Aerospace Power: Defending our country

America's Aerospace power has made available advanced defense systems which we use today. During the Cold War we developed a system of satellites called the Defense Support Program (DSP) to spot ballistic missiles from space.

The first DSP Satellite was launched from Cape Canveral in 19 70. It tracked missiles using infrared sensors to sense the heat emitted when it launched and sent that data to hidden command centers, such as NORAD.

Now we are currently developing more advanced systems to help defend our country. A System that has currently undergone some tests is the “Space-Based Infrared System” (SBIR). This system is designed to replace the DSP. It has advanced features expanded capabilities for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)missions.

Sincerely,

Space Cadet

Bottle Rockets and Newton's Laws

“Elephant Toothpaste” Bottle Rocket

This bottle rocket demonstrates the three laws that Isaac Newton discovered. If you use non-toxic soap, the foam that is produced is perfectly safe, as it is just bubbles filled with oxygen.

Warning: Lean back when launching, or you will be drenched in foam!

Supplies:

• Yeast

• Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)

• Dish Soap

• Water Bottle, small mouth

• Cork

• Scrap wood

• Nail

• Duct Tape (if necessary)

• Funnel

1. Launching Pad:

Take a Cork and test-fit it in the mouth of the water bottle. If it is too small, wrap duct-tape around it until it fits perfectly. Nail the bottom of the cork to a long piece of scrap wood. This is your launching platform.

2. Yeast:

Measure 1 Packet (1 Tbs) of Yeast into a cup. Add 3 Tbs of warm water, and stir thoroughly. This will act as a catalyst to speed up the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide. Set aside.

3. Bottle Rocket:

Using the funnel, pour 1 tbs of Dish Soap into the water bottle. Then pour ½ cup of Hydrogen Peroxide into the bottle.

4. Blastoff!:

Take the bottle, with soap/peroxide solution inside and put a funnel in it. This part of the experiment must be done as quickly as possible. Pour the yeast/water mixture into the funnel, and quickly take the funnel out, take the cork, attached to the launch stand and plug the bottle. Flip the launch stand over and stand back, or else you will be covered with foam. The rocket will shoot high, streaming out foam behind it.

What Happened?

The yest acted as a catalyst and separated the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide. This oxygen bubbled up as a gas, and was encapsulated by the soap creating millions of tiny bubbles. This foam expanded fast. This foam pressurized the inside of the bottle, until it shot off the cork and propelled the rocket in the sky.

How does this apply to Newton's laws?

The Rocket was in a state of rest, but when a force acts upon the rocket (the propellant), the rocket is now in a state of motion (Newton's law #1). How much force is put in the rocket determines how high it goes. The force depends upon the mass(weight) of the rocket and how much it is accelerating (Newton's Law #2). Because the propellant pushed downward, the rocket shot upwards, with the same amount of Force pushing downwards (Newton's law #3)

Enjoy!, Space Cadet

Bluebonnet Airshow

I got to work at the Bluebonnet Airshow on the 10th because the Civil Air Patrol helps out the Commemorative Air Force. It was a very exiting day. For the most part some other cadets and I helped make sure the crowd stayed behind the line all day, while watching the planes. My most favorite part of the airshow was either the Extra 300 aerobatic performance of the A-10 West Coast Demo Team. Here is a little history of both:

The Extra 300 was designed in 1987 by Walter Extra. It was built out of welded steel tubes for the framework and covered with fiberglass and cloth. It was built extremely light for optimum aerobatic performance. During the airshow, it performed amazing aerobatic maneuvers, including a square loop and a tail slide.

The A-10 was designed in the early 70's by Fairchild Republic. It was designed for Close Air Support (CAS), by shooting at tanks, armored vehicles and other unlucky ground targets. It has excellent Aerobatic capabilities at low speeds. It was designed with special "skin" that can survive direct hits up to 23mm. It was built around the GAU-8 Avenger, a heavy automatic cannon that can fire 4,200 rounds a minute using 30mm rounds. The pyrotechnics were amazing!

I had fun and learned a lot. I hope to come back next year!

George Nelson pt1

Yesterday I went to UT, where I got to listen to a lecture by former NASA astronaut George Nelson. I had fun and learned a lot. He talked about the space race, his personal life and where we are headed.

George Nelson received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College in California and later earned a master’s and doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington.

He said he started his space career when he saw a NASA flyer that said that it needed astronauts for the shuttle missions. He realized that he had all the prerequisites so he filled in the form and sent it in. A couple months later he found out that he had been selected, along with several hundred others, to have a week-long psychological test. NASA would single out a few to become astronauts. One of the tests, as Nelson recalled was "They zipped you up in a three-foot cloth sphere, with your own personal rebreather. They left me in for a long time, I don't know how long because I fell asleep :). I think they were testing me for claustrophobia."Nelson was one of the few that got selected.

He flew STS-41C, STS-61-C (the mission before the Challenger accident) and STS-26 (the mission directly after the Challenger accident) On his first mission he was the first person to do an EVA untethered. He logged 411 hrs in space, 10 of them EVAs.

In his lecture he was talking abouut where the American Space Program is going. As far as he can tell- nowhere. “I’m a bit nervous about where the space program is going at the moment,” Nelson said. “Do we need another Sputnik to kick us in the rear and inspire us to do something?”

