Beginner's Guide to Space (PDF) - Pakistan Space Research

NOT FOR SALE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SPACE A PUBLICATION OF PAKISTAN SPACE & UPPER ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH COMMISSION BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SPACE A PUBLICATION OF PAKISTAN SPACE & UPPER ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH COMMISSION BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SPACE PUBLICATION Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission REVIEW AND EDITING TEAM Kiran Zehra Zaidi Hassam Muhammad Khan Illustration by : Aley Ali Public Relations & Media Management - SUPARCO Publication Year : 2015 PAKISTAN SPACE & UPPER ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH COMMISSION Space Information Booklet CONTENT Section 1 OUR UNIVERSE 1.1 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 01 1.1.1 The Sun 01 1.1.2 Mercury 02 1.1.3 Venus 02 1.1.4 Earth 02 1.1.4.1 The Earth's Moon 03 1.1.5 Mars 03 1.1.6 Jupiter 04 1.1.7 Saturn 04 1.1.8 Uranus 04 1.1.9 Neptune 04 1.1.10 The Kuiper Belt and Beyond 05 1.2 ASTERIODS 06 1.3 METEOROIDS AND METEORITES 06 1.4 COMETS 06 1.5 STARS 07 1.5.1 Constellations 07 1.5.2 Colors of Stars 08 1.5.3 Distance between Stars 08 1.6 BLACK HOLE 08 1.7 ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE 08 1.7.1 Hubble's Law 09 1.7.2 The Big Bang Theory 09 1.7.3 The Inflation Theory 09 1.7.4 Properties of Universe 10 1.7.5 Dark Matter 10 1.7.6 Dark Energy 10 1.8 GALAXIES 11 Section 2 SPACE EXPLORATION 2.1 OVERVIEW OF SPACE EXPLORATION 12 2.2 EARLY ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES 12 2.3 PLANETARY STUDIES 12 2.3.1 Missions to Mercury 13 2.3.1.1 Mariner 10 Mission 13 2.3.1.2 MESSENGER Mission 13 2.3.1.3 BepiColombo Mission 13 2.3.2 Missions to Venus 14 2.3.2.1 Early Flybys, Landers and Orbiters-Soviet and NASA Missions 14 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 2.3.2.2 Other Soviet missions 15 2.3.2.3 Magellan probe 15 2.3.2.4 Venus Express 15 2.3.3 Missions to Mars 16 2.3.3.1 Mariner program 16 2.3.3.2 The Soviet Mars Program 16 2.3.3.3 Viking Program 16 2.3.3.4 Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder 17 2.3.3.5 Mars Odyssey and Mars Express 17 2.3.3.6 Mars Exploration Rover Mission 17 2.3.3.7 Mars Science Laboratory-Curiosity Rover 17 2.3.4 Missions to Jupiter 18 2.3.5 Missions to Saturn 18 2.3.6 Mission to Pluto-New Horizons 19 2.4 SUN OBSERVING SATELLITES AND OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM MISSIONS 19 2.4.1 Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) 19 2.4.2 Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) 20 2.4.3 Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) 20 2.4.4 NEAR Mission 20 2.4.5 Deep Impact Mission 21 2.4.6 Rosetta Mission 21 2.4.7 Dawn Mission 21 2.4.8 The Voyager Program & the Voyager Interstellar Mission 21 2.5 ROCKETS 22 2.6 SCIENTIFIC SATELLITES 23 2.6.1 Earth Observing Satellites 23 2.6.2 Astronomical Satellites 23 2.6.2.1 Hubble Space telescope 24 2.6.2.2 Chandra X-ray Observatory 24 2.6.2.3 Spitzer Space Telescope 24 2.6.2.4 Herschel Space Observatory 25 2.6.2.5 Planck Observatory 25 2.6.2.6 Kepler Observatory 25 2.6.2.7 James Webb Telescope 25 2.7 LUNAR MISSIONS 26 2.8 SPACE STATIONS 26 2.8.1 Salyut Space Station 26 2.8.2 Skylab Space Station 26 2.8.3 Mir Space Station 26 2.8.4 International Space Station 27 2.8.5 Chinese Tiangong Space Station 27 2.9 SPACE SHUTTLES 28 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Section 3 THE EARTH 3.1 EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE 29 3.2 COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERE 29 3.3 LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE 29 3.3.1 Troposphere 29 3.3.2 Stratosphere 29 3.3.3 Mesosphere 29 3.3.4 Thermosphere 30 3.4 BEYOND THE ATMOSPHERE 30 3.5 ROTATING EARTH 30 Section 4 SATELLITE SYSTEMS 4.1 INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITES 31 4.2 ORBIT TYPES 31 4.2.1 Geostationary Orbit 31 4.2.2 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) 32 4.2.3 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) 32 4.2.4 Elliptical Orbits 33 4.2.5 Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) 33 4.3 SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE 33 4.3.1 T ypes of SLV with respect to Propellants 33 4.4 OPERATION OF SATELLITES IN SPACE 34 4.4.1 Power 34 4.4.2 Direction or Orientation 34 4.4.3 Heat Dissipation 34 4.4.4 Radiation Protection 34 4.5 RE-ENTRY AND SATELLITE DISPOSAL 34 4.6 TYPES OF SATELLITES 35 4.6.1 Communication Satellites 35 4.6.2 Earth Observation Satellites 35 4.6.2.1 Earth observation satellite with respect to sensors 35 4.6.3 Navigation Satellites 36 4.6.4 Weather Satellites 36 4.6.5 Military Satellites 36 4.6.6 Scientific Satellites 36 Section 5 SPACE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS 5.1 SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING 37 5.1.1 Types of Remote Sensors 37 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 5.1.1.1 Passive Remote Sensors 37 5.1.1.2 Active Remote Sensors 38 5.1.2 Information Extraction using Remote Sensing 38 5.1.3 Applications of Remote Sensing 38 5.1.3.1 Agriculture 38 5.1.3.2 Forestry 38 5.1.3.3 Geology 39 5.1.3.4 Natural Disasters 39 5.1.3.5 Cartography 39 5.1.3.6 Geographic Information System 39 5.1.3.7 Environmental Assessment 40 5.2 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Page 40 5.2.1 Telemedicine 40 5.2.2 Tele-Education 40 5.3 SATELLITE POSITIONING AND NAVIGATION Page 40 5.3.1 Global Positioning System (GPS) 41 5.3.2 Galileo Positioning System 41 5.3.3 GLONASS 41 5.3.4 COMPASS 41 5.4 SATELLITE METEOROLOGY 42 5.4.1 Advantages of Satellite Meteorology 42 5.4.2 Applications of Satellite Meteorology 42 5.4.2.1 Weather Forecasting 42 5.4.2.2 Drought Monitoring 42 5.4.2.3 Forest Fire Monitoring 42 5.4.2.4 Sea Surface Temperature Monitoring 42 5.4.2.5 Fog and Haze Monitoring 42 Section 6 NATIONAL SPACE AGENCY OF PAKISTAN-SUPARCO 6.1 INTRODUCTION 43 6.2 FUNCTIONS 43 6.3 MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS 43 6.4 SPACE APPLICATIONS 44 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Section 1 OUR UNIVERSE 1.1 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Our solar system is the one we know the most about. The Sun is at its centre. Our solar system includes everything that orbits or goes around the Sun. Planets, moons, asteroids; comets and dust are all part of the solar system. Our solar system lies near the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is shaped like a whirlpool. All the stars in the galaxy, including our Sun, orbit around the centre of the Milky Way. With the discovery of Pluto in The Solar System 1930, astronomers considered the Solar System to have nine planets. Pluto was classified as the ninth planet and it remained so for 75 years but in 2006, International Astronomical Union classified Pluto as a ‘dwarf planet’ due to its smaller mass. In view of this, our solar system now consists of eight planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are known as the inner planets, as they are nearest to the sun. They form a group of rocky planets. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. 1.1.1 The Sun The sun is a bright star, and it is the largest object in our solar system. The Sun At sunset or sunrise when it is safe to look at the sun, we can see the sun’s photosphere, the level in the sun from which visible photons escape most easily. Dark sunspots come and go on the sun but only rarely are they large enough to be visible to the unaided eye. The solar atmosphere consists of three layers of hot, low-density gas: the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. The granulation of the photosphere is produced by convection currents of hot gas rising from below. Larger super-granules appear to be caused by larger convection currents deeper in the sun. The chromosphere is most easily visible during total solar eclipses, when it flashes into view for a few seconds. It is a thin, hot layer of gas just above the photosphere, and its pink color is caused by the Balmer emission lines in its spectrum. Filtergrams of the chromosphere reveal spicules, flame like structures extending upward into the lower corona. The corona is the sun’s outermost atmospheric layer and can be imaged using a coronagraph. It is composed of a very-low-density; very hot gas extending many solar radii from the visible sun. It’s high temperature — over 2 million K — is believed to be maintained by the magnetic field extending up through the photosphere — the magnetic carpet— and by magnetic waves coming from below the photosphere. Parts of the corona give rise to the solar wind, a breeze of low density ionized gas streaming away from the sun. Astronomers can study the motion, density, and temperature of gases inside the sun by analyzing the way the solar surface oscillates. Known Layers of Sun as helioseismology, this field of study requires large amounts of data 01 and extensive computer analysis. Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Nuclear reactors on Earth generate energy through nuclear fission, during which large nuclei such as uranium break into smaller fragments called fission. The sun generates its energy through nuclear fusion, during which hydrogen nuclei fuse to produce helium nuclei. In nuclear fission or nuclear fusion, the energy comes from the strong force. 1.1.2 Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It is very hot. It is only 57,900,000 Km away from the sun. Each day lasts 59 earth days and a year lasts 88 earth days. Mercury is a world of extremes. Because it is so close to the Sun, a visitor could easily cook to death. However because Mercury spins so slowly it gets very cold in the night time, which means a visitor could also freeze to death. The average temperature on the lit side of the planet is 350°C (660°F). Mercury is so close to the Sun, and so small, that it has only a very small atmosphere. Its atmosphere has been blown away by the Sun’s solar winds. It means that there is almost no air on Mercury. Mercury has no moons. Due to its smaller size Mercury has lesser gravity. Therefore, if someone weighs 70 pounds on Earth, he would weigh only about 27 pounds on Mercury. 