Topic 11 space probes and rockets

Question 1

name the 4 types of space probes

Answer 1

1.fly by
2.orbiter
3.impactor
4.lander

Question 2

advantages of space probes over manned spaceflight

Answer 2

-can go further from earth
-can travel for longer periods
-do not need extra room for life support

Question 3

what are spectrometers

Answer 3

can record chemical composition of planets

Question 4

what can radar probes show

Answer 4

geographical features underneath clouds

Question 5

what is a fly-by probe
what can they measure

Answer 5

where you send a probe past objects
-temperature, light, gravity, mass, magnetic field, atmosphere, composition, more

Question 6

2 advantages of flybys

Answer 6

-an array of sensors can measure many features of relevant bodies and send images of distant bodies in detail never seen before

-can move onto another object to study

Question 7

3 disadvantages of flybys

Answer 7

-not all parts of observed bodies can be monitored due to high speeds
-does notnreturn to its target after flyby
-more detailed analysis of object features cannot be gathered

-(can’t land and can’t undertake experiments on planets/moons)

-once launched can’t charge orbit and can’t update its technology

Question 8

give 1 example of a flyby

Answer 8

new horizons
(voyager 2)

Question 9

what main thing did new horizons do

Answer 9

-mapped surface of pluto and charon
-took measurements of plutos atmosphere
-took images of pluto’s satellites
-measured temperatures
-and effects of solar wind

Question 10

what else did new horizons observe

Answer 10

kuiper belt

Question 11

whats it called when u use a flyby for speed increase

Answer 11

slingshot/ gravitational assist

Question 12

what is an orbiter

Answer 12

a probe that is sent to a body and continually orbits it for the duration of its mission life
-when it arrives at target it must slow down

Question 13

how does an orbiter slow down once its reached its body

Answer 13

using fuel or
aerobraking, using upper part of an atmosphere to resist its speed

Question 14

advantages of orbiters

Answer 14

-can observe same area from different heights and at different times
-usually entire body cna be observed
-changes to orbit can occur allowing controller to change targets

Question 15

disadvantages of orbiters

Answer 15

-can only tell us so much about surface features
-slowing down craft uses large amount of fuel (so do changes to planned orbits)

Question 16

name 3 examples of obiter probes

Answer 16

-juno
-dawn
-cassini huygens

Question 17

what bodies did dawn observe

Answer 17

(vesta) then ceres

Question 18

what does dawn use to move

Answer 18

ion thrusters

Question 19

what did dawn detect on vestas surface

Answer 19

evidence of water and carbon rich minerals

Question 20

what did juno orbit

Answer 20

jupiter

Question 21

how is juno powered

Answer 21

largely by solar arrays

Question 22

what is juno’s equipment designed to measure

Answer 22

composition, magnetic field, mass, gravity of jupiter
-detect atmospheric water a,outns, detect nature of its core and study wind

Question 23

what did cassini-huygens tell us

Answer 23

more avout make up of saturn and rings
enlarged our knowledge about its moons, even duscovering new moons

Question 24

what is an impactor probe

Answer 24

probe set to hit a body and usually an accompanying probe analyses the effect of its impact

Question 25

advantages

Answer 25

-will disturb materials allowing us to find what it is composed of in a way that an orbiter or lander could not - can sometimes see observations of the impactor as it is en route to its target

Question 26

disadvantages of impactors

Answer 26

-usually delivers and monitors impact event, (2 probes are more expensive) -not knowing results of size of events can cause mistakes in readings of monitoring craft

Question 27

name 2 example of impactor probe

Answer 27

-deep impact -LCROSS

Question 28

where was deep impact sent

Answer 28

temple 1

Question 29

what was LCROSS’ impactor called

Answer 29

centaur

Question 30

define a lander probe

Answer 30

a craft can land on another object, take measurements, and if possible explore the surrounding area

Question 31

advantages of lander probes

Answer 31

-can study immediate environment can take precise geological and meteorological readings and conduct basic experiments

Question 32

disadvantages of lander

Answer 32

-landing on other bodies carry risk -landers have limited capacity to move -some landers must be built in sterile environemnets to avoid contamination from earth

Question 33

name 3 methods of landing lander probes

Answer 33

-small exhaust rockets to slow lander’s descent -parachute opened in upper atmosphere to slow down lander, heatshueld that protects from temp increase is released, sometimes craft is covered in air bags which deflate on surface -on body w low gravity, soft landing at low angle means the craft bounces and skids to a halt

Question 34

give main example of lander

Answer 34

rosetta and philae on comet 67p

Question 35

what did rosetta and philae do

Answer 35

rosetta orbited and took measurements of water vapour and listened+relayed ohilae communications philae was designed to soft landing, using harpons to attach to surface -designed to analyse surface composition of comet by drilling, analysed water-rich surface chemicals and some imagery

Question 36

what happened to poor philae

Answer 36

lander lost power as its harpoons failed to attach to surface, ended up at an angke in a crack below a cliff soon after was unable to communicate with rosetta and lost powrr due to not receiving enough sunlight

Question 37

where did huygens land

Answer 37

titan

Question 38

benefits of manned missions

Answer 38

-humans can cope with difficult conditions and carry out movements that no robot would be capable pf -human does not need programing-is flexible and intelligent enough to carry out different tasks -humans can adapt to problems and opportunities

Question 39

limitations of manned missions

Answer 39

resources (air, water, food) needed for astronauts to survive -if unmanned probe is destroyed, space organisation has lost money from equipment and expertise but if manned mission is destroyed, human loves are lost -takes time and money to train astrnauts -astronauts suffer muscle fatigue and deterioration -can suffer from mineral probelms in bodies due to lack of gravity

Question 40

how many missions landed on moon between 1969 and 1972

Answer 40

6

Question 41

what did apollo manned missions leave on moon

Answer 41

ALSEPs (apollo lunar surface experiments package) -contained seismographs to measure moonwuakes and sensors to measure solar radiation

Question 42

what did retroflectors on moon tell us

Answer 42

that moon is moving away from earth at rate of 3.8 cm a year