Civil Air Patrol CAP Mitchell Award Aerospace Terms (Edited!)

satellite

natural or artificial object in space that orbits the Earth

orbit

the path a satellite takes around a celestial body

apogee

the highest point of an orbit

perigee

the lowest point of an orbit

Sputnik

the first artificial satellite

COMSTAT

communications satellites

INTELSAT

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization

NAVSTAR

navigation satellites

LANDSAT

satellites that locate natural resources and monitor conditions on the Earth's surface

GOES

Geostationary Operations Environmental Satellites

Johannes Kepler

discovered satellites orbiting around Jupiter in the 1600's

Kepler's First Law

the orbit of each planet is an ellipse, with the Sun at the focus

Mercury

US' first manned spaceflight project

Gemini

US' manned spaceflight project that achieved the first walk in space and the first two-man capsule

Apollo

US' manned spaceflight project that put man on the Moon

Skylab

US' manned spaceflight project that put a laboratory into space; first US space station

Apollo-Soyuz

Manned spaceflight project linking American and Soviet spacecraft in space

Space Shuttle

US' Space Transportation System (STS) for transporting into space and returning to Earth

Neil Armstrong

First man to set foot on the moon

Telstar

first commercial satellite

Space Station Alpha

future space station, a joint venture with US, Europe, Canada, Japan, and Russia

Mir

Russia's space station of the 1980's and 1990's

Salyut

Russia's first space station

Spacelab

European Space Agency's first space station

black hole

a region in space where no radiation is emitted

cislunar space

the space between the earth and the moon

constellation

a grouping of stars, named after mythical figures and animals

galaxy

an enormous collection of stars arranged in a particular shape

interplanetary space

measured from the center of the sun to the orbit of its outermost planet

interstellar space

the distance from one solar system to another

microgravity

small gravity levels or low gravity

nebula

giant could of dust and gas

pulsar

pulsating star that flashes electromagnetic emissions in a set pattern

space

region beyond the earth's atmosphere where there is very little molecular activity

star

a body of hot gases

universe

everything is part of the _______; stars, planets, galaxies, animals, plants, and humans

Van Allen belts

radiation belts filed with charged particles

Stars are made of...

90% hydrogen and 10% helium

solar system

the sun and the bodies that orbit around it

comet

a small icy body orbiting the sun

asteroid

a small rocky body orbiting the sun; usually found in the asteroid belt

meteoroid

clump of dust or rock orbiting the sun

meteor

a small streak of light; when a meteoroid enters the earth's atmosphere it becomes a

solar flares

short-lived high energy discharges

solar prominences

larger energy discharges that can be thousands of miles high and last for months

sunspots

darker, cooler areas of the sun

Mercury

closest planet to the sun

Venus

closest planet to the earth, only known planet to rotate in a clockwise manner

Mars Pathfinder

space probe that explored mars

Jupiter

largest planet in our solar system; the planet with the most moons

Saturn

has rings

Neptune

the windy planet

Pluto

the smallest planet

powerplant

a term which applies to the airplane's engine and its accessories

reciprocating

a type of engine that processes air and fuel by a back and forth movement of its internal parts

cycle

a recurring series of events. The airplane engine has four cycles: intake, compression, power, and exhaust

combustion

the chemical process of burning

combustion chamber

an enclosed container in which fuel and air are burned for the production of energy

stroke

in the example of an airplane engine, it is the movement of the piston, within the combustion chamber to its limits

compression

the act of making a given volume of gas smaller

stoichiometric

a ratio of fuel to air in which, upon combustion, all of the fuel is burned.

fuel

a chemical substance which is used as a source of energy

metering

the process of allowing a precise amount of fuel to pass

one

How many moving parts do jet engines have?

carburetor

uses Bernoulli's principle

atmospheric air

rocket engines do not require...

horizontally opposed configuration

Cylinders in small aircraft engines are most often arranged in a

heading indicator

uses the principle of a gyroscope for operation

14.7 pounds

under standard conditions, a parcel of air, one square inch and 50 miles tall weigh

cruise

reached when the pilot reaches the desired altitude

blue

what color are uncontrolled towers?

magenta

what color are controlled towers?

1:500,000 or 8 statute miles per 1 inch

a sectional aeronautical chart has a scale of

"*" above airport symbol

means the airport has a rotating beacon in operation from sunset to sunrise

air

79% nitrogen, 19% oxygen, 2% other gasses

Bernoulli's Principle

Principle that states that when a pressure of a fluid, is accelerated, increases

roll

motion about the longitudinal axis

pitch

motion about the lateral axis

yaw

motion about the vertical axis

Fowler Flaps

cause wing area to be decreased and camber to be increased

spoilers

devices located on the wings that disrupt the airflow over the wing causing loss of lift

spoilers

are used by glider pilots to execute a landing

buoyancy

to rise or float on the surface of water or within the atmosphere

gore

one of several vertical panels that make up the envelope

Montgolfier

the name of the two French brothers who created the first successful, manned, hot air balloon in 1783

60lbs

Hydrogen will lift approximately how many pounds per 1000 cubic feet?

parachute pull cord

For rapid descent, a balloon pilot pulls down on the...

17-20 pounds

hot air will lift how many pounds per 1000 cubic feet?

Roger Bacon

increased the range of rockets

Wernher von Braun

director of the V-2 rocket project

William Congreve

designed rockets for military use

Jean Froissart

improved the accuracy of rockets by launching them through tubes

Yuri Gagarin

first man in space

John Glenn

first American to orbit the Earth

Robert Goddard

Father of Modern Rocketry

William Hale

Developed spin stabilization

Hero

developed the first rocket engine

Sergei Korolev

the leading Soviet rocket scientist

Alan Shepard

first American in space

Sputnik I

first artificial satellite