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Landsat 5 Satellite Sets World Record

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Math Blaster

Decades after Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union, there are still records being set by satellites in outer space. For example, the Landsat 5, a satellite launched by NASA on March 1, 1984, has just recently set a world record for being the longest orbiting satellite in history.

Landsat 5 was initially launched as a cooperative effort between NASA and USGS (United States Geological Survey) to take satellite photographs of the Earth using a multi-spectral scanner system and a thematic mapper. The photographs the Landsat 5 has taken over the years show how the world has been changing from shrinking glaciers and forests to wildfires and volcanoes. Through the years, these photos have helped scientists understand how the world is changing and how people are changing it.

It is hard to believe that the Landsat 5 has survived in space for almost 29 years. When it had first launched into space, Ronald Reagan was president and the country was gearing up for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which seems like ages ago.

The Landsat 5 has orbited the Earth more than 150,000 times, which means that it has traveled over four billion miles in space. Not bad for a satellite that was only supposed to last for three years.

Filed under: Current Events, Parents and Kids, Science Facts, Technology and Kids | Tagged: current news, NASA, satellite, space, technology, world record | 2 Comments »

Space News: Meteor Hits Russia!

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Math Blaster

Did you know that there is a ton of rocks in space? But because the universe is so gigantic, they rarely impact Earth or even get noticed by us. However, on this last Friday there were two space rocks that flew close to – or right into – Earth! The first was one that everyone was keeping track of: asteroid 2012 DA14, which passed within 17,000 miles of Earth (which is closer than the moon).

The surprising space rock was the meteor that crashed into the Ural Mountains in western Russia. Chunks of meteorites crashed into buildings and cars in that area, causing small craters about eight inches in diameter.

What is the difference between a meteor, a meteorite, and a meteoroid? A meteor is the streak of light that you see when an object from space travels through the atmosphere. A meteor can be anything from a spec of dust to a gigantic rock. A meteorite is a meteor that has landed on Earth and you can find in the ground. A meteoroid is when the object is still in space.

NASA estimates the meteor was about the size of a school bus and exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere with the same amount of energy as 20 atomic bombs. The explosion was caused by the meteor hitting the Earth’s atmosphere. It exploded when it hit Earth’s atmosphere because the atmosphere is much denser than space – that is, there are more molecules and atoms packed together in an area. When the meteor encounters the dense atmosphere, the change in density is like the change from the atmosphere to the ground.

This meteor was the largest meteor reported since 1908, when another meteor crashed into Sibera. That meteor exploded with the power of 1,000 atomic bombs, and knocked down 80 million trees over 830 square miles! It is a very good thing that Friday’s meteor was smaller than 1908’s meteor.

Filed under: Current Events, Science Facts | Tagged: current news, Math Blaster, Science facts, space | 2 Comments »

One Giant Leap for Mankind

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Math Blaster

With all the hours of hard work that your kids put in around the Math Blaster Space Station, have you ever caught yourself wondering about what it might be like to travel into the unknowns of outer space? Currently, only a handful of private citizens have already had the opportunity to orbit through space. However, with the recent proposal by a privately funded company to start manning missions to the moon, commercial spaceflight may be more of a realistic goal for the near future than ever before. In a matter of a few years, you could be booking yourself on a flight as one of the first space tourists or better yet, an official astronaut.

Now, that dream is as close as ever to becoming a reality. As companies like Richard Branson’s much talked about Virgin Galactic are actively accepting reservations for future trips into space. Depending on your chosen package, deposits for Virgin Galactic flights can range anywhere from $200,000 to $1 million. However, with the rate at which technology has been advancing in this field and with the development of new spacecrafts, there is now more than one company making waves in the market of commercial space travel.

More recently, Colorado-based start up, Golden Spike has made headlines promoting their plans for privately funded commercial flights that would take people from earth all the way to the moon. With the first flights scheduled for as early as the year 2020, the company prices each trip at about one and a half billion dollars. The plan was announced by CEO, Alan Stern, a former director from NASA on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the last moon landing, which occurred in 1972.

