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| Glossary
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| absolute zero |
Theoretical temperature.
Absolute zero is characterized by a complete absence of heat.
It is equivalent to exactly -273.15°C (-459.67°F). |
| Adams, Ansel |
American photographer.
Adams (1902-84) is highly respected for his technical innovations
and for his representations of mountainous terrain. Although
originally his vocation was music and his avocation was photography,
Adams became a professional photographer following publication
of his first portfolio, Parmellian Prints of the High Sierras
(1927). By 1935, following publication of Making a Photograph,
Adams was being hailed as an historian of photography. In
1941, he began to produce photo-murals for the US Department
of the Interior. Adams was an ardent conservationist who turned
his personal activism into pro-activism by serving as the
director of the Sierra Club from 1936. |
| AEB |
See Brazilian Space
Agency. |
| aerobraking |
Decelerating a spacecraft
by passing through planetary atmosphere. |
| aerospike engine |
Originally developed
for the X-33 space plane. Aerospike engines are unlike conventional
engines that push a vehicle aloft by hot gases escaping from
bell-shaped chambers. Instead, aerospike engines are designed
so that one end of their exhaust plume runs along a ramp while
the other end remains open to the atmosphere. This makes them
more powerful and easier to steer than conventional engines. |
| Aesop |
Greek author of fables.
Aesop is almost certainly a legendary figure, although attempts
were made by Herodotus and Plutarch to prove that Aesop actually
existed. It is far more likely, however, that Aesop was simply
a name invented to provide an author for fables centering
on animals. Indeed, "a story of Aesop" is today seen to be
synonymous with "fable." |
| Agrippa |
Lunar crater. According
to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, Agrippa
was named for a Greek astronomer (died AD 92). However, when
considered in its proximity to the crater Julius Caesar, it
is as likely that this crater was named for Marcus Vipsanius
Agrippa (63-12 BC), a Roman general and statesman. It was
Agrippa who commanded Octavian's fleet in the victory at Actium
(31 BC) over the combined forces of the Roman general Mark
Antony and Queen Cleopatra of Egypt-effectively ending their
plot to overthrow Octavian. Earlier, in 36 BC, Agrippa had
defeated Sextus Pompeius in two naval battles (Mylae and Naulochus),
thus helping Octavian (the heir to Julius Caesar) become sole
ruler of the Roman Empire. |
| AIDS |
Acquired Immunodeficiency
Syndrome. AIDS is the most severe manifestation of the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, list various opportunistic
infections and neoplasms (cancers) that, in the presence of
HIV, constitute an AIDS diagnosis. Individuals living with
AIDS often have infections of the lungs, brain, eyes, and
other organs. They also frequently suffer debilitating weight
loss, diarrhea, and a type of cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma. |
| Aitken, Robert Grant |
American astronomer.
Aitken (1864-1951) specialized in the study of double stars,
discovering more than 3,000 of them. After serving as professor
of mathematics and astronomy at the University of the Pacific
in Stockton, California, Aitken joined the staff of the Lick
Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, California, from which he retired
in 1935. He is best known for his publications The Binary
Stars (1918) and New General Catalogue of Double Stars
Within 120° of the North Pole (1932). |
| albedo |
Reflectivity of an object.
Albedo is the ratio of reflected light to incident light. |
| albedo feature |
Dark or light marking
on the surface of an object (e.g., a planet or an asteroid).
Note that an albedo feature might not be a geological or topographical
feature. |
| ALH84001 |
Martian meteorite found
in Antarctica. ALH84001 is estimated to be approximately 4.5 billion
years old, or about as old as Mars itself. Recently it has
been established that inside a small fragment of the meteorite,
chains of magnetite crystals, which could only have been left
by living organisms, were detected. Magnetite crystal chains
similar to these are seen here on Earth, in bacteria that
live near the surface of shallow water sediments. Although
magnetite crystals have been found in ALF84001 before, no
clear images of the chain characteristics of bacteria
had been previously seen. Despite this, warning voices are
suggesting there is the possibility that the meteorite has
been contaminated and that there is as yet no proof that life
once existed on Mars. |
| Almaz |
Precursor to Mir.
Almaz was conceived in the early 1960's as the military twin
to the Soyuz. In its initial form, the 20-ton
Almaz was intended to operate for 2 to 3 years at a time,
taking reconnaissance photographs the while. But after the
death of Nikita Khruschev, who had championed the project,
Almaz fell behind schedule. It was cancelled in July 1969. |
| Alpha Centauri |
Star 4.3 light years
away from the Earth. Excluding our Sun, Alpha Centauri is
the nearest bright star to Earth. |
| Altman, Scott |
American astronaut. Altman
(b. 1959) was chosen as a member of the 1995 astronaut-candidate
group. He has flown twice-on STS-90 (1998) and STS-106 (2000)-and
has spent in excess of 27 days in space. Education: BS in
aeronautical and astronautical engineering, MS in aeronautical
engineering. |
| amine |
Any of a class of organic
compounds that is derived from ammonia by replacing hydrogen
with one or more alkyl groups. |
| Amundsen, Roald |
Norwegian explorer. Amundsen
(1872-1928) led the first expedition to reach the South Pole
(December 14, 1911), beating Robert Scott's expedition
there by a matter of days. He is also credited with being
the first explorer to make a ship voyage through the Northwest
Passage and one of the first to fly across the Arctic. Amundsen
is considered one of the greatest figures in polar exploration.
His books include The South Pole (1912) and, with American
adventurer Lincoln Ellsworth, First Crossing of
the Polar Sea (1927). |
| andesite |
Intermediate volcanic
rocks containing 54 to 62% silica and moderate amounts of
iron and magnesium. Andesite is an aphanite in
texture and usually medium-dark in color. It commonly includes
plagioclase and hornblende, with lesser amounts of
mica, pyroxene, and various accessory minerals. Andesites
occur in composite volcanic cones associated with convergent
plate margins. |
| Andromeda |
Great, spiral galaxy
and the Earth's nearest external galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy,
which is believed to be a twin to the Milky Way, is
one of the few galaxies visible to the unaided eye. About
2,000,000 light years from Earth, Andromeda is approximately
200,000 light years in diameter. First mentioned in AD 965-in
the Book of Fixed Stars by Al-Sufi, an Islamic
astronomer-and rediscovered in 1612 by the German astronomer
Simon Marius, the Andromeda galaxy was seen as a component
of the Milky Way. Only in the 1920's did American astronomer
Edwin Hubble determine that Andromeda was in fact a
galaxy separate from the Milky Way, one surrounded by a number
of satellite galaxies and globular clusters. |
| anorthosite |
Intrusive igneous rock.
Anorthosites consist primarily of calcium-rich plagioclase
feldspar. While those found on Earth are made up of coarse
crystals, some samples of lunar anorthositic rock are finely
crystalline. |
| antimatter |
Particle with exactly
the opposite properties to those of its matter counterpart.
For example, a positron-the antimatter counterpart of an electron-has
a positive charge, one that is equal in strength to the negative
charge of the electron. Antimatter is created by pair production.
When antimatter contacts its matter counterpart, the two particles
are instantly annihilated. Their rest mass then turns into
energy and is released as two-photon electromagnetic radiation. |
| aphanite |
Dark rock. Aphanite has
such a close texture that its separate grains are invisible
to the naked eye. |
| aphelion |
Point in orbit in which
a planet is most distant from the Sun. Compare aphelion to
perihelion. |
| Aphrodite |
Greek goddess of sexual
love and beauty. Aphrodite was also worshiped as the goddess
of the sea and seafaring as well as the goddess of war, particularly
in Sparta and Thebes. She was identified with Venus by the
Romans. Phobos and Deimos were Aphrodite's sons
by the god Ares. The statue of Aphrodite, carved by
the 4th-century BC Greek sculptor Praxiteles,
served as the model for the Venus de Milo. |
| apogee |
Point in orbit farthest
from the Earth. Compare apogee to perigee. |
| Apollo |
Greek god of divine distance.