1.1.3 Venus Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is the planet closest to the earth. It is almost the same size as the Earth. Apart from the moon, Venus is by far the brightest object in the night sky. The temperature of the surface is 480°C. Its thick cloud cover makes it impossible to see the surface, and traps much of the Sun's heat. This extra heat gives Venus the hottest average temperature of all the planets. There were once oceans on Venus but these have long since boiled away due to the great heat on the surface. In its early days, Venus was just like the Earth. It had oceans and may even have held life, but as it has so much carbon dioxide now, that life is not possible any more. In many ways Venus is similar to the Earth. It has active volcanoes, Venus quakes, mountains and valleys. The major difference is that Venus's atmosphere makes the planet far too hot for life. Aside from the fact that Venus rotates very slowly so that a day on Venus actually lasts longer than a year, Venus also rotates in the opposite direction as almost all the other planets. Due to this reason, the Sun instead of rising in the east and setting in the west, would appear to rise in the West, and set in the East on Venus. Venus 1.1.4 Earth Our planet ‘Earth’ is an oasis of life in an otherwise desolate universe. The Earth's temperature, weather, atmosphere and many other factors are just right to keep us alive. Earth is the 5th largest planet in our solar system. It is located at third position from the sun. Earth’s mass is 6.0 x 1024 Kg. Its atmosphere mainly contains 78.084% Nitrogen and 20.946% Oxygen. It takes 24 hours to rotate on its axis and 365 days to complete its one orbit around the sun. LUNA, the earth’s moon is our closest neighbour. Its average distance from earth is 384,000 km (239,000 miles). The moon takes 27 days to travel around the earth. This is the only planet we know which has life. Earth 02 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.1.4.1 The Earth’s Moon The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. It is 2,160 miles (3,476 kilo meters) across, which is a little more than one quarter of Earth’s diameter. The Moon orbits Earth once every 27.3 days. The Moon has no atmosphere and no liquid water at its surface, so it has no wind or weather at all. On the lunar surface, there is no protection from the Sun’s rays, and no ability to retain heat like the greenhouse effect on Earth. Temperature on the moon range from about 253°F (123°C) to –387°F (–233°C). The Moon’s surface is covered with rocks, mountains, craters, and vast low plains called Maria (“seas”). The Earth’s Moon On an average, the Moon is about 238,000 miles (384,000 kilo meters) away from Earth. This value was measured quite accurately by the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived in the second century B.C.E. Today, laser rangefinders have been used to measure a very precise value. Galileo Galilei, the first astronomer to study the universe with a telescope, observed that the Moon’s surface was not smooth, but rather covered with mountains and craters. The broad, dark patches on the Moon looked to him like seas on Earth, so he named them Maria, or “seas” in Latin. Moonlight is reflected sunlight. This was discovered long ago by the ancient Greek astronomer Parmenides, who lived and worked around 500 B.C.E. Depending on the location of the Moon in its orbit around Earth, different parts of the Moon will reflect sunlight onto Earth. Since Earth and the Moon are so close together, and since the Moon has such a shiny surface, large amounts of sunlight come to Earth after bouncing off the Moon. Although the Moon is very massive having a mass of 73.5 billion billion metric tons—it is so far away from Earth (238,000 miles or 384,000 kilo meters) that it has very little gravitational pull on objects at or near Earth’s surface. It produces about 1/300,000th the gravitational acceleration that Earth produces at its own surface which is far too weak to be felt by any person. A snapshot of the moon taken from CCD camera at Sonmiani 1.1.5 Mars Mars excites scientists because its mild temperament is more like the Earth's than that of any of the other planets. Evidence suggests that Mars once had rivers, streams, lakes, and even an ocean. But later on, Mars' atmosphere slowly depleted into outer space, the surface water began to permanently evaporate. Today the only water on Mars is either frozen in the polar caps, or is underground. Mars is 249 million km away from the sun. Mars’ day is calculated at 24 hours and 37.5 minutes. It tilts at an axis of 23.98 degrees. Summer and spring last for 381 days and autumn and winter last for 306 days, which makes it cold most of the time. It takes 687 Earth days for Mars to orbit the sun. Mars has two Mars moons. Their names are Deimos and Phobos. Its atmosphere is made up of mainly Carbon Dioxide. 03 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.1.6 Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and is about 770 million km from it. It takes almost twelve years for Jupiter to orbit the sun. It spins in less than 10 hours. For that reason its middle has been stretched out. Rather than round it is short and fat. This rapid spinning causes powerful winds that push the clouds into colourful bands, streaks and swirls that circle the planet. The temperature on the surface is very cold about 150°C below freezing and that’s in the daytime! The centre of Jupiter is very hot. Jupiter has sixty three moons, and more are discovered with every space probe sent there. It is likely that there are more not yet identified. As of 2009, Jupiter has 67 satellites known and classified as moons. This Jupiter giant planet has no solid surface. Under its atmosphere is a large liquid ocean of hydrogen and water. There is nothing in between the ocean and atmosphere. The atmosphere slowly gets thicker and thicker until it becomes part of the ocean. In other words Jupiter's ocean has no surface on which you could float a boat. The sky slowly becomes the ocean. 1.1.7 Saturn Saturn is a favourite object for many observers. It is the sixth planet from the Sun. Saturn is 95 times heavier than earth. The main system has a total diameter of over 270,000 km. In many ways Saturn is similar to Jupiter, but it is much smaller. Under the clouds of methane and helium, the sky gradually turns into liquid until it becomes a giant ocean of liquid chemicals. It takes a whole 29 years and 167 days for Saturn to orbit the sun. The length of one-day is just 10 hours and 14 minutes. Saturn Saturn has 61 confirmed moons by now. 1.1.8 Uranus Uranus is almost identical to the planet Neptune. Unlike all the other planets and most of the moons in our Solar System, Uranus spins on its side. It is believed that long ago a very large object smashed into this planet. The crash was so powerful that it completely changed the direction of Uranus’ spin. Uranus may have an ocean of water beneath its clouds. It has a large rocky core, and because of the tremendous pressure it could possibly contain trillions of large diamonds. The atmosphere is thought Uranus to be 10,000 km deep (6,200 miles). It has 27 moons. 1.1.9 Neptune It is the last planet in our solar system. Neptune has a giant storm much like the storm on Jupiter. This storm is often called The Great Dark Spot. We do not know how long this storm has been active because it is so far away that we could not get a good view of Neptune. Neptune has six rings which circle the planet. The distance from the sun to the blue planet is 4,500,000,000 km (2,800,000,000 miles). One day (24 hrs) lasts for 16 hours 3 minutes and one year lasts 164 earth years. Neptune has 13 moons that we know of. Because Neptune is so far away, it is difficult to see any of these worlds. There are probably many more moons orbiting Neptune 04 this blue planet which we have not yet discovered. Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.1.10 The Kuiper Belt and Beyond The Kuiper Belt (also called the Kuiper-Edgeworth Belt) is a doughnut-shaped region that extends between about three to eight billion miles (5 to 12 billion km) out from the Sun (its inner edge is about at the orbit of Neptune, while its outer edge is about twice that diameter). Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are, as their name implies, objects that originate from or orbit in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is the only one KBO which was known for more than 60 years. Many KBOs have been discovered since 1992, however, the current estimate is that there are millions, if not billions, of KBOs. KBOs are basically comets without tails: icy dirt-balls that have collected together over billions of years. If they get large enough, such as Pluto did, they evolve as other massive planet like bodies do, forming dense cores that have a different physical composition than the mantle or crust above it. Most short-period comets, those with relatively short orbital times of a few years to a few centuries are thought to originate from the Kuiper Belt. Plutinos are Kuiper Belt Objects that are smaller than Pluto, have many physical characteristics similar to Pluto, and orbit around the Sun in much the same way that Pluto does. The discovery of Plutinos led to the recognition that the Kuiper Belt is heavily populated, and that Pluto itself is a Kuiper Belt Object. Pluto is about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometres) across, less than one-fifth the diameter of Earth and smaller than the seven largest moons in the solar system. Pluto is composed mostly of ice and rock, with a surface temperature between –350 and –380 degrees Fahrenheit (–210 to –230 degrees Celsius); the bright areas observed on Pluto are most likely solid nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. The dark spots may hold hydrocarbon compounds made by the chemical splitting and freezing of methane. Pluto’s day is about six Earth days long, and its year is 248 Earth years long. Pluto travels in a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun compared to the terrestrial planets and gas giants. For 20 years out of its 248-Earth-year orbital period, it is actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. When Pluto is closer to the Sun, its thin atmosphere exists in a gaseous state, and is comprised primarily of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. For most of its very distant orbit, though, there is no standing atmosphere because it all freezes out and drops to the surface. Pluto has no rings and three known moons. The largest one, Charon, is large enough to be considered a dwarf planet in its own right. Rabinowitz (1960) discovered a new solar system body beyond the orbit of Pluto and larger than Pluto. The discovery of 2003UB 313, proved that Pluto was not the largest Kuiper Belt Object in the solar system. Further observations showed that 2003UB 313 even had its own moon. The discovery of 2003UB 313 hastened the need for planetary astronomers to define the term “planet” in a scientific way. Since it was larger and more distant than Pluto, it would have to be called the tenth planet, unless Pluto was not to be considered a planet any longer. After substantial debate, the objects were officially reclassified in August 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). That is why there are only eight planets in our solar system today, and why Pluto is not one of them. 05 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.2 ASTERIODS An asteroid is a large rock in outer space. Due to their smaller size, asteroids do not have enough gravity to pull themselves into the shape of a ball. It is believed that asteroids are left over materials from the formation of the Solar System. 