In order to go to the moon, we use complex (and somewhat risky) Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. But, can’t we land a spacecraft on the moon directly? Wouldn’t it be easier? Here’s why we use Lunar Orbit Rendezvous instead of sending a spacecraft to directly land on the lunar surface.
Have you ever wondered, what is the maximum gravity humans can survive? As humankind reaches for the stars and envisages settling planets beyond our own, understanding the potential impacts of varied gravitational conditions becomes a crucial area of research. Recently, scientists delved into the physical constraints imposed by gravity on human functioning. The study, titled “Effects of Exoplanetary Gravity on Human Locomotion Ability” by Nikola Poljak, Dora Klindzic, and Mateo Kruljac, was published in The Physics Teacher’s September 2019 issue. The research considered ultimate limits, including the breaking point of the human skeleton and the maximum gravitational force that human muscles can overcome to lift the body.
The human narrative is punctuated by milestones – the moments in time that significantly alter the course of history. The 20th century, in particular, was a period of unprecedented innovation and groundbreaking discoveries. This era birthed remarkable accomplishments like the structure of DNA, the mass production of penicillin, the inception of the computer, and the creation of the microchip. These achievements have undeniably transformed civilization as we know it, and it might be tempting to rank them among the top events of the last century. However, when projecting into the distant future, one event may shine brighter than the others: the first moon landing by Apollo 11.
The narrative surrounding NASA’s Apollo program often paints it as a high point that soon descended into unfulfilled potential. Critics point out the lack of moon bases, Mars landings, or a network of orbital outposts and label the program as more or less aimless following the landmark 1969 moon landing. However, to see Apollo only through this lens is to overlook its most enduring achievement: the ushering in of the digital age.
United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe (Arabic: Misbar Al-Amal, al-amal means “hope” in English), which entered Mars’ orbit in February 2021, has captured a breathtaking photo of Mars and its tiny moon Deimos.
Japan’s ispace Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander captured this stunning photo in orbit around our Moon while a solar eclipse was occurring on Earth last week (September). You can see the Moon’s dark shadow passing above Australia as a dark smudge.
To be able to reach space, we need rockets. Rocket engines work by action and reaction (“To every action, there is always opposed an equal reaction”, see notes 1) and push rockets forward simply by expelling their exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed and can, therefore, work in the vacuum of space. Space rockets are usually enormous in size because the bigger the rocket is, the more thrust can be produced by its engine and can carry more weight into orbit. Here are the top 12 tallest rockets ever launched in the history of space exploration.
The first orbiting satellite to be repaired in space was NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission, which launched on February 14, 1980, to observe solar flares. Just a few months later, in November 1980, one of the satellite’s altitude control fuses failed. It was put in standby mode, and it remained so until Space Shuttle Challenger [STS-41-C] eventually rendezvoused with it on April 11, 1984. The crew of the STS-41-C mission successfully performed the first in-space satellite repair.
On April 1, 1960, the world’s first weather observation satellite (TIROS-1) was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It became operational for 78 days, despite the mission duration being 90 days.
On March 29, 1974, NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft has performed the first Mercury flyby in the history of space exploration.