Phoebus Apollo was the most revered and influential of Greek
gods. Also known as the god who made men aware of their guilt
and purified them of it, he presided over religious law and
the constitutions of cities, and he communicated his knowledge
of the future and the will of his father, Zeus, to humans
through prophets and oracles. His forename, Phoebus, means
"bright" or "pure." Project Apollo was the name chosen for
the advanced spaceflight program announced by NASA Deputy
Administrator Hugh L. Dryden on July 28/29, 1960. |
| Apt, Jerome |
American astronaut. Dr.
"Jay" Apt (b. 1949) was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate
in June 1985. He flew four missions: STS-37 (1991), STS-47
(1992), STS-59 (1994), and STS-79 (1996). In all he logged
over 35 days in space, including 10 hours and 49 minutes on
two spacewalks. Dr. Apt left NASA in May 1997 to become Director
of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Education: BA in physics (magna cum laude),
PhD in physics. |
| aquifer |
Water-bearing stratum
of permeable rock, sand, or gravel. |
| Aral Sea |
Also Uzbek Orol. The
Aral Sea is a once-large saltwater lake straddling the boundary
between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south.
Once the world's fourth largest body of inland water, the
Aral Sea-which began shrinking at a remarkable rate during
the second half of the 20th century-sits in the
climactically inhospitable heart of Central Asia, to the east
of the Caspian Sea. |
| Archimedes |
Ancient Greek mathematician
and inventor. Archimedes (ca. 290/280-212/211 BC) is credited
with discovering the relation between the surface and volume
of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder. He is also known
for formulating a hydrostatic principle known as Archimedes'
principle and for a device for raising water that is known
as Archimedes screw. Nine treatises by Archimedes have survived.
One of these, in two books, is On the Sphere and Cylinder,
in which Archimedes demonstrates that the surface area of
any sphere is four times that of its greatest circle (S
= 4pr2) and that the volume of a sphere
is two-thirds that of which the cylinder in which it is inscribed
.
In On Floating Bodies
(also in two books), Archimedes defined his principle, which
states that a solid denser than a fluid will, when immersed
in that fluid, be lighter by the weight of the fluid it is
displacing. |
| Arecibo Observatory |
Located south of Arecibo,
Puerto Rico. The Arecibo Observatory hosts the world's largest
single-unit radio telescope. This telescope, built in the
early 1960's, uses a 300-m spherical reflector to focus incoming
radio waves on movable antenna structures that are positioned
approximately 18 m above the reflector surface. It has produced
detailed radar maps of the surface of Venus and precise information
about Venus' rotation. The Arecibo telescope also has made
contributions to radio astronomy by detecting neutron star
matter in pulsars. |
| Ares |
Greek god of war. Ares
was the son of Zeus and Hera. He was often accompanied in
battle by his sister Eris, the goddess of discord, and by
Hades, the lord of death. Two of Ares' sons were Deimos
and Phobos. Ares is often confused with the Roman god
Mars. |
| Ares-Vallis |
Landing site selected
for the Mars Pathfinder mission. Ares-Vallis was selected
by NASA scientists because of its apparent safety. It also
offered the prospect of various rock types, thought to be
deposited by catastrophic floods in Mars' past, for analysis. |
| Ariane |
French-designed launch
vehicle. Ariane-1, the first successful European commercial
launch vehicle, was initially developed as the L3S European
launch vehicle replacement design. Ariane-5 is the latest,
totally new design in the Ariane launch vehicle family. |
| Aristarchus |
Greek astronomer. Aristarchus
of Samos (ca. 310-230 BC) was first to affirm that the Earth
rotates and revolves around the Sun. His beliefs, which anticipate
Copernicus's theory by over 1,700 years, are known
from the writings of Archimedes and Plutarch.
Aristarchus' only surviving work is a short treatise On
the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon. He is also
credited with calculating a more precise value than was then
known for the length of the solar year. |
| Aristophanes |
Greek playwright. Aristophanes
(ca. 450-388 BC) is generally conceded to be the greatest writer
of ancient Greek comedy. In his play Birds (414 BC),
Aristophanes' central character Peisthetaerus ("Trusty") is
so appalled by the Athenian bureaucracy that he persuades
the birds to join him in building a new city. This city, Cloudcuckooland,
is suspended between heaven and Earth. After Cloudcuckooland
is built, Peisthetaerus and the birds must fend off the unwanted
humans who want to join them in their Utopia. By play's
end, Peisthetaerus and the birds have even starved the Olympian
gods into cooperating with them. |
| Aristotle |
Greek philosopher and
scientist. Aristotle (384-322 BC) was one of the greatest
intellectual figures of the ancient world. More than any other
thinker, he determined the orientation and content of Western
intellectual history. Indeed, until the end of the 17th
century Western culture was Aristotelian. Aristotle's two
greatest achievements lay in unrelated fields. He invented
the study of formal logic, known as Aristotelian syllogism;
and he pioneered the study of zoology. As a philosopher, his
significance is second to none. Although Aristotle was not
primarily a mathematician, his system of deductive logic also
contributed greatly to the field. |
| Armstrong, Neil |
American astronaut. Armstrong
(b. 1930) was chosen as an astronaut in 1962. In March 1966
on Gemini VIII, Armstrong and "Dave" Scott rendezvoused with
a pilotless Agena rocket to complete the first manual space-docking
maneuver. But his pivotal moment was yet to come. On July
16, 1969, Armstrong, Ed Aldrin, and Michael Collins
lifted off in Apollo 11 for the Moon. Four days later, the
"Eagle" (the lunar module) had landed. At 10:56 p.m. EDT,
Armstrong stepped from the lunar lander on to the lunar surface
and, as the first human to set foot there, said, "That's one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong
left NASA in 1970. Education: BS in aeronautical engineering;
MS in aerospace engineering, several honorary doctorates. |
| Artemis |
Greek goddess. Also known
as Phoebe, "the bright one." Artemis is sometimes mistaken for
the Roman Diana. Daughter of Zeus and Leto; sister to Apollo.
She is a friend to humans as well as to animals, and
she is reputed to dance in silver sandals through the countryside
to give protection to wild beasts, particularly the young.
She rides a silver chariot across the heavens, shooting silver
moonlight arrows to the Earth below. Yet although friendly
to humans, Artemis will punish and kill as her father, Zeus,
dictates her to do. |
| ASI |
See Italian Space
Agency. |
| Asimov, Isaac |
American author and biochemist.
Asimov (1920-92), during his lifetime, was a highly successful
science-fiction writer. He published about 500 volumes and
is probably best known for his Foundation trilogy (1951-53)
and for his short-story collection I, Robot (1950)
in which he developed a set of ethics for robots. Asimov received
a doctorate in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1948.
He later joined the faculty of Boston University, with which
he remained associated for the remainder of his life. Among
his books on science are Inside the Atom (1956), The
Human Brain (1964), The Neutrino (1966), and Our
World in Space (1974). |
| Al-Sufi |
Islamic astronomer. Al-Sufi
(in full, Abd al-Rahman Al-Sufi; also Azophi) (903-986) was
an outstanding practitioner of astronomy in the Middle Ages.
