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Unmanned Space Missions |
| When I use the term "Robot Explorers", perhaps this famous duo comes to mind. |
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But these are just Hollywood show-biz types. The robots we'll be talking about are more serious types - although not at all down to Earth - and in some ways even more fantastic and unbelievable then their movie counterparts. Perhaps they can't "walk 'n roll" like these two, but they can do something even better - they can fly! |
| Robotic or automated spacecraft come in many shapes and sizes, and have much in common. Each spacecraft consists of various scientific instruments selected specifically for a particular mission. Then there are basic subsystems for electrical power, trajectory and orientation control, centers for processing data, and devices to communicate with Earth. | |
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Electrical power is needed to operate the instruments and systems. Both solar energy from arrays of photovoltaic cells and small nuclear generators are used. Rechargeable batteries are employed for back-up and supplemental power. There is also a subsystem of small thrusters used to control the craft. These thrusters are linked with devices that maintain a constant gaze at selected stars. With this subsystem locked onto fixed points of reference, flight controllers back on Earth can keep a spacecraft's scientific instruments pointed at the target body, and the craft's communications antennas pointed toward the Earth. The thrusters are also used to fine-tune the flight path and the speed of the craft to make certain that the target body is encountered at the right distance and the proper trajectory. |
Although they do share many basic similarities, each individual craft is designed differently to execute specific functions. Where do these robots come from? No, not George Lucas' drawing board! To track down the origin of these hardy robots that have journeyed from the innermost rocky planet Mercury to the outermost gas giant Neptune and beyond, we need look no further than sunny southern California. |
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Located in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains just north of Pasadena, we find the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, an operating division of Cal Tech, and NASA's leading center for unmanned exploration of the solar system. JPL occupies more than 155 buildings on 176 acres and employs more than 7500 people. The California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) is located close by in Pasadena. Today it is a world center for science and engineering research and education. Join me in a journey back in time as we undertake our own mission, and historical mission, to trace JPL back to its humble beginnings as a few small buildings nestled in Pasadena's Arroyo Seco, and to discover its role in our robotic exploration of space. |
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In the 1930's, Theodore von Karman served as the chairman of the Aeronautical Engineering Department at Cal Tech, one of the leading technical schools in the country. It was Professor von Karman who founded JPL, originally called the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory. On October 31, 1936 von Karman and a group of his students fired the first liquid propellant rocket, proving the feasibility of rocket engine development. Later, his group received a small government grant to develop rockets to boost aircraft off short runways. Their early research eventually led to the development of solid and liquid fueled rockets, which were used in 1941 as Jet Assisted Takeoff (JATO) rockets on aircraft. In 1943, after several name changes, von Karman's group formally became the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. By then it had expanded to a half a dozen buildings and eighty-five employees. |
Copyright ©2004 Colleen Gino |
Images courtesy JPL and NASA |
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