Pallavi

2-23-11 Entry 1: Electronic Devices on Earth and Might be Found on Mars
When electronics are used there are 2 main types of signal: analog signal and digital signal. An analog signal is a signal that will provide information in a smooth and continuous way. A good example of an analog device is a regular clock since the hands change smoothly from number to number. A digital signal is a signal where it doesn’t vary smoothly, but it jumps or steps. A digital signal can be represented by a series of numbers. Semiconductors conduct electricity through metals poorly, but nonmetals very well. Although, they are not good conductors through metals they have a special property that an ordinary conductor and insulator don’t have. That is that their electrical conductivity can be controlled by adding impurities. Adding impurities means adding another element to the semiconductor. Diodes, transistors and integrated circuits are used in electric devices. Diodes are solid-state components that allows current to flow only in one direction. Transistors are another solid-state component that can be used to amplify signals in an electric circuit and is also used as an electronic switch. An integrated circuit is a circuit that contains large numbers of interconnected solid-state components and is made from a single chip of semiconductor material such as silicon.

If electronic devices are important in everyday lives on Earth, they will be as important on Mars if we plan to live there. One reason why electronic devices are important in Mars is because they are very exact and never make careless errors like humans do. Everything has to be very exact with no mistakes otherwise the mission will go wrong and everything will go to a waste if we can’t fix the mistake we have made. Electronic devices don’t always have to be huge to hold a lot of data; they can be small and hold a tremendous amount of data. Sometimes small devices can hold more data than big devices. This is why electronic devices are very important on the Mission to Mars.

//Ms. Mc: Good overview of electonic components. I think you were a little confused aobut the second paragraph. You were to list electronic devices, devices that use the information contained in electronic signals to do jobs, that we might use on our mission to Mars. So for example, computers, video monitors, cameras, navigational systems, temperature control systems, communication systems, etc. Please be sure to ask me if you are unsure about something. 7.5/10//

4-4-11 Entry 2: History of Rockets
== The first principal of rocketry (an aeolipile) was invented by a Greek inventor, Hero of Alexandria in 100 B.C. Soon after the Chinese built a simple form of gunpowder from saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal dust. For religious festivals, the Chinese would fill bamboo tubes with a mixture and then toss them into fire. Most of these tubes failed to explode and instead caused major fires. These fires were being propelled by the burning gunpowder. After this failure happened, the Chinese started experimenting with the filled tubes. After discovering that this experiment was a success, they started to make gunpowder-fueled arrows. The gunpowder would be attached to the top of an arrow, and then the arrow would be shot by a bow. Soon after, they realized that these gunpowder tubes were safe enough to launch by themselves. And so be it, the first rocket was born. == ==The true rocket was first used in 1232 during the battle of Kai-Keng, where the Chinese used them against the Mongols. Soon after, the Mongols decided to produce one of their own rockets, which may have led to the spread of rockets in Europe. In 1898, a Russian school teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky came up with an idea of exploring space by rocket. He also suggested the use of liquid propellant to achieve a greater range. After his inventions he has been named Father of Modern Astronautics. In the 20th century, an American, Robert H. Goddard conducted many experiments in rocketry. Eventually, Goddard convinced that a rocket could be propelled better with liquid fuel than solid fuel. After convincing people he built a successful liquid propellant rocket. Then after this successful achievement he then made another achievement of having the first successful flight with a liquid propellant rocket, this was on March 16, 1926. This liquid fueled rocket only flew for 2.5 seconds, climbed 12.5 meters, and landed 56 meters. Even though it only flew for this long it was a big deal back then. After Goddard’s big invention he was named Father of Modern Rocketry. ==

[[image:PSY_Robert_Goddard's_Rocket.JPG width="88" height="298"]]
==Many countries got interested in rocketry, especially Germany. Germany used their rockets as weapons in World War II. These rockets were very strong and could blow up a city in a single shot; these rockets came in the war very late to be used often. Some missiles such as the Redstone, Atlas and Titan would eventually launch astronauts into space to explore. On October 4, 1957, an Earth-orbiting artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union. This satellite was named Sputnik I and was the first successful entry in a race for space between the two superpower nations. This satellite was followed by another satellite called Explorer I which was launched by the US Army on January 31, 1958. After Explorer I was launched a new space program was organized in October of that same year. The organization of the space program was called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After the creation of NASA many spaceships and astronauts were launched off to space to explore. ==



//Ms. Mc: Good overall summary of the history of rockety. It's always good to include as many names of explorers/inventors and dates as possible when discussing history. You were to include two hand-drawn diagrams for this entry. Please remember to put a caption with a figure # and title under each photo/drawing. Keep up the good effort! 13/15//

