SPACE QUOTES

1. We are at a point in history where a proper attention to space, and especially near space, may be absolutely crucial in bringing the world together. - Margaret Mead 2. Nothing endures but change. - Heraclitus, about 500 B.C. 3. If I could get one message to you it would be this: the future of this country and the welfare of the free world depends upon our success in space. There is no room in this country for any but a fully cooperative, urgently motivated all-out effort toward space leadership. No one person, no one company, no one government agency, has a monopoly on the competence, the missions, or the requirements for the space program. - Lyndon Baines Johnson 4. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. - Lord Kelvin, 1892 5. The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force, can be united in a practical machine by which men shall fly along distances through the air, seems to the writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration to be. - Simon Newcomb, 1900 6. Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible. - Simon Newcomb, 1902 (eighteen months before Kitty Hawk.) 7. The aeroplane will never fly. - Lord Haldane, Minister of War, Britain, 1907 (statement made four years after Kitty Hawk.)

8. It is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind. - Space Act of 1958 9. The 1990s will differ from the 1970s as profoundly as the nineteenth century from the eighteenth. - Clive Sinclair 10. For I dipped into the Future, far as human eye could see; saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1842 11. And then, the Earth being small, mankind will migrate into space, and will cross the airless Saharas which separate planet from planet and sun from sun. The Earth will become a Holy Land which will be visited by pilgrims from all the quarters of the Universe. Finally, men will master the forces of Nature; they will become themselves architects of systems, manufacturers of worlds. - Winwood Reade, THE MARTYRDOM OF MAN, 1872 12. The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented. - Dennis Gabor, 1963 13. I know that some knowledgeable people fear that although we might be willing to spend a couple of billion dollars in 1958, because we still remember the humiliation of Sputnik last October, next year we will be so preoccupied by color television, or new-style cars, or the beginning of another national election, that we will be unwilling to pay another year's installment on our space conquest bill. For that to happen well, I'd just as soon we didn't start. - Hugh L. Dryden 14. Where there is no vision, the people perish. - Proverbs 29:18. 15. A vision must be much more than a project, even a big project. - Robert S. Walker, FINAL FRONTIER, April 1989. 16. You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck...I have no time for such nonsense. - Napoleon (commenting on Fulton's Steamship.) 17. It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and reality of tomorrow. Robert Goddard

18. The only weapon we have to oppose the bad effects of technology is technology itself. There is no other. We can't retreat into a nontechnological Eden which never existed...It is only by the rational use of technology to control and guide what technology is doing that we can keep any hopes of a social life more desireable than our own: or in fact of a social life which is not appalling to imagine. - C. P. Snow 19. What good is the Moon? You can't buy it or sell it. - Ivan F. Boesky, Wall Street broker convicted of insider trading (shortly after his release from prison.) 20. ...the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space. - John F. Kennedy, 1962 21. We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade... not because they are easy but because they are hard; - John F. Kennedy, 1962 22. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? - John F. Kennedy, 1962 23. Mankind will not remain on Earth forever, but in its quest for light and space will at first timidly penetrate beyond the confines of the atmosphere, and later will conquer for itself all the space near the Sun. - Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, father of cosmonautics. 24. I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it was possible to go. Captain Cook (on his voyage to the Pacific in Endeavor.) 25. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Albert Einstein 26. When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back. - Plutarch 27. Taking a new step...is what people fear most. - Dostoyevski 28. Man's mind and spirit grow with the space in which they are allowed to operate. - Krafft A. Ehricke, rocket pioneer

