Kate

3/24/2011 Electricity and the importance of it in Outer space Log Entry 1

Analog signals are different from digital signals in many ways. Analog signals change very smoothly from one number to the next. Digital signals jump rapidly from one number to the next; so they don’t run smoothly. Analog signals are more precise then digital signals in gathering data. Semiconductors are useful in electronic devices because their electronic conductivity can be control by adding atoms of a certain element to the semiconductor. When adding the atom to the semiconductor two different kinds of semiconductors are created; a p-type and an n-type. These two types are placed together to control the flow of the circuit. There are many different ways to put the two semiconductors together and they each affect the circuit in different ways. The different combinations can increase or amplify the change of electronic current or voltage. Having these semiconductors allow to electronical devices use less power. The semiconductors also increase the reliability of the electronic devises compared to the earlier devises. Diodes are used in circuits to covert an alternating current to a direct current. Transistors are used in circuits to make electronic signals increase. Integrated circuits are used to contain many joined solid-state components into one tiny silicon chip. The importance of electronic devices in a space mission to Mars is huge. The spaceship would not even take off without them. Also, seeing as the atmosphere of Mars is not suitable for humans we need robots (electronic devices) to go out and explore the planet. Another reason we need electronic devices in space is because humans can’t be with them in the spaceship. We have ways to monitor the rover while it is heading towards Mars. The only way we can do that is using electronic devices to send the signal back to us on earth where our computer translates it to images and text on our screens. Without electronic devices we would never be able to get to Mars so we would never be able to search for life there.

//Ms. Mc: Very good summary of electronics and good ideas about you electronic devices might be used on a mission to Mars. 9/10//

**4/5/2011 Log Entry 2: A History of Rocketry**
Rocketry has increased greatly throughout the years. It started as little Chinese firecrackers and is now considered something that might save the world. When the Chinese built the first rocket the first century A.D. they were just doing religious celebrations. After they realized what they were doing they started experimenting more using rocketry. The first recorded use of a rocket was in 1232 during the battle of Kai-Keng between the Mongols and the Chinese. The Chinese tied their rocket invention to a stick and then lit it (//Figure 1//). The rocket would shot forward and the stick would guild it. In our standards today that’s not very impressive but in 1232 it was like a miracle. After that battle the Mongols started building their own rockets and they spread it around Europe. Many people contributed to the science of rocketry. Some of those people are Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddhard, and Hero of Alexandria. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a Russian school teacher who thought that we could use rocketry to explore outer space. When he published a report in 1903 he suggested the use of liquid propellants for the rockets in order to achieve greater range and one day make it to outer space. Tsiolkovsky stated in his paper that the speed and range of a rocket were limited only by the exhaust velocity of the escaping gases. Because of these ideas and his vision Tsiolkovsky has been called the Father of Modern Astronautics. Robert H. Goddard conducted experiments in rocketry during the early 20th century because he had become interested in a way of achieving higher altitudes than those that were possible for lighter-than-air balloons. In 1915 he began to try various types of solid fuels and measured the exhaust velocities of the burning gases. While working on these experiments he became convinced that a rocket could be propelled better by a liquid fuel. No one had built a successful liquid rocket before because it was a more difficult task then building solid-propellant rockets. Goddard built the first successful liquid rocket on March 16, 1926. It flew for two and a half seconds and climbed 12.5 meters. It doesn’t sound very exciting now but in 1926 it sure was. Because of these experiments Goddard has been called the Father of Modern Rocketry. Hero of Alexandria was a Greek inventor who used steam as a propulsive gas. He mounted a sphere on top of a water kettle and underneath that he lit a fire. Through L-shaped tubes on the sides the steam that the water turned into was able to escape and propel the sphere (//Figure 2//) ** in the opposite way that the steam is coming out **. These three men were great contributors to modern rocketry. Many more experiments have followed these men but everything was formed from their ideas.





Ms. Mc: Great summary of the history of rocketry. I agree that the 3 men you mentioned were the most important as far as the fundamentals of rocket design are concerned but the German, Russian, and NASA scientists added a lot to modern rocket design as well so a brief mention of them would have been good. Good drawings! 14/15

4/4/2011 Log Entry 3: Rocket Simulation
media type="custom" key="8962516"

Instructions
 * 1) Press the red stop button to stop the program
 * 2) Press the green flag button to start the program
 * 3) Turn up sound to about 25
 * 4) Enjoy!