**4-4-11 Entry 3: Scratch Rocket Project **
media type="custom" key="8962158"

Instructions:

1. Turn volume on 2. Click on green flag 3. To stop press red hexagon 4. RELAX & ENJOY!

==4-11-11 Entry 4: Labeling Rocket Parts ==



In a rocket there are eight parts. These parts are called the nose cone, body tube, recovery system, recovery wadding, launch lug, fins, motor mount and rocket motor. First, the nose cone is made so that it offers minimum aerodynamic resistance to the rocket and makes to more simulated. Second, the body tube is the main structure of the rocket. Third, the recovery system is a parachute that pops out after it reaches apogee and helps the rocket land safely to the ground. Fourth, the recovery wadding helps the parachute not melt during ejection. Fifth, the launch lug provides stability during lift off for the rocket. Sixth, the fins help the rocket keep balance and fly straight. Seventh, the motor mount holds the rocket motor in place during ignition. Lastly, the rocket motor which is made out of gunpowder is the fuel for the rocket.

//Ms. Mc: Excellent description of the function of each rocket part and good photo labels too! 20/20//

==**4-17-11 Entry 5: Rocket Launch Lab Write Up ** ==

The purpose of this experiment was to see if the mass of the rocket affected its apogee. During liftoff the rocket won’t be moving because the forces are balanced. Then during liftoff there will be thrust overcoming the force of gravity which will let the rocket liftoff the launch pad. Once the rocket is at powered flight the thrust will still be overcoming the force of gravity. Then the rocket will reach coasting, during this stage the rocket will still be moving due to inertia, but the force of gravity is still acting upon the rocket. All of these steps are related to the apogee because there needs to be a thrust in order for the rocket to lift off the launch pad, the thrust is formed during liftoff. It was hypothesized that the heavier the rocket, the apogee number won't be as large and the lighter rocket will have a higher apogee number.

The mass data was ranged from 43.5 g to 44.5 g. The apogee data was also ranged from 53-81 m. In this experiment the relationship between the two data’s was a direct relationship, because the graph had shown the line of numbers slowly moving in an upward direction. At the end of the experiment, the hypothesis was supported to be correct because it showed the lighter the rocket the higher the apogee number was and the heavier the rocket the apogee number will be a lot smaller. Some examples of how error could come into the experiment would be the wind gust, mass measurements due the different balances and how small the range was between the data.

==**4-25-11 Entry 6: Crash Course Astronomy ** ==

1. What is a quark? What types of quarks are there?
==**As seen in Figure 2, quarks are smaller particles that protons and neutrons are made of. As seen in Figure 1, there are 6 different types of quarks in nature. However, protons and neutrons only make up two of the six quarks. These two quarks are called up and down quarks. ** ==



1. What is a galaxy? How did they form?
A galaxy is a massive, gravitational bound system that consists of stars, gas and dust. There are different shapes and types of galaxies. The shapes of galaxies are elliptical, spiral and irregular.As seen in Figure 4, it is a picture of a irregular galaxy. As seen in Figure 3, our galaxy which is Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. Galaxies formed by gravity collapsing with matter beginning 2 billion years after the Big Bang.

//Ms. Mc: Great answers, pictures, and captions! 10/10//

==5-7-11 Entry 8: Challenge 1: Driving Course ==

[[image:PSY_Mindstorm_Pic.JPG width="800" height="109" caption="Figure 1: Challenge 1- Mindstorm Blocks"]]
I choose Challenge 1: Driving Course. The driving course is a taped track that the robot follows. Once the robot reaches the end of the course it turns in a circle twice than puts a smiley face on the screen. Block 1: Movement Block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves forward for 3.5 rotations at 75% power and then breaks. The robot moved forward 60 centimeters.

Block 2: Is another movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves to the right 180 degrees at 50% power and then breaks. The robot turned right180 degrees.

Block 3: Another movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it moves forward for 2 rotations at 75% power then breaks. The robot moved forward 32 centimeters.

Block 4: Another movement block that tells the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it can move left 180 degrees at 50% power then breaks. The robot again turned right 180 degrees.

Block 5: Movement block activating servomotors B and C telling the robot to move backwards for 1 rotation at 75% power then breaks. The robot moved backwards 20 centimeters.

Block 6: The last movement blocks telling the robot to activate servomotors B and C so it can move left 1440 degrees at 75% power then breaks. The robot makes does 2 360 degree turns.

Block 7: Sound block that tells the robot to do applause. The robot does applause.

Block 8: The display block tells the robot to display a smiley face. The robot displays a smiley face once it is down moving.

Block 9: The time block tells the robot to wait for 3 seconds. The robot waits for 3 seconds before resetting.

Block 10: Another display block resets the robot to the beginning. The robot is now done and resets to the beginning.