29. Freedom lies in being bold. - Robert Frost 30. I do not know what I seem to the world, but to myself I appear to have been like a boy playing upon the seashore and diverting myself by now and then finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay before me all undiscovered. - Sir Isaac Newton's, English philosopher and physicist, 1727 (his last words.) 31. The Earth is a cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle. - Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, Father of Russian Astronautics, 1896 32. To set foot on the soil of the asteroids, to lift by hand a rock from the Moon, to observe Mars from a distance of several tens of kilometers, to land on its satellite or even on its surface, what can be more fantastic? From the moment of using rocket devices a new great era will begin in astronomy: the epoch of the more intensive study of the firmament. - Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, Father of Russian Astronautics, 1896 33. It may be said that the development of science in the field of space flight and related research will be of great significance for the progress of human culture. - Professor Leonid Sedor, U.S.S.R. 34. There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, 'tis for some other. The spirit cannot die; and man, who shall know all and shall have wings... - Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) 35. If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom (On January 27, 1967, astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee died from a flash fire aboard Apollo 204 Spacecraft.) 36. First I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon... - John F. Kennedy, May 24, 1961 37. Some day people will travel to Mars. It will be a long trip, but fun. This will be a big step for mankind. We would be able to find out if there was life on this planet. It probably will look like a red desert. - J. Stephen Hartsfield, Seventh Grader, 1984

38. Science-fiction yesterday, fact today- obsolete tomorrow. - Otto O. Binder, Editor in Chief, SPACE WORLD MAGAZINE 39. The greatest gain from space travel consists in the extension of our knowledge. In a hundred years this newly won knowledge will pay huge and unexpected dividends. - Professor Wernher von Braun 40. Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It's not a thing to be waited for - it is a thing to be achieved. - William Jennings Bryan 41. Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention and the first wave of nuclear power. And this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be part of it - we mean to lead it. - John F. Kennedy (at the onset of the lunar landing program.) 42. Now is the time...for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth. - John F. Kennedy 43. ...because of what you have done the heavens have become part of man's world... For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all of the people on this Earth are truly one. - President Richard M. Nixon (on first lunar landing.) 44. Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. - Apollo 11 plaque left on Moon. 45. ...the swifter the pace of change, the more lovingly men had to care for and criticize their institutions to keep them intact through the turbulent passages. - John Gardner 46. Where there is no vision, the people perish... - Proverbs 29:18 47. Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. - Proberbs 11:14 48. In the long run men hit only what they aim at. - Thoreau

49. New ideas are not only the enemies of old ones; they also appear often in an extremely unacceptable form. - C.G. Jung 50. I must create a system, or be enslav'd by another man's. - William Blake 51. The highest and best form of efficiency is the spontaneous cooperation of a free people. - Woodrow Wilson 52. Perfection never exists in reality but only in our dreams and, if we are foolish enough to think so, in the past. - Dr. Rudolph Dreikurs 53. The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. - Abraham Lincoln 54. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. - Will Durant, American historian 55. We shall never forget them nor the last time we saw them, as they prepared for their mission and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God. - Ronald Reagan (addressing NASA employees following the tragic loss of the Challenger 7 crew on STS-51L.) 56. HIGH FLIGHT Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. - John Gillespie Magee, Jr., (killed in the Battle of Britain, age 19) 57. The committee judged the promises and offers of this mission to be impossible, vain, and worthy of rejection: that (it) was not proper to favor an affair that rested on such weak foundations and which appeared uncertain and impossible... - Talavera Commission, 1491, turning down Christopher Columbus' proposal for finding a new trade route to the Indies. Queen Isabella of Spain later funded the project. 58. Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers, American Humorist, 18791935 59. If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. - Yogi Berra, former New York Yankee catcher 60. The man with a new idea is a crankuntil the idea succeeds. - Mark Twain 61. I know how to never have another Challenger. I know how to never have another leak, and never to screw up another mirror, and that is to stop and build some shopping centers in the desert. - J. R. Thompson, NASA deputy administrator (in a speech sponsored by George Washington University's Center for International Science and Technology.) 62. I have no doubt that Christians can support the exploration and use of space. The so-called "science commission" in Genesis 1:28 certainly seems to apply to any part of the material creation which God places within man's reach. - Rev. Paul A. Bartz, Communications Director, Bible-Science Newsletter, October 1990

