Download Lesson 2 - Technology for Space Exploration - Hitchcock

Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
Beyond the Clouds
How do people travel to space?
• A rocket is a machine that uses gas, often from
burning fuel, to escape Earth’s gravitational pull.
Rockets are used to launch vehicles into space.
• In early missions, capsules containing the crews
detached from the rockets, which burned up.
• Upon return, the capsules “splashed down” in the
ocean and were recovered but not reused.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How do people travel to space?
• A space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft that
launches with the aid of rocket boosters and liquid
fuel. It lands on Earth like an airplane.
• A space shuttle carries astronauts and supplies
back and forth into orbit around Earth.
• Two white, solid rocket boosters (SRBs) help the
shuttle reach orbit. These booster rockets detach
and are reused.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How do people live in space?
• People live and work in space on space stations. A
space station is a long-term crewed spacecraft on
which scientific research can be carried out.
• Currently, the International Space Station (ISS) is
the only space station in Earth orbit. Six-member
crews live aboard it for an average of six months.
• Many scientific studies are conducted on the ISS,
including the effects of weightlessness on the
human body and observations of Earth systems.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
What are some challenges people face
in space?
• For space travel, challenges include having
sufficient supplies of air, food, water, and fuel for
the long journey.
• The spacecraft must be insulated from the intense
cold of space and harmful radiation from the sun.
• Experiencing weightlessness, astronauts find it
difficult to eat, drink, and sleep without floating,
and their muscles and bones weaken.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
Looking Up
What uncrewed technologies do people
use to explore space?
• Telescopes have been placed in Earth orbit to
circumvent the distortion of light by Earth’s
atmosphere.
• The Hubble Space Telescope detects light from
objects in space and sends images back to Earth.
• The Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Compton
Gamma-Ray Observatory were placed in space
because Earth’s atmosphere blocks most X-rays
and gamma rays.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
What uncrewed technologies do people
use to explore space?
• A space probe is an uncrewed vehicle that carries
scientific instruments to distant objects in space.
• Probes have been useful for studying the
atmospheres of the gas giant planets.
• An atmospheric entry probe is dropped from a
spacecraft into the planet’s atmosphere. During its
descent, it relays data back to the spacecraft.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
What uncrewed technologies do people
use to explore space?
• An orbiter is an uncrewed spacecraft that is
designed to enter into orbit around another object
in space.
• Controllers on Earth can place a spacecraft into
orbit around a distant planet or its moons.
• Cameras and other instruments on the orbiter can
photograph the planet’s surface and measure
temperatures and surface features.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
What uncrewed technologies do people
use to explore space?
• A lander is a craft designed to land on the surface
of a body in space.
• Landers have been placed successfully on the
moon, Venus, and Mars, and on Saturn’s moon
Titan.
• The images taken by a lander are more detailed
than those taken by an orbiter.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
What uncrewed technologies do people
use to explore space?
• A rover is a small vehicle that comes out of the
lander and explores the surface of a planet or
moon beyond the landing site.
• Both landers and rovers may have mechanical
arms for gathering rock, dust, and soil samples.
• In 2004, the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity
landed on Mars. They took images of the surface
and found evidence of water below the surface.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
Looking Down
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• A satellite is any object in space that orbits
another object.
• An artificial satellite is any human-made object
placed in orbit around a body in space.
• Examples of artificial satellites include remotesensing satellites, navigation satellites, weather
satellites, and communications satellites.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Remote-sensing satellites are used to map and
monitor Earth’s resources.
• They can identify sources of pollution and monitor
crops, global temperatures, ocean and land
heights, and amounts of freshwater ice and sea
ice.
• Remote-sensing data can also provide information
on how Earth systems, such as sea ice or river
flows, change over time.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Weather satellites provide a big-picture view of
Earth’s atmosphere.
• They monitor changes in cloud formation, energy
coming from Earth, and events that lead to severe
weather conditions.
• Weather satellites provide information that allows
airplanes to avoid dangerous weather and helps
farmers to grow their crops.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Some satellites carry instruments that detect
distress signals from emergency beacons.
• Many ships, airplanes, and individuals on land
have emergency beacons, which can be used
anywhere in the world and at any time of day.
• When satellites detect distress signals from these
beacons, they relay the signals to ground stations,
and search-and-rescue operations are begun.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• How can satellites help a lost hiker?
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Data from satellites can be combined into one
image, called a composite image.
• Composite images can give very detailed
information about an area’s surface features and
other features.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
Exploring the Ocean
• Both deep-sea exploration and space exploration
use advanced technologies to observe locations
that are difficult or dangerous for humans to
explore.
• Ocean submersibles can be crewed or uncrewed.
• Hydrothermal vents are on the ocean floor where
the pressure is too great for humans to withstand.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Communications satellites relay data, including
Internet service, some television and radio
broadcasts, and long-distance telephone calls.
• Although television signals travel in straight lines,
they can be transmitted around Earth by a relay
system involving communications satellites.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a network
of 24 satellites that orbit Earth. These satellites
continuously send microwave signals.
• A GPS receiver receives signals from at least four
satellites at one time.
• Once a GPS receiver on Earth picks up the signals,
the technology in the receiver can determine the
location of the receiver on Earth’s surface.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 Technology for Space Exploration
How are satellites used to observe
Earth?
• Why are at least three GPS satellites needed for
sending information to a receiver?
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