Although the costs of these flights may not be practical for average citizens, the announcement marks a great opportunity for the advancement of space programs worldwide. As technology and research proceed forward, we can expect that elite list of space tourists to grow at unprecedented speeds. And in the case of Golden Spike’s plans for flights to the moon, Neil Armstrong’s iconic words from the legendary Apollo 11 flight seem most fitting as this venture can easily be considered “one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.”

Filed under: Current Events, Newsletter, Parents and Kids, Science Facts, Technology and Kids | Tagged: current news, newsletter, space travel, technology | 4 Comments »

“Once in a Blue Moon”

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Math Blaster

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Once in a blue moon”? If you have, did you ever think about where that saying could have came from?

If you were outside gazing at the stars last Friday, August 31^st, you would have caught a glimpse of a large full moon out in the night sky. What you probably didn’t realize was that this full moon was one of the two full moons in August. You might be thinking, “But we’re only supposed to have one full moon a month!” — and if you are, you would be right.

The moon goes through a “lunar cycle,” meaning that it goes through phases (such as full, quarter, half, and new moon) — essentially, we can view the moon from Earth as a constantly changing fraction that can be figured out like a math equation! This lunar cycle takes about 29.5 days to complete, from new moon to full moon. If you divide that by the number of days in a year (365 days), you end up with about 12 lunar cycles (one for each month!). That means for each season of the year — spring, summer, fall and winter — there are 3 full moons, and each of these moons has a specific seasonal name (such as Moon After Yule and Grain Moon).

Here’s the catch: there are a couple more days in the calendar year than there are days in the 12 lunar cycles. What does this mean? It means that every few years (about 2.7, to be exact) the days of the year catch up with an extra lunar cycle, and one of the seasons gets a fourth full moon — one extra full moon in addition to the three full moons in a season. When this happens, the third moon is called the “Blue Moon.”

It would make sense to think that the fourth moon would be the Blue Moon, since it’s the extra one added on, right? Actually, the reason why the third moon is called the Blue Moon is because all of the other seasonal full moons have established and set names — we can’t change those because they go along with the times and seasons of the year, so the third moon gets the special title!

The next Blue Moon is supposed to appear in July of 2015. It’s going to be a while before we can see another one, but in the meantime, all of us can brush up on our facts about the moon and solar system in time for the next awesome thing that happens in space!

Filed under: Current Events, Family Fun, Just for Fun, Newsletter, Science Facts | Tagged: current news, Fun facts, Math Blaster, Science facts, The moon | 5 Comments »

A Life in Space

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Math Blaster

Last week, one of America’s greatest heroes, Neil Armstrong, passed away at the age of 82. This iconic figure in space history was the first man to walk on the moon, coining the now-famous phrase, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Born in August 1930, this Ohio native went on to enjoy a life indulging his love of space in all different ways over his 56 year career. It all started with getting his pilot’s license at 16 in 1946, and continued up until 2002 when he retired as chairman of the EDO Corporation. During his last 10 years, Neil spent time with his wife and two children.

Neil Armstrong joined the NASA forerunner NACA after years of experience as an aeronautical engineering major at Purdue and a naval aviator in the Korean War. At first, he was a test pilot and engineer, he even got to test the X-15, which goes up to 4,000 MPH! In 1962, he joined the astronaut program and was the command pilot for the Gemini VIII mission before he became spacecraft commander of Apollo 11. Apollo 11 was the historic space expedition to put the first men on the moon. Armstrong, along with partners Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, successfully completed this mission in July 1969 and spent two and a half hours taking photographs and collecting samples of the moon.

After Neil’s astronaut days, his love and career of space continued. He remained at NASA as an administrator until 1971, then moving on to become an aeronautical engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati for 8 years. His career continued as he chaired many different corporations and commissions until his ultimate retirement in 2002.

Over his lifetime, Neil became one of the best known astronauts around the world, being decorated in 17 countries with several medals and honors, including the Medal of Freedom and Congressional Space Medal of Honor. He is truly an inspirational figure to any aspiring pilot, astronaut or person with a childhood dream.

Filed under: What's New | Tagged: current news | 4 Comments »

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