He was the first to describe the nebula in Andromeda. He also
recorded and named a southern group of stars al-Baqar al-Abyad
(the White Bull); today that group is known as Nubecula Major
(the greater Magellanic Cloud). Al-Sufi's The Book of Fixed
Stars (Kitab al-Kawatib al-Thabit al-Musawwar) is still
considered important for the study of the proper motions and long
period variables of stars. |
| Atlantis |
Space shuttle. Named
for the two-masted sailing ship that performed research for
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (1930-66), studying
the oceans. More familiarly, Atlantis was an island in the
Atlantic Ocean, lying west of the Straits of Gibraltar. The
principal sources for its legend are two of Plato's
dialogues, "Timaeus" and "Critias." Though Atlantis is probably
only a legend, medieval European writers who had been told the
tale by Islamic geographers believed it to be true, and later
writers have tried to identify it with an actual country. |
| atomic clock |
A clock that uses the
resonance frequencies of atoms to keep time with extreme accuracy. The
electronic components of an atomic clock are regulated by
the frequency of microwave electromagnetic radiation that
is emitted or absorbed by the quantum transition (energy change)
of an atom or a molecule. In atomic clocks, quantum transitions
produce extremely regular waves of electromagnetic radiation. |
| auxin |
Any of a group of hormones
that regulates plant growth. Auxins especially stimulate cell
elongation in stems and inhibiting in roots. |
| avionics |
Development and production
of electronic instruments for use in aviation and astronautics. |
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| Baikonur Cosmodrome |
Russia's largest cosmodrome
and the only one used for crewed launches. Baikonur Cosmodrome
has facilities sufficient to support the Proton, N1,
and Energia launch vehicles. The designations NIIP-5
and GIK-5 are used in official Soviet histories when referring
to Baikonur. It was also referred to as Tyuratam by both Soviet
military staff and engineers and by US intelligence agencies.
Baikonur Cosmodrome-which since the breakup of the Soviet
Union is actually on foreign (i.e., non-Russian) soil-extends
85 km from north to south and 125 km from east to west; a
territory as large as Moldova. As well as dozens of launch
pads, Baikonur hosts five tracking control centers, nine tracking
stations, and a 1,500-km rocket test range. |
| baroreceptor |
Neural receptor (as of
the arterial walls) that is sensitive to changes. |
| Barry, Daniel T. |
American astronaut. Dr. Barry (b. 1953)
was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1992. He flew
on STS-72 (1996) and STS-96 (1999) and has logged in excess
of 449 hours in space, including two spacewalks totaling 14
hours and 8 minutes. His next flight assignment will be STS-105,
scheduled for 2001. Education: BS in electrical engineering,
master of engineering degree, MA in electrical engineering/computer
science, PhD in electrical engineering/computer science, MD. |
| Baruch, Bernard |
American financier. Baruch
(1870-1965) advised all US Presidents from Woodrow Wilson
to Franklin Roosevelt on financial matters. During World War
II, Baruch was an expert in wartime economic mobilization,
on which he advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After
World War II, he played an instrumental role at the United
Nations in formulating policy on the international control
of atomic energy. It was to Baruch the designation "elder
statesman" was applied more than to any other American of
his time. |
| basalt |
Extrusive igneous rock. Basalt
is low in silica (45 to 54%), dark in color, and comparatively
rich in iron and magnesium. An eruption of basaltic magma
is generally quiet and produces flows (both vesicular
and non-vesicular) as well as breccias. |
| Beagle 2 |
Mars Express lander. Named after
the ship in which Charles Darwin sailed in 1831 to
explore uncharted areas of the Earth. Beagle 2's aim is to
settle the question of whether life exists-or ever existed-on
Mars. Beagle 2 will leave the Mars Express late in 2003 and
will drop towards Mars, pulled "marsward" by the Red Planet's
gravity. |
| Bean, Alan |
American astronaut. Bean (b. 1932) became
an astronaut in 1963. He took part in the Apollo 12 mission,
during which he and crewmate "Pete" Conrad spent 31
hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface. Bean also commanded
the Skylab 3 mission (1973), the second crew to occupy
America's first orbiting space station. Bean retired from
NASA in 1981. He then became an artist, creating paintings
that show what he and the other astronauts observed on their
Moon walks. Education: BS in aeronautical engineering, two honorary
doctorates. |
| Berlin Blockade |
International crisis that arose when
the USSR attempted to force the Western allies (the US, France,
and Britain) to abandon their post-World War II jurisdictions
in West Berlin. (Following World War II, Berlin was divided
into four zones, with one each ascribed to the Soviets, the
Americans, the French, and the British.) In March 1948, the
Western allies united their different zones into one. Following
this, Soviet occupation forces in eastern Germany blockaded
all rail, road, and water communications between Berlin and
the west. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet government announced
an end to the four-power administration of Berlin and stated
that the Allies on longer had rights there. On June 26, the
US and Britain began to supply Berlin with food and other
vital supplies by air (the Berlin Airlift). The airlift kept
life going in West Berlin for 11 months until, on May 12,
1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade. This end to the blockage
was affected because of countermeasures imposed on East German
communications by the Allies and because of a Western
embargo placed on strategic exports from the Eastern bloc. |
| Bernal, J. D. |
Irish-born physicist and X-ray crystallographer.
J(ohn) D(esmond) Bernal (1901-71) is known for his studies
of the atomic structures of solid structures. He was professor
of physics (1938-63) and of crystallography (1963-68) at the
University of London. Bernal also conducted research into
molecular biology, the origin of life, and the structure and
composition of the Earth's crust. |
| Betsiboka |
River in Madagascar.
The Betsiboka, the Onilahy, the Mangoky, and the Tsiribihina
cross the western side of the Madagascar plateau. |
| Bevis, John |
English physician and amateur astronomer.
Bevis erected a private observatory at Stoke Newington
on the outskirts of London in 1738. It was from here that
he may have observed Uranus. His intended project, however,
was to compile a star arias that would contain more stars
and be more exact than Johann Bayer's Uranometria (1603).
The final product was to be the Uranographia Britannica,
an atlas of 51 charts accompanied by a catalog of star positions.
Unfortunately, the Uranographia was never published.