Here is a really neat video on Nelson's first mission (STS-41C) with a commentary by the astronauts of this mission:

YouTube - 1984: STS-41C Challenger (NASA)

Enjoy!

Sincerely, Space Cadet

Start of the Space Race - Sputnik 1

On October 4th 1957 something happened that rocked the world - the first man-made object was intentionally launched into space- the launch of Sputnik1. What rocked the world most about it was that it was made by the Russians, not the Americans. That one launch ingnited (literally) a series of events called the Space Race in which America and Russia were competing over space exploration.

Sputnik 1 was a metal sphere about 23" in diameter with 4 long antannae. The heat shield was 1 mm thick and made of made of aluminum-magnesium-titanium. It released a signal that could be picked up by amature radio operators around the world. It also collected data from the atmosphere, which it sent back by radio signal. It identified the upper atmosphere density and provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. It continued to send out signals for 22 days, then it's battery ran out. It finnally fell to earth and burned up in the atmosphere on the 4th of January 1958

The launch of sputnik was an important milestone in history. It put pressure on Americans to win the space race and inspired many rocket scientists such as Homer Hickam.

Sincerely, Space Cadet

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble was an American astronomer who totally changed our perspective on the universe. As a young man he got a Rhodes scholarship in law from Oxford and spent a year as a lawyer. He soon found out that he was bored with law so he served in the army during WWI rising to the rank of major. Afterwards he studied hard at Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago and got a PhD in astronomy. He then got a job at the Mount Wilson Observatory where he discovered many things.
Edwin Hubble’s discoveries:

• There are other galaxies besides ours


• Hubble’s Law- the universe is expanding


• Classification system for stars


• Discovered the asteroid 1373 Cincinnati
  

Had Edwin Hubble not died in 1953, he would have received the Nobel prize for physics. Hubble will always be remembered as the “Father of Observational Cosmology”.

Jules Verne

Jules Verne (8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a famous author.He wrote famous adventure stories, some of which you probably have heard before.To name a couple there is "Journey to the center of the earth" and "2000 leagues under the sea" The books inspired many famous rocket scientists, such as Robert Goddard and Homer Hickam. Two of his most influential books were a two- part series called “From the earth to the moon” and “Around the Moon”. The story consists of a crew of three members, who were shot to the moon via a giant cannon. The capsule they rode in looked like a giant bullet and was named the “Columbiad”. It is interesting to note that he was the first to write about zero gravity, though they experienced it for a few minutes while they were between gravitational pull of the moon and the earth. Jules Verne lived in a time period wher the idea of sending a man to the moon was preposterous. But Jules Verne believed in the impossible. As he said in "From the earth to the moon": "It has often been asserted that the word "impossible" is not a French one. People have evidently been deceived by the dictionary."
Sincerely, Space Cadet

Robert Goddard

On March 16, 1926 Robert Goddard became the first person to succesfully launch a liquid-fueled rocket. It was fueled with Liquid Oxygen and Gasoline. It flew to 41 feet and crashed. The flight lasted 2.5 seconds. He was often ridiculed for his theories about space travel. Because people rejected his work, he moved to Roswell, New Mexico where he could work in secret. His record altitude for his rocket was the one he launched on March 26, 1937 which flew to 8000 - 9000ft and lasted 22.3 seconds. Unfortunately he died August 10, 1945- only 24 years before man set foot on the moon.

Daniel Bernoulli

Daniel Bernoulli was another important influence in the development of airplanes. He developed what is called the Bernoulli Principle that is used by engineers today in the creation of an airfoil- the wing in an airplane- which keeps the plane aloft in the sky.

Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton was an important influence to the inventors of aircraft and rockets. He discovered the three laws of motion and published them in Principia Mathematica. To put them in simple terms they are:

First Law: "An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force" or "A body persists in a state of uniform motion or of rest unless acted upon by an external force."
Second Law: "Force equals mass times acceleration" or "F = ma."
Third Law: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

OK, this basically means that if I have a rocket, it is just going to stay on the ground unless I apply a force to it (First law). I use the Second law in order to know how much force the rocket needs to use based upon its mass. The less the mass, the less force is necessary to propel it. The Third law says that I need to design the rocket to propel that force in the opposite direction that it needs to go and it will go in the right direction (hopefully up).

Sincerely, Space Cadet

Founding of the US Military

In 1775, before the Declaration of Independence was signed, 13 British colonies in the New World decided they needed to create a military force in order to successfully rebel against Britain, and create a new nation. They created the Continental Army, Continental Navy, and the Continental Marine Corps. With those military powers, they successfully overthrew the British Empire and created a nation of their own, the United States of America. Later in 1790 they made a new branch, called the US Coast Guard. The Air Force is the most recent branch of the US Military. It was originally a branch of the Army, the Army Air Force, but was officially made into its own separate branch in 1947. Because of its military forces, the United States of America has grown into the powerful nation that it is today.

In order for a military force to be effective, there has to be order. This is accomplished through a chain of command. That basically means there is one person, the president, who is in charge of several others, who in turn are in charge of several more people, etc., until you get to the bottom. There is also rank, which is a title you earn, starting from the bottom (E-0) and working your way up. This often determines your position in the chain of command.

Sincerely, Space Cadet