Apollo program

The Apollo Project is a human spaceflight program to the moon by　NASA the first as human beings. It carried out from 1961 to 1972 and succeeded in the 6 times manned landing on the moon.

The Apollo Project was considered as a project after the Mercury Project at the beginning of 1960. Although the Mercury spacecraft picked up a one pilot and only go around a low orbit. But in the spaceship Apollo, to pick up three pilots, and to go the moon around, and also to land on the moon was made into the target.

By then Director NASA, the plan name was connected with Helios Apollo of Greek mythology, and was named. He is saying later, "He named that his child is named in the feeling." John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th generation of United States of America President in November, 1960. Kennedy promised making the United States superior to the Soviet Union on field of space development and missile defense during the election.However, after being elected as the President, immediately Kennedy did not make a decision about the Apollo Project. He didn’t know about the details of space technology very much and hesitated the immense budget needed for a manned landing on the moon.

Astronaut Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union was successful on April 12, 1961 in the first manned space flight in Vostok 1. The American citizen saw this and felt anxious losing the space race with the Soviet Union.

On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced support of the Apollo Project in the speech in both-legislative-houses joint Parliament.

“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

The manned flight was performed by three persons, a captain, command service module pilot and a lunar excursion module pilot. When landing on the moon, the captain and the landing module pilot landed and the command service module pilot was standing on the moon circumference orbit in the meantime.

NASA conducted three manned flights (8, 9 and 10) from December 21, 1968 to May 18, 1969 using the Saturn 5 type rocket. Although three pilots joined and the whole of each flight, also carried the landing module in No. 9 and No. 10, it did not aim at the landing on the moon. Then, human beings came down on heavenly bodies other than the earth for the first time in the history of the earth by Apollo 11. And captain Neil Armstrong left the language of the famous following.

“That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

 
     Although the rumor that the Apollo Project was a fabrication was flowing till the beginning of 2000, there is no now. I don’t know who followed such this rumor, but I think that it is too impolite to the people in connection with this plan. There are many people who risked life to this plan, and three crew have risked their life. So I don’t understand the feeling of the person that Apollo Project is a lie.

Manned flight at first

Human beings went to the universe for the first time about 50 years ago. What went to space in human beings is Yuri Gagarin. Probably I think you have heard his name. All the astronauts by today will respect him from the bottom of their heart. Today I'm going to talk about too much great his story.

 

When it was decided that a world's first manned space flight will be performed, Gagarin and German Titov were selected as a pilot's candidate. Before, Gagarin aspired to the pilot and went to Air Force Academy. Two persons were that the result of the examination was excellent and were not tall. The early spacecraft was very small and it was difficult for a large human being to ride. Gagarin was chosen as a result of the final selection. This is because Gagarin is with mild and social character, is the Russia name of "Yuri", and is easy to emphasize the point of the hero of a working class graduate.

 

On April 12, 1961, Gagarin succeeded in the world's first manned space flight by Vostok 3kA-2. Gagarin is said to have hummed the song of "hearing the homeland" and　encouraged himselves during the flight. This song was often sung by singing cafe in Japan. Although media reported later that Gagarin said during the flight, "God is not even if it looks", no record about it is nothing.

The spacecraft which picked up Gagarin went into the orbit around the earth, carried out outer atmosphere 1 round in 1 hour and about 50 minutes, and returned to the pasture in Russia. Although it landed with the spacecraft at the time, the pilot was ejected with seat from the capsule at an altitude of 7000 m and descend by a parachute one person in fact, and it involved a big risk.

 

Then, since Gagarin became a flight commander, he resumed flight training. However, it fell to its death during the flight on March 27, 1968 by MiG-15UTI which boarded with the instructor. He was 34 years old. Although the cause of the accident had been unknown for a long time. According to the material for investigation announced in 1986, Su-11 interceptor which was flying with high-speed of the neighborhood, and a possibility of it was involved in the shock wave and operated impossible was also suggested. Although the rumor that Gagarin was drinking at the time of boarding also flowed, he has passed the medical checkup before a flight and it had not found at all the proof which shows drinking also by investigation conducted after death.

Since it was bad weather at the time of a flight, Gagarin and an instructor also had the opinion that reorganization of the body was impossible. With the new theory announced in 2005, whether the vent of the cockpit broke down, or it remained opening by the former passenger's mistake. And oxygen will begin to leak from there, it will be in a hypoxic condition, and they suppose that consciousness was lost and it fell into the operation impossible state.

 

Nobody thought that a great person died to such this.

Astronauts in Japan

Today, I’m going to talk about “Astronauts in Japan”. Although I thinks that you know, the occupation of an astronaut is a very dangerous occupation.