Beavis' publisher went bankrupt in 1750. Undeterred, Beavis
continued with his work until his death on November 6, 1771,
after falling from his telescope platform while taking measurements
of the Sun's meridian altitude. |
| biotechnology |
Application to industry of advances
made in the techniques and instruments of research in the
biological sciences. |
| Blaha, John |
American astronaut. Blaha (b. 1942)
became an astronaut in 1980. He piloted STS-33 and STS-29,
commanded STS-58 and STS-43, served on Mir-22 as board engineer
2, and was a mission specialist on STS-79 and STS-81. Blaha
left NASA in 1997. Education: BS in engineering science, MS
in aeronautical engineering. |
| blue Moon |
Author Philip Hiscock, in a Sky &
Telescope magazine article (March 1999), attempts to trace
the origins of the phrase "blue Moon." He argues, convincingly,
that it is not old folklore but "popular" folklore. There
have been times in history when the Moon actually seemed to
turn blue. After Krakatoa exploded (1883), because of the
dust it threw up, the Moon as viewed through the Earth's atmosphere
appeared blue for 2 years afterwards. In 1927, when the Indian
monsoons were late, enough dust was generated to make the
Moon appear blue again. And finally in 1951, when forest fires
were burning out of control in western Canada, their smoke
made the Moon, as seen from northeastern North America, appear
blue. Perhaps the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in their Glossary
of Terms - Space Science, puts it best when they define
a blue Moon as the "occasional blue color seen in the [Moon]
due to the Earth's atmosphere." |
| Boeing Corporation |
American corporation. Boeing was the
world's largest producer of commercial aircraft in the
second half of the 20th century. Originally incorporated
as Pacific Aero Products Company (1916), Boeing, after two
other incarnations, assumed its current name in 1961. The
company pioneered the development of single-wing airplanes
in the 1930's and also developed bomber aircraft-i.e., the
B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-29 Superfortress-which played
prominent roles in World War II. It produced America's first
jet airliner in 1954/55, the Boeing 707, and has since gone
from success to success. With its purchase, in 1996, of the
aerospace and defense electronics businesses of Rockwell International
Corporation and its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corporation
in 1997, Boeing is the only American competitor in the manufacture
of commercial airliners. |
| Boeing, William E. |
American industrialist and founder of
Boeing Corporation. Boeing (1881-1956) founded his company
a few months after he and a Navy officer, G. Conrad Westerveldt,
developed the "B&W" seaplane-a two-seated aircraft with
twin floats. |
| Bonestell, Chesley |
Father of modern space art. The career
of Bonestell (1888-1986) spans almost a century, from his
early architectural work on the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco, California, and the Chrysler Building in Chicago,
Illinois, to his seminal contributions to the nascent American
space program (1944-86). It was Bonestell's artwork in Collier's
magazine that did much to foster the American public's awakening
to the possibilities of spaceflight. |
| Bova, Ben |
Scientist, futurist,
and nonfiction and science-fiction author. Bova started writing
fiction in the late 1940's and has continued doing so,
even while pursuing careers in journalism, aerospace, education,
and publishing. He has authored more than 90 futuristic novels
and nonfiction books and has taught science fiction at Harvard
University and at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.
His novels include Moonwar, Moonrise, Mars,
and Brothers, all of which combine romance, adventure,
and scientific fact to explore the impact of future technological
developments on humans. |
| Bowersox, Kenneth |
American astronaut. "Ken" Bowersox (b.
1956) is a member of the 1987 group of astronauts. A veteran
of four flights-piloting STS-50 (1992) and STS-61 (1993),
and commanding STS-73 (1995) and STS-82 (1997)-he has spent
over 50 days in space. Education: BS in aerospace engineering,
MS in mechanical engineering. |
| Bradbury, Ray |
American author. Bradbury (b. 1920)
is best known for his imaginative science-fiction short stories
and novels in which he blends social criticism with an acute
appreciation of the hazards of runaway technology. He published
his first short story "Hollerbochen's Dilemma" in Imagination!,
an amateur fan magazine. After being paid for "Pendulum,"
in Super Science Stories (1941), and "The Lake" (1942),
Bradbury found his voice. Among his better-known novels are
The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man
(1951), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), and Something Wicked
This Way Comes (1962). Bradbury has also written books
for children (Switch On the Night (1955), The Fog
Horn: A Creative Classic (1987)), poetry (When Elephants
Last in the Dooryard Bloomed (1973), When Robot Mice
and Robot Men Run 'Round in Robot Towns (1977)), and plays
(Pillar of Fire: A Drama (1972), Falling Upward
(1988)). |
| Bradley, Omar N. |
US Army officer. Bradley (1893-1981)
gained fame when he commanded the US 12th Army
Group that helped to ensure the Allied victory over Nazi Germany
in World War II. He later served as first chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1949-53. Unlike Patton,
Bradley was well liked by both officers and enlisted men in
the US Army. He was promoted to General of the Army in 1950.
Bradley published A Soldier's Story in 1951. A General's
Life (written with Clay Blair) was published posthumously
(1983). |
| Brahe, Tycho |
Danish astronomer; called 'the Noble
Dane' by Pierre Gassendi, his first biographer, and by the
first Astronomer Royal (England), John Flamsteed. Indeed although
Brahe (1546-1601) questioned the heliocentric theory put forward
by Copernicus, his contributions to astronomy were
significant nonetheless. By far his greatest contribution
came not from his ideas but from the astronomical instruments
he developed-and from the manner in which he measured and
fixed the positions of stars., producing the most accurate
data possible before the invention of the telescope. Using
Brahe's data, Kepler derived his three laws of planetary
motion. |
| Braille |
Universal form of writing used by and
for the blind. Braille consists of a code of 63 characters.
Each of these characters is made up to from one to six raised
dots arranged in a six-position matrix or cell. Braille characters
are embossed in lines on paper. They are read by passing the
fingers lightly over the manuscript. |
| Braille, Louis |
French educator. Braille (1809-52),
who was blinded at the age of three, was the man most responsible
for devising the universal system of writing that carries
his name and is used by and for the blind. His interest in
this form of writing came at school-when Capt. Charles Barbier,
a French officer, demonstrated his own form of sending coded
messages made with dots and embossed on cardboard. At the
age of 15, Braille began to develop his own system of writing,
a system on which he published treatises in 1829 and 1837. |
| brassica rapa |
Leafy vegetable. Some examples of brassica
rapa are Chinese cabbage, mizuna, tat-soi, komatsuna,
and pak choi. This vegetable is typically rich in vitamins
A and C and a good source of fiber. |
| Brazilian Space Agency |
Created on February 10, 1994. The Brazilian
Space Agency (known by its initials AEB) is a civilian
space agency, linked directly to the Office of the President
of Brazil. As such, it is in charge of overseeing Brazilian
activities in space. The AEB has given Brazil a leading role
in space in the Latin American region, and has made Brazil
into a valuable and dependable partner for cooperation
in the International Space Station. |
| breccia |
Angular fragments of material. Breccia
are usually formed by physical weathering processes or explosive
volcanic activity. |
| Brezhnev, Leonid |
Soviet statesman. Brezhnev (1906-82)
was a Communist Party official who led the Soviet Union
for 18 years. As party head, Brezhnev developed a policy known
in the West as the Brezhnev Doctrine, one which asserted the
Soviet right to intervene in cases where "the essential common
interests of other socialist countries are threatened by one
of their number." Use of this justified the joint Soviet Union-Warsaw
Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968). During the 1970's,
Brezhnev attempted to ease rising tensions with the West through
a policy known as détente (literally, to reduce strained relations),
but he also simultaneously oversaw the militarism that was
to put the Soviet Union on an even footing with the United
States militarily but on the verge of bankruptcy by the end
of the 1980's. In 1976, Brezhnev was named marshal of the
Soviet Union-the only party leader other than Stalin to be
so honored. In 1981 the Brezhnev Doctrine was again put to use-in
Poland-when the Soviet government helped to mastermind the
ultimately failed suppression of Poland's Solidarity union.
Brezhnev also attempted to neutralize increasing dissent within
the Soviet Union. Despite his increasingly frail health, he
retained his power to the end of his life. |
| British Interplanetary
Society |
Founded in 1933. The British Interplanetary
Society (BIS) is the world's longest-established organization
devoted entirely to supporting and promoting the exploration
of space and astronautics. Headquartered in London, England,
BIS is fiscally independent, has charitable status, and obtains
most of its income from its worldwide membership. |
| Brown, Curtis L. |
American astronaut. "Curt" Brown (b.
1956) was selected to be part of the 1987 NASA group of astronauts.
He has flown six times: on STS-47 (1992), STS-66 (1994), STS-77
(1996), STS-85 (1997), STS-95 (1998), and STS-103 (1999).