26 very large asteroids have been discovered. There are still millions of smaller ones that we have yet to see because they are too tiny, only a mile or so across. If all the materials of all the asteroids were squashed up into one planet, it would be smaller than our moon. Asteriods Astronomers group asteroids into different categories based on the way they reflect sunlight. The asteroid belt is divided into an inner belt and an outer belt. The inner belt which is made up of asteroids that are within 250 million miles of the Sun contains asteroids that are made of metals. The outer belt, which includes asteroids 250 million miles beyond the Sun, consists of rocky asteroids. These asteroids appear darker than the asteroids of the inner belt, and are rich in carbon. 1.3 METEOROIDS AND METEORITES The term meteor comes from the Greek meteoron, meaning phenomenon in the sky. It is used to describe the streak of light produced as matter in the solar system falls into Earth’s atmosphere creating temporary incandescence resulting from atmospheric friction. This typically occurs at heights of 80 to 110 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. The term is also used loosely with the word meteoroid referring to the particle itself without relation to the phenomena it produces when entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Even smaller particles are called micrometeoroids or cosmic dust grains, which include any interstellar material that should happen to enter our solar system. A meteorite is a meteoroid that reaches the surface of the Earth without being completely vaporized. 1.4 COMETS A comet is a small body which scientists sometimes call a planetesimal. Comets orbit the Sun just as the planets do. That is why astronomers see the same comet return over and over again. But comets have huge oval-shaped orbits. They swing far out to the edge of the solar system. It takes Earth 365 days to go around the Sun whereas; the orbits of some comets are so big that it takes them hundreds of years to go around the Sun once. For example Halley's Comet appears about every 76 years. When a comet nears the Sun, some of the ice in the comet turns into gas. The gas and loose dust freed from the ice create a long, luminous tail that streams behind the comet. Comets come from places in the outer solar system called the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud are made up of chunks of ice and rock. Comets that orbit the Sun in less than 200 years come from the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is just beyond the planet Neptune. Comets that take longer than 200 years to go around the Sun come from the Oort cloud. The Oort Cloud is far out at the edge of the solar system, beyond Pluto. Comets 06 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.5 STARS The most fascinating body in the sky at night is a star. A star is a big ball of hot, glowing gases. The gases are mostly hydrogen and helium. Stars give off heat, light, and other kinds of energy. At night stars look tiny because they are millions of miles away from our earth. The closest star to our Earth is the Sun. The Sun is a star at the center of our solar system. A star can get birth and can encounter death as well. The life of a star depends on its mass. The higher the mass the lower its life time because high mass stars burn their fuel more quickly as compared to low mass stars. Our Sun is believed to be about 4.6 billion years old and scientists believe that half of its life is passed away. There are stars older or younger as well as bigger than our Sun. Stars are born from swirling clouds of gas and dust. Gravity pulls the gas and dust together. The gas and dust form a spinning ball. As it spins, it gets hotter. The gas and dust get tightly packed and birth of new star takes place. Likewise when a star burns up its fuel it comes to death. Now question arises what makes a star glow and give off energy? As stated, mostly stars are made up of gases i.e., hydrogen and helium. A star has several layers. The center of a star is called its core. A star shines because of its core. The core is so hot and tightly packed that atoms crunch together. Hydrogen atoms crunch together and become helium atoms. This is called nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion gives off enough energy to make stars shine. Planets differ from stars in a variety of ways. A star is a collection of hot glowing gases that are held together by gravity which give off enormous quantity of energy as light and heat caused by the thermonuclear fusion taking place in its core. A planet on the other hand is a body that orbits around a star and it can be rocky, gaseous or a combination of the two having its own gravitational field holding it together. The sun is a star and Earth is a planet. Stars 1.5.1 Constellations From ancient times, people living in different parts of the world defined their own ways of categorizing groups of stars termed as constellations. Their old scriptures also reflect their cultural influence on their depiction. Constellations are, thus, the ideas and picture that human mind have imposed in the sky in an effort to connect our lives on earth with the working of the heavens. An asterism is a group of stars in the sky that, when viewed from Earth, create an outline of some recognizable shape or pattern. Two well-known asterisms are the Big Dipper, which many astronomers use to point out the location of the North Star, and the Summer Triangle, which is marked by three of the most Orion Constellation depiction in an old Scripture prominent stars in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer night sky. A constellation is similar to an asterism, but it is usually much more complicated, containing more stars or larger areas of the sky. A few asterisms are constellations: the asterism called the Southern Cross, for example, is the constellation Crux (the Cross). Modern constellations are mostly named after mythological themes, such as gods, legendary heroes, creatures, or structures. Although most constellations resemble the figures after which they are named, others are not as recognizable. The constellations encompass the entire celestial sphere and provide a visual reference frame. Astronomers can plot the stars and other objects in the universe using constellations, charting the Orion Constellation 07 apparent movement that is caused by Earth’s own rotation and orbit. shown in star charts Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet The current, internationally agreed upon map of the sky contains 88 constellations. Some well-known constellations include Aquila (the Eagle), Cygnus (the Swan), Lyra (the Harp), Hercules and Perseus (two mythological heroes), Orion the Hunter and Ophiucus the Knowledge- seeker (two other mythological characters), Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big Bear and Little Bear), and the constellations of the zodiac. 1.5.2 Colors of Stars Stars come in different colours. They can be deep red, orange, yellow, white, or even blue. The colour of a star depends on how hot the star is. The coolest stars are reddish and the hottest stars are bluish. It is hard to imagine how hot a star can be. The temperature at the surface of red stars is about 3000° Celsius. Yellow stars have surface temperatures about 6000° Celsius. Our Sun is a yellow star. White stars are about 10,000° Celsius. Astronomers study the light of stars. Patterns in the light can tell astronomers what the stars are made of and how hot they are. 1.5.3 Distance between Stars There are many different methods used to find distance between stars, but historically the most accurate has been parallax. This is the same effect that makes distant trees appear to move more slowly than nearby ones when you drive past them in a car. Basically, as the Earth orbits the Sun, nearby stars appear to move a teeny bit as a reflection of our motion, while stars farther away move less. Since we know how big the orbit of the Earth is, we can use trigonometry to calculate the stars' distances. 1.6 BLACK HOLE A Black Hole is an extremely dense celestial body that has been theorized to exist in the universe. The gravitational field of a black hole is so strong, that nothing including electromagnetic radiation can escape from its vicinity. It is surrounded by a spherical boundary called the horizon, through which light can enter but not escape, it therefore appears totally black. The black hole concept was developed by a German astronomer in Black Holes in the Galaxies 1961 on the basis of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. According to General Relativity, Gravitation severely modifies space and time near a black hole. In 1994, astronomers used the Hubble Telescope to uncover the first convincing evidence that black holes exist. 1.7 ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE Cosmology is the study of the origin, structure and the history of the universe as a whole. Astronomers and physicists who do research in cosmology are called cosmologists. The darkness of the night sky leads to the conclusion that the universe is not infinitely old. If the universe were infinite in extent, infinite in age, and static, then every spot on the sky would glow as brightly as the surface of a star. This problem, commonly labelled Olbers’s paradox, implies that the universe had a beginning. 