Space Flashcards
What is a satellite?
A satellite is an object that orbits another object.
What is the Earth’s natural satellite?
The Moon.
How is space exploration used in everyday life?
GPS, weather Forecasting, Communication, Space Exploration etc.
Why is re-entry to our atmosphere dangerous for aircraft and astronauts?
At too shallow an angle it will “bounce” off the upper atmosphere. At too steep an angle it will burn up due to too much air friction.
Why does a satellite not fall to the ground?
It has a horizontal velocity.
What is an example of a man-made satellite?
The International Space Station.
What are some of the requirements we use to tell if a planet can sustain life?
- Orbits a long lived star that is a stable source of energy.
- It is in the ‘Goldilocks Zone’
- Liquid water
What are some of the requirements we use to classify a planet?
- Orbits the Sun
- It is big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape.
- It must be big enough that its gravity has cleared away any other objects of a similar size near its orbit around the sun.
What is an exoplanet?
An exoplanet is a planet which exists outside out solar system.
What is a galaxy?
A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust and billions of stars and their solar systems.
What is the Universe?
The Universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies and all other forms of matter and energy.
What does a curved reflector do?
A curved reflector increases the strength of the signal received. the larger the area of the reflector the stronger the signal.
What is a geostationary satellite?
- Stays above the same point on the Earth’s surface.
- Has a period of 24 hours.
- Orbits at an altitude of 36,000 km.
What are some challenges of space travel?
- The time to travel to our nearest planet could take as long as 10 months.
- Maintaining energy supplies to operate life support systems in a spacecraft.
What are some manned space exploration risks?
- Loading the propellant that will be used by the space shuttle is very dangerous.
- Astronauts get exposed to more radiation than they would do on the surface of the Earth.
