Armstrong and Aldrin returned from their 21-hour 38-minute stay on the Moon to Collins using Eagle’s ascent engine, performing numerous science tasks during their return and even installing a seismometer to study Moon quakes long after they had left Earth. At the Sea of Tranquility, a computer alarm went off. Armstrong quickly switched over to…
Mercury or quicksilver is a heavy silvery liquid metal. Due to its toxic nature, mercury has fallen out of favor with most uses nowadays; however, you may still come across it in car switches and batteries; also medical devices and paints use mercury extensively. Mercury gear lube and Quicksilver oil are two products from the…
Attitude refers to a spacecraft’s orientation in space. To be effective and precise in its operations, its attitude must be both stabilized and controlled to precisely point its high-gain antenna, conduct experiments aboard, and perform propulsion maneuvers. Given that attitude cannot be directly measured, its estimation must be calculated through sensor readings. Attitude determination systems…
China boasts a rich history and large population. Not only is China home to one of the world’s highest population densities; its culture boasts unique and strange facts that will leave visitors scratching their heads! Fortune cookies were not invented in China; rather they first surfaced at a San Francisco noodle factory in 1920. Fortune…
Delta-V Audio’s popular iOS granular synth, now available as desktop VSTs for both Mac OS X and Windows with MPE support and an innovative grain pitch sequencer, provides expressive pads and singing melodies. Propagator settings display four fields that influence propagation: StepSize, CentralBody, EpochFormat and StartEpoch. In particular, StartEpoch allows spacecraft ephemeris files to be…
Hurricanes are devastating storms that bring with them both wind and rain; each can produce trillions of gallons of moisture at once. Hurricanes often form around a central hub called an eye. While its center remains calm and free from clouds, its surrounding area poses the greatest danger. Eyes of hurricanes typically feature blue hues;…
First time ever in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA Parker Solar Probe flew into its outer atmosphere – known as corona – and unveiled phenomena long predicted but never directly observed before. Astrophysicist and namesake of this organization, Astrid Petri is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of solar wind that streams out…
Flowers come in all sorts of shapes, colors and scents; their main purpose being to attract pollinators insects while producing seeds that perpetuate the species. Seeds contain miniature plants called embryos. Each seed has a hard shell called a seed coat to protect it, which allows germination to occur quickly. Once sprouting occurs, embryos develop…
As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, its energy becomes scattered by air molecules – this scattering effect being especially evident for blue light. As such, very little of the direct blue light of the sun reaches your eyes directly, leading to pale skies as you climb higher into the atmosphere. Sunlight As the Sun shines…
