Read Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Online
Authors: Neil deGrasse Tyson,Avis Lang
Pegasus, 108
Penzias, Arno, 92
perturbation theory, 118
Peru, 196–97
Pfeiffer, Michelle, 203
photosynthesis, 31
Pigliucci, Massimo, 75–83
Pioneer anomaly, 244–45, 248–51
Pioneer program:
Pioneer 0, 245
Pioneer 3, 245
Pioneer 4, 245
Pioneer 5, 245
Pioneer 9, 245
Pioneer 10, 118, 244–45, 247, 248–50
Pioneer 11, 168, 244–45, 247, 249
Pioneer 12, 245
Pioneer 13, 245
Pizarro, Gonzalo, 196–97
planetary motion, first law of, 115
Planetary Society, 166–67, 193, 236, 250
Pluto, 82, 112, 118, 128, 168, 195, 201
orbit of, 115
Pravda,
121
Prescott, William H., 196
Presidential Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, 59–60, 146
President’s Commission on Higher Education, 125
Prince (singer), 203
Principia
(Newton), 113
Project Prometheus, 169–70
propulsion:
alternate fuels for, 157–59
antimatter drive and, 170–71
chemical fuel for, 163
electricity and, 165
in-space, 170
ion-thruster engine and, 164–65, 170
nuclear power and, 159, 168–69
rocket equation and, 153–54, 157
and slowing down, 155–56
solar sails and, 159, 165–67, 170
third law of motion and, 153, 158
xenon gas and, 164–65
Proxima Centauri, 195–96
Ptolemy, Claudius, 34, 65
pulsars, 29
Qatar, 5
quasars, 91
R-7 rocket, 126
racism, 66–67
radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), 168–69
radio telescopes, 91
radio waves, 28–29, 30, 31, 39, 90–91
radium, 96
RAND Corporation, 218
Ranger 7 spacecraft, 70
Reagan, Ronald, 5, 6
relativity, general theory of, 94–95, 101, 248, 250
relativity, special theory of, 195–96
Republicans, 4–5, 15, 17, 224–25
Resnik, Judith, 243
robots, 129, 134
in space exploration, 57, 89–90, 128, 130–32, 187, 198, 199, 202
rocket equation, 153–54, 157
rockets:
flybys and, 157
liquid-fueled, 192
phallic design of, 222–23
propulsion of,
see
propulsion
Rodriguez, Alex, 114
Röntgen, Wilhelm, 94, 96, 135
Royal Society, 216
Russia, xiv, 6, 22, 162, 168
ISS and, 319
Star City training center of, 73, 74, 207
Sagan, Carl, 27, 28, 43, 193, 256
Salyut space module, 6
Sarge (comedian), 234
satellites, xiii, xiv, 60, 71, 94
communication, 129
first US, 124–25
Saturn, 31, 82, 112, 115, 119, 138, 157, 168, 210, 225, 245
radio emissions from, 90–91
Saturn V rocket, 15, 127, 154, 158, 172, 214, 219, 220, 229
as a wonder of the modern world, 232–33
Schmitt, Harrison, 69, 132
Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 153
science, 206, 226
Arabs and, 205–6
discovery and, 98
emerging markets and, 209–10
literacy in, 57–59, 230–31, 235–36
multiple disciplines and, 209–10
Scientific American,
223
scientific method, 86
Scobee, Dick, 242
Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation,
146
Senate, US, 5, 146, 328
Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee of, 272
and appointments to Commission on Future of Aerospace Industry, 316
Appropriations Committee of, 321, 329
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee of, 288, 321, 323, 324, 329
sense of wonder, 64–65
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 206
Sesame Street
(TV show), 257
SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), 41, 325
Shapley, Harlow, 98–101
Shatner, William, 180
Shaw, Brewster, 221
Shepard, Alan B., 114
short-period comets, 46
Siberia, 50
Sims, Calvin, 55–62