63. Our goal: To place Americans on Marsand to do it within the working lifetimes of scientists and engineers who will be recruited for the effort today. And just as Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to open the continent, our commitment to the Moon/Mars initiative will open the Universe. It's the opportunity of a lifetimeand offers a lifetime of opportunity. - George Bush, February 2, 1990 (remarks at the University of Tennessee.) 64. It's human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it's an imperative. Michael Collins, Gemini and Apollo astronaut. 65. Just as the pioneer travelers of the Conestoga wagon days kept personal journals, I, as a pioneer space traveler, would do the same. - Christa McAuliffe 66. I cannot join the space program and restart my life as an astronaut, but this opportunity to connect my abilities as an educator with my interest in history and space is a unique opportunity... - Christa McAuliffe 67. But the astronauts who lost their lives on CHALLENGER, as well as the other eight astronauts who were killed in the line of duty and the four Soviet cosmonauts who died in space serve as inspiration for us all. None of them would have wanted to give her or his life in vain. None would have wanted us to stop striving for the stars. If anything, we must continue to preserve their dreams. - Doug Fulmer, AD ADSTRA, July/August, 1991 68. ...space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space. - Christa McAuliffe, December 6, 1985 69. It was hard telling those kids...that I wasn't going to be there this year. And I knew I was going to miss them. I won't have an opportunity to see them again, unless they stop by the house. Now during the summer, I got lots of notes; kids would stop by the house. I'd be pulling weeds or something and they would come up and give me a hug and say, 'Oh, I can't believe it, this is so wonderful!' and just get very excited about it. It was hard not being in school. I would have loved to have gone back to school. - Christa McAuliffe 70. If you build it, we will come. - From the movie "Field of Dreams"

71. There is nothing so far removed from us to be beyond our reach, or so far hidden that we cannot discover it. - Rene Descartes 72. And now 'tis man who dares assault the sky...And as we come to claim our promised place, aim only to repay the good you gave, And warm with human love the chill of space." - Prof. Thomas G. Bergin, Yale University (From a poem titled "Space Prober." This was the first poem to be launched into orbit about the Earth. It was inscribed on the instrument panel of a satellite called Traac launched from Cape Kennedy on November 15, 1961. The Traac satellite is expected to orbit the Earth 800 years at an altitude of about 600 miles.) 73. Sir, Your letter of the 15th is received, but Age has long since oblidged me to withold my mind from Speculations of the difficulty of those of your letter, that their are means of artificial buoyancy by which man may be supported in the Air, the Ballon has proved, and that means of directing it may be discovered is against no law of Nature and is therefore posible as in the case of Birds, but to do this by machanical means alone in a medium so rare and unassisting as air must have the aid of some principal not yet generaly known. However, I can really give no opinion understandingly on the subject and with more good will than confidence wish to you success. - Thomas Jefferson, April 27, 1822 74. Why our space program? Why, indeed, did we trouble to look past the next mountain? Our prime obligation to ourselves is to make the unknown known. We are on a journey to keep an appointment with whatever we are. - Gene Roddenberry, Executive Producer of "Star Trek" 75. A reflection of my feelings about the space program is found in a quotation from Charles A. Lindbergh's "Autobiography of Values." It reads, "Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time, the farther we penetrate the unknown, the vaster and more marvelous it becomes." - Robert Wise, Director of "Star Trek" 76. A sense of the unknown has always lured mankind and the greatest of the unknowns of today is outer space. The terrors, the joys and the sense of accomplishment are epitomized in the space program. - William Shatner, Capt. Kirk of "Star Trek."

77. What fiction could match - in drama or suspense - man's first walk on the Moon? - Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock of "Star Trek." 78. Like all good bureaucrats, I get my crystal ball from the lowest bidder, so I am a little hesitant to be very certain about that number. - Harold Stall, Director of Public Affairs, NASA Johnson Space Center 79. Then felt I like some watcher of the skies when a new planet swims into his ken. - John Keats, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer. 80. The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. - H.G. Wells, "The Discovery of the Future," 1901
Why explore the solar system? How are you able to measure the temperature on the planets that are very far away like Pluto and Neptune? How can you determine the age of planets without going there to perform scientific experiments? Where can I find more information about the solar system? Where is all the information on the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle and other manned space missions? How about the Sun and Earth? Is there life on other planets or moons in our solar system? th Is there a 10 planet - the so-called Planet X? What spacecraft are currently headed into interstellar space? I need a question answered about the alignment of the planets. Have they or will they ever form in a straight line? What's the difference between a solar system and a galaxy? Can I use NASA images and graphics in my presentation or report? I have lots more questions. Where can I go? How come space is black and the sky is blue? Why is there no gravity in space? I am doing research on the nine planets of the solar system and would appreciate your help in this regards. I would like to know the meaning of the name of the nine planets. E.g. Mercury, what does it mean?

