FEBRUARY 2015

TOP STORIES

SUKHBIR GARHA

CHRIS HADFIELD:
THE LIFE OF AN
ASTRONAUT
PAGE 1-2

ISS: A TECHNOLOGICAL
AND SCIENTIFIC
ADVANCEMENT
PAGE 2-3

GAS GIANTS + EARTH: FIVE

ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
PAGE 3-4

SPACE NEWS
Chris Hadfield: The Life of an Astronaut
Chris Hadfield was born on August 29, 1959, on a corn farm
in Sarnia, Ontario and was raised in Milton, Ontario, to parents
Roger and Eleanor Hadfield. Hadfield spent his school years at
White Oaks Secondary School before attending Milton District High
School for his Ontario Academic Credit, otherwise known as Grade
13. He graduated from Milton District High School as an Ontario
Scholar in 1977. After graduating from high school in 1978, he joined
the Canadian Armed Forces the same year, and he spent two years at
Royal Roads Military College, then another two years at Royal
Military College. In 1982 at Royal Military College, he received a
bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Also in 1982, Hadfield
conducted post-graduate research at the University of Waterloo.
His interest and inspiration in flying and in being an
CSA astronaut Chris
astronaut, started at the age of nine, when he saw the Apollo 11
Hadfield, attired in a training
moon landing on television. His interest in flying supported his
version of his Extravehicular
growing experience, as the years passed. As a member of the Royal
Canadian Air Cadets, he earned a glider pilot scolarship at age 15
Mobility Unit (EMU)
and a powered pilot scolarship at age 16. Hadfield was named top
spacesuit.
pilot in 1980 when he underwent basic flight training in Portage La
Prairie, Manitoba, and he was named top graduate from Basic Jet
Training in Saskatchewan, in 1983. He also trained as a fighter pilot from 1984 to 1985, in Alberta.
Hadfield received a Master of Science in aviation at the University of Tennessee, in 1992.

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Hadfield became the first Canadian mission specialist, the first Canadian to operate the
Canadarm in orbit, and the only Canadian to ever board Mir, a Russian space
station, on STS-74, his first spaceflight. He installed the newly Canadian-built
Canadarm2 and performed two spacewalks, making him the first Canadian to
ever leave a spacecraft and float freely in space, on mission STS-100, his
second spaceflight. On December 19, 2012, Hadfield launched aboard the
Russian Soyuz, enroute to becoming the second Canadian to take part in a
long duration spaceflight aboard the ISS, on Expedition 34, in December 2012.
He became the first Canadian commander of the ISS, during Expedition 35, for
his five-month stay in space, in March 2013.
Using social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, Hadfield
posted tweets, photos, videos and even songs, as well as answered questions,
which educated and inspired millions of people and helped them understand
more about space, in Expedition 35, aboard the ISS. His significance comes
from the inspiration and education he has created, on Earth. Hadfield is now
retired and married to Helene Hadfield, (ne Walter,) and has three
children.

Insignia of mission
STS-74 and STS-100.

ISS: A Technological and Scientific

Advancement
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in
low Earth orbit. It is a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew
members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics,
astronomy, and many other fields. The station is also suited for the
testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions
to the Moon and Mars. The ISS completes 15.54 orbits per day,
therefore it completes a full orbit around Earth about every 90
minutes, and it maintains an orbit inclination of 51 degrees with
an altitude of between 330 and 435 km, and travels at a speed of
28163.52 kph. It weighs 990,000 pounds in space, while its weight
The International Space Station
on Earth is a million pounds. The ISS measures 72.8 metres in
length, 108.5 metres in width, and 20 metres in height. NASA is
on 23 May 2010 as seen from
using the ISS to learn more about living and working in space
the departing Space Shuttle
environments.
Atlantis during STS-132.
The construction/launch of the ISS began on 20 November
1998, when the Roscosmos-developed Zarya, was launched aboard
rocket Proton-K. Since then, the construction has begun and is still
ongoing today. The International Space Station consists of pressurised
modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. There are
14 pressurised modules currently installed on the ISS: Zarya, Unity,

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Official logo of the

International Space
Station.

