-form rubber fuel) propellant. To increase the speed of SpaceShipOne even more, many engineers propose to expand the amount of nitrous oxide oxidizers to and burn in its initial thrust which increases speed to have an earlier burst from the atmosphere. However, the use of an extensive amount of nitrous reduces the signal from the control system of steering in the atmosphere. Many engineers currently are arguing over the use of extensive nitrous or having a better control system of steering in the SpaceShipOne. It currently has the speed of Mach 2-3, 2 or 3 times the speed of sound, a reasonable amount of achievement without government funding. However, Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder, helped the project and donated 25 million dollars. Unfortunately, the historical SpaceShipOne was used only three times because of Burt Rutan decided to not risk damage on the spacecraft. It is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. However, two identical SpaceShipOnes are being used as experimental tests to reveal beneficial information for the future construction of the SpaceShipTwo.SpaceShipOne only allowed two passengers excluding the two pilots. To throttle into the atmosphere, a 318 White Knight jet-powered aircraft, needs to transport the SpaceShipOne 50,000 ft high. The 318 White Knight had the similar size of a Boeing 737 and had the length of 82ft. After reaching 50,000ft, the 318 White Knight dropped the SpaceShipOne and then flew back to base while the spacecraft blasted through the atmosphere. SpaceShipTwo, on the other hand, will support six passengers excluding the two pilots with a total of eight people. It will be transported just like SpaceShipOne but a 318 White Knight 2, the descendant of the 318 White Knight. SpaceShipTwo will be twice the size of its descendant and will construct windows for the passenger´s viewing pleasure. Five SpaceShipTwos are being constructed but names have not yet been placed. Currently, 200 people have reserved tickets and 95% of them have passed the 6-8g centrifuge tests, a test where it determines the ability to resist 0 gravity. The Scaled Composites expected the price of one seat of SpaceShipTwo would be around $200,000. The New Mexico government have funded for Spaceport America, the launch site of the SpaceShipTwos. Another spaceport is under construction in Mojave, California. These two spaceports will start being used after commercial launches begin.Many people have wanted to go to space but without being an astronaut, it was nearly impossible. However, the Virgin Galactic Spaceline Company gives the opportunity for people to visit space just like touring the Eiffel or hiking Mt. Everest. People now have a chance to visit outside our atmosphere with commercial spacecraft such as SpaceShipOne and Two. Although beforehand, passengers must pass the G-force test whether or not passengers are capable of resisting zero gravity. As many other companies such as the Rutan Aircraft Factory or the Scaled Composites Company are developing and helping with commercial spacecraft. As these privately owned companies expand their research and commercial spacecraft constructing abilities, I, in my opinion, believe that space tourism may occur one day.Information from www.wikipedia.org, www.aerospace-technology.com, www.space.com, and www.virgingalactic.com. Branson on model seats of the SpaceShipTwo. Virtual images of a flight on the SpaceShipTwo. Note the circle shaped windows that allow observations of Earth.

Freedom of speech in my point of view, should be a hundred percent guaranteed right to all human beings with a few limits. Article 19 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Freedom of speech proves to be useful and helpful to the people because they can express themselves towards the government and try to change their discomfort. I strongly believe that without criticism from the people towards the government´s decisions, the country would collapse because the government´s primary job is to keep a country under control and issue laws that would benefit the people and the country. Without criticism from the people, the government would not have a chance to improve into an appearance that the public would want to see in a good way.

I feel that the colonists agreed to put down freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights because of their experiences with England. Before the resolution from the American Revolution, colonists had lots of restrictions with speech towards the king. I believe that the colonists didn´t really have lots of freedom of speech and were punished if they criticised the king. Therefore, I feel that the colonists wanted to establish a country where freedom of speech was protected by the Bill of Rights. I believe that a hate speech should be protected by the Bill of Rights because the people are expressing themselves towards other people. Although the hate message should not harm others physically, I feel that it should be allowed because of freedom of speech. For example, there was a Nazi march in Skokie, Illinois through a Jewish community. Many people disagree with the march and say that it is not protected by the First Amendment. However, the government officials did not stop the march. Personally, I think that hate speeches should be allowed but not too intense to cause physical harm on others. Also, to just express and show that they hate someone is enough however, killing and shouting at people should not be protected by the First Amendment.

Freedom of speech is a right that all humans have in the United States and is protected by the First Amendment. It also helps the government to realize their mistakes based on the reactions from the public and try to change their decisions. For example, in Costa Rica, there was an argument over “Trato de Libre Comercio” in Spanish which stands for TLC. In Costa Rica, people who wanted this government decision expressed their feelings by protesting and creating stickers, and posters saying “Yes” or “No”. This freedom of speech allowed the Costa Rican government to realize that the country was unhappy over this TLC. Therefore, to resolve this conflict between the country´s own citizens, the government decided to allow a vote over this issue. This case clearly shows how freedom of speech is beneficial to a country´s government. However, if freedom of speech was not allowed in Costa Rica and the citizens couldn´t express their feelings towards TLC, what would happen? I believe that it would result in riot and protest against the government even if freedom of speech was outlawed. Then, government armed forces would fight and things would be out of control. Freedom of speech is an important and critical part in the country and without it, caos may occur in a country.

I, as a blogger, should realize that the Edublogs is a private organization. Therefore, freedom of speech has more restrictions than in public places. I know that using inappropiate words or pictures in my blog is the key for the administrators of the Edublogs to have the right to take away my blog. However, pointing out your opinions and beliefs in the blogs should be okay since freedom of speech allows opinions to be free although the use of language should be appropiate. For example, the administrators of the Edublogs cannot take away someone´s blog just because they did not agree with the opinions of others. However, they can take it away if the blogger expressed himself with the use of inappropiate language and pictures. Basically, I will be cautious of the use of language and the way I express my thoughts because of the fact that the Edublogs is a private organizations and has more restrictions from the freedom of speech.

KuKluxKlan marching through town. Similar example with the Nazi march. They have the right to express their hates to others. Right protected by the First Amendment.
Information from wikipedia.org and plato.stanford.edu/entries/freedom-speech/