I am deeply interested in information regarding the discovery of the new planet (Planet X or other such name applied). I am doing my final paper on Natural Satellites of the Solar system, and would like to include some of your images, complete with proper reference, as to where they came from. I was wondering if this would be possible. Where are the antennas of the Deep Space Network located? Is the location of the three DSN stations intended to try to space them apart equally around the earth as much as possible, about 120 degrees? Why does the Deep Space Network need three antenna sites? How are images sent from the spacecraft? Is there another name for the Solar System? What is the temperature in space? I am an Amateur Radio Operator, can I listen to the data coming from spacecraft? How do you keep up with the ever growing number of spacecraft? Where can I find a picture of the entire solar system? Can you recommend any astronomy books? I would like to know the names of each of the moons in our solar system. Me and one of my friends were arguing the other day about the differences between a solar system and a galaxy. The main question is this: What are the differences, if any? And are they the same thing?

Why explore the solar system? The urge to explore the unknown is a fundamental part of human nature. It enriches our spirit and reminds us of humanity's great potential. There are commercial and technological advantages to space exploration, too. How are you able to measure the temperature on the planets that are very far away like Pluto and Neptune? How can you determine the age of planets without going there to perform scientific experiments? In physics, Planck's Law describes how a perfect radiator (a blackbody) radiates light at all colors of light as determined by its temperature. While Pluto, Neptune, and the distant planets (and stars) are not perfect blackbodies, they are close enough that we can make fairly accurate measurements of their temperatures by looking at the light emitted by them in the near infrared, beyond those wavelengths where reflected light from the Sun is significant.

The age of the planets, on the other hand, is something that is estimated on the basis of theory. We have measured the age of rocks from Earth, the Moon, and Mars, and the oldest rocks all show a maximum estimated age of several billion years. Our theories lead us to believe that all the planets formed at essentially the same time, and that the age of the Earth and the other solar system planets is about 4.5 to 4.6 billion years. Where can I find more information about the solar system?
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/

-- Information on all the planets and the sun, the spacecraft exploring our solar system and lots of other NASA resources. http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html -- An online encyclopedia on the solar system.

Where is all the information on the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle and other manned space missions? There is an entire NASA division devoted to the human exploration of space. Visit their website at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/. How about the Sun and Earth? Our sister forum, the Sun-Earth Connection, is devoted to research and education about our home planet's relationship with its star. NASA also has a division devoted entirely to the study of Earth: the Earth Science Enterprise. Is there life on other planets or moons in our solar system? Life as we know it can only exist with the presence of liquid water, organic compounds and a source of energy (such as sunlight). So far, scientists have found those elements in the right combinations only on Earth. But certain locations in our solar system hold at least pieces of the puzzle of life - Mars, comets and, possibly, Jupiter's moon Europa. Mars is the most likely location for life.Learn more >> Is there a 10th planet - the so-called Planet X?

Nothing has been discovered-not for a lack of trying. Recent observations suggest that there are some large asteroids or fragments of planetary bodies beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, but no planet has been found. You can read about the history of the search for 'Planet X' here: http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/hypo.html#planetx

