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Lunar Orbiter 1

Lunar Orbiter 1

The Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic (unmanned) spacecraft, part of the Lunar Orbiter Program, was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. It was also equipped to collect selenodetic, radiation intensity, and micrometeoroid impact data. The spacecraft was placed in an Earth parking orbit on 10 August 1966 at 19:31 UT and injected into a cislunar trajectory at 20:04 UT. The spacecraft experienced a temporary failure of the Canopus star tracker (probably due to stray sunlight) and overheating during its cruise to the Moon. The star tracker problem was resolved by navigating using the Moon as a reference and the overheating was abated by orienting the spacecraft 36 degrees off-Sun to lower the temperature. Lunar Orbiter 1 was injected into an elliptical near-equatorial lunar orbit 92.1 hours after launch. The initial orbit was 189.1 km x 1866.8 km and had a period of 3 hours 37 minutes and an inclination of 12.2 degrees. On 21 August perilune was dropped to 58 km and on 25 August to 40.5 km. The spacecraft acquired photographic data from 18 August to 29, 1966, and readout occurred through September 14, 1966.
- Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first two remote images of earth from the distance of the Moon, August 23rd 1966. A total of 42 high resolution and 187 medium resolution frames were taken and transmitted to Earth covering over 5 million square km of the Moon's surface, accomplishing about 75% of the intended mission, although a number of the early high-res photos showed severe smearing. It also took the first two pictures of the Earth ever from the distance of the Moon. Accurate data were acquired from all other experiments throughout the mission. Orbit tracking showed a slight "pear-shape" to the Moon based on the gravity field and no micrometeorite impacts were detected. The spacecraft was tracked until it impacted the lunar surface on command at 7 degrees N latitude, 161 degrees E longitude (selenographic coordinates) on the Moon's far side on October 29, 1966 on its 577th orbit. The early end to the nominal one year mission was due to the small amount of remaining attitude control gas and other deteriorating conditions and was planned to avoid transmission interference with Lunar Orbiter 2.

External links

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770016195_1977016195.pdf DESTINATION MOON: A history of the Lunar Orbiter Program (PDF) 1976] 1

Robotic

In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs its tasks either according to direct human control, partial control with human supervision, or completely autonomously. Robots are typically used to do tasks that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. Industrial robots used in manufacturing lines used to be the most common form of robots, but that has recently been replaced by consumer robots cleaning floors and mowing lawns. Other applications include toxic waste cleanup, underwater and space exploration, surgery, mining, search and rescue, and searching for IEDs and land mines. Robots are also finding their way into entertainment and home health care.

Overview

A robot may include a feedback-driven connection between sense and action, not under direct human control, although it may have a human override function. The action may take the form of electro-magnetic motors or actuators (also called effectors) that move an arm, open and close grips, or propel the robot. The step by step control and feedback is provided by a computer program run on either an external or embedded computer or a microcontroller. By this definition, a robot may include nearly all automated devices. Two basic ways of using effectors are to move the robot around (locomotion) or to move other objects around (manipulation). This distinction divides robotics into two mostly separate categories: mobile robotics (moving) and manipulator robotics (grabbing). The most notable exception to this rule is the self-reconfigurable robots which potentially is able to use their effectors in three basic ways: locomotion, manipulation and self-reconfiguration, where the robot changes its own shape and/or function to better solve the task at hand. Alternately, robot has been used as the general term for a mechanical man, or an automaton resembling an animal, either real or imaginary. It has come to be applied to many machines which directly replace a human or animal in work or play. In this way, a robot can be seen as a form of biomimicry. Lack of anthropomorphism is perhaps what makes us reluctant to refer to the highly complex modern washer-dryer as a robot. However, in modern understanding, the term implies a degree of autonomy that would exclude many automatic machine tools from being called robots. It is the search for ever more highly autonomous robots or cognitive robots which is the major focus of robotics research and which drives much work in artificial intelligence. The term robot is also often used to refer to sophisticated mechanical devices that are remotely controlled by human beings, such as waldoes and ROVs, even though these devices are not autonomous.