08 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.7.1 Hubble’s Law In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered that the galaxies are moving away from each other. He presented his finding in the form of a law which is known Edwin Hubble as Hubble’s law. Tracing the expansion of the universe backward in time bring us to imagine an initial high-density, high-temperature state commonly called the big bang. A rough estimate of the age of the universe based on the presently observed expansion rate is called the Hubble time. The cosmic microwave background radiation is blackbody radiation with a temperature of about 2.73 Kelvin, spread nearly uniformly over the entire sky. This radiation is the light from the big bang. The background radiation is clear evidence that the universe began with a big bang. 1.7.2 The Big Bang Theory During the earliest moments of the universe, matter and antimatter particles continually flashed in and out of existence. A slight excess of ordinary matter remained after most of the matter and antimatter particles annihilated each other. During the first three minutes of the big bang, nuclear fusion converted some of the hydrogen into helium but was unable to make many other heavy atoms because no stable nuclei exist with weights of 5 or 8. Now, hydrogen and helium are common in the universe, but heavier atoms are rare. For a period of hundreds of millions of years called the Dark Age, the universe expanded in darkness until the first stars came into existence. Astronomers have observed signs of re-ionization of the universe caused by that first generation of stars. The chemical composition of the oldest stars is about 75 percent hydrogen and 25 percent helium, which is what models of the big bang nuclear processes would predict. This is a further evidence supporting the big bang theory. 1.7.3 The Inflation Theory The inflationary theory, a modification to the big bang theory, proposes that the universe briefly expanded dramatically, just a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang. The energy to drive inflation would have been released when the four forces of nature changed their respective properties as the universe cooled in its earliest moments. This “separation” of forces is predicted by grand unified theories (GUTs) that explain the forces of nature as being aspects of a single force, unified in particle interactions with very high energies. A major role in the development of GUT is played by Dr. Abdus Salam, the founder of Pakistan's space program and the founding director of Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). He was convinced that weak nuclear forces are not really different from electromagnetic forces, and that the two could inter-convert. Salam presented a theory that shows the unification of two fundamental forces of nature, strong and weak nuclear forces and electromagnetic forces. In 1961, Glashow extended electroweak unification models due to Schwinger by including a short range neutral current, the Z0. The resulting symmetry structure that Glashow proposed, SU (2) x U (1), forms the basis of the accepted theory of the electroweak interactions. For this discovery, Glashow along with Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam was awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics. 09 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 1.7.4 Properties of Universe The universe is isotropic and homogeneous. In other words, in its major features, the universe looks the same in all directions and in all locations. Isotropy and homogeneity lead to the cosmological principle, the idea that there are no special places in the universe. Except for minor local differences, every place is the same, and the view from every place is the same. There are three models about the fate of the Universe. Closed universe models are finite in size, but their space-time is curved back on itself so they have no edge or center. Open universe models have curved space-time, but it is not curved back on itself. Such universes are infinite. Flat universe models have uncurved space-time and are infinite. Modern observations show that the universe is probably flat. 1.7.5 Dark Matter Matter component that does not radiate in the electromagnetic spectrum and, therefore, is not detected by means of telescopes is known as dark matter. In the 1930s, astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974) noticed that, in the Coma cluster of galaxies, many of the individual galaxies were moving around so fast that there had to be a tremendous amount of gravitational pull toward the centre of the cluster; otherwise, the Dark Matter galaxies would literally hurl themselves out of the cluster. The amount of matter that needed to exist in the cluster to produce that much gravity far exceeded the amount of matter observed in all the galaxies in the cluster put together. This extra matter became known as “dark matter.” After decades of further study, dark matter has now been confirmed as an important constituent of matter around galaxies, in clusters of galaxies, and throughout the universe as a whole. According to the latest measurements, about 80 percent of the matter in the universe is dark matter. 1.7.6 Dark Energy When Albert Einstein and others were working on the nature of the universe in the early twentieth century, Einstein introduced a mathematical term into his equations to keep a balance between cosmic expansion and gravitational attraction. This term became known as the “cosmological constant,” and seemed to represent an unseen energy that emanated from space itself. After Edwin Hubble and other astronomers showed that the universe was indeed expanding, the cosmological constant no longer appeared to be necessary, and so it was not seriously considered again for decades. Then, starting in the 1990s, a series of discoveries suggested that the “dark energy” represented by the cosmological constant does indeed exist. Current measurements indicate that the density of this dark energy throughout the universe is much greater than the density of matter—both luminous matter and dark matter combined. 10 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Statistical observations of the large-scale structure of the universe confirm that it is flat and contains 4 percent baryonic matter, 23 percent dark matter, and 73 percent dark energy. The mass equivalent of dark energy added to dark matter and baryonic matter makes the observed density of the universe equal to the critical density, thereby confirming the prediction made by inflation theory that the universe is flat. 1.8 GALAXIES A galaxy is made up of millions or billions of stars. Big clouds of gas and dust swirl in space between the stars. Galaxies give off different kinds of rays e.g. radio waves, heat or infrared rays, X-rays and gamma rays. All these rays are types of light. Though some of them can be seen with our naked eye but the others like X-rays and gamma rays could only be seen through electronic instruments. Astronomers and scientists study the light to learn about the galaxies. They have instruments that can detect each of these types. The different types of light provide clues about what galaxies are made of and how do they form. Powerful telescopes like Hubble Space Telescope have been launched in the space to take pictures of galaxies. The location in space of about 2 million Spiral Galaxy Lenticular Galaxy Elliptical Galaxy All the stars visible to the unaided eye from earth belong to Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. Galaxies come in different shapes. Some galaxies look like giant whirlpools or pinwheels. They have long arms made of gas and dust clouds and stars. These are called spiral galaxies because the arms spiral into the center. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. The stars and clouds of gas and dust in a spiral galaxy move slowly in a circle. They go around the center of the galaxy. New stars form in the clouds of a spiral galaxy. Another shape of galaxy is called Lenticular. These galaxies are spiral galaxies but without spiral structure. Mostly old stars are found in these galaxies. Some galaxies are oval or round in shape. These are called elliptical galaxies. Elliptical galaxies tend to have older stars. Few new stars form in elliptical galaxies. Some galaxies do not have any particular shape. These are called irregular galaxies. When galaxies come close to each other, their shapes can change. Sometimes galaxies collide with one another. Irregular galaxies may be galaxies whose original shapes were distorted by collisions. 11 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Section 2 SPACE EXPLORATION 2.1 OVERVIEW OF SPACE EXPLORATION For as long as there have been people on Earth, they have looked up at the sky and wondered about the Sun, Moon, stars, and occasional dramatic events they saw there, like a comet sighting bringing a bad omen. But it is only in the past 40 years that humans have developed the technical ability to leave their planet and actually visit other bodies in the universe. Space travel is only possible if we can escape Earth's gravitational field. However, for a spacecraft to do so it must reach a velocity of 11 km/sec (7 miles/sec), or 39,600 km/hr (nearly 25,000 mph). It was only by the middle of the twentieth century that mankind finally understood enough about rocketry to make such high speeds attainable. Today, spacecrafts can also be carried into space by a shuttle, which releases them while in orbit. After leaving Earth's gravitational field, spacecrafts then use small on-board thrusters to navigate through space and explore the universe. During the last four decades, hundreds of satellites, probes and space shuttles have been launched which have explored near-Earth space, travelled to the Moon, the Sun, and to all the planets. And, with permanent space stations already in orbit around Earth and telescopes exploring more and more of our universe, space research is still continuing. Talk of future developments include building a colony on Mars, searching for life in other galaxies, and other exciting programs. 