Alien Life & the History of Spaceflight review
1. What resource is considered so vital to life as we know it that all searches
for exo-planets are centered on it? Water
2. What does the relatively rapid evolution on earth suggest about the
possibility of life elsewhere? It is very possible, if not probable
3. What common biological characteristics suggest that all earth-based life has
evolved from a common ancestor? Energy production (ATP), building blocks
(amino acids), Genetic encoding (DNA)
4. What was the Miller - Urey experiment? Simulation of early earth
conditions that shows that synthesis of organic molecules is possible
5. Why is the search for exo planets in our galaxy concentrated on sun sized
stars? Stars too large vaporize water up until gravity can’t hold the planet in
orbit. Stars too small would have frozen water up until gravity would suck
the planet into the star
6. Based on our current understanding of the laws of physics what is the
farthest away a civilization can reside and still maintain the expectation of
communicating with them over the course of a lifetime? 30-35 light years
7. What percentage of stars are roughly sun–sized? 10% Have planets? 10%
8. What was the name of the first:
Satellite – Sputnik
Animal(s) to survive a space flight – Strelka and Belka
Man in space – Yuri Gagarin
Man to space walk – Alexi Leonov
Spacecraft on the moon – Luna 9
Men on the moon – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
9. How many humans have walked on the moon? 12 During what time span?
1969-1972
10.How long did it take Voyager 1 to leave our solar system? 35 years
11.How many astronauts were on the Apollo 13 mission? 3
12.How much was it worth for Dennis Tito to go to space in 2001? $25 million
13.What decade witnessed the deployment of the international space station?
1990’s