Search For Life in the Universe - Final Exam

What year did Jules Verne write a book about shooting a spacecraft from a canon to go to the moon?

1865

The first human made object sent into space was:

a German V-2 rocket

The last human walked on the moon how many years ago?

52

A rocket lifts off because:

When the rocket forces the gas downward the gas pushes upwards on the rocket

Why are unmanned probes able to go much further into the solar system than manned probes?

smaller, don’t have to maintain air or a constant temp, don’t have to come back

Using current technology what would be the approximate cost of going to Mars?

$100 billion

it takes 8 km/s (kilometer per second) to go from the surface of the earth to earth orbit. How much velocity do you need to go from Earth orbit to get to Mars? Please note that 8 km/s is about 5 miles per second or 18,000.

6 km/s

How does ion propulsion work?

by accelerating charges in an electro magnetic field up to high velocities then tossing them out

Which of the following is the greatest limitation to ion propulsion?

greatest limitation is the amount of energy required

The current models for ion propulsion have to be launched into space first using a conventional rocket. Why is this?

the acceleration is too low to lift off of the surface

If stars were all plotted on a piece of paper at a distance of 1 inch from each other then the approximate diameter of our Milky Way Galaxy would:

not fit on a regular piece of paper

If a spacecraft travels at close to the speed of light (but just a little less), time will:

time will pass slower for the astronauts than for the earth

(What does it look like) If a spacecraft travels at close to the speed of light (but just a little less):

the universe and spacecraft will appear to shrink but only in the direction of motion

The energy required to get close to the speed of light is:

greater than the rest energy of spacecraft (mc2) by same factor that time slows down

Near to a black hole (but above the event horizon):

time will pass slower for the astronauts than for the earth

How many dimensions does M theory predict that we actually live in and therefore can manipulate using "warp drive"?

11

The biggest disadvantage to warp drive is:

requires more energy than relativity

The biggest advantage to "warp drive" is:

you can go anywhere in the universe as quickly as you want without warping time

The limit to how fast you travel across the universe go using "warp drive" is:

no speed limit

The first V2 rockets launched by the Germans:

burned up on reentry

The total number of humans who have walked on the moon is:

12

Compared to going into Earth orbit, launching a rocket to Mars from the surface of the Earth requires (using currently rocketry):

a rocket bigger than ten times the size

The first spacecraft using ion propulsion is planned for:

has already been launched

A spacecraft is traveling to a star 500 light years away with a velocity high enough to have a gamma of 5. How much time will pass by for the Earth during the spacecraft's trip to the star (assume you are very close to the speed of light)?

510 years

A spacecraft is traveling to a star 500 light years away with a velocity high enough to have a gamma of 5. How much time will pass by for the astronauts on the spacecraft during the spacecraft's trip to the star (assume you are very close to the speed of light)?

100 years

If we were to use all of the energy the USA uses per year on a spacecraft with a mass of 1 million kilograms then how fast would that spacecraft be able to move?

about 5% the speed of light

Rockets work because of Newton's 3rd law. What is Newton's 3rd law?

For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction

Rockets are currently powered by:

chemical energy

The rockets NASA uses creates a greenhouse gas. Which greenhouse gas does NASA's rockets create:

water

The amount (mass) of fuel required for the rockets NASA currently uses is:

a lot more than the mass of the payload

At a large distance from a black hole the astronaut's clock compared to Earth's clock will:

progress about the same

if you are on a spacecraft which is traveling close to the speed of light the shape of the earth would appear to be:

a saucer

One of the biggest disadvantages to relativity is:

the huge energy requirement

At the scale used above if we were to plot the location of the nearest star system to our sun (Alpha Centauri at 24 trillion miles away) then that system would be located (feel free to call the size of the paper 1 foot for this problem):

2 miles away (at my house)

If I am on a spacecraft traveling 99% the speed of light. From my perspective how fast does my spacecraft appear to be moving (hint, think about being on an airplane)?

0 m/s