Sirius, 178
Skylab 1 (space station), 214
slingshot effect, 119–20
Smith, George O., 175
Smith, Michael, 242
Smithsonian Institution, 216
solar sails, 159, 165–67, 170
solar system, 34, 259
many-body problem and, 117–18
perturbation theory and, 118
solar wind, 176, 235, 245
solid rocket boosters, 155
Soter, Steven, 256
sound, speed of, 108–9
sound barrier, 109
South Africa, xiv
South Pole, 76
Soviet Union, xiii, 8, 94, 133, 194, 215, 218
US rivalry with, 5–6, 59, 79, 87, 121–27, 133, 192, 219
see also
Sputnik
space, space exploration:
colonization of, 57, 60, 102–3
cosmic microwave background in, 92, 94–95
cross-discipline endeavor in, 24–25, 230
culture and, 72–74, 147–48, 210–11
early attitudes toward, 217–18
economic motivation for, 200–201
factions against, 8–10
in Galef/Pigliucci interview of author, 75–83
inventions statute and, 311
justification for funding of, 78–81
militarization of, 60
numbers employed in, 236–37
politics and, 3–5
proposed programs and missions for, 201–2
robots and, 57, 89–90, 128, 130–32, 187, 198, 199, 202
significance of, 102
Soviet achievements in, 122–26
special interests and, 5, 236–37
stellar nurseries in, 93
technological innovation and, 12
US-Soviet rivalry and, 5–6, 59, 79, 87, 121–27, 133, 192, 219
war as driver of, 219–20
Space Cowboys
(film), 162
Space Exploration Initiative, 8
Space Foundation, 221–22
Spaceguard Survey, The: Report of the NASA International Near-Earth Object Detection Workshop,
50
space junk, 176
space shuttle, 7, 12, 25, 109, 160–62, 165, 201, 202, 228, 281
contingency funding for, 321–22
fuel of, 158
launch costs of, 320–22
main parts of, 154–55
pricing policy for, 314
retirement of, 14–16, 143, 214
speed of, 222
use policy for, 312–13
weight of, 155
see also
specific vehicles
Space Station Freedom, 6, 8
Space Studies Board, 169
Space Technology Hall of Fame, 221, 230–31, 237
Space Telescope Science Institute, 10, 23, 135–36
Space Transportation System, 314
space travel, 191–98
coasting in, 247
in Colbert–author interview, 186–88
danger of, 198
financing of, 193–94
in Hollywood movies, 194–95
Moon missions and, 192–93
robots and, 198
special relativity and, 195–96
Space Travel Symposium, 111
Spain, 7, 87
spectroscopy, 30
Spirit (Mars exploration rover), 130–33, 138
Spitzer Space Telescope, 139
Sputnik, xiii, 5, 59, 79, 113–14, 133, 192, 218
50th anniversary of, 226
US response to, 122–24
Star City (training center), 73, 74, 207
Stars & Atoms
(Eddington), 107
Star Trek
(TV series), 3, 164, 170
45th anniversary of, 178–81
human behavior and, 180
technology of, 179
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
(film), 37–38
Star Wars
(film series), 131
State Department, US, 312
Stewart, Jon, 4
Stone, Sharon, 203
subatomic particles, 94
Sugar, Ron, 221
Sun, 27, 28, 29, 33, 46, 58, 72, 97, 112, 117, 118, 138, 195, 245
Copernican principle and, 34
energy emitted by, 93
fusion in, 101
neutrinos emitted by, 94
planets’ orbits and, 115
Superconducting Super Collider, 6–7, 80–81
Sweden, 7
Swift, Philip W., 223
Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer, 139
Switzerland, 7
Sykes, Wanda, 17
Systems of the World, The
(Newton), 113
Taj Mahal, 88
Tamayo-Méndez, Arnaldo, 122
TASS, 123
Taylor, Charles E., 219
technology, 89, 200, 226
aero-space integration plan for, 323–24
in alien observation of Earth, 29–32