See also NASA-Funded Scientists Discover Tenth Planet. What spacecraft are currently headed into interstellar space? Four NASA spacecraft are currently on a trajectory that will take them out of our solar system and into interstellar space. Pioneer 11ran out of power and lost contact with Earth in 1995. NASA remains in contact with the other three spacecraft: Pioneer 10, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. I need a question answered about the alignment of the planets. Have they or will they ever form in a straight line? According to NASA's Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center: "If you are talking about an 'exact' line, it has probably never happened. Even having all 9 planets in a rough line is very infrequent (millions of years, depending upon how "rough" a line you're willing to take)." It is possible, however, for several of the planets visible to the naked eye to appear in a relatively straight line. Though it is not an official NASA website, I recommend exploring astronomer Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" website. He addresses several misconceptions about planetary alignments: http://www.badastronomy.com.Hope this helps. Good luck with your research. What's the difference between a solar system and a galaxy? The difference between a solar system and a galaxy is scale. A solar system is a tiny part of a galaxy. Galaxies are star systems made up of hundreds of thousands or even billions of stars in addition to gas and dust. A solar system is a group of planets and other objects (comets, asteroids, etc.) in orbit around a star. We call our star the Sun. Our solar system is located inside the Milky Way Galaxy. There are billions of galaxies and countless stars in the universe. TheCosmic Distance Scale helps put it all in perspective.

Can I use NASA images and graphics in my presentation or report? Yes. Most NASA material is not copyrighted. However, there are certain rules if you intend to use the image or the NASA logo for commercial purposes. More information is available on our Copyright page. I have lots more questions. Where can I go? NASA's FAQ page contains lots of answers and links to a vast network on information. Or you can ask us. How come space is black and the sky is blue? Well, the sky is blue because that's the color that the particles in the air break up the light waves, the rays of light coming at the Earth from the Sun. But in space, there is no air, and thus no particles, that can break up the light in the same way. That's why it's called space. So the light waves travel through space and once they hit a planet or anything made up of particles (which is anything but space), they're broken up into different colors. Why is there no gravity in space? Actually, there is gravity in space! Yeah, I know, that's not what you heard. If there was no gravity, astronauts and spaceships would shoot out into space the minute they left the Earth's atmostphere. Gravity is what holds all the planets, asteroids and moons in place. I am doing research on the nine planets of the solar system and would appreciate your help in this regards. I would like to know the meaning of the name of the nine planets. E.g. Mercury, what does it mean? We're glad to hear you're interested in the Solar System. Here's a start on what you're looking for and a couple of places to get information for your report: The nine planets, with the exception of Earth are named for the gods of ancient mythology: Mercury- The Winged Messenger; Venus- Goddess of Love and Beauty; Earth - The name is old English and Germanic.; Mars - God of War; Jupiter - King of the Gods; Saturn - God of Agriculture; Uranus - God of the Heavens; Neptune - God of the Sea; Pluto - God of the Underworld. For more details, I suggest you visit Bill Arnett's excellent website, The Nine

Planets:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html. If you haven't explored them already, our website has an extensive information on each Planet. And don't forget the local library. I am deeply interested in information regarding the discovery of the new planet (Planet X or other such name applied). We're makling progress on discovering planets outside our solar system, but so far no one has discovered "Planet X" a 10th planet in orbit around our Sun. Scientists have been searching for more than 100 years without success. It was once believed that such a planet was required to explain the orbital characteristics of the outer planets Uranus and Neptune, but that turned out not to be the case. Here are a few links that should help you on your search: This is JPL's new PlanetQuest website: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/. This is a detailed discussion of the search for new planets: http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/hypo.html. These links lead to discussions aboout planets outside our Solar System:http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27nov_1.htm. http://www.public.asu.edu/~sciref/exoplnt.htm#preface. On our site, we've compiled a comprehensive set of links for asteroids: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Asteroids. And Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune:http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs. Good luck. And thanks for your interest in our website. See also NASA-Funded Scientists Discover Tenth Planet. I am doing my final paper on Natural Satellites of the Solar system, and would like to include some of your images, complete with proper reference, as to where they came from. I was wondering if this would be possible. NASA images are intended for public use. There are some rules about using the NASA logo or using the images for commercial purposes. They are outlined below in the links below: http://www.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/guideline.html

