Space Hab

My Journey To Space Camp 2011

2012-10-31T08:06:00.000+05:00

Space Camp

U.S. Space Camp is owned and operated by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission d.b.a. U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Space Camp" refers to both the actual camp and a family of related camp programs offered year-round by the facility. The camp provides residential and day camp educational programs for children in various age groups and adults. These programs include space oriented camp programs, aircraft themed Aviation Challenge camps, and outdoor oriented X-Camp programs, with the intent to promote science, engineering, aviation and exploration.

I went to Advanced Space Academy, where we experienced many simulations, lectures, missions and several challenging tasks! Missions were all about learning how the Space Shuttle works, in the space as well as on ground! Simulations too were all based on getting us feel the excitement of going to Space, which included Space Shot, 1/6^th Gravity Chair, and Centrifuge and many more. Lectures were too based on the working and development of Space Shuttle, while the challenges required Physical and Mental ability, these included Rocket Building and its successful launch and some other engineering challenges. Another challenging part was “AREA 51” Most dangerous of all was ‘POLE CLIMBING’: you had to climb 100 feet up on a skeletal pole and after reaching the top, jump and hit the rope up there, but still it was an amazing experience! The second one was ‘Wall Climbing’ where two members were tied together and had to climb up the wall without losing each others support. It was a test of teamwork rather than of ability. Finally it was graduation ceremony where we were given our Certificates and other stuff!

My Experience:

Overall my experience was awesome there! All the activities simply boosted up my character.
The Engineering Challenges enhanced my leadership skills as well as my confidence in! The Area 51 Challenges led me to overcome my fear of ‘Acrophobia’ as well as again confidence in myself, a belief that ‘Yes’ I can do it!

The other activities simply increased my knowledge about all the tit-bits of Space related information as well as my hearing skills too! The exposure with other people boosted up my speaking skills especially of English as it was the only language used there!

After attending Space Camp, I think that I can be a good leader while trying to achieve some challenges! My interest towards Sciences has increased more because of the overwhelming involvement of Science in Space. I can talk more fluently in English and I can talk with girls too now (previously I was not so confident). And now I don’t fear heights anymore!

Jupiter | Fifth planet from the Sun

2012-07-14T07:49:00.000+05:00

Jupiter (a.k.a. "Jove") was the King of the Roman Gods and the patron of the Roman state. To the ancient Greeks, he was known as Zeus, ruler of the Greek Gods and Mount Olympus.

This is the symbol for Jupiter:

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest of all nine planets. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined - It's 318 times bigger than the Earth!

Jupiter does not have a solid surface due to its gaseous composition. The swirls and bands we see when looking at Jupiter are the tops of clouds high in its atmosphere.

Jupiter has high speed winds that whip by at more than 400 mph! These winds are trapped in the planet's wide bands of latitude. Each band has a slightly different chemical make-up and temperature from the others. This gives it a color which is different from surrounding bands. The light colored bands are called "zones." The dark colored bands are called "belts."

The vivid colors seen in Jupiter's clouds are probably the result of subtle chemical reactions in Jupiter's atmosphere. The clouds are a different color, depending on its altitude. Blue clouds are lowest, followed by brown and white clouds. Red clouds are the highest. Sometimes we see the lower cloud layers through holes in the upper cloud layers.

Jupiter's most outstanding and interesting feature is called "The Great Red Spot." The Great Red Spot is an oval about 12,000 km by 25,000 km - big enough to hold twoEarths!
Jupiter also has other smaller similar spots. The Great Red Spot is a high-pressure region whose cloud tops are much higher and colder than the surrounding areas.

Jupiter has faint rings like Saturn's, but much smaller. Unlike Saturn's, Jupiter's rings are dark. They're probably composed of very small grains of rocky material.

Look for Jupiter! When it is in the nighttime sky, Jupiter is often the brightest "star" in the sky (it is second only to Venus, which is seldom visible in a dark sky). The four large Galilean moons are easily visible with a pair of binoculars. You can even see a few of Jupiter's bands and the Great Red Spot with a small astronomical telescope

Venus, Second Planet from the Sun, Brightest Planet in Solar System

2012-04-23T06:29:00.001+05:00

Venus's History & Naming
Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty. The planet — the only planet named after a female — may have been named for the most beautiful deity of her pantheon because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers.

Physical Characteristics of the Planet Venus
Venus and Earth are often called twins because they are similar in size, mass, density, composition and gravity. However, the similarities end there.
Venus is the hottest world in the solar system. Although Venus is not the planet closest to the sun, its dense atmosphere traps heat in a runaway version of the greenhouse effect that warms up the Earth. As a result, temperatures on Venus reach 870 degrees F (465 degrees C), more than hot enough to melt lead. Probes that scientists have landed there have survived only a few hours before getting destroyed.