On February 1 2003, When the American spacecraft space shuttle "Columbia" reentered the atmosphere, it fell apart in flight and seven astronauts were victims. Columbia finished the 28th missions and just before it return to the earth.

This occupation is next to death and failure is not allowed. All crews' lives are sometimes even lost by one person's failure. Then, why do people think that they want to go to the universe? That will be because there is value that its life is risked in the universe. However, even so, people cannot throw away a life easily. Therefore, what get an astronaut is several persons who passed the severe examination. Moreover, they stack very severe training like cannot think from a usual life. I will introduce some chosen astronauts.

    

○Mouri Mamoru

     He is the second Japanese astronaut. And, he is the first astronaut to join a space shuttle program as Japanese people. After he returned, he said in front of the television camera, "from the universe, the international border was not visible."

 

○Hoshide Akihiko

     He had decided to become an astronaut　very early. When he was a student in the fourth year of a university, he saw the astronaut's advertisement. Although he didn't have a qualification requirement, he was consulting to NASDA directly. Then he gave up the application after all, he passed in 1999.

     On May 31 2008, he went to the universe from the Kennedy Space Center with space shuttle Discovery. His work　was building of the experiment building "Kibo" of Japan in ISS. On June 3, he set up "Kibo" using the robot arm of ISS. He became the first Japanese astronaut who operated the robot arm of ISS.

 

○Yamazaki Naoko

     She is the 2nd female astronaut in Japan. She has a husband and two daughters.

     She aimed at the astronaut working for development business of the International Space Station. After three years from entrance into the company, she was selected by the astronaut.

     On April 5 2010, she got on space shuttle Discovery and launched from the Kennedy Space Center. While staying at the universe, she managed various duties. And she seceded from ISS with Discovery on April 17, and returned to the Kennedy Space Center on the 20th. Since space shuttle retired in 2011, she became the last shuttle Japanese passenger.

     Although the first long stay as the Japanese woman of ISS was also expected, she announced retirement in August, 2011.

 

○Furukawa Satoshi

     Although he had a doctor’s degree as doctor, but now he is playing an active part for the longest days (167 days) in Japan. His activity making full use of the experience as a doctor is expected in the universe.

     On June 8 2011, he got on Soyuz and stayed at ISS for five months and a half. This was his first flight.

The present Universe

Hello, I’m Miyuki.

I wrote about “development of astronomy” last time, so I’ll write about “present Universe”. But there are a various heavenly bodies and there are a lot of people researching them. So I think only Black Hole here. I’m going to talk about present Black Hole.

 

Black Hole is very high density and very large mass so it has very strong gravitation. The strength is that even light cannot slip out.

After the fixed star of large mass carries out supernova explosion, a black hole is made by contracting to a limit with self-gravity. Black Hole has not been observed directly yet. As the name suggests, it is not directly visible. Well, how can we observe it and confirm the existence? The answer is following two.

A black hole tries to inhale a surrounding substance by the powerful gravity. The substance inhaled then becomes spiral and rotates at high speed. The substance inhaled receives the energy by rotation and becomes high temperature very much, and emits X-rays and a gamma ray. We observe a black hole indirectly by investigating the X-rays.

A black hole is the speed near the velocity of light, and spouts the flow of thin gas. This jet is one of the most intense blow-of-gas phenomena in the universe. However, it is not explained why the black hole which inhales surrounding gas by powerful gravity spouts gas. The jet is emitting the electric wave and we can confirm existence of a black hole by observing the electric wave.

Recently, observation of this jet had progress. International research teams, such as the National Astronomical Observatory, succeeded in measurement of the size of the root of the jet which comes out from the overly huge black hole of the Galaxy M87 in the Virgin for the first time on September 28, 2012.

Three radio telescopes were used for observation in the U.S. including Hawaii. Measurement showed that the size of the root of a jet was about 5.5 times larger than the black hole radius. Moreover, the size of the root of a jet agrees with the value which is expected in the case of a revolving black hole, and this has suggested a possibility that rotation of a black hole is concerned with formation and emission of a jet.

We turns out that there is an overly huge black hole at the center in almost all the Galaxies that exist in the universe. The active black hole in them is blowing off the jet accelerated to the speed near the velocity of light. A jet is a flow of the plasma emitted from near the black hole, and it is very thinly. However, it is not explained in detail yet how a jet is emitted from near the black hole and why a substance is accelerated this much high speed. It is left as a big mystery on present age astronomy.

     I am a heavenly body which certainly gets interested for that in which a black hole aims at an astronomer, and they dream about researching this black hole at once. Of course, I am also the one person. I would like to do my best toward the target.