daily journal #101 – march 4, 2011 – 2:05 1.which of the following are visible from orbit:...

Daily Journal #101 – March 4, 2011 – 2:05

1. Which of the following are visible from orbit: Egyptian pyramids, Golden Gate Bridge, or

Kansas irrigation circles?

2. How long does it take an astronaut on the Space Shuttle to orbit Earth once: one week, 18 hours, or90 minutes?

3. T or F? A Space Shuttle launch was once delayed by woodpeckers.Woodpeckers created 71 holes in fuel tank insulation ranging from ½ inch to 4 inchesPicture = woodpecker

Daily Journal #102 – March 7, 2011

1. On worldwide basis, how do 15-year-old Americans rank in science knowledge: 1st, 8th, 11th, 15th?

2. On a worldwide basis, how do 15-year-old Americans rank in math knowledge: 1st, 6th, 17th, 25th?

3. Questions 1 & 2 are extremely important because your competition for jobs includes people: just in the Lehigh Valley, in PA, in the US, or worldwide?

Picture = worldwide Internet traffic

Daily Journal #103 – March 8, 2011

3. Today is Mardi Gras. What does the name mean?

1. A family has 2 children. What is the probability of having 1 girl & 1 boy (regardless of birth order)?Girl then boy = ½ x ½ = ¼ ----- boy then girl = ½ x ½ = ¼ Adding possible 2 events ¼ + ¼ = ½

Fat Tuesday (French) – (mardi = Tuesday/Spanish martes) (gras = fat, Spanish/grasa), root of English word gross (big, large, excess) – observed by some Christians as last day to “pig out” before 40 days of Lenten fasting from Ash Wednesday through EasterPicture = 2 Space Shuttle tragedies

1/2

2. How many space shuttles have had tragic accidents killing all aboard: 1, 2, 4, or 5?

Challenger (1986 just after takeoff) & Columbia (2003 upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere over Texas)

Daily Journal # 104 – March 9, 2011 – 1:25

1. Who pilots or flies a space shuttle into orbit?

2. How many times would your ears pop on a space shuttle takeoff or landing?

3. What shape does water form when floating inside the space shuttle?

No one – flight controlled by computers so spacecraft is essentially on “autopilot”

None – space shuttles are completely sealed and kept at a constant temperature meaning air pressure does not change – ear popping occurs in airplanes because small amounts of air are released to the outside upon takeoff & landing – this changes air pressure inside plane and ears therefore “pop”

SpherePicture = Earth at night

from space

Daily Journal # 105 – March 10, 2011 – 1:351. T or F? A Space Shuttle uses no power upon reentry/landing so they are essentially gliders when descending.

2. T or F? Space Shuttles were engineered for a useful lifetime of 10 years or 100 flights.

3. How many Space Shuttles have been built: 2, 3, 6, or 11? Enterprise (used for test purposes only),

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavor (replacement for Challenger)Picture = Phobos – Martian moon

First flight 1981 – 30 year useful lifespan!!!!

Daily Journal # 106 – March 11, 20111. T or F? The first human flight occurred with the 1903 Wright brothers’ airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.

2. T or F? Other than birds & insects, humans were the first living organisms to fly.

1 month prior to human flight (1783) the French sent up a sheep, rooster, & duck in a hot air balloon – in a broader sense, think of plant seeds that fly from earlier in the year

3. Why does a hot air balloon fly? (1 word – starts with D)

Density - Heated air expands and is less dense than cool air which contracts - less dense matter rises, more dense matter sinks (similar to the lava lamp)Picture = Space Shuttle take-off

120 years earlier in France first humans flew in a hot air balloon

Daily Journal # 107 – March 14, 20111. T or F? The entire island of Japan shifted 8-9 ft. eastward as a result of last week’s massive earthquake of its NE coast.

2. T or F? Because of its location, powerful earthquakes are relatively common in Japan

3. T or F? Tsunami warnings were issued thousands of miles away in N. & S. America.

Picture = tsunami damage

Daily Journal # 108 – March 15, 20111. T or F? The massive Japan earthquake moved the Earth’s axis about 25 cm (10 in).

2. T or F? The massive Japan earthquake shortened a day (the time it takes Earth to rotate once on its axis) by 1.8 microseconds (.0000018 seconds).

Similar to an ice skater who spins faster when arms are held right against the body (vs. extended outward)

3. T or F? A tsunami similar in size to Japan’s could strike the west coast of the US.A fault in the Earth’s crust very similar to the one causing Japan’s quake exists close to the Oregon/Washington coastline in the Pacific OceanPicture = before/after tsunami photos

Daily Journal # 109 – March 16, 20111. T or F? Japan has experienced >200 aftershocks following Friday’s major earthquake.

2.What is an aftershock?

Multiple smaller earthquakes just after a major one (often numbering in the dozens/hundreds over days/months)

3. What key system was knocked out (by earthquake damage) in several Japanese nuclear-powered electricity generating plants threatening a meltdown?

Cooling system (failures of both primary & backup cooling systems have occurred)Picture = PA earthquake map

Daily Journal # 110 – March 17, 2011 – 1:081. T or F? Saint Patrick was Irish.

2. What major US city dyes a river flowing through its “Loop” green today?

3. Where was Mr. Finn exactly three years ago today?

Chicago – “Loop” is the nickname for downtown because of the circular path of elevated trains there.

Was Welsh (born in Wales – western Great Britain)Was kidnapped to Ireland, escaped, & returned

Dublin, Ireland – Watching his son & Freedom High School Band win “Best Band” award competing against bands from North America & Europe in St. Patrick’s Day ParadePicture = dyeing Chicago River

Daily Journal # 111 – March 18, 2011 – 2:051. What do astronauts use aboard a space shuttle to go to the bathroom: diapers, vacuum hoses, or self-sealing bags?