History

The idea of artificial people dates at least as far back as the ancient legend of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers, and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life. In classical mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power. Jewish legend tells of the Golem, a clay statue animated by Kabbalistic magic. Similarly, in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a clay giant, Mökkurkálfi or Mistcalf, constructed to aid the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor, the God of Thunder. Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the word "Robot" in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921. The term "robot" was actually not created by Karel Čapek but by his brother Josef, also a respected Czech writer and painter. "Robot" comes from the Czech word "robota", meaning "forced labor, drudgery." The earliest ideas that could be related to the robotics of today was in 350 B.C. by the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum. He created a mechanical bird he called “The Pigeon.” The bird was propelled by steam. The first recorded design of a humanoid robot was made by Leonardo da Vinci around 1495. Da Vinci's notebooks, rediscovered in the 1950s, contained detailed drawings for a mechanical knight that was apparently able to sit up, wave its arms, and move its head and jaw. The design was likely based on his anatomical research recorded in the Vitruvian Man. It is not known whether or not he attempted to build the robot (see: Leonardo's robot). The first known functioning robot was created in 1738 by Jacques de Vaucanson, who made an android that played the flute, as well as a mechanical duck that reportedly ate and defecated. E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1817 short story "The Sandman" features a doll-like mechanical woman, and Edward S. Ellis' 1865 "Steam Man of the Prairies" expresses the American fascination with industrialization. A wave of stories about humanoid automatons culminated with the "Electric Man" by Luis Senarens in 1885. Once technology advanced to the point where people foresaw mechanical creatures as more than toys, literary responses to the concept of robots reflected fears that humans would be replaced by their own creations. Frankenstein (1818), sometimes called the first science fiction novel, has become synonymous with this theme. When Čapek's play RUR introduced the concept of an assembly line run by robots who try to build still more robots, the theme took on economic and philosophical overtones, further disseminated by the classic movie Metropolis (1927), and the popular Blade Runner (1982) and The Terminator (1984). With robots a reality and intelligent robots a likely prospect, a better understanding of interactions between robots and human is embodied in such modern films as Spielberg's A.I. (2001) and Proyas' I, Robot (2004). Many consider the first robot in the modern sense to be a teleoperated boat, similar to a modern ROV, devised by Nikola Tesla and demonstrated at an 1898 exhibition in Madison Square Garden. Based on his patent 613,809 for "teleautomation", Tesla hoped to develop the "wireless torpedo" into an automated weapon system for the US Navy. In the thirties, Westinghouse made a humanoid robot known as Elektro. It was exhibited at the 1939 and 1940 World's Fairs. The first electronic autonomous robots were created by Grey Walter at Bristol University, England in 1948.

Literary history

:See also List of fictional robots and androids The word robot comes from the Czech robota meaning "drudgery." Robotnik was used in the 1600's to classify Czech tenant-farmers. A robotnik had to work as a minimum one month a year free for the landlord, according to Karsten Alnaes in his "European History II". In modern Czech language, robotnik means "worker". The word was first used in its modern sense in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (written in 1920; first performed in Czechoslovakia 1921; performed in New York 1922; English edition published 1923). [http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/RUR/]. While Karel Čapek is frequently acknowledged as the originator of the word, he wrote a short letter in reference to the Oxford English Dictionary ethymology in which he named his brother, painter and writer Josef Čapek as its true inventor. [http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html]. Some claim that the word "robot" was first used in Josef Čapek's short story Opilec (the Drunkard) published in the collection Lelio in 1917. According to the Čapek Brothers Society in Prague, this is not correct. The word used in Opilec is "automat". "Robot" appeared in R.U.R. for the first time. Although Čapek's robots were organic artificial humans, the word robot has come to refer to mechanical humans. The term android can mean either one of these, while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism" or "bionic man") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts. In Douglas Adams series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the marketing division of the fictional Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "your plastic pal who's fun to be with".

Robotics

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, robotics is the science or study of the technology associated with the design, fabrication, theory, and application of robots. The word robotics was first used (in print) in Isaac Asimov's science fiction story "Liar!" (1941) In it, he referred to the 'three rules of robotics' that later became the Three Laws of Robotics in the short fiction collection I, Robot.. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software. Depending on the size of the project a working knowledge of kinematics, pneumatics, hydraulics, and microcontrollers / PLCs will also be useful. A standard process while creating a robot starts with an exploration of the sensors, algorithms, and actuators that will be required to perform the required task. Some idea of the most effective size for the robot and its primary power source are then decided. After a basic mobile platform has been completed, sensors and other inputs and outputs throughout the robot are connected to a decision-making device, most commonly a microcontroller. This circuit evaluates the input signals, calculates what the appropriate response is, and sends appropriate signals out to the actuators to cause a reaction.