Alex I really liked watching your video! The instructions were also clear and understandable. Good Job!

4/13/2011 Log Entry #4: Labelled Model Rocket
//Ms. Mc: good definitions and rocket part labels. The black writing is a little hard to read though (-1/2). Please check for spelling and grammar errors as you have several (-1). I recommend creating your response in Word so you can run the spell check and then cutting and pasting onto your page. 18.5/20//
 * The nose cone forms the point of the rocket and allows it to slice through the air. The body tube holds the recovery system and the motor (a strong paper tube). The recovery system is a parachute that allows the rocket to descend safely for repetitive uses. The recovery wadding protects the recovery system from catching of fire after the motor is lit. The launch lug helps to guild the rocket safely of the launch pad. The motor mount holds the rocket motor in place before and after it is lit. The fins keep the rocket traveling strait while to lifts off and coasts. The rocket motor is a non-reusable device that propels the rocket off the launch pad. **

4/17/2011 Log entry #5: Science paper
The Seventh grade class did an experiment involving rocket science. The experiment was performed to show and study how rockets fly and the forces that act on it. The forces that are acting on the rocket include air resistance, thrust and gravity. It was hypothesized that if the mass of the rocket is great than the apogee will be low but if the mass of the rocket is small then the apogee will be high because gravity will be a greater force with the higher massed rocket then the lower massed rocket.

In the experiment the rockets masses were concluded to be 44.6 g, 43.2 g, 45.4 g, 42.5 g, 44.0 g, and 44.8 g. So the data varied from 42.5 to 45.4 grams. The apogee of the rockets were measured and recorded to be 90 m, 68 m, 82 m, 61 m, 93 m, 84 m, and 85 m. This is shown in the figure bellow.



The figure above shows that the data was a direct relationship. The figure bellow shows the graphing line of the above data.



The apogee data was a direct relationship because the data has a clear upward trend. The hypothesis statement was not confirmed because the hypothesis was that the lighter the rocket the higher it would fly. In the experiment the heavier the rocket the higher it flew. Something that could have affected the data was the angle measurers. The people measuring were changed so they would be a dependent variable because they would each have different vision points.

4/21/2011 Crash Course in Astronomy Questions Log #6
Q1. Which is older, the Universe or our solar system? Or are they the same age? Explain. A1. The Universe is older because our solar system was formed out of the gas and dust clouds the the Universe created. If our solar system had come first we would be a lot bigger; as big as the universe. In figure one you can see the our solar system (the center thing) compared to the universe (the stars and everything else)

Q2. How did our Moon come to revolve around the Earth? A2. Our moon came to revolve around the Earth because of our gravitational force on it. It is believed that the moon was formed from the collision of a newly formed earth and another newly formed planet as seen in figure two.

Ms. Mc: Good start but you didn't really give data (i.e., dates) to support your answers. The Universe was created about 15 billion years ago, our galaxy about 12 billion years ago, and our solar system about 5 billion years ago (-1). If fig. 1 is a picture of our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, our solar system would be in one of the spiral arms (-1). Our moon was created from matter being expelled from Earth after the collision and this matter being pulled together by Earth's gravity (-1). Good captions but your titles are a little off (-1/2). 7.5/10

5/6/2011 Robot Program Code Log prompt 8
This program was to make the robot wait for a clap before it started. Then it had to stop before it ran off the table. This can be used on mars in case the robot is nearing a cliff so it can stop and not fall into the hole.

Block 1- A wait block for a sound that is at half power with the sensor plugged into port four. (The robot waits for a sound before it starts moving (the sound is us saying go into the sensor).) Block 2- A movement block for the robot to go forward for infinity at 75% power by activating servomotors C and B. (After we say go the robot goes forward slowly forever/until it detects something.) Block 3- A wait block for light that is greater than 30 with the sensor plugged into port three. (The robot is waiting for the blue tape line.) Block 4- A movement block that tells the robot to stop. (After detecting the blue tape line the robot stops.) Block 5- A sound playing block that plays “Watch out” at 75 percent power. (The robot says "watch out".)