2. What food is not a typical choice on a space shuttle menu: macaroni & cheese, ice cream, or shrimp cocktail? Why?

3. True or False? We have strong evidence of many other “Solar Systems” in the Universe (stars like our Sun with orbiting planets).Picture = duct tape

Ice cream needs refrigeration which requires electricity – electricity is a critical & limited resource on a space

shuttle


1. How many minds does a “Megamind” have? What does the metric prefix mega mean?

2. Why was this weekend’s Moon a “Supermoon”?

3. The Moon’s orbital path (of the Earth) is not circular. What shape is it?

1,000,000

Full moon + Moon being at nearest orbital pointrelative to Earth

An ellipse (oval shaped)Picture = Supermoon

a mega anything means 1 million of that thing –a megameter = 1,000,000 meters


1. Space Shuttles often ride piggyback on a specially designed Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Why? Hints: Shuttles 1) have landed in CA & NM and 2) are not designed for flight in Earth’s atmosphere.

2. Space Shuttles are the first spacecraft that are this. Hint:

3. The Space Shuttle is honored on the reverse side of what state’s quarter?

Recyclable/reusable

Florida – home to Cape Canaveral (Cape Kennedy), launch site of all significant space missions for 50 years (Projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo & the Space Shuttle series of launches)Picture = Space Shuttle Ferry System

Transport back to launch pad in Florida

Daily Journal # 114 – March 23, 2011

1. What is Earth’s escape velocity (the speed objects must reach to escape the planet’s gravity and be launched into orbit): 250 mph; 2,500 mph, 5,000 mph; or 25,000 mph?

2. The combination of liquid H and liquid O is used as a rocket fuel. What is the chemical product of this explosive combination?

3. True or false? Most space program fatalities have occurred while in-flight.

H2O - water

Only about 20% have happened in-flight – 19 astronauts/cosmonauts have died in-flight, an additional 11 died in training exercises including 3 Apollo I crew members while practicing on launch pad ---- in addition, 71 ground support personnel have died in accidentsPicture = attachment of Shuttle to 747

Extreme speed needed explains why 90% of weight of rockets = fuel


1. What city in Texas is home to the primary US space communications center?

2. What was the first word spoken by man from the Moon?

3. What nation used rockets in attacks against London, England late in WWII (mid-1940s)?

Houston

“Houston” – “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed” – Tranquility comes from Sea of Tranquility (area of Moon where landing occurred). Eagle was lunar landing module carrying 2 astronauts.

GermanyPicture = Rover

landing on Mars


1. True or False? A 1900 prize was offered to the first person to contact an extraterrestrial being. (However, the being could not be from Mars because at the time that was thought to make the competition too easy!!)

2. True or False? The largest volcano in the Solar System is on Mars.

3. What country was the first to send a spacecraft to Mars? Hint: many space firsts are associated with this country – 1st man & 1st woman in space

RussiaPicture = Olympus Mons

Olympus Mons

Daily Journal # 117 – March 28, 2011 1. Chuck Yeager was a world-class test pilot. What prevented his being named to the first group of Project Mercury astronauts (1959)? Hint: education

3. The first American in space (Alan Shephard – 1961 – Project Mercury) made how many orbits of Earth: 15, 9, 3, or 0?

2. Dr. Sally Ride holds what distinction?

No college degree – NASA required all astronauts to have at least 4-yr degree in engineering or technical field

1st American female in space (1983 – 20 yrs after first woman in space, Russian Valentina Tereshkova)

Reached space but came down almost immediately – flight lasted only 15 minutesPicture = New York City at night from space

Daily Journal # 118 – March 29, 2011 1. T or F? One’s weight changes in outer space.

3. T or F? Extraterrestrial life has been found.

2. T or F? One’s mass changes in outer space.

Weight is dependent on gravity – gravity is dependent in part upon the distance between two objects (getting weaker with greater distance) – in outer space distance between objects (you & planet, you and star) increases, therefore weight decreases

Mass = amount of stuff making up object (atoms) – since number of atoms stays constant, mass stays the same

Conditions favorable for possible life have been found: water elsewhere in Universe, star systems with planets somewhat similar to Earth – BUT proof of life outside of Earth has not been found yet

Picture = constellations


1. T or F? Looking at stars one sees conditions as they no longer are (in many cases you see what was happening billions of years ago).

3. The age of Earth is estimated to be 4,000 yrs; 40,000 yrs; 400 million yrs; 4.5 billion yrs?

Picture = space junk

2. The age of the Universe is estimated to be: 1,400 yrs; 14,000 yrs; 14 million yrs; 14 billion yrs?

Universe is so big that even light traveling at 186,000 miles/second takes billions of years to reach Earth – Even light from our own Sun is 8 minutes old


1. How long would it take light (speed = 186,000 miles/sec) to cross our Solar System: 10 sec, 10 hours, or 10 yrs?

3. How long would it take light to cross our Milky Way Galaxy: 102 hours; 102 yrs; or 102,000 yrs?

2. After the Sun, Alpha Centauri is the closest star to the Earth. How long would it take light to get there from Earth: 43 hours, 43 days, or 4.3 years?

Solar System = 6,700,000,000 or 6.7 x 109 miles across

Milky Way Galaxy = 600,000,000,000,000,000 miles or6 x 1017 miles across

Picture = Solar System in galaxy

Alpha Centauri = 25,200,000,000,000 or 2.52 x 1013 miles away

daily journal #101 – march 4, 2011 – 2:05 1.which of the following are visible from orbit:...

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