Space Exploration Technology: Space Exploration and Nuclear Propulsion Space Exploration –> Technology Contents IntroductionSpace Mission AnalysisLimitations of Chemical Rocket EnginesThe Advantage of Nuclear Propulsion SystemsSample Calculations for a Mars MissionWhat Progress Has Been Made in Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion?ConclusionsReferencesTable 1: Types of Propulsion SystemsTable 2: Mars Mission Comparison - Round TripFigure 1: Mass Ratio Dependence on Mission Delta-V and Specific ImpulseFigure 2: Schematic Diagram7 of a Solid Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) Engine Introduction For those who are interested in the exploration and development of space by humans, nuclear propulsion technology is a very attractive option. Space Mission Analysis For any space mission, there are a few basic questions that must be answered: What is the destination? To convert the reactor heat into electricity, thermoelectric or thermionic devices could be used, but these have low efficiencies and low power to weight ratios. References Table 1: Types of Propulsion Systems
Graphene is Next Valkyrie Ice Graphene. If you’ve never heard about it, don’t worry, a lot of people haven’t, because it’s really only been “discovered” relatively recently, and most of the truly interesting news about it has been in the last year. The amazing thing is that we’ve actually been using it for centuries, in the form of the common pencil. By now, most of you are familiar with carbon nanotubes, a.k.a. But that isn’t all. All of these properties make graphene a very important material for the future of electronics. Let’s think about that for a moment. That’s a jump of two or three orders of magnitude up the exponential curve, my friends, especially when you combine it with the advances in multi-core technology and parallel computing. We’re talking about that smartphone in your pocket having a thousand times the computing power of your desktop PC, but using no more power. That big a leap in processing speed will simplify a lot of extremely complex tasks that require extensive amounts of data.
Lifting SAM Instrument for Installation into Mars Rover Lifting SAM Instrument for Installation into Mars Rover The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., built SAM. The 40-kilogram (88-pound) instrument includes three laboratory tools for analyzing chemistry, plus mechanisms for handling and processing samples. In this photograph, technicians and engineers inside a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., prepare to install SAM into the mission's Mars rover, Curiosity. The analytical tools in SAM are a mass spectrometer built by NASA Goddard, a gas chromatograph built by French partners supported by France's national space agency in Paris, and a laser spectrometer built by JPL.
Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity’s Seven... Video description Team members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory share the challenges of the Curiosity Mars rover’s final minutes to landing on the surface of Mars. Curiosity is scheduled to land on August 5. You can follow Curiosity’s journey on Twitter or Facebook. Learn more about the mission. Video transcript Music Adam Steltzner: When people look at it… uhhh, it looks crazy. Sometimes when we look at it, it looks crazy. It is the result of reasoned, engineering thought. But it still looks crazy. From the top of the atmosphere, down to the surface- It takes us seven minutes. It takes 14 minutes or so for the signal from the spacecraft to make it to Earth- that’s how far Mars is away from us. So, when we first get word that we’ve touched the top of the atmosphere, the vehicle has been alive… or dead, on the surface, for at least seven minutes. (music crescendos- dark pounding drums) Tom Rivellini: Entry, descent and landing, also known as EDL, is referred to as the ‘7 minutes of terror’.
Welcome To Scaled Composites Silica Aerogel (TEOS, Base-Catalyzed) Editor’s Note: This is an adaptation of the silica aerogel procedure from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory site about aerogels, which for a long time was the only procedure for making aerogels publicly available. That procedure, we’re sorry to say, does not work. Maybe you’ve tried it. If you have, you’ll have noticed that the solution stays separated as two layers and a gel never forms. That’s because there’s not enough alcohol. Materials Tetraethoxysilane (tetraethyl orthosilicate), Si(OC2H5)4Absolute (200-proof) ethanolDeionized waterAmmonium hydroxide, 28-30 wt % in waterAmmonium fluoride, NH4FOptionalAcetone Gel Preparation An Excel calculator for determining amounts of chemicals required by target volume (mL) or mass (g) is available. Weigh 1.852 g NH4F and add it to 100 mL of water. What Everything Does TEOS is the source of the silica. What Doesn’t Work Not using ammonium fluoride. Variables You Can Play With Gel Processing Conditions What You Should Get Useful Information
Preliminary Design Overview This Overview page for the Preliminary Design Phase contains the following sections: Overview The preliminary design phase may also be known as conceptual design or architectural design . The objective of the design phases (preliminary and detailed) is to create a design that will correctly and completely implement the requirements. The objective of design assurance is to verify that the design does implement all the requirements, and that it implements nothing but the requirements. The main design activities for the preliminary design phase are: Create the high-level design description. This assurance process for complex electronics assumes that complex electronics requirements have been developed, assessed, and baselined (formalized). Preliminary Design Process The diagram below shows the preliminary design process for complex electronics. Entrance Criteria: The complex electronics requirements should be complete and baselined. Exit Criteria: Roles and Responsibilities
Something Even More Amazing Than Curiosity on Mars There is now a new rover on the surface of mars. It’s the size of a small SUV and has capabilities that surpass all planetary lander that came before. With a suite of high power cameras, computers and transmitters, Curiosity can capture images of unprecedented resolution and even record high definition video, with the ability to cache images and video to two gigabytes of on board storage before transmitting them back to earth. The rover is also equipped with a suite of analytical instruments, capable of determining the composition of surface materials or drilling and digging for deeper samples. All of this is made possible by the 125 watt nuclear heat source, the latest generation of plutonium-238 radioisotope thermal generators. So what could be a more amazing technical feat than the rover Curiosity? On January4, 2003, the rover Spirit touched down on mars. In reality, the rovers functioned for several years. As of the most recent updates, Opportunity remains in good overall function.
25 Beautifully Illustrated Thought-Provoking Questions A question that makes you think is worth asking… At the cusp of a new day, week, month, or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. If you would like to maximize the benefits of self reflection, our new sister site, Thought Questions, is for you. Remember, these questions have no right or wrong answers. Here’s a sample of 25 recent thought questions posted on the site: Thought Questions is updated daily. Title photo by: Oberazzi For all other photo credits please refer to ThoughtQuestions.com Related 6 Questions that Will Save Your Relationships When you don't ask sincere questions and talk it out, there's a lot of important stuff that ends up never getting said. May 21, 2014 In "Life" July 24, 2008
Landing a Space Probe or Rover 1. Watch the NASA video “Intro to Engineering.” Show students the NASA video. As you hear each step described in the video, write it on the board: Question—identify the question you are trying to answerIdeas—brainstorm ideas to solve the problem; pick the one that makes the most senseDraw plan—sketch out a planBuild—build the modelTest —test multiple times, improving on the original idea between each test Explain to students that they will follow these same steps that scientists and engineers use as they design and create a vehicle that can safely land a probe or rover on a planet. 2. 3. 4. parachute material, such as cut up garbage bags, paperlander (egg) container, such as egg carton segments, paper cupslander (egg) protection, such as bubble wrap, crumpled newspaper, styrofoamdevices to attach the parachute to the lander, such as string, rubber bands, paper clips Encourage students to consider not just the material of each part, but size as well. 5. 6. 7.