The surface of Venus is extremely dry. There is no liquid water on its surface because the scorching heat would cause any to boil away. Roughly two-thirds percent of the Venusian surface is covered by flat, smooth plains that are marred by thousands of volcanoes, ranging from about 0.5 to 150 miles (0.8 to 240 kilometers) wide, with lava flows carving long, winding canals up to more than 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) in length, longer than on any other planet

Venus takes 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis, by far the slowest of any of the major planets, and because of this sluggish spin, its metal core cannot generate a magnetic field similar to Earth's.

Venus's Orbital Characteristics
If viewed from above, while most planets rotate the same way on their axes, Venus rotates the opposite way. While on Earth, the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west, if on Venus, the sun would rise in the west and set in the east.

Credits : http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html

Space Camp

2011-08-20T14:40:00.000+05:00

SPACE CAMP | A VIRTUAL JOURNEY TO SPACE

Advanced Space Academy

Advanced Space Academy is designed for 15–18 year olds. There are two tracks offered: Pilot and Mission Specialist.
Mission Specialists:

You get to learn about the engineering of the Shuttle and Space Station, just in case something needs a quick repair.
Aeronautical engineering basics to get you started.
You'll take a spin in our Underwater Astronaut Trainer^** (UAT) to get the feel for spacewalking.
During missions, participate in Space Station science and make any needed repairs to your vehicle or satellites on an EVA.
In Mission Control, help the back-room Tiger Team recreate anomalies
Go up in the virtual space, and repair and manipulate the satellites

Pilot:

Pilot Track trainees are responsible for the safety of their crew in space.
On the Shuttle, complete your checklists all while monitoring the activities of your crew.
On Space Station simulator, keep the crew and the Space Station on track while conducting your own experiments.
You are responsible for the Lift-Off and Landing of the Space Shuttle(the most terrific task)

Simulators at the Advanced Space Academy

Simulators

There are simulators at Space Camp, such as:

The MAT (Multi-axis trainer) – Simulates disorientation, similar to the Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility (MASTIF) developed for Project Mercury(see the picture above)

The 1/6 Chair – Simulates walking on the Moon by reducing the gravity pull

The 5DF Chair – Simulates the frictionless environment of space in five degrees of freedom

The MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) – Simulates working untethered in a frictionless environment, such as during Extravehicular Activity (also known as an EVA or Spacewalk).

Space Camp additionally uses rides or attractions that are on site at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center as instructional tools. While these are not true simulators, the use of these rides enables the rider to experience in a simulated fashion or better understand some aspect of space travel.

Space Shot – Simulates liftoff at a supersonic speed.
G-Force Accelerator – Simulates the G-Forces put on astronauts while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere or during launch. You get a maximum of 4G force(4 times your body weight) on your body while experiencing this.

Spacedome IMAX Theater

The Spacedome IMAX Theater provides a venue for presenting some of the space and science oriented films produced through the IMAX camera/projection system. The theater is part of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center museum complex. As Space Camp is operated by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, it makes regular use of the theater, and the kids are shown several motivating films regarding the development of Space Crafts and Journey To Space!

So that was all brief and succinct description about Space Camp. The next coming post would be about my experience at the Space Camp!
Watch out and Good Bye

China launches communications satellite for Pakistan

2011-08-12T22:50:00.000+05:00

China today launched a communications satellite for Pakistan, as the two all weather allies opened a "new platform" in space collaboration to further cement their strategic

relationship.The successful launch of PAKSAT-1R from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China's Sichuan Province was witnessed by a high power Pakistan delegation, which included Defence Secretary Gen (retd) Syed Ather Ali and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.The satellite built and financed by China will provide a range of services, including broadband Internet, telecom and broadcasting, besides defence applications.The satellite will be deployed at 380E in the Geo-stationary orbit and it will replace the existing satellite
PAKSAT-1. It will be operated from Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) Ground Stations in Lahore and Karachi, APP news agency reported.PAKSAT-1R has a design life of 15 years and will provide TV broadcasting, internet and data communication services across South and Central Asia, Eastern Europe, East Africa and the Far East.This satellite now enables extending of communication services to all areas of Pakistan.The satellite is China's first in-orbit delivery to Asian customers and also the first commercial satellite export to international users this year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars

2011-08-10T17:27:00.001+05:00

PASADENA, Calif. -- Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.
"NASA's Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration."
Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes in these recurring features on several steep slopes in the middle latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere.
"The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson. McEwen is the principal investigator for the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and lead author of a report about the recurring flows published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

