Planets of our Solar System

I have a notebook where I record notes about aviation, outer space, and technology, and I wanted to share some info.

1. Sun

• Is a star. Also is a ball of gas.
• The solar atmosphere part of the sun is where we see sunspots and solar flares.
• Makes up 99.8% of the solar system.

2. Mercury

• Smallest planet in our solar system- barely larger than our moon.
• Because it is closest to the sun, it has the fastest orbit rate- 88 days.
• Has no moons

3. Venus

• One day there (time for it to spin once) takes as long a 243 Earth days.
• Has no moons
• More than 40 spacecrafts have explored Venus.
• Is in retrograde rotation (spins backwards). Means that sun rises is west and sets in east.

4. Earth

• Unlike other terrestrial planets (planets that have solid surface), it is an ocean planet. 70% of its surface is covered in oceans
• The atmosphere protects us from meteorites
• Many planets have atmospheres, but ours is the only breathable one

5. Mars

• Makes complete orbit around sun (called a year) in 687 Earth days.
• Has two moons: Phobos and Deimos

6. Jupiter

• If a sun was a door, then the Earth's size would be a nickel, and Jupiter's size would be a basketball.
• One days is 10 hours in Earth time
• One year is 12 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 67 moons
• Has a faint ring

7. Saturn

• One days is 10.7 Earth hours
• One year is 29 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 62 moons- some COULD support life
• Has 7 rings with gaps and divisions between

8. Uranus

• One day is 17 Earth hours
• One year is 84 Earth days
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 27 moons and also has faint rings
• Also is retrograde rotation

9. Neptune

• One day is 16 Earth hours
• One year is 165 Earth YEARS
• Not a terrestrial planet
• Has 13 moons and 6 rings

Hope this helped!

Interstellar Mayflower

It would be amazing to build this! 

Cr: National Geographic

 Inside the interstellar Mayflower. Has its own gravitational pull. A similar ship is shown in the window.

Joint Base Lewis McChord

The Joint Base Lewis McChord is a military base in Tacoma, Washington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Base_Lewis-McChord

Today, I went on a tour of the JBLM. It took about one hour, and we went to a few places, but mostly we toured around the air traffic control tour (which still had a lot of interesting things to look at). The main point I learned from this tour is that if you want to be an air traffic controller, you need to be sufficient at memorizing vocabulary, codes, symbols, and rules. You also need to know how to handle much pressure, as there are many times where you need to guide a helicopter/plane to its landing place without seeing it in the air- only with the map on the computer. A fact that really surprised me was that air traffic controllers have used touch screens since the 90's! In my memory, touch screen phones were a very big deal around 2008.
We saw many helicopters, some new, some in repair, but the one that really caught my attention was the Apache Helicopter. I am not sure which one it is that I saw- it could have been any of the AH-64A to AH-64E. The reason it caught my attention was because it could sense where the human eye was looking at, and could aim at that exact place for attack. This would really help the pilot fly the helicopter while attacking.

At the air traffic control tower, I learned that since there were many parts to guiding a plane to its landing place, teamwork was very crucial. There are three parts (therefore usually three people and three main computers). One that controls the ground, one that controls the flying space fairly close to the ground, and one that controls space (which is at the Sea-tac Airport).

There are three lights they use in case the radio is not working. Green, red, and white. This becomes really handy when it is foggy or rainy even when the radio is working.

This tour really inspired me to research more about helicopters. I do have a Drone, but after I nearly broke it I had lost my interest in helicopters. I think this really helped me to find my love for helicopters again. I definitely recommend it!

Singapore Airlines First Class

Did you know about Singapore Airlines' first class?

                        A380

Life on Mars

I do not remember the first time I had heard that Mars might support human life. It must have been a long time since this subject has been around if I cannot remember what age I was when I had heard about it. Either way, I have been thinking about whether Mars could really support life on Earth. I am still organizing the facts, but so far (you could call it my halfway conclusion) is that Mars is able to support human life. My reason is: if we build a biosphere that humans could live in, as long as we do not leave it we would be able to survive. The problem is, is that from what I know the biosphere project in Arizona did not turn out well. The people that lived in the biosphere came out half crazy and they still do not talk to each other. I believe that if we can upgrade biosphere, we have a great chance of living in Mars. As I said- still organizing info about this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

National Park on the Moon

I know this might be old news to people, but I still think it would be interesting to find out your opinions. I'm also wondering- did they ever decide? I was curious and tried to do some research, but all I could find were articles from the summer...

My opinion is that we should not make a national park on the moon. First of all, we have no right. The moon is not in the ownership of the U.S. What gives us the right to claim ownership? Instead of making a national park, I think making a petition with other countries about leaving things on the moon the way it is would be easier. It might also improve relationships with some countries throughout the process. 

Opinions?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/15/congress-bill-favors-national-park-on-moon/2518193/