2.2 EARLY ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES On 4th October, 1957, Soviet Union launched the first satellite named Sputnik I into space. On 3 November, 1957, Soviets launched Sputnik II, which contained the first space traveller, a dog named Laika. News of the first Sputniks intensified efforts to launch a satellite in the United States. The initial US satellite launch attempt on 6 December 1957 failed disastrously when the Vanguard launch rocket exploded moments after lift-off. Success came on 31 January, 1958, with the launch of the satellite Explorer 1. The satellites that followed Sputnik and Explorer provided scientists and engineers with a variety of new knowledge. For example, the scientist who tracked radio signals from these satellites determined that Earth is slightly flattened at the poles. In August 1959, Explorer 6 sent back the first photo of Earth from the space. Sputnik I 2.3 PLANETARY STUDIES Earth’s closest neighbours, Venus and Mars, became the first planets to be visited by a spacecraft in the mid 1960s. By the end of 20th century, spacecrafts had visited every planet except the dwarf planet “Pluto”. Brief details about missions to planets of our solar system are mentioned next. 12 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 2.3.1 Missions to Mercury Mercury has been the least explored of the inner planets due to its proximity to the sun and resulting difficulties in sending spacecrafts to orbit the planet in order to investigate it. Nevertheless, it has been of utmost interest to many scientists and astronomers. As of 2014, Mariner 10 and MESSENGER Missions have been able to visit Mercury. A future mission by the name of BepiColombo has been planned by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to complement MESENGER in further investigating this interesting world. 2.3.1.1 Mariner 10 Mission Mariner 10 space probe was sent to Mercury to photograph and collect data about its atmosphere, surface and physical characteristics. It was launched on November 2, 1973 from Cape Kennedy, NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. In order to get a close flyby of Mercury, the probe was first made to orbit the Sun then the gravity of Venus accelerated the space probe towards Mercury to get the first set of observations on March 29, 1974. The probe then orbited the Sun such that it was able to photograph only 45% of the same side of the planet two times in its orbit on September 21, 1974 and March 16, 1975. The mission came to an end on March 25, 1975 as the probe ran out of fuel but it was able to collect significant data of the planet’s magnetic field and photographs of its surface littered with craters (dents on the surface made by impact of meteoroids and asteroids). This allowed scientists to estimate the age of Mercury and investigate its crustal composition. A mosaic of 18 images taken by Mariner 10 in March, 1974 2.3.1.2 Messenger Mission NASA’s first ever robotic probe Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) was launched on Aug 3, 2005 aboard a Delta II Rocket which took 6.5 years to actually reach Mercury. During its interplanetary journey, the probe took several gravitational slingshot flybys of Earth in February 2005 and Venus in October 2006 and October 2007. It made 3 passes of Mercury, twice in 2008 in January and October, and in September 2009 before successfully entering into orbit on March 18, 2011. 95% of Mercury’s surface was photographed during its flybys. The Mission’s objective was to study Mercury’s chemical composition, its geology and its magnetic field. This primary mission was duly achieved on March 17, 2012 with a collection of about 100,000 images of the A high resolution image of the surface planet and 100% mapping of the planet was achieved on March 6, captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft 2013. The mission was expected to end by March 2012 but the availability of fuel allowed the mission’s extension by another year. The mission officially concluded on March 17, 2013 although the probe is still in orbit around Mercury. 2.3.1.3 BepiColombo Mission This mission is a joint venture of ESA and JAXA and is planned for launch in August 2017. This ambitious mission has a lot of scientific feats to achieve and questions to answer like Mercury’s roleplay in the formation of the planetary system, its unusually high density of the innermost core, 13 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet the existence of its magnetic field, composition of the craters at its poles and testing Einstein’s general relativity theory by taking advantage of Mercury’s proximity to the sun, etc. This mission will be comprised of two satellites: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), provided by ESA which will take images of the planet and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), provided by JAXA, which will study Mercury’s Magnetosphere (the comet-tail like area of influence on charged particles emitted by the sun-the solar wind, governed by the planet’s magnetic field). 2.3.2 Missions to Venus Venus has been the centre of attraction for humans and revered as a deity for centuries in ancient civilizations and cultures of Mesopotamia, Asia, Egypt, Greeks and Romans and the Mayans. But the first astronomer to observe Venus through a telescope and make sketches of its phases like those of the moon was Galileo Galilei in December of 1610. Other observations like those of transits (when an inner planet crosses directly between the Earth and the Sun’s disk), as early as the 17th century, gave a reason to further explore this interesting and mysterious planet which was visible on Earth at dawn for six months of the year and at dusk for the other half. During the 20th century, radio observations of Venus’ atmosphere and estimates about its surface structure were made enabling scientists discern about its retrograde motion (it rotates in opposite direction of east to west on its axis), rotation speed, its thick atmosphere and its unexplored, interesting and unusually hot surface. These results prompted scientists and engineers of Russia, USA and Europe to send flyby missions, orbiters and landing spacecrafts on the planet as early as the 1960s. 2.3.2.1 Early Flybys, Landers and Orbiters-Soviet and NASA Missions The first ever space probe launched to another planet, Venus in this case, was a Soviet Spacecraft Venera 1 on February 12, 1961 but the mission proved to be a failure. The American probe Mariner 2 successfully flew past Venus in 1962 found that Venus had no magnetic field of its own and its temperature ranged between 217° C(217 degrees celsius) to 317° C(317 degrees celsius). Mariner 5, however, measured the strength of Venus’ magnetic field in 1967 and Mariner 10 revealed high wind speeds in the Venusian atmosphere from ultraviolet pictures in 1974. The Soviet space probe, Venera 3 became the first spacecraft to land on another planet on March 1, 1966. Venera 4 was the first probe to return direct measurements from a planet’s atmosphere, entering Venus’ atmosphere on October 18, 1967. The data and observations showed that the composition of the atmosphere consisted of 95% carbon and high surface pressure of 75 to 100 atmospheres persisted. These results were confirmed by Venera 5 and Venera 6 in May 1969. Venera 7 became the first probe to successfully land on the Venusian surface on December 15, 1970 and remained in contact with Earth for a whole of 23 minutes to send back surface temperature data ranging between 455°C to 475°C (855°F to 885°F). Venera 8 landed on July 22, 1972 which provided temperature and pressure profiles, and chemical composition of the crust. Its photometer revealed that the Venusian clouds, after forming a layer, ended over 35 km (22 miles) above the surface. The Soviet probe, Venera 9 became the first artificial satellite of Venus when it entered into orbit on October 22, 1975. It made definite measurements of the clouds, its ionosphere and magnetosphere. A decent vehicle separated from the orbiter, landed on the surface and took its first pictures. Venera 10 followed in the footsteps of Venera 9 and carried out similar observations. 14 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet First image of the Venusian surface taken by Venera 9 An important NASA Mission, Pioneer Venus, comprising of two probes was sent in 1978. Pioneer Venus Multiprobe carried a large and three smaller probes which entered the Venusian Atmosphere on December 9, 1978. A delivery vehicle detached itself from the probe to land on the surface and remained operational for 45 minutes. The objective was to study the composition and structure of the Venusian Atmosphere, from the cloud structure to the temperature and pressure at the surface. The Pioneer Venus Orbiter was sent to orbit Venus elliptically on December 4, 1978. It carried out 17 experiments to understand the composition of the Venusian atmosphere and its interaction with charged particles from the sun. It remained operational until its fuel was exhausted and it was burned up in the atmosphere upon re-entry in August 1992. 2.3.2.2 Other Soviet missions Venera 11 & Venera 12 dropped descent vehicles on December 21 and 25 respectively which were able to detect strong lightening activity and an unexpected large proportion of chlorine along with sulphur in the clouds. Venera 13 sent the first colour pictures of the surface of Venus in 1981 and the probe stayed on the hostile surface for a record 127 minutes. In the same year, Venera 14 detected possible signs of seismic activity in the planet’s surface which was further investigated by later missions. The Vega probes, Vega 1 & 2, launched in December 1984, further investigated the cloud aerosol composition and structure, and made findings of phosphoric acid and high turbulence in the atmosphere. Venera 15 & Venera 16 were made to enter a polar orbit in October 1983 to map the upper atmosphere and northern third of the planet’s geological structure with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from November 11, 1983 to July 10, 1984. The probes detected volcanoes on its surface and no seismic activity in the northern part was being monitored. 2.3.2.3 Magellan probe The US mission of detailed radar mapping of 98% planet’s surface with a resolution of 100 m at a frequency of 2.38 GHz was inserted into orbit on August 10, 1990. The mission was named after the famous Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan. During its four years, the mission successfully found no evidence of seismic activity although it found thousands of km long lava channels and very less impact craters. After the completion of the mission, it was made to enter the atmosphere on October 11, 1994, partly vaporising the probe with some parts supposedly impacting the surface. 2.3.2.4 Venus Express This mission was sent by the European Space Agency for long-term observation and study of the atmosphere and its surface in detail, while in orbit, to contribute to understanding of Earth’s climate 15 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet and atmosphere. It has also made global maps of the surface temperature of Venus. Since it was inserted into polar orbit on April 11, 2006, it has been continuously sending back data till date. The expected mission life was only two Venusian years (500 Earth Days). Venus Express has found evidence of oceans in the past, a huge atmospheric vortex at its south pole and has detected hydroxyl in the atmosphere. 