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English 212, section 08 -- Topics in Critical Writing: Envisioning the Future--Bablyon 5

1. General information 2. Course information 3. Overview and Objectives 4. Homework & schedule 5. Assignments & Grading

NASA :: space race :: cold war :: space exploration :: galaxy

 

NASA

Andrew Borowiak
Caroline Kevwitch
Jerry Nunn
Amber Stone

Primary Source: www.nasa.gov

• This year is NASA's 50th anniversary
• Designed the swimsuit for Michael Phelps, a US Olympic swimmer
• Sends out storm updates online that they get from satellites
• Mission of NASA: To pioneer the future and space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research
• Headquarters of NASA are in Washington DC
• 13 facilities nationwide including Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and the Kennedy Space Center in FL

Secondary Source: Wikipedia.org (weblink?)

• NASA - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• An agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program
• Established by Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 29, 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act
• Responsible for long-term civilian and military aerospace research

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Space Race

Amanda Cook
Whitney King
Tanisha Parhan
Jody Thorington

The Space Race began in 1957, between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The start of the race was caused by the Soviets launching Sputnik into space, in hopes to prove that their communist technology was more powerful than that of the Americans. American later launched Explorer I into space in January 31, 1958, three months later than the Soviets. America viewed Sputnik as a nuclear weapon. It was believed that America was not going to prevail in the space race, due to the time lag, and the Soviet Union also had a one to two year jump on space technology. The Soviet Union then launched Luna II in 1959. For years after, different people were able to orbit the moon, however none landed. In 1969, the United States launched Apollo 8, which was the first craft to land on the moon.

Primary and secondary sources:

Primary:
Hanson, Baldwin (1959). The Race For Space - II. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from The Race For Space - II Web site:

Secondary:
Newseum. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from The Space Race Web site: http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits/dateline_moon/space.htm

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Cold War

Aeron Grigg
Andrew Kish
Chandra Pethers
Sean Urbin

Primary Source
The United States and the origins of the Cold War by: John Lewis Gaddis (is this a book or journal article? date?)

• The countries that were mainly involved with the Cold War were the United States and the Soviet Union.  The actions that had occurred during the Cold War took place following World War II.
• In 1946, President Truman believed that action should be taking against the Soviet Union because their recent movements and political actions were starting to become an endangerment to the United States.
• The United States felt that it was best to protect itself by minimizing the political threats they had overseas.

Secondary Source
Wikipedia (is there a link? are these direct quotes?):

• Cold War is the term used to describe the state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s.
• Rivalry between the two superpowers was expressed through military coalitions, propaganda, espionage, weapons development, industrial advances, and competitive technological development.
• Absence of a declared war
• Half-century of military buildup and political battles for support around the world
• During the following decades, the Cold War spread beyond Europe to every region of the world
• The Cold War period was characterized by international crises such as the Berlin Blockade (1948-49), the Korean War (1950-53), the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the Vietnam War (1959-1975), the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-89), and especially the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came to the brink of a Third World War.
• US sought the "containment" and "rollback" of communism and forged myriad alliances to this end, particularly in Western Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union fostered Communist movements around the world, particularly in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

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Space Exploration

Brittani Hak
Matt LaCanne
Brittany Prout
Dana Weidman

Primary Source: http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/adc/education/space_ex/index.html
Secondary Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
www.answers.com

• What I learned from the sites is first, the definition of 'space exploration' which is "the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft." People are always curious and wanting to know more. Space allows use to expand.
  
• Space has been explored since 3,000 BC starting with the early babloynians looking up at the sky and creating the zodiac. In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satelite "Sputnik" into space to orbit the earth. In November of 1957, "Sputnik 2" was launched with a dog on board, the first snimal in space. 1958 US launches their satelite and NASA forms.
  
• Space exploration has always been a battle between the US and the Soviet Union. This was a big reason for the cold war. Once the Soviets tried to be the best and get into space first, it became a competition and the US had to do it too.
  
• Today, economic resources for space exploration are scarce. The exploration of space is value based. The apollo missions are impossible to reconstruct and instead there has been a steady trend towards unmanned space exploration. A space station is also in the process of being created as a stepping stone towards Mars.

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Galaxy

Dylan Jurasin
Hideaki Noguchi
Felicity Rankins

Primary Source
Datebase journal:

GALAXY:
Galaxies are stellar "islands" in a largely empty universe. Their stars, gas, and dust are organized into different components, each of which tells us something about how disk galaxies, like the Milky Way, form and evolve.

Characteristics of a galaxy:

• Thin and Thick Disks
• Spiral Arms
• Bar
• Bulge
• Halo

Types of galaxies:

• Spiral- Usually consist of two major components, its a flat large disk which often contains a lot of interstellar matter which is visible in dark clouds and large star clusters
• Lenticular- Spiral galaxies without the spiral structure. Formation of these galaxies stopped when interstellar matter was used up.
• Elliptical- Ellipsoidal shaped, consists of older stars and usually contain very little or no interstellar matter.
• Irregular- Distorted galaxy that does not fit in well with the scheme of disks and ellipsoids

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