Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier (51 page)

Pegasus, 108

Penzias, Arno, 92

perturbation theory, 118

Peru, 196–97

Pfeiffer, Michelle, 203

photosynthesis, 31

Pigliucci, Massimo, 75–83

Pioneer anomaly, 244–45, 248–51

Pioneer program:

Pioneer 0, 245

Pioneer 3, 245

Pioneer 4, 245

Pioneer 5, 245

Pioneer 9, 245

Pioneer 10, 118, 244–45, 247, 248–50

Pioneer 11, 168, 244–45, 247, 249

Pioneer 12, 245

Pioneer 13, 245

Pizarro, Gonzalo, 196–97

planetary motion, first law of, 115

Planetary Society, 166–67, 193, 236, 250

Pluto, 82, 112, 118, 128, 168, 195, 201

orbit of, 115

Pravda,
121

Prescott, William H., 196

Presidential Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, 59–60, 146

President’s Commission on Higher Education, 125

Prince (singer), 203

Principia
(Newton), 113

Project Prometheus, 169–70

propulsion:

alternate fuels for, 157–59

antimatter drive and, 170–71

chemical fuel for, 163

electricity and, 165

in-space, 170

ion-thruster engine and, 164–65, 170

nuclear power and, 159, 168–69

rocket equation and, 153–54, 157

and slowing down, 155–56

solar sails and, 159, 165–67, 170

third law of motion and, 153, 158

xenon gas and, 164–65

Proxima Centauri, 195–96

Ptolemy, Claudius, 34, 65

pulsars, 29

Qatar, 5

quasars, 91

R-7 rocket, 126

racism, 66–67

radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), 168–69

radio telescopes, 91

radio waves, 28–29, 30, 31, 39, 90–91

radium, 96

RAND Corporation, 218

Ranger 7 spacecraft, 70

Reagan, Ronald, 5, 6

relativity, general theory of, 94–95, 101, 248, 250

relativity, special theory of, 195–96

Republicans, 4–5, 15, 17, 224–25

Resnik, Judith, 243

robots, 129, 134

in space exploration, 57, 89–90, 128, 130–32, 187, 198, 199, 202

rocket equation, 153–54, 157

rockets:

flybys and, 157

liquid-fueled, 192

phallic design of, 222–23

propulsion of,
see
propulsion

Rodriguez, Alex, 114

Röntgen, Wilhelm, 94, 96, 135

Royal Society, 216

Russia, xiv, 6, 22, 162, 168

ISS and, 319

Star City training center of, 73, 74, 207

Sagan, Carl, 27, 28, 43, 193, 256

Salyut space module, 6

Sarge (comedian), 234

satellites, xiii, xiv, 60, 71, 94

communication, 129

first US, 124–25

Saturn, 31, 82, 112, 115, 119, 138, 157, 168, 210, 225, 245

radio emissions from, 90–91

Saturn V rocket, 15, 127, 154, 158, 172, 214, 219, 220, 229

as a wonder of the modern world, 232–33

Schmitt, Harrison, 69, 132

Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 153

science, 206, 226

Arabs and, 205–6

discovery and, 98

emerging markets and, 209–10

literacy in, 57–59, 230–31, 235–36

multiple disciplines and, 209–10

Scientific American,
223

scientific method, 86

Scobee, Dick, 242

Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation,
146

Senate, US, 5, 146, 328

Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee of, 272

and appointments to Commission on Future of Aerospace Industry, 316

Appropriations Committee of, 321, 329

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee of, 288, 321, 323, 324, 329

