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= Electronics: Wiki Entry #1 = ** There are many different types of electronics, but they all start from the same spot: electricity. Electricity is the interaction between positive and negative charges. It is a very important element of our society now because it has given us so many new devices and innovations. Some of these devices use what is called a semiconductor. A semiconductor is an element that can conduct electricity, but only under certain circumstances. For example, some semiconductors will only conduct electricity if they are in high temperatures or there is a very high level of voltage. This can be useful in electronic devices because they will only conduct if the right action is completed. This can save lots of energy and even make the device simpler. Sometimes it is good that there is a constant flow of electricity but sometimes it is better if the flow is only for a certain amount of time. A semiconductor can be more controlled than a conductor, therefore making it more useful in some cases. In some of these devices, there are electronic signals. Electric signals are a current that changes and holds information. Electric signals are divided into two different groups, analog and digital. An analog signal is a signal that changes very smoothly over a certain amount of time. An analog clock is like this as well, the hands on the clock move very smoothly. Digital signals are signals that move in increments over time, not smoothly. The other type of clock is the digital clock, the numbers change in increments, not smoothly moving to the next number. Each signal has its own purpose and are both used in different ways. Also being used in different ways are diodes, transistors and integrated circuits. A diode is a piece of equipment that allows electricity to flow in only one direction. Inside of the diode they are two different types of semiconductors that help make the electrons flow in one direction. This can be very useful if electricity needs to flow one way in order for a task to be completed. A transistor is another piece of equipment but it does a completely different job than a diode. A transistor can be used as amplifiers for signals that are being passed through as well as an electric switch. An electric signal can allow the transistor to block or let flow electric current. Finally, an integrated circuit is a very small chip that hold can hold thousands of transistors and diodes at once. They are used in a lot of computers as well as other electronic devices as a way to store transistors and diodes. These are all very import elements of an electronic device, from semiconductors to electric signals to integrated circuits. **

== Electronics have become a very important part of our everyday lives in the 21 century, but they will become even more important in space travel. If the space mission was to travel to Mars, the astronauts will have to really rely on the electronics to help them stay on course as well as help keep them alive. It is about a two year trip to Mars, so the electronics that are aboard this excursion will need to be able to, help keep the oxygen and the air pressure at a habitable level, having something that can keep the food fresh or a certain type of light that can help grow food, keep the lights on, communication, etc. All of these examples are very important to space travel in order for the astronauts piloting the rocket can live, can be quite helpful. Once they astronauts have landed on Mars, then they will send out robots to help do some of the exploring. These robots have to be programmed to go out and try to find life, pick it up, and then find its way back to the spaceship. Without electronics, the mission and the search for life on Mars would not be able to happen. ==

**History of Rocketry: Wiki Entry #2**

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 * Today, rockets have a major part in our lives, but not exactly how you might think. When the first real rocket was created, we don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese came up with a flying device in the first century. It was made of a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder. At first, these rockets were made for religious festivals and celebrations, but soon became useful for much more. When the Mongols and the Chinese were fighting Chinese used the newly invented rockets as missiles on the Mongols. The destruction was not a significant and the mental factor of the rockets, but either way, the Mongols were scared. They eventually created their own and spread them throughout the places that they attacked. These rockets had been modified over the years to create torpedoes, RPGs, airplane missiles, and many other war related weapons. **=====

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 * In 1898, a Russian teacher suggested the exploration of space via rockets. This idea was experimented and the first liquid-propellant rocket was born. The man who built the first liquid-propellant rocket worked with rocketry for many years afterwards, building rockets flew higher and longer than ever. All around the world, rockets were starting to become more popular. The Germans created a V-2 rocket that was used in WWII to attack the enemy. These missiles and weapons sparked the invention to the man carrying missile, one that would take humans to space. **=====

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 * In October of 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite to go into space. About a month later, the Soviet Union sent a dog up in a space ship. Sadly Laika, the dog, died after about seven days in the space craft. Soon after, men were put up into space, orbited the Earth and landed on the Moon. Since the first century, mankind has experimented with rockets, and I can only imagine what will happen with them in the future. **=====





= **﻿Rocket Stages Animation** = = = = media type="custom" key="9019786" =

= Rocket Parts =



= = = **Wiki Entry #4- Does the mass of an object affect the altitude that it flies?** =

The rocket shot off of the launch pad straight, but then started to barrel roll in the air. Once it reached apogee, the parachute did not come out right away. It began to fall back down to us and then finally the chute popped out about 70 meters above the ground. The wind instantly took the rocket and blew it over towards the basketball court. It finally landed safely on the cement of the court, with the chute deployed.



The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether or not the mass of the rocket affects the altitude of the rockets after they are launched. Each table built the same rocket, but then painted them. The paint is what changes the mass of the rocket. The more paint that was painted on the rocket, the more massive the rocket will be. Then, all of the rockets were taken out side and two students used a trundle wheel to walk 100 meters away. Once the students were the correct distance, the count down occurred. When the rocket was launched, the two students 100 meters away used an angle gun to measure the angle of the rocket. We took the average of the two angles measured be the students. To find the final altitude of the rocket, we used the tangent of the angle multiplied by 100. My hypothesis for this experiment was incorrect. I had hypothesized that the more massive the rocket, the higher it will fly. This was determined that this is not the case. The mass of the rocket didn't have to do with the altitude of the rocket.