2.3.3 Missions to Mars Mars, like the planet Venus, has intrigued humans for hundreds of years. This interest was fuelled by the invention of the telescope. Finding possibilities of life on the red planet and exploring its geology for future habitation is what inspired space probes and rovers to be sent to orbit or roam the surface by Russia and the US. But before missions could successfully complete their targeted mission, nearly two-thirds of them failed. However, missions like the twin Mars Exploration Rovers have not only carried out their mission successfully but have also managed to operate for years beyond their original time period. Since August 6, 2012, two of the scientific rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity are beaming back signals, and three orbiters: Mars Odyssey, Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are currently surveying the planet. Mars Orbiter Mission and MAVEN, launched in November 2013 are making the journey through interplanetary space to reach Mars. 2.3.3.1 Mariner program In July 1965, NASA’s Mariner 4 flew past Mars for a 7.5 month voyage and took pictures of a small portion of its surface giving scientists their first close-up look at the red planet. Mariner’s pictures showed cratered terrain resembling Moon’s surface. On November 14, 1971 Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit another planet when it entered into orbit around Mars. This mission proved to be most successful; it took its first glimpse at a planet-wide dust storm and sent back pictures of gorges and canyons indicating that liquid water once flowed on Mars in the past. It also found the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, on the red planet. 2.3.3.2 The Soviet Mars Program USSR launched its Mars exploration program by successfully sending orbiter and lander combination spacecrafts, Mars 2 and Mars 3 of which Mars 2 crashed upon landing on November 27, 1971, becoming the first man-made object to touchdown on the Martian surface. Mars 3 successfully landed on the surface on December 2, 1971 but stopped transmitting data after 14.5 seconds. Mars 2 & 3 orbiters successfully sent back data and first 60 pictures of the Martian terrain till August 1972 which were useful in creating relief maps of the Martian gravitational and magnetic fields. The Soviets launched four more probes: the Mars 4 & 5 orbiters and Mars 6 & 7 fly-by/lander combinations. Mars 5 was the most successful of these missions and except Mars 7, all missions sent back data to earth. 2.3.3.3 Viking Program The 1975 NASA launches of the Viking program consisted of two orbiters, each with a lander that successfully touched down in 1976. Viking 1 remained operational for six years and Viking 2 for three. The Viking landers relayed the first colour panoramic images of Mars and the Viking orbiters mapped the surface so well that the images remain in use till today. 16 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 2.3.3.4 Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder The NASA Mars Global Surveyor achieved Mars orbit in 1997. This mission was a complete success, having finished its primary mapping mission in early 2001. Contact was lost with the probe in November 2006 during its third extended program, spending exactly 10 operational years in space. The NASA Mars Pathfinder, carrying a robotic exploration vehicle Sojourner, landed in the Ares Vallis on Mars in the summer of 1997, returning many images. 2.3.3.5 Mars Odyssey and Mars Express NASA’s mission, Mars Odyssey Orbiter, which arrived in 2001 was an important mission which discovered traces of past water, volcanic activity and large deposits of water ice in the upper 3 meters of Mars’ soil within 60° latitude of the south pole. ESA’s mission, Mars Express, launched on June 02, 2003 consisted of a lander named Beagle 2 and an orbiter which entered orbit on December 25, 2003. It confirmed previous findings of water ice and carbon dioxide ice at Mars’ south pole. Unfortunately, soon after landing, attempts to contact Beagle 2 failed and it was declared lost in mid-February of 2003. Beagle carried a digging device and a robotic arm to accurately analyse the soil samples with the smallest mass spectrometer device installed on the lander. 2.3.3.6 Mars Exploration Rover Mission The twin rover mission was sent to land on Mars in 2003. The MER-A (Spirit) rover landed on Jan 3, 2004 in the Gusev Crater (shown in image). It examined rock and soil for evidence of the area's history of presence of water. The second rover, MER-B (Opportunity) landed on 24 January, 2004 in Meridiani Planum (where there are large deposits of hematite, indicating the presence of past water) to carry out similar geological work. Having only been designed for three-month missions, they both lasted much longer than planned, but Spirit lost contact with Earth in March 2010. Opportunity, however, continues to carry out surveys of the red planet to date, and has surprisingly exceeded its planned duration of 90 Martian days to a mark record of 10 years as of 2014. These rovers have made significant discoveries including past evidence of water, Basalt rocks, magnetic dust and Heat Shield Rock, the first meteorite to be discovered on another planet. Gusev Crater, Mars 2.3.3.7 Mars Science Laboratory-Curiosity Rover NASA’s robotic space probe mission called Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars on August 6, 2012 to explore a different geological Martian terrain and its climate. Its objective was to collect data for future manned missions to Mars. The rover houses a variety of instruments designed in collaboration with the international scientific Left: self portrait of the Curiosity Rover, Right: community. An artist’s concept of the skycrane descent technique of the rover The mission consisted of a spacecraft capsulating the rover and carried an instrument to acquire Martian atmospheric data. The rover was landed in the Gale Crater in a very unique way instead of an airbag system which was used in the MER Mission. After atmospheric entry, the heavy rover was slowly lowered by a sky crane which was rocket-powered to freely roam the surface. 17 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 2.3.4 Missions to Jupiter Jupiter has been the most explored planet of the solar system. Ever since telescopic observations and sketches of Jupiter and the Galilean moons (4 large and prominent moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) by Galileo Galilae had been made in the 17th century, Jupiter has captivated the minds of the astronomers and scientists and motivated them to send spacecrafts to explore this giant gaseous planet. Series of images captured by the Galileo spacecraft shows the fragment Image captured by Pioneer 10 of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on a collision course with Jupiter Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to make a flyby of Jupiter in 1973 followed by Pioneer 11 a few months later. The probes not only captured stunning images of the planet but also discovered its strong magnetic field and its fluid interior. The Voyager 1 & 2 spacecrafts visited the planet in 1979. The mission studied the Jovian moons and a ring system, discovered the volcanic activity of its moon, Io which was caused by the tug-of-war of its strong gravitational pull and also discovered the presence of water ice on its moon, Europa. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, sent to study Saturn, also flew past Jupiter in 2000 and took detailed images of its atmosphere. New Horizons spacecraft made a flyby of Jupiter during 2006-07 taking detailed infrared images of its moon, Callisto along with several black and white photos of the planet itself. The Galileo Spacecraft was the only one sent exclusively to enter into orbit in 1995 and studied the planet until 2003. An atmospheric probe was also made to enter the Jovian atmosphere, so far the only spacecraft to do so. Galileo studied the Jovian system extensively and made close approaches of the Galilean Moons, discovering a magnetic field around Ganymede. It found evidence of a thin layer of atmosphere on the three of them along with the possibility of the presence of liquid water underneath their surface. Galileo also observed the collision of a comet with Jupiter. In July, 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke apart under pressure from its intense gravitational field and collided with Jupiter. This event was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of the solar system objects. The event was greatly publicized by the media and closely observed by astronomers world wide. 2.3.5 Missions to Saturn Three flyby missions to the majestic ringed planet formed an extended foundation of knowledge about the planet. After tremendous effort, the most successful mission of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, is Voyager 2 captured this true colour image on the still currently in orbit and is expected to last till 2017. left in 1981. Cassini captured a great storm on Saturn in 2011 Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to have visited Saturn in 1979 and flew within 20,000 km of the planet’s top cloud layer. The spacecraft studied its rings and its moons and measured its moon, Titan’s temperature at 250 Kelvin. Voyager 1 flew past Saturn in November 1980, sending back high resolution images to discern certain surface features of its many moons. When the Voyager approached Titan, its thick atmosphere prevented the spacecraft to see any surface details at visible wavelength. Voyager 2 approached Saturn in August, 1981, taking more detailed pictures of the planet and changes in its ring system. The spacecraft took 18 temperature and density profiles of the upper atmosphere with its radar. Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet The Cassini-Huygens mission studied the planet and its moons in more detail like no other mission before it. Before entering into orbit around the planet, Cassini orbiter had already studied the planet and its moon, Phoebe, sending back high resolution images and data. The orbiters also made two flybys of its largest moon, Titan before sending the Huygens probe on December 25, 2004. It landed on Titan’s surface on January 14, 2005. It sent back a flood of data during atmospheric entry and descent while its orbiter continued to make flybys of Titan and the other icy moons. It discovered hydrocarbon seas on Titan’s north-pole nearly the size of the Caspian sea in July, 2006. Cassini probe found that liquid geysers on Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, erupt in the form of geysers, like fountains as reported by NASA in 2006. Cassini also discovered a new planetary ring outside the brightest rings in 2006. The probe also discovered four new satellites of Saturn. The primary Cassini mission ended in 2008 and the probe began its first extended mission, the Cassini Equinox Mission in 2010. It is currently in its second mission extension, the Cas sini Solstice Mission which is expected to last till September 2017. 2.3.6 Mission to Pluto-New Horizons Part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program to further explore Jupiter, Venus and Pluto, New Horizons space Probe has been sent to study Pluto, its moons and a couple of Kuiper Belt Objects. It was launched into an interplanetary space journey on January 19, 2006. It is travelling with the highest velocity attainable by human-made object released from earth, i.e. 16.26 km/s. The probe took the first pictures of Pluto in September, 2006 and later pictures helped distinguish its moon Charon, An artists’s depiction of the from it as two different objects in July 2013. It is expected to visit Pluto New Horizons mission spacecraft on July 14, 2015. During its journey, it passed closed to the planet Jupiter (2.3 million km) to test its system and collect data about planet’s atmosphere, moons and the magnetosphere. This flyby also increased the probes’ speed by 14,000 km/hr due to assistance from the planet’s gravitational field, lessening the travel time by three years. The probe is continuing the journey in hibernation mode to preserve power consumption of onboard systems. 2.4 SUN OBSERVING SATELLITES AND OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM MISSIONS Apart from the planets and their moons, space missions have focused on the sun and a variety of other solar system objects. Between and beyond the orbits of the planets, innumerable smaller bodies - asteroids and comets also orbit the sun. The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2, launched in 1957, first carried instruments to detect ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the Sun. A series of Earth orbiting US satellites known as Orbiting Solar Observatories studied the solar activities from 1962- 1978. In addition, a number of other solar missions were undertaken in the turn of the 1990s to study the solar radiation while others revealed Sun’s internal structure and its outer atmosphere. Some details of the missions to the sun and to the solar ystem objects like asteroids, comets and interplanetary space are mentioned in the sections below. 2.4.1 Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) While other telescopes are busy looking at distant stars, SOHO is focused on our own. Jointly launched by NASA and ESA in 1995, SOHO was designed to study the structure and dynamics of the interior of the sun, as well as the solar wind and the stream of charged particles ejected from the sun's upper atmosphere. Understanding these solar phenomena is the key to making better predictions of space weather, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections which can affect electrical grids and communication networks here on Earth. SOHO is located at a distance 19 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet of 1.5 million kms from earth at the Lagrangian point L1. To date, SOHO has taken the first images of the sun's convection zone, shown the structure of sunspots below the sun's surface, and discovered new phenomena, such as solar tornadoes. SOHO has also spotted 1,500 new comets. It collects and transmits near real-time data available for the general public to use on its website. 2.4.2 Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Another solar observer, NASA’s STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) mission is actually two separate spacecrafts (STEREO A & B) that after launch in 2006, moved apart so that one trails Earth and the other leads it. These positions allow for stereoscopic imaging of the Sun and solar phenomena. STEREO has taken 3-D images of solar storms known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These powerful solar eruptions are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth, interrupting satellite operations, communications and power systems. STEREO relays near real- time on its website and makes it available for public use. Since July 2014, STEREO-B has been put into a reduced operations mode due the danger of meltdown of its high gain antennas as both spacecrafts are near the sun (backside). It is expected to resume operation from January 2016. 2.4.3 Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) This NASA mission was launched on February 11, 2010 as part of the Living with a Star (LWS) Program. The purpose of the program was to understand the Sun-earth connection, its influence on the near-Earth environment and its impact on life and society in general. SDO has been continuously monitoring the sun and its activity, how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated and projected in the 2.4.1 SOHO 2.4.2 STEREO A& B 2.4.3 Solar Dynamics Observatory interstellar space (basically the heliosphere, where the influence of the sun’s magnetic field can be felt), and how the magnetic energy is stored, converted and released a stream of energetic charged particles under the magnetic field’s influence (the Solar Wind). SDO is placed in a geosynchronous orbit of 36,000 km at 102°W longitude and inclined at 28.5°. It has 3 instruments on board which ‘see’ the sun in many wavelengths to cover many regions of the solar atmosphere, i.e. the photosphere, the chromosphere and the corona. All the data is made available as soon as it received from the satellite. The mission’s lifetime is 5 years but it may last for another 10 years. 2.4.4 NEAR Mission NASA launched a mission in 1996 to study the NEAR-Earth asteroid, Eros for a whole year. NEAR Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker (NEAR- Shoemaker) was named in honour of the planetary scientist, Eugene Shoemaker. NEAR mission’s objectives were to collect data about the bulk properties, composition, mineralogy, morphology, internal mass distribution and the magnetic field of Eros. The mission was successful in closely orbiting the NEAR and Eros asteroid several times before impacting the surface on February 12, 2001. 20 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet 2.4.5 Deep Impact Mission This NASA mission was sent on January 12, 2005 to investigate the interior composition of the comet Tempel 1. The mission consisted of a flyby, an impactor and 3 main science instruments. The impactor hit the comet’s surface on July 4, 2005 releasing debris in the vicinity and formed an impact crater. This mission was one of a kind in which debris was excavated to study the comet’s interior and it was found to contain more dust and less ice than DEEPhitting IMAPCT mission's impactor comet 9P/Tempel expected. The Deep Impact mission continued to make flybys of Comet Hartley 2 , Comet Gerrard in 2012 and 2013 and observed Comet ISON until contact was lost with the spacecraft and the mission was abandoned in September 2013. 2.4.6 Rosetta Mission Rosetta spacecraft was the first ever to be built and launched by ESA as a part of the ESA Horizon 2000 cornerstone missions to orbit and land on a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft consists of two main components: the Rosetta space probe orbiter featuring 12 instruments and the Philae robotic lander featuring nine additional instruments. The purpose of this mission is to understand the formation and evolution of comets in the early solar system. Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2007 and has flew past Mars in 2007 and two asteroids, one in September 2008 and the other in 2010 during its journey. Since June 2011, it had been in hibernation mode for 31 months to save unnecessary power consumption and was restored on January 20, 2014. It reached the comet on August 6, 2014. Its orbiter will keep orbiting for 17 months but the Philae lander touched down on its surface on November 12, 2014. 2.4.7 Dawn Mission On September 27, 2007, NASA sent the Dawn spacecraft to study two very massive protoplanets in the asteroid belt i.e. the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. It was the first mission sent to any asteroid/extra- terrestrial body to visit and orbit around it. An artist’s depiction of the Rosetta Space Probe The purpose of this mission was to investigate the processes involved in the formation of the solar system, mainly the formation of the inner terrestrial planets. Ceres is made of ice and rock and is quite primitive while Vesta is purely rocky and is much evolved. This contrast will help scientists understand the conditions necessary to form rocky and icy bodies and how these conditions were met in the early solar system formation to sustain and evolve both kinds of structures together. Dawn first visited Vesta and entered into orbit around it on July 16, 2011 to successfully complete the fourteen month survey mission in September, 2012. Dawn entered Ceres orbit on March 06, 2015. 