Author Archives: Rivers Cornelson

Fission Rocket Engines: Soon?

NASA has revived the dreams of many optimists hopeful of smashing the dire predictions of the ideal rocket equation. Insane designs have long been dreamed of by lunatics attempting to create breakthroughs with the power of the atom, but a NASA research program in the 70’s laid encouraging groundwork for a possible fission rocket. NERVA … Continue reading Fission Rocket Engines: Soon? Continue reading

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Project Orion: Humanity’s Best Hope?

In the 1950’s and 60’s, optimism about the new discoveries related to fission of atoms and available energy ran rampant. Ambitious designs of all kinds were created based around the new marvel of nuclear energy. Eager to harness the massive potential of fission and fusion reactions, scientists and engineers at NASA began to ponder the … Continue reading Project Orion: Humanity’s Best Hope? Continue reading

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Voyager: The End of the Road

Voyager 1 is the only human made object existing outside of the heliosphere of Earth. The Voyager space probes represent a level of exploration not seen since the era of European explorers, and in many ways exceed the ambition of those brave individuals. Aspects of the Voyager mission have been designed to last for an … Continue reading Voyager: The End of the Road Continue reading

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How much is left in the tank?

Geologists and neutrino physicists are currently striving to calculate the amount of radioactive power remaining in Earth’s core. Why does this matter? The hot core of the Earth is known to provide the driving force behind plate tectonics, a process that constantly refreshes the crust of the Earth and creates many of the geological features … Continue reading How much is left in the tank? Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Isaac Newton Born: January 4, 1643, Died: March 31, 1727 Newton’s development of a preliminary universal law of gravity gave astronomers an explanation for the attraction of mass in space, and the orbits that they had dedicated their lives to studying. The development of calculus and the study of rates of change was significant for mathematical … Continue reading Historical Astronomers in Context Continue reading

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Introductory Post

Hey! Rivers Cornelson signing on. This webpage is to be the start of my perfectly formatted astronomy blog. The picture above is from my time with Moondance Adventures, website linked here. Continue reading

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