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Multimedia/NASA.Pictures.Photographs and.Images/ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/policy/ Where are the antennas of the Deep Space Network located? The DSN has three sites located approximately 120 degrees of longitude apart around the world in California (in the Mojave Desert), in Spain (near Madrid) and in Australia (near Canberra). For more information, visithttp://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/antennas/index.html. Is the location of the three DSN stations intended to try to space them apart equally around the earth as much as possible, about 120 degrees? Yes, that's exactly it. We were also looking for dry climate, desert-like environments, and isolated locations with plenty of room. It isn't perfect. Spain, I think, is slightly closer to Goldstone than Canberra, but it's good as we get. Because there was a third consideration, and that was a friendly nation with long-term political stability. So all those things had to be taken into account. Why does the Deep Space Network need three antenna sites? If we only had one antenna site, as the Earth rotated, any spacecraft we were communicating with could only be in 'line of sight' with that one location for a maximum of 10 - 12 hours a day. The rest of the time the one site would be turned away from the spacecraft because the Earth rotated. By having three sites, as the Earth rotates, the first antenna site 'hands off' the tracking to the next site, thereby maintaining constant communications. So California hands off to Canberra, and Canberra to Madrid, then back to California. How are images sent from the spacecraft? Images, as well as other instrument data, is transmitted by a low power transmitter on board the spacecraft using microwave radio frequencies. The data is converted by an on board computer to binary code (0's and 1's) and sent as a digital 'bitstream'. (See the web site http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/tutor/index.html.) Is there another name for the Solar System?

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) decides on names for things in the Solar System, such as planets, asteroids, and moons. Dr. Aksnes is the chairman of the group that decides on names for planetary systems and what's in them. I asked Dr. Aksnes your question, and was told that in English, the Solar System (centered on the Sun) is also referred to as the Planetary System. Corresponding terms are used in other languages. Dr. Aksnes was not aware of any other names for the Solar System. Without capitalization, the terms solar system and planetary system may refer to any other systems around a star. What is the temperature in space? It depends on whether you are asking what is the temperature "of" space, or the temperature of things that are "in" space. Strictly speaking, space really doesnt have any temperature since it is mostly empty. Only things that can be found in space such as atoms and ions, have any temperature. Near Earth and the Moon, if you are in direct sunlight, you could heat up to 250 degrees F (121 degrees C). This is hotter than boiling water at 212 degrees F (100 degrees C). In the shade, it can cool to around -250 degrees F (-156 degrees C). This is why astronauts must wear thermal space suits. I am an Amateur Radio Operator, can I listen to the data coming from spacecraft? Unfortunately, no. Spacecraft signals are very weak by the time they reach Earth which is why we need the huge reflector dishes of the Deep Space Network antennas as well as the sophisticated amplifiers and other signal enhancing electronics to hear them. Amateur radio equipment and antennas cannot receive such weak signals. How do you keep up with the ever growing number of spacecraft? We are actually oversubscribed in that we have more tracking hours required than we are able to provide. What we do in this case is to work very closely with the flight projects and get them to work together to try to meet the bulk of their requirements. In addition, we are currently building a new antenna in Madrid to help with the load. Where can I find a picture of the entire solar system? Here are some graphics and animations that could help out. http://www.scottso.net/examples_encsol.htm -- You might need to download Macromedia Flash for this one. It's a cool video about the Solar System and their relative distances from each other. It's not an educational site; it's the producer's

web page that wrote the video. You might want to stick to just this page because I'm not sure how appropriate the other pages on the site are. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/solarsys/revolution.html -- There are some great pictures and graphs here. Once again, the sizes aren't to scale. http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/afoe/simulation/e3.html -- Animation of all the planets in their orbits except for Pluto. Bummer. http://janus.astro.umd.edu/javadir/orbits/ssv.html -- This link has animations of separate parts of the Solar System: inner planets, asteroid belt, outer planets, and the Kuiper belt. I'm not so sure if it will be useful, but I like the animation. http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/iav/PKB_MissionTrajectory.mov -- This is an animation of the expected trajectory of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. It forgot Mercury and Venus, but it's a cool animation. There's also a fabricated picture of the solar system put together with the pictures taken by Voyager 1. The picture is here:http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00451. Can you recommend any astronomy books? Here are a couple of books that another NASA site recommended. Melton, Melanie. Will Black Holes Devour the Universe? and 100 Other Questions and Answers about Astronomy. 1994, Kalmbach Books. Mitton, Simon and Jacqueline. The Young Oxford Book of Astronomy. 1995, Oxford University Press. Dr. Terry Martin, a research scientist in the Earth and Planetary Atmospheres division at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, recommends: Beatty, J. Kelley and Andrew Chaikin, Eds. The New Solar System. 1990, Sky Publishing Corporation & Cambridge University Press. Ive always liked the Reader's Digest Children's Atlas of the Universe. It has photos and experiments and sky charts, and youre probably sure to find it at your local library. I would like to know the names of each of the moons in our solar system. You can find a comprehensive list of the moons in our solar system in the planets section of the Solar System Exploration website: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm. Just click on a planet and then click on the "Moons" tab at the top of the page. For example, http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupiter&Display=Moons. You will notice many moons do not yet have names because they have been recently discovered.