During these flights, he completed in excess of 57 days in
space. Education: BS in electrical engineering. |
| Burbank, Daniel |
American astronaut. Burbank (b. 1961)
was selected by NASA in 1996. He flew as a mission specialist
on STS-106 (2000), logging over 283 hours in space in the
process. Education: BS in electrical engineering, MS in aeronautical
science. |
| Burroughs, Edgar Rice |
American writer. Burroughs (1875-1950)
is probably best known as the creator of Tarzan of the
Apes (1914), a series which eventually ran to 25 books
and 25,000,000 copies worldwide. But it was Burroughs' first
published piece "Under the Moon of Mars," which appeared in
the adventure magazine All-Story (1911), that made
him turn to full-time writing. He wrote A Princess of Mars
in 1911, the first of his eleven science-fiction novels. It
was in this book that Burroughs used Schiaparelli's
names for regions on Mars and gave his Martians green skin.
During World War II, Burroughs worked for the Los Angeles
Times as the oldest war correspondent covering the Pacific
Theater. |
| Bursch, Daniel |
American astronaut. Bursch (b. 1957)
was selected by NASA in 1990. He has logged in excess of 746
hours in space, serving as a mission specialist on STS-51
(1993), STS-68 (1994), and STS-77 (1996). Bursch is slated
to be a member of the fourth Expedition crew scheduled to
live on the International Space Station. Education: BS in
physics, MS in engineering science. |
| Bykovsky, Valeri |
Soviet cosmonaut. Bykovsky (b. 1934)
was part of the joint mission-he was paired with Valentina
Tereshkova-to compare the effects of spaceflight on
male and female organisms, conduct medico-biological research,
and improve spaceship systems under joint flight. He flew
a total of three missions before leaving the cosmonaut program
in 1982. Education: Kachinsk's Myasnikov High Aviation School. |
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| Cabana, Robert D. |
American astronaut. "Bob" Cabana (b.
1949) was selected by NASA in 1985. He piloted STS-41 (1990)
and STS-53 (1992), and served as mission commander on STS-65
(1994) and STS-88 (1998)-the latter the first International
Space Station assembly mission. Education: BS in mathematics. |
| caldera |
From the Spanish word for caldron. A
caldera is a large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression. It usually
is formed by the collapse of the top of a volcanic cone or
cones that follows the removal of the support formerly furnished
by an underlying body of magma. |
| Canadian Space Agency |
Legislatively mandated by the Canadian
Space Agency Act in 1990. To date, four Canadians have flown
in space: Marc Garneau (on STS-41G, STS-77, and STS-97), Robert
Thirsk (on STS-78), David Williams (on STS-90), and Julie
Payette (STS-96). One other Canadian astronaut, Steven
MacLean, has been chosen but has not received a flight assignment
yet. Chris Hadfield is scheduled to fly on STS-100. |
| canali |
Name used by Schiaparelli for
the channels that he observed on Mars. Canali means "channels"
but was mistranslated into "canals." |
| Carrel, Alexis |
French surgeon. Carrel (1873-1944) received
the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1912) for developing
a method of suturing blood vessels. At the Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research (renamed Rockefeller University)
in New York City, Carrel examined methods of preserving living
tissues outside of a host body. In one famous case, he kept
tissue alive for more than 30 years by circulating blood through
it. During World War I, in France, Carrel helped to develop
the Carrel-Dakin method of treating wounds with antiseptic
fluids to prevent infection. In his book Man, the Unknown
(1935), Carrel espoused the controversial view that science
should be allowed to organize and improve society. During
World War II, he founded and directed the Carrel Foundation
for the Study of Human Problems under the auspices of the
Vichy French government. After the Allied liberation
of France, Carrel was charged with collaboration-a charge
that may never have been proven-but he died before he
could be tried. |
| Caspian Sea |
World's largest body of water. The Caspian
Sea is situated between Europe and Asia. |
| Carnegie, Andrew |
Scottish-born American industrialist
and philanthropist. Carnegie (1835-1919) spearheaded the great
expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th
century. He was not only a brilliant industrialist but one
of the most important philanthropists of his generation. In
his lifetime, Carnegie distributed $350M, of which $62M went
for benefactions in the British Empire and $288M for benefactions
in the United States. His main trusts were: (1) the Carnegie
Trust for the Universities of Scotland (1901), (2) the
Carnegie Dunfermline Trust (1903), (3) the Carnegie United
Kingdom Trust (1913), (4) the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh
(1896), (5) the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1902),
(6) the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1910),
and (7) the Carnegie Corporation of New York (1911).
Among Carnegie's publications are Triumphant Democracy
(1886), The Gospel of Wealth (1900), The Empire
of Business (1902), Problems of To-day (1908),
and Autobiography (1920). |
| Carnegie Mellon University |
Located in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Carnegie Mellon University includes the Carnegie
Institute of Technology, the College of Humanities and Social
Sciences, the College of Fine Arts, the Mellon College of
Science, the School of Computer Science, the H. John Heinz
III School of Public Policy and Management, and the Graduate
School of Industrial Administration. The total enrollment
is about 7,700 (2000). Its founder was Andrew Carnegie,
who donated $1M to the city of Pittsburgh in 1896 to create
a technical school. The Carnegie Institute merged with the
Mellon Institute (founded in 1913 by financier Andrew W. Mellon). |
| Carr, Gerald P. |
American astronaut. "Gerry" Carr (b.
1932) was selected by NASA for its astronaut corps in
1966. He commanded Skylab 4, the third and final visit
to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973 to
February 8, 1974. Carr left NASA in 1977. Education: BS in
mechanical engineering, BS in aeronautical engineering, MS
in aeronautical engineering, honorary doctorate. |
| Cassini, Gian Domenico |
Italian-born French astronomer. French
name Jean-Dominique Cassini (1625-1712). Cassini's early studies
were observations of the Sun, but once he obtained more powerful
telescopes, he focused on the planets. He calculated Jupiter's
rotation by observing the shadows of its satellites passing
between Jupiter and the Sun. In 1666, he made sketches of
Mars and determined a Martian day length of 24 hours, 40 minutes.
(now given as 24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.6 seconds.) The table
he compiled to position Jupiter's satellites was used by Danish
astronomer Ole Rømer (1676) to establish that the speed
of light is finite. Cassini also wrote on flood control
and experimented in applied hydraulics. |
| catena |
Chain of craters. |
| cavus |
Hollows or irregular depressions. |
| Chaffee, Roger B. |
US astronaut. Chaffee (1935-67) was
selected as an astronaut in 1963. He never flew in space,
however. This was because he was a member of the three-man
AS-204 crew that were killed when a flash fire swept their
capsule during a launch simulation (a plugs-out test) in January
1967. Chaffee died along with veteran astronauts Virgil I.
"Gus" Grissom and Edward H. "Ed" White II. These
were the first casualties of the US space program. Education:
BS in aeronautical engineering. |
| Challenger |
The second space shuttle built by NASA.
Challenger was named after an American Naval research ship
that sailed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the 1870's.
The space shuttle Challenger was lost in an explosion just
after launch in 1986. |
| Chandra |
NASA's premier X-ray observatory. Chandra
was named in honor of the late Indian- American Nobel laureate,
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995). Known popularly as
Chandra, which means "Moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit, Chandrasekhar
is widely regarded as one of the foremost astrophysicists
of the 20th century. He published The Mathematical
Theory of Black Holes in 1983, the same year he was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Physics. |
| Chang-Diaz, Franklin |
Costa Rican-born American astronaut.