sense of wonder, 64–65

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 206

Sesame Street
(TV show), 257

SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), 41, 325

Shapley, Harlow, 98–101

Shatner, William, 180

Shaw, Brewster, 221

Shepard, Alan B., 114

short-period comets, 46

Siberia, 50

Sims, Calvin, 55–62

Sirius, 178

Skylab 1 (space station), 214

slingshot effect, 119–20

Smith, George O., 175

Smith, Michael, 242

Smithsonian Institution, 216

solar sails, 159, 165–67, 170

solar system, 34, 259

many-body problem and, 117–18

perturbation theory and, 118

solar wind, 176, 235, 245

solid rocket boosters, 155

Soter, Steven, 256

sound, speed of, 108–9

sound barrier, 109

South Africa, xiv

South Pole, 76

Soviet Union, xiii, 8, 94, 133, 194, 215, 218

US rivalry with, 5–6, 59, 79, 87, 121–27, 133, 192, 219

see also
Sputnik

space, space exploration:

colonization of, 57, 60, 102–3

cosmic microwave background in, 92, 94–95

cross-discipline endeavor in, 24–25, 230

culture and, 72–74, 147–48, 210–11

early attitudes toward, 217–18

economic motivation for, 200–201

factions against, 8–10

in Galef/Pigliucci interview of author, 75–83

inventions statute and, 311

justification for funding of, 78–81

militarization of, 60

numbers employed in, 236–37

politics and, 3–5

proposed programs and missions for, 201–2

robots and, 57, 89–90, 128, 130–32, 187, 198, 199, 202

significance of, 102

Soviet achievements in, 122–26

special interests and, 5, 236–37

stellar nurseries in, 93

technological innovation and, 12

US-Soviet rivalry and, 5–6, 59, 79, 87, 121–27, 133, 192, 219

war as driver of, 219–20

Space Cowboys
(film), 162

Space Exploration Initiative, 8

Space Foundation, 221–22

Spaceguard Survey, The: Report of the NASA International Near-Earth Object Detection Workshop,
50

space junk, 176

space shuttle, 7, 12, 25, 109, 160–62, 165, 201, 202, 228, 281

contingency funding for, 321–22

fuel of, 158

launch costs of, 320–22

main parts of, 154–55

pricing policy for, 314

retirement of, 14–16, 143, 214

speed of, 222

use policy for, 312–13

weight of, 155

see also
specific vehicles

Space Station Freedom, 6, 8

Space Studies Board, 169

Space Technology Hall of Fame, 221, 230–31, 237

Space Telescope Science Institute, 10, 23, 135–36

Space Transportation System, 314

space travel, 191–98

coasting in, 247

in Colbert–author interview, 186–88

danger of, 198

financing of, 193–94

in Hollywood movies, 194–95

Moon missions and, 192–93

robots and, 198

special relativity and, 195–96

Space Travel Symposium, 111

Spain, 7, 87

spectroscopy, 30

Spirit (Mars exploration rover), 130–33, 138

Spitzer Space Telescope, 139

Sputnik, xiii, 5, 59, 79, 113–14, 133, 192, 218

50th anniversary of, 226

US response to, 122–24

Star City (training center), 73, 74, 207

Stars & Atoms
(Eddington), 107

Star Trek
(TV series), 3, 164, 170

45th anniversary of, 178–81

human behavior and, 180

technology of, 179

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
(film), 37–38

Star Wars
(film series), 131

State Department, US, 312

Stewart, Jon, 4

Stone, Sharon, 203

subatomic particles, 94

Sugar, Ron, 221

Sun, 27, 28, 29, 33, 46, 58, 72, 97, 112, 117, 118, 138, 195, 245

Copernican principle and, 34

energy emitted by, 93

fusion in, 101

neutrinos emitted by, 94

planets’ orbits and, 115

Superconducting Super Collider, 6–7, 80–81

Sweden, 7

Swift, Philip W., 223

Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer, 139

Switzerland, 7

Sykes, Wanda, 17

Systems of the World, The
(Newton), 113

Taj Mahal, 88

Tamayo-Méndez, Arnaldo, 122

TASS, 123

Taylor, Charles E., 219

technology, 89, 200, 226

aero-space integration plan for, 323–24

in alien observation of Earth, 29–32