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Zvezda, Destiny, Quest, Pirs, Poisk, Harmony, Tranquility, Columbus, Kibo,

Cupola, Rassvet, and Leonardo, as well as 12 external trusses: the S5, S6, S3,
S4, S1, Z1, S0, P1, P3, P4, P5, and P6 trusses. The main source of energy for the
ISS come from its four sets of solar arrays, otherwise known as Solar Array
Wings (SAW), with each set installed on an external truss. The International
Space Station also consists of many unpressurised elements other than
external trusses, such as three External Stowage Platforms, four ExPRESS
Logistics Carriers, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and the Canadarm2.
In the future, more components will be installed on the ISS, these include:
Nauka, the European Robotic Arm, the Uzlovoy Module, and the Bigelow
Expandable Activity Module. The components of the ISS were built by five space
agencies, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA),
the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Russian Federal Space
Agency (Roscosmos), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA).
The laboratories of the International Space Station allows research to
be done in a non-gravity environment, unlike any other research done
anywhere else. The ISS is one of the first habitable space stations, with
humans having an ongoing presence in space, longer than any other space
station. This allows space agencies to learn more about living and working in
space environments, which would be crucial in future beyond-Earth
exploration missions. The ISS is one of the the longest space stations that
The three U.S. nodes currently
stayed in space, which also allows us to learn more about maintenance for
installed on the ISS: Unity,
space stations and develop technologies to make maintenance of the space
Harmony, and Tranquility.
stations far easier, for example, the Canadarm2. This is also beneficial for
future missions. The technology developed and the research conducted on
the ISS, as well as its environment, promotes projects/activities to help
solve rising global problems on Earth, such as child obesity or coral reef
destruction. The ISS is a global observation and diagnosis station, where
Earth observations conducted on the ISS, are aimed at the understanding
and resolving environmental issues, using its advantage of being above the
Earth. ISSAC, or the International Space Station Agricultural Camera,
collects multispectral data by taking high-quality photos which are sent to
farmers and it collects imagery of changing environmental processes around
the planet, and helps monitor natural disasters, around the globe.
The ongoing presence of humans on the International Space
Station provides a foundation of numerous educational activities such as
ARISS, or Amateur Radio on International Space Station, EarthKAM,
or Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students, and Take your
Classroom into Space. These are educational activities aimed at
capturing the interest and motivating the study of science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics. The EarthKAM is a camera which takes
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International Space Station

Agricultural Camera (ISSAC)
logo.

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high-quality pictures of specific student-requested locations from space,

of the Earth, which allows for students to see the Earth from a birds-eye
view. The Take Your Classroom into Space is a program where
European educators/students are invited to propose new ideas for
experiments, taking in the advantage of the non-gravity ISS
environment.
The ISS is set to continue orbiting Earth until 2020, but
NASA hopes the International Space Station could continue
orbiting until 2028, or the mid-2020s. The main cause of the
International Space Stations early disassembly is because
Roscosmos, or the Russian Federal Space Agency, is expecting
the removal of important Russian-developed modules on the ISS:
Nauka, the node module, two yet-to-be-launched science power
platforms, Science-Power Module 1 and 2, and Rassvet, the docking
port. As of 2010, the prefered plan is to use a slightly modified
Russian Progress spacecraft to de-orbit the International Space
Station in 2020.

Amateur Radio on International

Space Station (ARISS) and
Earth Knowledge Acquired by
Middle School Students
(EarthKAM) logos.