Some aspects of the observations still puzzle researchers, but flows of liquid brine fit the features' characteristics better than alternate hypotheses. Saltiness lowers the freezing temperature of water. Sites with active flows get warm enough, even in the shallow subsurface, to sustain liquid water that is about as salty as Earth's oceans, while pure water would freeze at the observed temperatures.
"These dark lineations are different from other types of features on Martian slopes," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Scientist Richard Zurek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Repeated observations show they extend ever farther downhill with time during the warm season."
The features imaged are only about 0.5 to 5 yards or meters wide, with lengths up to hundreds of yards. The width is much narrower than previously reported gullies on Martian slopes. However, some of those locations display more than 1,000 individual flows. Also, while gullies are abundant on cold, pole-facing slopes, these dark flows are on warmer, equator-facing slopes.
The images show flows lengthen and darken on rocky equator-facing slopes from late spring to early fall. The seasonality, latitude distribution and brightness changes suggest a volatile material is involved, but there is no direct detection of one. The settings are too warm for carbon-dioxide frost and, at some sites, too cold for pure water. This suggests the action of brines, which have lower freezing points. Salt deposits over much of Mars indicate brines were abundant in Mars' past. These recent observations suggest brines still may form near the surface today in limited times and places.
When researchers checked flow-marked slopes with the orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), no sign of water appeared. The features may quickly dry on the surface or could be shallow subsurface flows.
"The flows are not dark because of being wet," McEwen said. "They are dark for some other reason."
A flow initiated by briny water could rearrange grains or change surface roughness in a way that darkens the appearance. How the features brighten again when temperatures drop is harder to explain.
"It's a mystery now, but I think it's a solvable mystery with further observations and laboratory experiments," McEwen said.
These results are the closest scientists have come to finding evidence of liquid water on the planet's surface today. Frozen water, however has been detected near the surface in many middle to high-latitude regions. Fresh-looking gullies suggest slope movements in geologically recent times, perhaps aided by water. Purported droplets of brine also appeared on struts of the Phoenix Mars Lander. If further study of the recurring dark flows supports evidence of brines, these could be the first known Martian locations with liquid water.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory operates HiRISE. The camera was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., provided and operates CRISM. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
For more information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mro and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/ .

Atlantis Marks The End Of NASA’S Space Shuttle Program

2011-07-11T17:20:00.003+05:00

After the recent flight of the Endeavour – its last – in which it delivered the multi-billion dollar antimatter detector to the International Space Station, NASA wants to wrap up its space shuttle program with this last flight of Atlantis. STS-135, its mission name, is expected to complete a twelve day mission during which it will deliver spare parts and essential supplies on board the ISS.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--After a cliff-hanger countdown, the space shuttle Atlantis thundered to life and majestically rocketed into history Friday, putting on one last sky show for spectators jamming area roads and beaches to witness NASA's 135th and final shuttle launch.

With commander Christopher Ferguson and pilot Douglas Hurley monitoring the computer-orchestrated countdown, Atlantis' three hydrogen-fueled main engines flashed to life at 120 millisecond intervals, followed 6.6 seconds later by ignition of the shuttle's twin solid fuel boosters at 11:29:04 a.m. EDT (GMT-4).

At that same instant, explosive charges in four massive bolts at the base of each booster detonated, freeing the 4.5-million-pound shuttle "stack" from its mobile launch platform.

Joining Ferguson and Hurley for the last shuttle flight were Sandra Magnus and flight engineer Rex Walheim, making up the first four-person shuttle crew since the program's sixth launch in 1983.

If all goes well, Ferguson will guide Atlantis to a docking at the space station's forward port at 11:10 a.m. Sunday. The next day, an Italian-built cargo module will be attached to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and the combined 10-member shuttle-station crew will begin a hectic week of work to move five tons of equipment and supplies into the lab complex.

The supplies packed into the Raffaello module are critical to the space station program. Two companies, Space Exploration Technologies--SpaceX--and Orbital Sciences Corp., are building unmanned cargo ships to take over from the shuttle after the fleet is retired with initial test flights expected later this year or early next.

With a reduced crew of four, only one spacewalk is planned during Atlantis' visit, a six-and-a-half-hour excursion by station flight engineers Ronald Garan and Michael Fossum. Their primary objectives are to move an experimental robotic refueling package from Atlantis to the station and to mount a failed ammonia coolant pump in the shuttle's cargo bay for return to Earth.

"After the wheels have stopped and the displays go blank and the orbiter is unpowered for the final time...there will be a rush of emotion when we all finally realize that's it, that it's all over, the crowning jewel of our space program, the way we got back and forth from low-Earth orbit for 30 years...we'll realize that's all over," Ferguson said before launch. "That's going to take a little while to deal with."

This mission marks the 33rd flight of Atlantis and the 135th mission of NASA's 30-year shuttle program. NASA is retiring its three-shuttle fleet to make way for a new deep space exploration plan aimed at sending astronauts to visit an asteroid by 2025.

SOURCE NEWS.CNET

Thanks for reading

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK THE REASON WHY NASA IS ENDING ITS SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM??

FEEL FREE TO DISCUSS YOUR VIEWS!

Welcome To Space Hab

2011-07-05T12:42:00.008+05:00

Welcome To Space Hab|Gathering The Future Astronauts

Here on this blog, you will get to know about

some basic information about Space:What is Space,How do we travel to Space,What we do there and such basic things
About Space Camp: Detailed information about it and some people will share their experiences too
Space History
Space Missions
NASA
SUPARCO

And many other things so if you are interested in getting knowledge about Space, this is the best place for you.

You should follow us by email to remain updated of all new posts and updates.

If you are interested to write for this blog, you are most welcome.

For this you can contact me here

myspacehab@live.com

Thank you