Me and one of my friends were arguing the other day about the differences between a solar system and a galaxy. The main question is this: What are the differences, if any? And are they the same thing? Galaxies are star systems made up of hundreds of thousands or even billions of stars in addition to gas and dust. A solar system is a group of planets and other objects (comets, asteroids, etc.) in orbit around a star. We call our star the Sun. Our solar system is located inside the Milky Way Galaxy. There are billions of galaxies and countless stars in the universe. This link helps put it all in perspective: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/cosmic.html Hope this settles the debate.Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft

Part II: THE JET AGE

Chapter 9

Introduction

[219] The development of the propeller-driven aircraft from a curiosity to a highly useful machine has been described in part I of this volume. As the first 40 years of powered flight drew to a close, aircraft equipped with reciprocating engines had about reached the end of their development in what must be ranked as one of the most spectacular engineering achievements in history. Although some further technical refinement was possible, the technology of that class of aircraft had reached a plateau with little prospect of major improvement in the future. In the closing months of World War II, however, there emerged a revolutionary new type of propulsion system: the jet engine. Although operationally introduced in somewhat primitive form, the subsequent development of this entirely new type of propulsion system resulted in advancements in aircraft design that have been almost as spectacular as those which characterized the first 40 years of powered flight.

Jet propulsion was initially applied to military aircraft of various types. Indeed, since the inception of jet fighters, the performance of these aircraft and their offensive and defensive weapons have resulted in a capability far exceeding anything imagined in World War II. Speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, range, and payload of military aircraft have increased spectacularly as a result of the turbine engine and associated radical changes in aircraft design concepts. Maximum speeds have exceeded Mach 3, and maximum sealevel rates of climb in excess of 50 000 feet per minute have been achieved with some modern fighter aircraft. Gross and payload weights of many modern fighter and attack aircraft are greater than those of heavy bombers of World War II vintage. Perhaps the greatest impact of the jet engine on our modern way of life has been in the area of mass transportation. Introduction of the jet-powered transport in 1952 heralded the beginning of a revolution [220] in domestic and international air transportation that has accompanied the development and refinement of the Jet-powered transport. The modern jet transport with its high speed, safety, and economical appeal has altered peoples' concepts of the relative accessibility of various places in the United States and throughout the world. Methods of communication have accordingly changed, as have methods of conducting business operations. Whereas air travel was once regarded as the province of the adventurer and the affluent, all classes of people are now traveling by air both for business and pleasure. Americans are traveling today by air in unprecedented numbers, on schedules undreamed of 20 or 30 years ago, and are seeing and experiencing cultures in other parts of the country and the world to an extent that would have been incomprehensible to past generations. Some indication of the size and scope of past, present, and projected future airline transport activity is given in the following tabulation (based on data from refs. 146, 156, and 181):

Year

Domestic International flights, flights, billions Total billions of RPM of RPM

1949

8.8

1959 1969 1976 1986 (projected)

