Terms
A person who journeys into space
Astronaut
A structure in space in which people can live and work for weeks or months at a time
Space station
The first American to travel in space
Alan Shepard
This satellite provides photograph of cloud patterns, measures cloud and ground temperatures, measures cloud heights, wind speeds, and relative humidity, detects patterns of heat distribution, and tracks icebergs and locust swarms
Weather satellite
A space station that sixteen nations are working together to build
International Space Station
The length of one complete wave or cycle of oscillation (measured from crest to crest or trough to trough)
Wavelength
Any object that orbits a larger object
Satellite
The first American to orbit the earth
John Glenn
This satellite scans the earth for missile launches or large explosions, photographs foreign military installations, and monitors the movements of enemy ships, planes, and tanks
Military satellite
An American spacecraft that was the first spacecraft designed to be reused
Space Shuttle
How fast a wave oscillates
Frequency
An unmanned spacecraft that is launched specifically to explore the unknown
Space probe
Discovered the planet Uranus
William and Caroline Herschel
This satellite relays telephone conversations and TV broadcasts, relays radio programs to local stations, provides direct phone, Internet, and e-mail service anywhere on earth, allows people in distress to call for help, and relays signals to other satellites
Communications satellite
An instrument that collects radio waves from space
Radio telescope
An arrangement of electromagnetic waves according to frequency and wavelength
Electromagnetic spectrum
An orbit in which a satellite travels perpendicular to the equator, passing over the polar regions as it circles the earth
Polar orbit
The first person to travel in space
Yuri Gagarin
This satellite makes maps, forecasts crop production, spots forest fires, surveys cities, tracks fish migrations measures wave heights, plots the terrain of the ocean floor, observes water levels in reservoirs, reveals faults in the earth's crust, and helps discover deposits of coal, oil, or valuable ores
Earth observation satellite
A special device that can split light into a spectrum for analysis
Spectroscope
Stars that produce rapid bursts of radio waves
Pulsars
An orbit in which a satellite follows the direction of the earth's rotation in such a way that it stays in the same location in the sky
Geostationary Orbit
The first woman to fly in space
Valentina Tereshkova
This satellite includes the Hubble Space Telescope (takes photographs), detects x-rays, measures distances to nearby stars, and studies the sun
Astronomical satellite
A reflecting telescope with an 8-foot wide main mirror launched into orbit around the earth in 1990
Hubble Space Telescope