Dr. Chang-Diaz was selected by NASA in 1980. He is a veteran
of six spaceflights-STS 61-C (1986), STS-34 (1989), STS-46
(1992), STS-60 (1994), STS-75 (1996), and STS-91 (1998)-and
has logged over 1,269 hours in space. Education: BS in
mechanical engineering, PhD in applied plasma physics. Dr.
Chang-Diaz's work at NASA on developing a magnetically confined,
high-temperature, plasma-driven rocket engine (the Variable
Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR)) promises
to revolutionize the future of space travel. |
| Charon |
Only known natural satellite of Pluto.
In Greek mythology, Charon was the son of Erebus and Nyx.
It was his duty to ferry over the Rivers Styx and Acheron
the souls of the dead who'd received the rites of burial.
His payment for this was a coin, which was placed in the mouth
of the corpse. He survives in modern Greek folklore as Charos
or Charontas, the angel of death. |
| chaos |
Distinctive area of broken terrain. |
| chasma |
A canyon. |
| Cheli, Maurizio |
Italian astronaut. Cheli (b. 1959) was
selected in June 1992 as part of the second group of European
Space Agency astronauts. He flew on STS-75 (1996), spending
almost 16 days in space. Education: the Italian Air Force
Academy (distinguished graduate), the Italian Air Force War
College (top graduate), Empire Test Pilot School (top graduate),
BS in geophysics, MS in aerospace engineering. |
| Chiao, Leroy |
American astronaut. Dr. Chiao (b. 1960)
was selected by NASA in 1990. A veteran of three spaceflights,
he flew as a mission specialist on STS-65 (1994), STS-72 (1996),
and STS-92 (2000). Altogether Dr. Chiao has logged 36 days,
12 hours, and 36 minutes in space, including over 26 hours
spent on spacewalks. Education: BS, MS, and PhD in chemical
engineering. |
| Chryse Planitia |
Also known as the Plains of Gold.
Named in 1973. A classical albedo feature, Chryse Planitia
measures 1,500 kilometers. |
| Clarke, Arthur C. |
British author and scientist. Clarke
(b. 1917) is credited with formulating science-fiction concepts
that have found remarkable parallels in the "real" world,
particularly in satellite communications. While serving with
the Royal Air Force in World War II, Clarke wrote "Extra-Terrestrial
Relays," an article that was published in Wireless World.
In the article he predicted a communications satellite system
that would relay radio and TV signals worldwide. Twenty years
later Clarke's prediction became a fact when the Early Bird
synchronous satellites were launched. Popularly Clarke is
better known for his novels Earthlight (1955) and A
Fall of Moondust (1961) and for "The Sentinel," a short
story that is the basis for the science-fiction film
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). |
| clastic |
Broken and fragmented. |
| Clavius |
Lunar crater. Clavius was named for
Christopher Klau, a German mathematician. |
| Clementine |
American spacecraft. The principal objective
of Clementine, the Deep Space Program Science Experiment,
was to space-qualify lightweight imaging sensors and component
technologies for the next generation of Department of Defense
spacecraft. Intended targets for its sensors included the
Moon, Geographos (a near-Earth asteroid), and the spacecraft's
own inter-stage adapter. After entering lunar orbit in 1994,
Clementine provided more than 1.8M images of the lunar surface.
After completing its mapping, the spacecraft left lunar
orbit for a planned encounter with Geographos but was unable
to rendezvous because of a spacecraft anomaly. |
| clerestory |
Part of a building. A clerestory has
walls that rise higher than the roof of adjoining parts of
the building. Pierced by windows, it is chiefly a device to
obtain extra light. There is one theory that the interiors
of Greek temples were lighted by a clerestory, not unlike
the form found in Egyptian temples, that had been changed
from the Egyptian style to adapt to a sloping instead of a
flat roof. Thus, three ridges were built in those parts where
light was admitted, although the regular shape of the roof
was retained between openings. It is certain that the basic
form appears in some Egyptian temples, as at Karnak, and was
later used in the great halls of Roman basilicas. Clerestories
are a characteristic of medieval churches and reached their
zenith in the churches of the Gothic period. |
| Cold War |
The open rivalry that developed after
World War II between the US and the USSR and their respective
allies. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and
propaganda fronts with only limited recourse to weapons. The
Cold War-a term coined by Bernard Baruch during a Congressional
debate in 1947-reached its peak in 1948-53 with the Berlin
Blockade (1948-49); the testing of the first Soviet atomic
warhead (1949); the Chinese Communists coming to power in
mainland China (1949); and the invasion of US-supported South
Korea by the Soviet-supported Communist government of North
Korea (1950), which triggered the Korean War (1950-53).
After the death of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1953),
the Cold War warmed slightly until the Soviets, in 1962, began
secretly installing missiles in Cuba that could be used to
launch nuclear attacks on US cities. This sparked the Cuban
missile crisis, a confrontation which brought America and
the Soviet Union to the brink of war. Tensions eased somewhat
in the 1970's. By the 1980's, the Cold War was drawing to
a close. Under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, totalitarian
aspects of the Soviet system were dismantled and the Soviet
political system began to be democratized. The Communist regimes
in the Soviet-bloc Eastern European countries fell in 1989-90.
In 1991, the Soviet Union itself collapsed, effectively ending
the Cold War. |
| Cole, Dandridge |
American science-fiction writer. Cole
started out to be a medical student before he became an aerospace
engineer and a teacher. He authored Beyond Tomorrow: The
Next 50 Years in Space (1965), in which he proposed various
space projects and cryogenics, and co-authored (with Donald
Cox) Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids
(1964), one of the first modern books to detail the asteroids
and to propose ways of making them habitable so they might
serve as interstellar arks for humankind. |
| Coleman, Catherine |
American astronaut. Dr. "Cady" Coleman
(b. 1960) was selected by NASA in 1992. She has logged over
500 hours in space, serving as a mission specialist on STS-73
(1995) and STS-93 (1999). Education: BS in chemistry, PhD
in polymer science and engineering. |
| colles |
Small hill or knob. |
| Collins, Michael |
American astronaut. Collins (b. 1930)
was selected as an astronaut for the 1963 NASA group. He flew
twice. In his first spaceflight, Gemini X, Collins took part
in several brief spacewalks. The most exciting of these followed
the Gemini X spacecraft's successful docking with an Agena,
when Collins performed an EVA to an Agena in order to retrieve
a micrometeorite package that had been left in space for several
months. On his first try, Collins lost his grip and tumbled
head over heels at the end of the umbilical around the Gemini.
He successfully retrieved the package on his second try. His
second spaceflight was no less eventful, when he acted as
pilot of the command service module on Apollo 11-the flight
that witnessed humans first setting foot on the Moon. Collins
left NASA in 1970. Education: BS from the US Military
Academy, Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. |
| Columbia |
NASA's first space shuttle. Columbia
was named after a sailing vessel that explored the Columbia
River in 1972. It was also the name of one of the first US
Navy ships to travel all the way round the world. |
| Combitherm® |
A co-extruded, nylon-based, cook-in
film available in North America from Wolff Walsrode, a unit
of Bayer Corporation. Combitherm® is an extremely
transparent film that has a cold-forming capability, a high
gloss, and an improved oxygen barrier. It is durable and adhesive,
and it forms tight seals. It features an outer layer of polyamide
and an inner layer of DuPont Surlyn® resin, which
provides the film with strong, tight seals for long shelf
live. Currently in the United States, Combitherm®
is being used as a packaging cure for ham that has been cooked
and is being displayed in the same overwrap. |
| cone |
Deposit around a volcanic vent. A cone
is formed by pyroclastic rock fragments or cinders
that accumulate and gradually build a conical hill with a
bowl-shaped crater at the top. Cones develop from explosive
eruptions of mafic and intermediate lavas. They are
often found along the flanks of shield volcanoes. |
| Conrad, Charles |
American astronaut. "Pete" Conrad (1930-99)
was selected as an astronaut in 1962. He flew on Gemini V
and commanded Gemini XI. He then served as commander of Apollo
12, the second lunar landing. Finally, he commanded Skylab
II (May 25 - June 22, 1973), the first crewed mission to America's
first space station. Conrad retired from NASA in 1973 and
died on July 8, 1999, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle
accident in Ojai, California. Education: BS in aeronautical
engineering, honorary MA, honorary LLD, honorary PhD in science. |
| Conrad, Joseph |
English novelist and short-story writer.
Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzenioswski, Conrad (1857-1924)
is best known for his novels Lord Jim (1900) and The
Secret Agent (1907) and his short story "Heart of Darkness"
(1902). In many of Conrad's works, his focus is on man's isolation
and on man's concentration on tragedy. His is a pessimistic
view in which in every man's idealism is found the seeds of
his corruption. Even honorable men are unable to withstand
the assaults of evil. Because of this powerful personal vision,
Conrad is regarded as one of the masters of the English novel-indeed
as one of the first modern novelists in the English language
and on a par with his American contemporary and collaborator
(on The Inheritors (1901) and Romance (1903))
Ford Maddox Ford. |
| Cook, James |
English explorer. Cook (1728-79) made
three voyages. His first, in 1769, was funded by King George
III during which Cook and his crew of the H.M. Bark Endeavour
observed the transit of Venus across the Sun's disk and explored
the South Seas. The voyage met with tremendous success-for
not only did Cook sail around Tahiti, he also discovered New
Zealand, mapped Australia, and sailed around the Great Barrier
Reef-and was followed by a second voyage from 1772-75. On
this, Cook set out to find the southern continent. Although
he reached the Antarctic Circle, he never sighted the continent
of Antarctica. Cook's third and final voyage was intended
to find the fabled Northwest Passage. In 1778, Cook sighted
the Hawaiian Islands for the first time. It was on his third visit
to Hawaii that Cook, was killed on the beach at Kealakekua
by natives, the result of a brief fracas over the theft of
a cutter. Despite this end, Cook's contributions were significant.
He was the first explorer to map the coastline of Australia.
He charted much of the Pacific Ocean and discovered several
island groups. He used a chronometer to chart his exact position
on the globe. He was one of the first sea captains to discover
a cure for scurvy. And, he sailed farther south than
any explorer before him. |
| Copernicus, Nicolaus |
Polish astronomer and mathematician.
Born Mikolaj Kopernik, Copernicus (1473-1543) wrote a short
account of a heliocentric cosmology. The Copernican
system refutes the Ptolemaic system of the universe,
in which the Sun, not the Earth, is at rest in the center
of the universe and the other heavenly bodies (planets and
stars) revolve around the Sun in circular orbits. A full account
of his theory-On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
(De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium)-was published
in 1543, the year of his death. Copernicus' revolutionary
ideas affected such major thinkers as Galileo, Descartes,
Kepler, and Newton. |
| cosmology |
Branch of metaphysics that deals with
the nature of the universe. Cosmology can be broadly
divided into three great ages. The first began in the 6th
century BC with the Pythagorean concept of a spherical
Earth that is part of a universe in which the motions of the
planets are governed by the harmonious relations of natural
laws. The second began in the 16th century with
the Copernican revolution. This in turn led into Newton's
infinite universe. The third began in the early 20th
century with Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity
and developed into the expanding universe we know today. |
| Crab Nebula |
Probably the most intensely studied
bright nebula in the galaxy. The Crab is found in the constellation
Taurus, which is about 5,000 light-years from Earth. It is
assumed to be the remnant of a supernova observed first on
July 4, 1054. This supernova, reported by many Chinese astronomers,
was visible in daylight for 23 days and at night for almost
2 years. The Western "discovery" of the Crab is attributed
to the English physician and amateur astronomer John Bevis
in about 1731. It is one of the few astronomical objects from
which radiation has been detected over the entire measurable
spectrum-from radio waves through infrared and visible wavelengths
to ultraviolet and X rays. |
| Crippen, Robert |
American astronaut. "Bob" Crippen (b.
1937) became an astronaut in 1969. On April 12, 1981,
the first space shuttle, Columbia, crewed by Crippen
and John W. Young, was launched. Crippen later commanded
the second flight of the shuttle Challenger, the first
flight of a US woman in space (Sally K. Ride). Crippen retired
from NASA in 1991. Education: BS in aerospace engineering. |
| Cuban missile crisis |
Conflict that brought the United States
and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. The Cuban missile
crisis (1960) was precipitated when the US government learned
that the Soviet government had plans to place nuclear weapons
in Cuba after, in May 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev
had promised to protect Cuba. But, Kruschev misjudged the
American government's reaction to the presence of nuclear
missiles so near to its own shores. After much saber rattling,
Kruschev, rather than then-President Kennedy, was the
one who blinked. The crisis was over by November 1960. It
left Cuban leader Fidel Castro feeling angry and betrayed
and the world little better for it. In retrospect, the Cuban
missile crisis marked the nearest the world has come to global
nuclear war. Moreover, Kruschev's failure in Cuba may well
have precipitated his own fall from power and certainly enhanced
the Soviet determination to achieve at least nuclear parity with
America. |
| Culbertson, Frank |
American astronaut. Culbertson (b. 1949)
was chosen as a NASA astronaut candidate in 1984. He piloted
STS-38 (1990) and STS-51 (1993). Culbertson is currently training
to command the Expedition Three crew on a future mission of
the International Space Station. Education: BS in aerospace
engineering. |
| Curie, Marie |
Born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland.
Curie (1867-1934) gained fame for her research into radioactivity
and was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. This
Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded jointly to Madame Curie
and her husband Pierre in 1903 for their discovery of radium
and polonium. In 1911, Madame Curie was awarded a Nobel
Prize for Chemistry for isolating radium and studying its
chemical properties. She was also the first woman to teach
at the Sorbonne in France. Her work paved the way for Sir
James Chadwick's discovery of the neutron (1932) and for Marie
Curie's daughter Irène and Irène's husband Frédéric Joliot's
discovery of artificial radioactivity (1934). |
| Currie, Nancy |
American astronaut. Dr. Currie (b. 1958)
was chosen as an astronaut in 1990. A veteran of three spaceflights,
she was a mission specialist on STS-57 (1993), STS-70 (1995),
and STS-88 (1998). Education: BA in biological science, MS
in safety, PhD in industrial engineering. |
| Cydonia |
Albedo feature. Named in 1958.
Cydonia is the poetic term for Crete. |
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| Dakin, Henry |
English chemist. Dakin together with
French surgeon Alexis Carrel developed during World
War I an antiseptic solution to treat infected wounds that
contained sodium hypochlorite. It was Dakin who formulated
and tested over 200 antiseptic solutions for wound irrigation,
finally settling on sodium hypochlorite-which retained its
germicidal qualities but lost its irritating tendency. Carrel
worked out the method for applying this agent to serious wounds
(1915). This solution is still the standard for wound irrigation. |
| Darwin, Charles |
British naturalist. Darwin (1809-82)
in his two major works-On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of
Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1879)-propounded
evolutionary theories that profoundly affected subsequent
scientific thought. In August 1831, Darwin was invited to
sail, as an unpaid naturalist, on HMS Beagle. During
the Beagle's 5-year voyage, the east and west coasts
of South America and various Pacific islands were surveyed.
