Air & Space Flashcards by Daniel P

American astronaut
Commander of Apollo 13 during its unexpected snags (1970)
Also part of Gemini & Apollo 8 (1968)

JAMES “JIM” LOVELL

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First woman to pilot Space Shuttle (1995) & later, to command it (1999)

EILEEN COLLINS

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American astronaut
Died in Apollo 1 test fire
Buried at Arlington next to Gus Grissom

ROGER CHAFFEE

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1st American to spacewalk during Gemini 4 mission (1965)
Died in Apollo 1 test fire

ED WHITE

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“Third Man” of Apollo 11 (first moon landing)
Remained inside the COLUMBIA command module while the EAGLE landing module took Aldrin & Armstrong to the lunar surface

MICHAEL COLLINS

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1st human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 11, 1969)
1st American civilian in space
“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant step for mankind.”
Died 2012
Played by Ryan Gosling in “First Man” (2018)

NEIL ARMSTRONG

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2nd human to set foot on the Moon (Apollo 11, 1969)
Described it as “Magnificent desolation”
MIT grad
Legally changed name from “Edwin” in 1988
Mother’s maiden name, coincidentally, was Moon

BUZZ ALDRIN

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4th American in space, 2nd to orbit
Mercury module Aurora 7, May 1962
Replaced Deke Slayton, who was grounded prior to mission
Landed 250 miles off course, held in part responsible
His only spaceflight

SCOTT CARPENTER

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1st American in orbit (3 times, about 1 hour) in 1962
3rd American in space
Mercury module Friendship 7
Marine corps aviator
Ohio senator (1974-99)
Returned to space 1998 (age 77)
First transcontinental LA-NY flight at supersonic speed (1957)
Played by Ed Harris in “The Right Stuff” (1983)

JOHN GLENN (JR.)

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2nd American in space (3rd human)
Mercury module Liberty Bell 7 in 1961
After splashdown, hatch popped & capsule sank
Also on the first manned Gemini (“Molly Brown”) with John Young
Died in Apollo 1 test fire, with Ed White & Roger Chaffee

VIRGIL “GUS” GRISSOM

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1st American in space (2nd human)
Aboard Mercury module Freedom 7
Sub-orbital (only about 15 minutes) in May 1961
During Apollo 14, walked (& golfed) on the Moon
U.S. Naval Academy grad & naval aviator

ALAN SHEPARD

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1st woman in space
Vostok 6 (Russian, “East”), final Vostok mission
Orbited 48 times (about 3 days)
Member of Communist party
Previously a parachutist with no pilot experience

VALENTINA TERESHKOVA

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1st human in space
Vostok 1 (Russian, “East”) on April 12 1961
Orbited once (about 2 hours)
Died in a MiG jet crash in 1968

YURI GAGARIN

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Collective term for Shepard, Glenn, Grissom, Carpenter, Schirra, Cooper, & Slayton

MERCURY 7

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American astronaut
Only one to fly Mercury, Apollo, & Gemini missions
Decongestant spokesman

WALTER “WALLY” SCHIRRA

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Flew the final Mercury mission in 1963
Also on Gemini 5
First person to make 2 different orbital flights

GORDON COOPER

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Grounded for atrial fibrillation
Replaced on Mercury 7 mission by Scott Carpenter
Flew in the final Apollo flight (1975)

DONALD KENT “DEKE” SLAYTON

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German noble
Inventor of a rigid airship, which was used in WWI bombings
The “Graf” kind made the first transatlantic flights & first flights around the world

COUNT FERDINAND VON ZEPPELIN

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Rigid hydrogen airship
In 1937, left Frankfurt, Germany for Lakehurst, New Jersey
“Oh, the humanity!”
Named for German leader Paul von

HINDENBURG

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Jet speed record setter made by Lockheed

SR-71 “BLACKBIRD”

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Experimental American aircraft
Set 1960s altitude records (about 50-60 miles up)

X-15

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Early “stacked-wing” aircraft
Wright Flyer, Sopwith Camel, & “inverted Jenny” stamp are all examples
Obsolete by WWII

BIPLANE

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“Resourceful” NASA Mars helicopter
Launched 2021 for first powered controlled extraterrestrial aircraft flight

INGENUITY

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Boeing “Superfortress” bomber
Make of Enola Gay & Bockscar

B-29

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Despite name, usually orange Contains FDR (flight data recorder) & CVR (cockpit voice recorder)

BLACK BOX

The 4 forces of flight

LIFT GRAVITY THRUST DRAG

Term coined in 1930s Smallest, densest stars Result from a supernova Pulsar is one type

NEUTRON STAR

Discovered in 1967, termed "LGM-1" ("little green men") due to its bizarre signal Actually a rapidly spinning neutron star

PULSAR

Discovered in the 1960s Black hole's accretion disc spins, friction emits radio waves Thousands of times brighter than a galaxy "Quasi-stellar radio source"

QUASAR

Comet discovered by Carolyn, Eugene, & David Collided with Jupiter in 1994

SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9

Comet discovered by Lubos in 1973 Expected to be "comet of the century" but disappointed all Studied from Skylab Won't return for 75,000 years

KOHOUTEK

Named for its amateur discoverers Alan & Thomas in 1995 Seen most clearly in 1997, with 3 tails Will return in 2000 years Members of Heaven's Gate thought it was aliens

HALE-BOPP

American aviator First round-world solo flight, 1933 Died in a takeoff crash in Alaska with humorist Will Rogers, 1935

WILEY POST

Director of WASPs (Women Air Force Service Pilots) 1943-44 1st woman to exceed Mach 1, in 1953