= **The Importance of Astronomy in the Search for Life on Mars** =

= = = Astronomy plays a key role in the search for life on Mars. Astronomy is the science that studies, the universe. First of all, astronomy is what started the search for life out in the Universe. Hundreds of years ago, the first telescope was created, a device that was able to show humans planets and galaxies out in space. Part of human nature is exploration and expansion, so it seen natural for us to want to find life somewhere other than Earth. With astronomy, we are able to tell that there are billions of galaxies and stars in the Universe, and how close or far away they are. We are able to determine that the sun has gravitational pull, and that planets rotate around it. One day, we will be able to get to Mars, and once we do, the main reason is because of astronomy. =

To learn more about astronomy, go to this link: More about astronomy

History of Robotics

====The ideas of robots or mechanical beings go back thousands of years. In Greek mythology, the god Hephaestus made robots and automations to help him get his jobs done. But in the 1800’s, the real robot came to be because mechanical puppets had been created for entertainment. These were built for shows, not for actual working. Later, manufacturing robots were built. They were built with the intention of making a job easier for a human. Some of these include vacuuming the floor and performing surgery. Over the years, they have been modified to do jobs that are impossible for humans to do such as go to the sun and take information about it.==== ====Nowadays, robots are used in everyday life. They build cars, fly planes, and are used as toys by children. In space exploration, they are used for test runs on planets that we don’t now much about such as Mars. They are able to roam around the planet, gather information and report back to Earth. Since they are just mechanical pieces put together, they are able to do much more dangerous things than humans can. That is why we send robots out into space to tell us what it is like; it wont cost a human life. Robots are an important part of our life now and will be throughout human existence.====

= Wiki Entry 7: Motors and Sensors in Robots =

In a program such as Lego Mindstorm, robots are able to programmed to do different tasks. All of the tasks require that a motor runs. If a command is put into the program, you are able to plug the robot into your computer and the program will get transferred into the robot and the motor will react to the commands. Some of the commands include point turn, curve turn, move forward, move backward, turn right, turn left, and stop. Sometimes, when you are using the robot, it will malfunction and the robot will not do as the program tells it to. Some things that can happen are, bad battery, full memory, the device is busy and problems with the electronics inside of the robot. Even with having to deal with a few minor problems with the robots, they are very important to our lives and using the motor helps makes things easier.

Just like humans, robots can have the ability to sense things. Instead of having a nose, mouth, hands, or eyes, robots have sensors. These sensors help them navigate and function properly. These sensors help the robot gather data about the things around it. With this data, the robots are able to change their behavior and adapt to the environment better. There are multiple types of sensors; each having its own purpose. There is the touch sensor, the ultrasonic sensor, the sound sensor and the light sensor. The touch sensor reacts when something touches the sensor. The ultrasonic sensor uses echolocation to determine how far away something is. The sound sensor reacts to sound and the light sensor reacts to different colors. These sensors are able to make the robot do a certain task. When the robot is using the light sensor, it can follow a line. This can be helpful if there is a trail of some sort that scientist would want to follow. When the robot is using the sound sensor, it is able to preform an action when it hears a certain noise. This can be useful when searching for life, because if it hears the sound of an animal of some sort, it can react to it. These are just some of the sensors and their purpose, there are many more things that can do so many things to help. Sensors are very important to robotics and the search for life on Mars.



//**WIKI ENTRY 8: LIFE**//

The only way that something can be classified as living, is if it consists of eight different characteristics. These characteristics are is made of cells, needs materials, is homeostatic, responds to stimuli, reproduces, grows, adapts and respires. If something is made up of cells, it has the fundamental unit in any living thing. If something needs materials it needs water, food and other resources in order to survive. The thing must get these materials from their surroundings. If something is homeostatic, the livings things inside of them stay the same despite any changes in the environment. This requires a great deal of energy to be produced by the creature. If something responds to stimuli, it reacts to a stimulus, anything that causes a living thing to react. There are positive stimuli and negative stimuli. If something reproduces, it creates offspring of its own. It can do this by sexual reproduction (two parents) or asexual reproduction (one parent). If something grows, it develops from a simple to a very complex form. This is a somewhat slow process, but can sometimes happen quickly. If something adapts, it can change to meet the requirements of its surroundings. If things adapt of generations, that is called evolution. Finally if something respires, it releases the chemicals in sugar to make energy. There are two different ways that a creature can respire; it can consume, which means that it takes in its food, or it can produce, which means that it creates it own food. The only way that something can be classified as living, is if it consist of all eight of these characteristics.



If a scientist was trying to figure out if something on Mars was alive, he/she would have to conduct many different experiments. In these experiments, the scientists would have to determine that the things consists of eight different characteristics. To see if the object is made up of cells, a rover could use a microscope and look at the outer layer of the object. To see if the object needs materials, watch the object for about a month and watch to see if it eats, drinks and uses other resources in order to survive. To find out if it is homeostatic, watch the insides of the object and see they change to do the differences in the environment. To determine that the object responds to stimuli, use a stimulus and see if the object reacts. Try both a positive and a negative stimulus on the object. To tell of the object reproduces, watch it and see if it produces an offspring. This can happen with one or two parents. If the object does reproduce, watch the offspring and see if they become a more complex form. If they do, then the object can grow. To see if the object adapts, look at it and decide whether or not it has attributes that can help it survive in the environment that it is in. If it does, then it most likely can adapt. Finally, watch and see if the object creates its own food or takes in food. If it does, then it can respire. These are just some of the ways that life can be detected on Mars. There are many different tests and the object has to have all eight of the characteristics on order to considered alive.