Darwin kept meticulous notes and collected numerous biological
and geological samples. Observations made during this voyage,
and particularly on the Galápagos Islands, formed the basis
of his theory of evolution. |
| dark matter |
Hypothetical matter. Dark matter is
postulated to exist in vast quantities in the universe. It is
difficult to detect, however, because it is either non-luminous
or has a very low luminosity. It is thought to exist because
of its gravitational effect on the universe, particularly
on galaxies and galaxy clusters. There are two sub-classifications
of dark matter: cold dark matter and hot dark matter. Cold
dark matter consists of weakly interacting massive particles
that have relatively large masses, travel relatively slowly,
and interact weakly with baryonic material. Hot dark matter-which
consists of particles such as neutrinos-travels at,
or very near, the speed of light. |
| da Vinci, Leonardo |
Italian painter, sculptor, architect,
draftsman, and engineer. Da Vinci (1452-1519) epitomized the
Renaissance humanist ideal. His notebooks especially reveal
a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness
that marked him out as being a man far in advance of his time.
His paintings "Last Supper" (1495-97) and "Mona Lisa" (1503-06)
are probably his best-known artistic works. But, da Vinci
is equally well known for his anatomical studies and drawings,
and for his sketches of flying apparatus inspired by studies
of the flight of birds. He also did practical work in anatomy,
dissecting 30 corpses in his lifetime. This experience da
Vinci turned into anatomical drawings that are among
the greatest scientific achievement of his day. |
| Davis, Donald R. |
American astronomer. Dr. Davis is a
senior scientist and Planetary Science Institute Division
Manager in California. He conducts hypervelocity impact experiments
using the NASA Ames Research Center vertical gun range
and applies dynamical theory and computational modeling to
study planetesimal accretion and the collisional history of
asteroids, satellites, and particles in planetary rings. Asteroid
number 3638 was renamed in honor of Dr. Davis. |
| Davis, Nancy Jan |
American astronaut. Dr. "Jan" Davis
(b. 1953) was chosen as part of the 1987 NASA astronaut group.
She is a veteran of three spaceflights-STS-47 (1992), STS-60
(1994), and STS-85 (1997)-and has spent slightly more than
28 days total in space. Dr. Davis is married to fellow
astronaut Mark Lee. Education: BS in applied biology,
BS in mechanical engineering, MS and PhD in mechanical engineering. |
| Deimos |
Martian moon. Deimos is the son of Ares
and Aphrodite. The name means rout. |
| Delta Clipper |
Built by McDonnell Douglas between 1991
and 1993. The Delta Clipper was intended as a one-third scale
model of a proposed single-stage launch vehicle. |
| Descartes, René |
French mathematician, scientist, and
philosopher. Descartes (1596-1650), who was one of the
first to oppose scholastic Aristotelianism, has been
called the father of modern philosophy. He began by doubting
knowledge based on authority, the senses, and reason before
he found his certainty in the famous dictum: Cogito, ergo
sum (I think, therefore I am"). This was Descartes' proof
of an external world and refutation of the claims of other
philosophers that life was dreaming. Moreover he rejected
the Christian-centrist view that human are essentially miserable
and sinful. Instead he saw humans as having a reason that
could understand the cosmos and promote their own happiness. |
| Dezhurov, Vladimir |
Russian cosmonaut. Dezhurov (b. 1962)
commanded the Mir-18 mission during which he spent
115 days on the Russian space station. He is assigned to the
Expedition Three crew for the International Space Station.
Education: Flight engineer's diploma from the S. I. Gritsevits
Khalikov Higher Military Aviation School. |
| diabetes |
Properly diabetes mellitus. Diabetes
is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism that results from
insufficient production of or reduced sensitivity to insulin.
There are two varieties: (1) Type I, insulin-dependent diabetes
mellitus for which insulin injection is required; and (2)
Type II, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, formerly
called adult onset diabetes for which dietary changes often
suffice. Before the isolation of insulin in the 1920's, most
patients died within a short time after onset of Type I diabetes
mellitus. |
| Discovery |
Space shuttle; named for two sailing
ships. The first Discovery was piloted by Captain Henry
Hudson (1610-11) in his search for a Northeast Passage.
The second Discovery was sailed by Captain James Cook
on his final voyage to the Pacific Ocean in search of a Northeast
or Northwest Passage. |
| Disney, Walter E. |
American motion-picture and television
producer. "Walt" Disney (1901-66) became famous as a pioneer
in animated films and for creating the cartoon characters
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland,
an amusement park-and the first of its kind-that opened in
Anaheim, California, in 1955. Among his better-known animated
films are: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937),
Fantasia (1940), Pinocchio (1940), Alice
In Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), and 101
Dalmatians (1961). Mary Poppins (1964) was his
benchmark for combined live/animation filming. On television
Disney, in the 1950's, created the children's series Zorro
and Davy Crockett as well as Walt Disney's Wonderful
World of Color, which, under differing names, remains
a television institution. |
| DLR |
Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
(DLR); the German Space Agency. As a partner in the European
Space Agency, DLR is a participant in the International
Space Station. |
| Donatello |
Italian artist and sculptor. Donatello
(1386-1466) (a diminutive of Donnato) was one of the
greatest of Italian Renaissance artists and a master sculptor
in both bronze and marble. He was the son of Niccolò di Betto
Bardi, a Florentine wool carder. Donatello is best known
for his bronze of "David," the first large-scale, freestanding
nude statue of the Renaissance. |
| dorsum |
A ridge. |
| Dryden, Hugh L. |
NASA Deputy Administrator (1958-65).
Dr. Dryden (1889-1965) was Director of the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA, from
1947 until the creation of NASA in 1958. The Dryden Flight
Research Center in Edwards, California, was named in his honor. |
| Duke, Jr., Charles M. |
American astronaut. "Charlie" Duke (b.
1935) was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1966. He was
lunar module pilot on Apollo 16. Duke retired from the astronaut
program in 1976. Education: BS in naval sciences, MS in aeronautics,
honorary PhD. |
| Dynasoar |
A single-piloted space plane that many
rank as a glorious failure. The X-20 Dynasoar (dynamic soaring)
evolved from the German Sanger-Bredt Silverbird intercontinental
skip-glide rocket bomber. But, the X-20 Dynasoar never really
got off the ground. It went through numerous confusing incarnations
and changes in purpose (was it to be a crewed space bomber,
a reconnaissance platform, a high-speed test vehicle?). The
program was cancelled in December 1963. However, the United
States Air Force continued pursuing development of crewed
space planes throughout the 1960's and into the mid-1970's.
At day's end, President Nixon pressured the Air Force
into accepting participation in the Space Shuttle Program
in lieu of developing their own separate plans. |
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| Earhart, Amelia |
One of the world's most celebrated aviators.
In 1928, Earhart (1897-1937?) was the first woman to fly across
the Atlantic Ocean as a passenger. This brought her much renown,
which she justified by flying alone from Newfoundland to Ireland
on May 20-21, 1932. This flight, in a Lockheed Vega, was completed
in the then-record time of 14 hours 56 minutes. In January
1935, she flew solo from Hawaii to California-a longer distance
than from the United States to Europe. In 1937, Earhart set
out to fly round the world in a twin-engine Lockheed
Electra, with Fred Noonan as her navigator. After completing
more than two-thirds of the required distance, her plane vanished
in the central Pacif | | |