2.4.8 The Voyager Program & the Voyager Interplanetary Mission The American mission- the Voyager program was sent to study the gaseous giants of the solar system taking advantage of a rare yet, favourable planetary alignment during the 1970s (occurs every 175 years). The two NASA space probes, Voyager 1 & 2 were launched in 1977, with Voyager 2 sent out first to explore all four gas giants and their planetary systems together for the first time, visiting the Jovian system in 1979; Saturnian system in 1981; Uranian system in 1986 & Neptunian system in 1989. On its flyby of Jupiter at the closest approach of 570,000 km, Voyager 2 discovered a faint ring system, new moons orbiting it, the giant, raging storm system known as the Great Red spot and volcanic activity at its moon, Io. After its flyby of Saturn and studying its moons and 21 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet rings, Voyager 2 moved on to explore Uranus. On its closest approach on January 24, 1986, Voyager 2 came to within 81,500 kms where it discovered several of its moons, its unique atmosphere and ring system, its magnetic field and its axial tilt of 97.8° (meaning its north and south poles are tilted to face eastwards and westwards as a consequence of a collision with a heavier body in Dawn spacecraft together with Vesta and Ceres The planets with Voyagers 1 & 2 the early days of the solar system formation). One of its moons, Miranda was found to be the strangest body in the solar system. It had bizarre canyons made from geological faults as deep as 20 kms and a mixture of young and old structures. Next in line was the blue, gas giant, Neptune. Voyager’s closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989 where it discovered the giant storm system like Jupiter’s known as the ‘Great Dark Spot’. The blue colour of Neptune comes from the Methane gas in its atmosphere which absorbs red light from the sun but reflects blue light back in to space. Voyager 2’s primary mission ended on December 31, 1989 and since then it has been drifting in interplanetary space with most of its instruments gone out of order but it is still relaying signals back to earth. Voyager 2 became the third object to reach a distance of 100 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun on November 7, 2012 after Pioneer and Voyager1 spacecrafts. Although Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2 but it eventually surpassed it with its faster velocity, making it the farthest object from the sun. Voyager 1 set out to explore the planets Jupiter and Saturn. During January to April, 1979, Voyager 1 made observations of the moons of Jupiter, its rings, its magnetic field and its radiation belt environment, not to mention the unexpected volcanic Voyagers as of March 2013 Voyagers near the edge of the solar system as of early 2013 activity at its moon, Io. Voyager 1 then set out to explore Saturn, its atmosphere, its rings, its moons especially Titan, and discovered high speed winds in its atmosphere. It also discovered beautiful polar and equatorial auroras (streaks of lights created when charged particles from the sun strike with the atmospheric particles). After studying Titan, its primary mission was completed in November, 1980 but it continued drifting in space with the fastest speed of 17 km/s on record, surpassing Pioneer 10 and reached a distance of 69 AU on February 10, 1998. In 2010, Voyager 1 was in the Heliosheath (region between 80 to 100 AU from the Sun). As of June 27, 2014, it is at the farthest distance of 127.63 AU outside the Sun’s magnetic field influence i.e. right in the interstellar medium. Both the spacecrafts are expected to keep communicating with Earth until 2025 and if Voyager 1 continues drifting, it will reach the Oort cloud in 300 years and will take about 30,000 years to pass through it. 2.5 ROCKETS Rockets are self-propelled devices that carry their fuel, as well as oxygen, or other chemical agents, needed to burn fuel. Most rockets move by burning their fuel and expelling the hot gases shooting out in one direction causing the rocket to move in the opposite direction. The most common use of rockets is for missiles-weapons that deliver explosive warheads through the air to specified targets. Rockets also have numerous peaceful purposes. Upper atmosphere research rockets 22 or sounding rockets carry scientific instruments to high altitudes, Launch of Jupiter C with Explorer 1 German's V-2 Missiles Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet helping scientists carry out astronomical research and learn more about the nature of the atmosphere. American Physicist Robert H. Goddard evolved his theory about use of rocket for space flight and on 16 March, 1926, Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fuelled rocket. During World War II, the Germans developed a variety of solid and liquid-fuelled missiles. The most important of these were the V-2, the world’s first large-scale liquid-fuelled rocket. Around 1954, USSR developed their first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 inspired by V-2. On October 4, 1957, USSR used a modified version of R-7 to put Sputnik 1 into orbit around Earth. In 1957, US launched a satellite with Vanguard rocket but unfortunately Vanguard fell back to its launch pad and exploded after a few seconds after flight. Later in 1958, Jupiter-C rocket placed America’s first satellite Explorer 1 into orbit. 2.6 SCIENTIFIC SATELLITES Years before the launch of the first artificial satellites, scientists anticipated the value of putting telescopes and other scientific instruments in orbit around earth. 2.6.1 Earth Observing Satellites One main advantage of putting scientific instruments into space is the ability to look down at Earth. Viewing large areas of the planet allows meteorologists, scientists who research Earth’s weather and climate to study large scale weather patterns. More detailed views aid cartographers and map makers in mapping regions that would Landsat Satellite otherwise be inaccessible to people. Beginning in 1960 with the launch of US Tiros I, weather satellites have sent back television images of parts of Earth. The first satellite that could observe most of the Earth, NASA’s Earth Resources Technology Satellites 1 (ERTS 1, later renamed Landsat 1) was launched in 1972. Landsat 1 was equipped with the cameras that recorded images not just of visible light but also of the infra red light which provide a wealth of information about the earth’s resources. Seven additional Landsats were launched between 1975 and 1999. The success of Landsat satellites encouraged other nations to place Earth observing satellites in orbit. France launched a series of satellites called SPOT beginning in 1986 and Japan launched the MOS-1 (Marine Observation System) in 1987. The Indian Remote Sensing satellite IRS-IA began operating in 1988. 2.6.2 Astronomical Satellites Astronomical objects such as stars emit radiation energy, in the form of visible light and many other types of electromagnetic radiation. Different wavelengths of radiation provide astronomers with different kinds of information about the universe. In the early 1960s, rockets equipped with scientific instruments (called sounding rockets) provided brief observation of space beyond our atmosphere, but orbiting satellites have offered far more extensive coverage. 23 Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Britain launched the first astronomical satellite, Ariel 1 in 1962, to study cosmic rays and ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the sun. In 1962, NASA launched first Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO 1, equipped with an ultraviolet telescope. More details to some of the important Deep space missions are given below. 2.6.2.1 Hubble Space telescope The Hubble Space telescope was the largest and most versatile telescope to be launched in space in its time. It was launched in a low earth Orbit (560 km above the earth) with a 2.4 meter (7.9 ft) mirror on April 24, 1990 by a joint collaboration between the US space agency, NASA and the European Space Agency, ESA. There are four main instruments on board which observe the surrounding universe in near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared electromagnetic spectra and take high resolution images free from distortions Hubble Telescope and reflections from the Earth’s atmosphere. It is named after the famous astronomer, Edwin Hubble. It is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Since its launch, it has been maintained by 5 servicing missions of NASA space shuttles in which astronauts repaired, replaced and installed some of the degraded or failed components and instruments. The first servicing mission in 1993 was conducted to rectify faults in the telescope optics which would have otherwise compromised the telescope’s abilities. The last servicing mission was carried out in 2009 and the telescope is expected to last until 2020. The telescope has been available for scientists as well as amateur astronomers to fuel their interest. Between 1990 & 1997, 13 amateur astronomers were awarded time on the telescope. Hubble has carried out research projects in coordination with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The Frontier Fields Program was initiated in 2012 by the name of “Hubble Deep Fields Initiative” to observe the faintest galaxies in the distant universe. The Hubble telescope has served the purpose of accelerating astronomical research and public outreach, and its observations have led to testifying of one of the greatest discoveries in astrophysics i.e. accurate determination of the rate of expansion of the universe, the scale of the universe, the life cycle of stars, black holes, and the formation of the first galaxies. 2.6.2.2 Chandra X-ray Observatory NASA launched Chandra X-ray observatory in 1999. It has eight times the resolution of any previous X-ray telescope. It examines the X-rays emitted by some of the universe's strangest objects, including quasars, immense clouds of gas and dust and particles sucked into black holes. X-rays are produced when matter is heated to millions of degrees. Chandra has teamed up several times with other telescopes, including Hubble, to take composite images of galaxies. Chandra X-ray Observatory 2.6.2.3 Spitzer Space Telescope The Spitzer Space Telescope was the fourth of the NASA Great Observatories program to be launched in 2003. It has been named after the great scientist of the 20th century, Lyman Spitzer. The telescope gathers the infrared radiation emanating from cosmic objects, including faraway galaxies, black holes and even comets in our own solar system (Infrared radiation is hard to observe 24 from the ground because it is largely absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere). Spitzer Space Telescope Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Space Information Booklet Spitzer was the first telescope to see light from an exoplanet, which it was not originally designed to see. It has been running continuously for the last nine years but only one out of the 3 instruments on board is working properly. 2.6.2.4 Herschel Space Observatory Herschel, a joint venture by NASA and ESA was launched into space on May 14, 2009 along with the Planck telescope. It was named after the discoverer of the infrared spectrum and the planet Uranus, Sir William Herschel alongside his sister Caroline Herschel. Herschel was operational from 2009 till 2013 because it ran out of the coolant available for functioning the t

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