Current Events: Carrying Humans Into Deep Space

NASA has now reached one of its most important milestones for the U.S. NASAs administrator Charles Bolden on May 25, 2011 announced that the system will be based on designs that originated in the plan for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The goal of this is to carry humans into deep space! And now these plans are being used to develop a new spacecraft called the Multi- Purpose Crew Vehicle the MPCV.

As Bolden says "We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there. The NASA Authorization Act lays out a clear path forward for us by handing off transportation to the International Space Station to our private sector partners, so we can focus on deep space exploration. As we aggressively continue our work on heavy lift launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track."

The space craft is being built so that it should be able to carry four astronauts on a 21-day missions and be able to land in the Pacific Ocean just off the California coast. It will have a pressurized volume of 690 cubic feet along with 316 cubic feet of habitabl

e space.

Eclipse's: All About Them

What causes an eclipse?

An eclipse is caused by the moon moving into direct alignment with the sun and EarthThere are two types of eclipses, a lunar eclipse (when the Earth is directly in between the sun and moon.) and a solar eclipse (when the moon passes between the sun and Earth.)

What causes tides how do they occur?

Tides are the rising and falling of the sea. This usually happens twin during

a lunar day at a particular time and place. This happens because of the gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon. This gravitational interaction causes the oc

eans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge is also caused on the other side seeing as Earth is also being pulled towards the moon. Due to Earth being in constant rotation (as i said before) this causes tides to occur twice a day.

What is a lunar and solar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse is when the Earth passes directly inbetween the sun and moon. Whereas a solar eclipse happens when the moon passes directly inbetween the sun

and Earth.

Which type of eclipse is more common?

Some scientists have said that on a worldwide bases scale solar eclipses outnumber solar eclipses by about a 3 to 2 page margin.

When is the next eclipse occuring?

The next solar eclipse will occur on May 20th 2012.

What are the dangers of veiwing an eclipse?

You could possibly go blind due to the radiation from the sun. You are not meant to look at the sun in general but the awe of the eclipse causes you to relax.

What are the phases of the moon?

What causes the phases of the moon?

The phases of the moon are caused by the rotation of them and it is the shadow reflected from the sun.

Phases of the Moon

What did you notice about thephases of the moon?
I noticed that the moon has four major cycles, the new moon, 1st quarter, full moon, and last/3rd quarter. All of these phases have something to do with relative positions of the sun, moons, and the Earth during the moons 29.9 day orbit of Earth. I also learned that you can;t see the other side of the moon. isn't that amazing?! Also the moon reflects off of the sun therefore it doesn't produce its own light!
Why do we see different parts of the moon each night?Due to the position of the moon while revolvoing around Earth the position of the moon in relation to the sun changes. So, depending on where the moon is we see different shapes on it, so the more light the moon receives from the sun the bigger the shapes will be on the moon (just like shadows.)
What is a lunar month?
A lunar month is the compete cycle of the moon revolving around our Earth. This is what we call a month, it takes around 29.9 days for a full cycle to be complete.

What causes an eclipse and tide? An eclipe is when the earth and moon go over each other/block each other from the sun. Tides are the rising and falling of ocean water. Tides are caused by how much of the moons gravity is pulling in the different poles of the Earth.

Reasons for the Seasons Lab

When it is winter in the Northern hemisphere which areas on Earth get the most concentrated light? Which areas get the most concentrated light when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere?

During winter in the northern hemisphere it is summer in the southern hemisphe

re. The contenants that are part of the southern hemisphere is south america, southern Africa, Antartica, and Australia. So during winter in the Northern He

misphere it is summer in those countries. So areas that get the most consentrated light are the tropic of capricorn, tropic of cancer, and the equator.

Compare your observation of how hte light hits the area halfway between the equator and the North Pole during winter (step 6) and druing summer (step 9).

Sometimes the squares would look more like rectangles. The shadow on the toothpick will change according to where the earth is in its rotation around the sun.

If the squares projected on the ball from the acetate become larger, what can you infer about he amount of heat distributed in each square?

That there is more heat distribution and that it is probably closer to the sun .

According to your observations, which areas on Earth are consistently coolest? Which areas are consistently warmest? Why?

The Arctic and Antarctic and North and South Pole are the co

ldest places on earth due to the sun never fully stri

king these areas head on.

What time of year will the toothpick's shadow be longest? When will the shadow be shortest?

I think during summer it will be the longest and during winter it will be the shortest.

Use your observations of an Earth-sun model to write an explanation of what causes the seasons.

I think that the seasons are caused by the tilt of Earths axis away or toward the sun as it travels its year long (365 day) path around the sun.