Contemporary uses of robots

microcontroller Robots are used to do tasks that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. Industrial robots used in manufacturing lines used to be the most common form of robots, but that has recently been replaced by consumer robots cleaning floors and mowing lawns. Other applications include toxic waste cleanup, underwater and space exploration, surgery, mining, search and rescue, and searching for IEDs and land mines. Robots are also finding their way into entertainment and home health care. Industrial manipulators are similar in motion capability to the human arm and are the most widely used in industry. Applications include welding, painting, and machine loading. The automotive industry has taken full advantage of this technology where robots have been programmed to replace human labor in many repetitive or dangerous tasks. The wide adoption of such technologies, however, was delayed by the availability of cheap labour and high capital requirements of robots. Another form of industrial robots is AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles). AGVs are used in warehouses, hospitals, container ports, laboratories, server facilities, and other applications where risk, reliability, and security are important concerns. Likewise, autonomously patrolling safety and security robots are appearing as part of the growing move toward automated buildings. In early 2000s domestic robots entered the mainstream culture, with the success of Sony's Aibo and several manufacturers releasing robot vacuum cleaners, such as iRobot, Electrolux, and Karcher. Over 1,000,000 vacuum cleaner units were sold worldwide by the end of 2004 [http://www.unece.org/press/pr2004/04robots_index.htm]. iRobot plans to produce a floor mopping robot similar in size and design to the robot vacuum cleaners. Japanese corporations have been successful in developing prototypes of humanoid robots and plan to use the technology not only in their manufacturing plants, but also in Japanese homes. There is much hope in Japan that home care for an aging (and long-lived) population can be better achieved through robotics. While robotic technology has achieved a certain amount of maturity, the social impact of these robots is largely unknown. The field of social robots is now emerging and investigates the relationship between robots and humans. A ludobot is an instance of a social robot dedicated to entertainment and companionship. Robots have also been explored as a form of High-tech Art. The Austin Robot group and LMABTechnics have produced many interesting pieces such as Sparky and GeniumAR8.

Current developments

When roboticists first attempted to mimic human and animal gaits, they discovered that it was incredibly difficult; requiring more computational power than what was available at the time. So, emphasis was shifted to other areas of research. Simple wheeled robots were used to conduct experiments in behavior, navigation, and path planning. These navigation techniques have now developed into commercially available autonomous robot control systems; the most sophisticated examples of autonomous navigation control systems now available include laser-based navigation systems and VSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems from ActivMedia Robotics and Evolution Robotics. When engineers were ready to attempt walking robots again, they started small with hexapods and other multi-legged platforms. These robots mimicked insects and arthropods in both form and function. The trend towards these body types offer immense flexibility and proven adaptability to any environment, but the cost of the added mechanical complexity has prevented adoption by consumers. With more than four legs, these robots are statically stable which makes them easier to work with. The goal of bipedal robot research is to achieve a walk using passive-dynamic motion that mimics the natural human gait. There has been some recent progress towards robot bipedal locomotion, however a robust bipedal gait is still years away. statically stable Another technical problem preventing wider adoption of robots is the complexity of handling physical objects in the inherently chaotic natural environment. Tactile sensors and better vision algorithms may solve this problem. The UJI Online Robot from University Jaume I in Spain is a good example of current progress in this field. Recently, tremendous progress has been made in medical robotics, with two companies in particular, Computer Motion and Intuitive Surgical, receiving regulatory approval in North America, Europe and Asia for their robots to be used in minimal invasive surgical procedures. Laboratory automation is also a growing area. Here, benchtop robots are used to transport biological or chemical samples between instruments such as incubators, liquid handlers and readers. Other places where robots are likely to replace human labour are in deep-sea exploration and space exploration. For these tasks, arthropod body types are generally preferred. Mark W. Tilden formerly of Los Alamos National Laboratories specializes in cheap robots with bent but unjointed legs, while others seek to replicate the full jointed motion of crabs' legs. Experimental winged robots and other examples exploiting biomimicry are also in early development. So-called "nanomotors" and "smart wires" are expected to drastically simplify motive power, while in-flight stabilization seems likely to be improved by extremely small gyroscopes. A significant driver of this work is military research into spy technologies.