JACQUELINE COCHRAN

1st person to successfully use machine gun between propeller blades, 1915 Namesake of Paris' tennis stadium which hosts the French Open

ROLAND GARROS

Scorpio's brightest star Aka α-Scorpii Red supergiant "Rival of the war god"

ANTARES

Mythological name for an asteroid between Mercury and the Sun as well as (ironically) the furthest observed star from our sun

ICARUS

Aka α-Carinae 2nd brightest night sky star Yellow-white giant

CANOPUS

Brightest star in Taurus Red giant Eye that follows the Pleiades

ALDEBARAN

"Little fox" constellation Last alphabetically of the 88

VULPECULA

"Ox-driver" constellation Brightest star is Arcturus Also includes Quadrantid meteors & 3 binary stars

BOÖTES

Brightest star in Bootes Red giant 4th brightest star in the night sky Called "Bear guard", son of Callisto, because it follows Ursa Major Big dipper handle "arcs to..." it

ARCTURUS

Brightest star in Cygnus From Arabic for "tail"

DENEB

"The Swan" constellation Includes the Northern Cross Also includes the Veil Nebula and the CX-1 system, which has a blue supergiant and a black hole (discovered in 1964)

CYGNUS

Soviet cosmonaut Flew in Sputnik 2 in 1957 1st animal in orbit

LAIKA

Red dwarf star Closest to our sun outside of alpha Centauri

BARNARD'S STAR

Orbit with a period matching Earth's rotation (1 orbit a day)

GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT

Geosynchronous orbit that remains in a fixed position over the equator

GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT

Unit equal to about 3.26 lightyears

PARSEC (PARALLAX SECOND) symbol: pc

Apparent displacement after moving your point of view e.g. 2 measurements of a star, 6 months apart

PARALLAX

Lowest layer of atmosphere Where most weather occurs Where Jetstream is located Goes up to about 6-10 miles

TROPOSPHERE

Dry, cold wind of France Blows through the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean

MISTRAL

Weather event where an upper layer is warmer Temperatures rise as you go higher, which is unusual This traps pollution near the ground

(THERMAL) INVERSION LAYER

Protective UV barrier around Earth In the Stratosphere Damaged by CFCs Has an annual hole discovered in the 1980s

OZONE LAYER

Outermost layer of atmosphere

EXOSPHERE

"Warm" second-outermost layer of atmosphere Where the Karman line (100km up) defines the beginning of "space" Where the Aurorae occur

THERMOSPHERE

"Middle" layer of atmosphere Where meteors start burning up Starts about 30 miles up

MESOSPHERE

Second lowest layer of atmosphere Where jets cruise Contains Ozone Layer Starts about 6-10 miles up Also a Vegas hotel

STRATOSPHERE

Portion of the upper troposphere Flows west to east Can be "polar" or "subtropical" Discovered by WWII pilots

JETSTREAM

Dry, dusty Sahara wind Blows North across Mediterranean to Europe Also a VW model & a Noel Coward play

SIROCCO

Atmospheric occurrence Named for patron saint of sailors, St. Erasmus Corona discharge around tall objects like trees or ship masts

ST. ELMO'S FIRE

4-letter term meaning "sheltered from" or "away from the wind"

ALEE

Roman mathematician, geographer, & astronomer (100-170 CE) Lived in Alexandria Wrote "Almagest", which posited a geocentric universe Established 47 of our modern 88 constellations

CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY

Unseen mass Existence is inferred by gravitational effect Thought to be ~85% of all matter

DARK MATTER

Coined in 1998 to refer to a "repulsive force" making the universe expand faster

DARK ENERGY

Discovered 1801 Only dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt Dwarf planet of diameter ~600 miles Approached by craft Dawn in 2015 ~25% ice by mass

CERES

Pluto's biggest moon (~half its size) Discovered 1978

CHARON

British-American jump jet capable of V/STOL Also the name of a hawk & a dog breed

HARRIER

WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber Named for Captain Robert K. Morgan's Tennessee girlfriend Subject of a 1944 documentary & a 1990 film

MEMPHIS BELLE

Outermost of 8 planets 165-year orbit Discovered 1846 due to aberrations in Uranus' orbit Too faint for the naked eye Voyager 2 flyby in 1989

NEPTUNE

Ice giant Smallest and densest of giants, 3rd most massive planet Windiest planet Has a sporadic "Great Dark Spot" anticyclone

NEPTUNE

At least 13 satellites including Triton (largest, retrograde), Proteus, Nereid, Naiad, Galatea, & Hippocamp

NEPTUNE

American astronomer (1855-1916) Founded eponymous observatory in Flagstaff, AZ Argued for existence of "canals" on Mars & "Spokes" on Venus - possibly just his own eye veins in the telescope Predicted a "9th planet" but died before Pluto's discovery Member of a well-known Boston family

PERCIVAL LOWELL

Constellation Contains a "W" of 5 stars Mother of Andromeda Tycho Brahe observed a supernova within it, 1572

CASSIOPEIA

Line on a weather map Connects points of equal temperature

ISOTHERM(IC)

Line on a weather map Connects points of equal pressure

ISOBAR(IC)

Warm & wet Hawai'ian winds indicative of a cyclone

KONA

Owned & funded by NASA Managed by CalTech Aerospace research since 1930s

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL)

WWII Boeing bombers Named for belief it wouldn't need fighters Examples include the Memphis Belle

B-17 "FLYING FORTRESS"

1950s bomber Boeing's longest serving bomber Namesake of a band

B-52 "STRATO FORTRESS"

Greek letter usually designating 2nd-brightest star in a constellation

BETA

Air & Space Flashcards

Astronomy, aviation, weather & climate (81 cards)