Category Archives: Space Travel

Space: The Final Frontier…

Posted on March 8, 2016 by impossibleensign

These are the voyages of the space probe New Horizons . Its continuing mission: to explore strange dwarf planets, to seek out new objects and new data sets, to boldly go where no probe has gone before… Continue reading →

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Photo from the Opportunity

Posted on February 16, 2016 by imanig625

  This incredible photo from the rover Opportunity pictures the Endeavor crater rim. It’s truly amazing how that even 12 years after being sent, Opportunity is still sending back photos this amazing. Opportunity is the longest-running Mars Rover, having been exploring and taking pictures of Mars since 2004. Opportunity has been documenting mineral samples, craters,… Continue reading →

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The Effect of Living in Space

Posted on February 16, 2016 by sarabkeller

While I think that studying space and astronomy is super awesome, I honestly am not sure I can imagine anything worse than living in space for an extended period of time. As we discussed in class, living in space (or at least in orbit) is essentially like being in constant free fall. You know that stomach […] Continue reading →

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The Effect of Living in Space

Posted on February 16, 2016 by sarabkeller

While I think that studying space and astronomy is super awesome, I honestly am not sure I can imagine anything worse than living in space for an extended period of time. As we discussed in class, living in space (or at least in orbit) is essentially like being in constant free fall. You know that stomach […] Continue reading →

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Project Orion: Riding Atomic Explosions into Space

Posted on February 16, 2016 by nickwtheastronomer

From the LSD-laden project MK Ultra to the ill-fated foray into psychic warfare that was Stargate Project, the U.S. government has sanctioned some truly strange studies over the past century. But one research endeavor stands out among all the others throught its sheer magnitude, ridiculousness, and surprising potential. I am talking, of course, about Project Orion. […] Continue reading →

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

Posted on February 16, 2016 by chasejaeger

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading →

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Limitations of Gravitational Slingshots in our Solar System

Posted on February 16, 2016 by chasejaeger

The use of gravity assist has been an integral part of space exploration. Gravitational slingshots have been used time and time again to send spacecraft to areas that would be impossible to get to otherwise by providing the spacecraft with increased speed. Accordingly, spacecrafts are able to get places faster and use less fuel. (Voyager […] Continue reading →

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The Martian — Could It Really Happen?

Posted on February 16, 2016 by clharrell

Matt Damon’s critically acclaimed film “The Martian” broke records and set a new standard for space exploration movies. The film was even praised for its scientific accuracy by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. While most of what occurs in the film is theoretically possible, a few things stand out to be implausible. The first question I had when […] Continue reading →

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Space Vacation?

Posted on February 16, 2016 by segalastronomyblog

Forget about Florida. Have you ever considered vacationing in space? Thanks to Virgin Galactic, we are getting closer and closer to this possibility. Last year, Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crashed in the southwest desert, killing a pilot and completely destroying the aircraft. However, Virgin is getting ready to launch a second SpaceShipTwo this month in Mojave, […] Continue reading →

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Voyager 2 & Planetary Assists

Posted on February 16, 2016 by mattsastronomyblog

When an object is trying to leave a planet, it must reach escape velocity.  The escape velocity is the speed at which the kinetic energy of the moving body is equal to its gravitational potential energy.  The escape velocity from earth is about 25,000 mph.  So when the Voyager 2 left earth, it had to reach […] Continue reading →

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