Gas Giants + Earth: Five Esssential

Components of Our Solar System
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our solar system, with a mass
of 1.898610 kilograms, two and half times more than all the other planets in our Solar System
combined. It has a diameter of 142,984 km at its equator, a surface area of
61,418,738,571 km, and a radius of 69,911 km. The temperature on Jupiter
ranges from -128 degrees Celsius for the atmosphere which has a visible
surface, to -13 Celsius at lower cloud levels. Jupiter, being one of the gas
giants, has an outer atmosphere mostly made of hydrogen and helium with
small amounts of water droplets, ice crystals, ammonia crystals, and other
elements. The clouds on Jupiter containing these elements, create shades of
white, orange, brown and red. A day on Jupiter is 9.92496 Earth hours, while a
year is 11.86 Earth years. It has a known 67 natural sattelites (moons), more than
any other planet in our solar system.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in
our solar system, with a mass of 5.684610 kilograms. It has a diameter of
116,464 km, a surface area of 42,700,000,000 km, and a radius of 58,232
km. Saturn has three layers of clouds with each layer having a different
temperature, the first layer primarily consisting of ammonia ice, with a
temperature ranging from -173 Celsius to -113 Celsius, the second
The two gas giants closest to
layer primarily consisting of water ice, with a temperature ranging
the sun, in our solar system:
from -88 Celsius to -3 Celsius, and a third layer with temperatures
Jupiter and Saturn.
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reaching as high as 57 Celsius. Saturn is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, but the traces
of ammonia, phosphine, water vapor, and hydrocarbons in Saturn's atmosphere gives Saturn a
yellowish-brown color. A day on Saturn is 10.57 Earth hours, while a year is 29.4571 Earth years. It
has a known 62 natural satellites (moons), (discinluding the moonlets in Saturn's
rings,) more than any other planet in our solar system, except for Jupiter.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and the third largest planet
in our solar system, with a mass of (8.68100.0013) 10 kilograms. It has
a diameter of 50,724 km, a surface area of 8,083,079,690 km, and a radius
of 25,362 km. Uranus is the coldest planet in our solar system, with a
minimum temperature of -224 Celsius. Since Uranus is more specifically an
ice giant rather than a gas giant, Uranus' upper atmosphere is made of water,
amnomia, and methane ice crystals, which gives Uranus its pale blue color. A
day on Uranus is 17 Earth hours, 14 Earth minutes, and 2 Earth seconds, while
a year is 84.016846 years. It has a known 27 natural satellites (moons), more
than any other planet in our solar system, except for Jupiter and Saturn.
Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and the fourth largest
planet in our solar system, with a mass of 1.0243 10 kilograms. It has a
diameter of 49,244 km, a surface area of 7,618,272,763 km, and a radius of
24,622 km. Neptune, despite being the farthest planet from the sun, it is
not the coldest, with an average temperature of -218 Celsius compared
The two gas giants farthest
to Uranus' -224 Celsius. Neptune's outer atmosphere is primarily
from the Sun, in our solar
composed of hydrogen, helium, and methane, which gives Neptune its
system: Uranus and Neptune.
bright azure blue color. A day on Neptune is 16 Earth hours, 6 Earth
minutes, and 36 Earth seconds, while a year is 164.8 Earth years. It has
a known 14 natural satellites (moons), more than any other planet in
our solar system, except for Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
Earth is the fourth planet from the sun and the fifth largest planet in
our solar system, with a mass of 5.9721910 kilograms. It is also the only
planet known to support life. It has a diameter of 12,742 km, a surface area
of 510,072,000 km, and a radius of 6,371 km. Earth's temperature
ranges from 18 Celsius to 27 Celsius, but the lowest ever recorded
Earth, the only planet that is
temperature was -89.2 Celsius, while the hottest ever recorded
known to support life.
temperature was 70.7 Celsius. Earth is an orb of blue with patches of
white, green, and brown. The blue comes from the 71% of water on
Earth, while the white are the clouds of Earth's thick atmosphere, and
the green and brown are the 29% land on Earth. A day on Earth is 24
Earth hours, or 1 Earth day, while a year is 365.24 Earth days. It has a
known one natural satellite (moon), more than any other planet in our solar system, except for
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

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Space Glossary
SUPERNOVA: A star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic
explosion that ejects most of its mass.
NEBULA: A cloud of interstellar gas and dust.
ASTERISM: A prominent pattern or group of stars, usually with a popular name, but smaller than a
constellation.
PULSAR: A celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of
radio waves at up to one thousand pulses per second.
(ORBITAL) ECCENTRICITY: A parameter that determines the amount of an astronomical object by
which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle.
ORBITAL INCLINATION: The angle between the plane of the orbit of the planet and the ecliptic.
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT: A unit of measurement equal to 149.6 million kilometres, the average
distance from the center of the Earth to the center of the Sun.
KUIPER BELT: A region of our solar system beyond Neptune, believed to contain many comets,
asteroids, and other small bodies made largely of ice.
SUPERGIANT: The largest type of star in terms of volume, that are even brighter than a red giant,
often despite being relatively cool.
RED GIANT: A very large of high luminosity and low surface temperature. Red giants have no
hydrogen remaining in the core to fuel nuclear fusion.

Resources

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