25.4 106.0 147.0 267.5

7.1 30.1 41.5 79.0

32.5 136.1 188.5 346.5

The total number of revenue passenger miles (RPM) flown by scheduled United States carriers is seen to have increased from 8.8 billion in 1949 to 188.5 billion in 1976. The corresponding number in 1986 is forecast to be 346.5 billion. Thus, the number of revenue passenger miles has increased by a factor of more than 20 in the 27-year time period from 1949 to 1976. The introduction of the jet transport marked the beginning of the end of the ocean-going ship as a serious means of overseas travel. The statistics in the tabulation show that overseas travel by air comprised 7.1 billion revenue passenger miles in 1959, 41.5 billion in 1976, and is projected to increase to 79.0 billion by 1986. By way of comparison, in 1939 steamships of all nations are estimated to have operated about 3 billion revenue passenger miles [221] between the United States and other countries of the world. Thus, the airplane has not only supplanted the steamship but has, in fact, generated a new and greatly enlarged market for overseas travel. Air travel today is accepted as a major component of the common-carrier transportation system, and the modern jet transport is largely responsible for the revolution that has made air travel for the masses what it is today. The technology, development, and design features of various types of civil and military jet-powered aircraft are discussed in part II of this book. To limit the scope of the material, the discussion is restricted, as in part I, primarily to aircraft developed in the United States. No adverse reflection on the quality of the many fine foreign designs developed over the years is intended by their exclusion. The aircraft discussed, together with some of their performance and physical characteristics, are listed in tables V to VIII in appendix A. The quantities tabulated are defined in the list of symbols contained in appendix B and generally require no further elaboration. Some of the quantities listed are discussed in more detail in the introduction to part 1. The references used in obtaining the characteristics of the aircraft are listed in the tables or are specifically cited in the text. Jane's All the World's Aircraft (refs. 125 to 131)

has been used extensively in compiling the characteristics of the aircraft presented in the tables, as have various directory issues of Flight International Magazine (for example, refs. 150, 167, 168, and 177) and other well-known reference works. A few references that provide useful background material but are not specifically cited are offered for additional reading on the subject of aircraft development. For convenience, references 132 to 210 are listed alphabetically.

CONTRIBUTION OF ZEPPELIN AND AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM USED BY GERMANS The German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, owned by Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, was the world's most successful builder of rigid airships. Zeppelin flew the world's first untethered rigid airship, the LZ-1, on July 2, 1900, near Lake Constance in Germany, carrying five passengers. The cloth-covered dirigible, which was

the prototype of many subsequent models, had an aluminum structure, seventeen hydrogen cells, and two 15-horsepower (11.2-kilowatt) Daimler internal combustion engines, each turning two propellers. It was about 420 feet (128 meters) long and 38 feet (12 meters) in diameter and had a hydrogen-gas capacity of 399,000 cubic feet (11,298 cubic meters). During its first flight, it flew about 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) in 17 minutes and reached a height of 1,300 feet (390 meters). However, it needed more power and better steering and experienced technical problems during its flight that forced it to land in Lake Constance. After additional tests conducted three months later, it was scrapped.

Zeppelin continued to improve his design and build airships for the German government. In June 1910, the Deutschland became the world's first commercial airship. The Sachsen followed in 1913. Between 1910 and the beginning of World War I in 1914, German zeppelins flew 107,208 (172,535 kilometers) miles and carried 34,028 passengers and crew safely.

During World War I the Germans achieved moderate success in long-range bombing operations with the zeppelin-type rigid airship, which could attain higher altitudes

than the airplanes then available. On two occasions during 1917, German Zeppelins made flights of al reparations by Germany. Of many subsequent zeppelins, the two most famous were the Graf Zeppelin, completed in September 1928, and the giant Hindenburg, first flown in 1936. The Graf Zeppelin inaugurated transatlantic flight service, and by the time of its decommissioning in 1937 had made 590 flights, including 144 ocean crossings, and had flown more than 1,000,000 miles In

1929 the craft covered about 21,500 miles.. in a world flight that was completed in an elapsed time of approximately 21 days. most 100 hours' duration. In 1936 HIDENBURG airship carried a total of 1,002 passengers on 10 scheduled round trips between Germany and the United States. In 1940, the LZ127 and LZ130 were dismantled, ending the golden era of the great passenger ships.