Future prospects

Some scientists believe that robots will be able to approximate human-like intelligence in the first half of the 21st century. Even before such theoretical intelligence levels are obtained, it is speculated that robots may begin to replace humans in many labor-intensive career fields. The cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener discussed some of these issues in his book The human use of human beings (1950), in which he speculated that robots taking over human jobs may initially lead to growing unemployment and social turmoil, but that in the medium-term it might bring increased material wealth to people in most nations. One might think of these robots collectively as a new "robot proletariat," or working class, which will enable humans to concern themselves mainly with ruling the means of production (such as farm equipment and factories) and enjoying the fruits of robots' labour. Such a shift in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services would represent a radical departure from current socio-economic systems, and in order to avoid poverty normally caused by unemployment and to be allowed to partake in the fruits of robotic labour, the human proletariat would need to overthrow the ruling class, in full accordance with Marx's predictions. Robotics will probably continue its spread in offices and homes, replacing "dumb" appliances with smart robotic equivalents. Domestic robots capable of performing many household tasks, described in science fiction stories and coveted by the public in the 1960s, are likely to be eventually perfected. There is likely to be some degree of convergence between humans and robots. Some humans are already cyborgs with some body parts and even parts of the nervous system replaced by artificial analogues, such as Pacemakers. In many cases the same technology might be used both in robotics and in medicine. Although not strictly robotics, there has been study in this area by Professor Kevin Warwick.

Robot competitions

:See also: :Category:Robotics competitions Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST, created a competitive forum that inspires in young people, their schools and communities an appreciation of science and technology. Their robotics competition is a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. In 2003 the competition will reach more than 20,000 students on over 800 teams in 24 competitions. Teams come from Canada, Brazil, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state. Unlike the Robot sumo wrestling competitions that take place regularly in some venues, or the Battlebots competitions on TV, these competitions include the creation of the robot. RoboCup is a competitive organization dedicated to developing a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world soccer champion team by the year 2050. There are many different leagues from simulation, to full-size humanoid. RoboCup Jr. is similar to RoboCup. RoboCup Jr. is a competition for anybody under 18 years of age, and is a bit easier than the real RoboCup. RoboCup Jr. includes three competitions: soccer (a soccer tournament), rescue (an obstacle course which an item has to be brought from one end to the other) and dance (robots dancing to music judged for the dancing, creativity and costumes). Like RoboCup, all robots have to be built and programmed by the team that made it, there is no buying other robots allowed. The DARPA Grand Challenge is a competition for robotic vehicles to complete an under-200 mile, off-road course in the Mojave Desert. The unclaimed 2004 prize was $1,000,000. The farthest any participant got was only 7.4 miles. However, the 2005 prize of $2,000,000 was claimed by Stanford University. In this race, four vehicles successfully completed the race. This is a testament to how fast robotic vision and navigation are improving. The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition ([http://www.igvc.org/ IGVC]), is a competition for autonomous ground vehicles that must traverse outdoor obstacle courses without any human interaction. This international competition sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International ([http://www.auvsi.org/ AUVSI]), is a student design competition at the university level and has held annual competitions since 1992. The two AAAI Grand Challenges focus on Human Robot Interaction, with one being a robot attending and delivering a conference talk, the other being operator-interaction challenges in rescue robotics. The Centennial Challenges are NASA prize contests for non-government funded technological achievements, including robotics, by US citizens. In Micromouse competitions, small robots try to solve a maze in the fastest time. The popularity of the TV shows Robot Wars Robotica and Battlebots, of college level robot-sumo wrestling competitions, the success of "smart bombs" and UCAVs in armed conflicts, grass-eating "gastrobots" in Florida, and the creation of a slug-eating robot in England, suggest that the fear of an artificial life form doing harm, or competing with natural wild life, is not an illusion. The worldwide Green Parties in 2002 were asking for public input on extending their existing policies against such competition, as part of more general biosafety and biosecurity concerns. It appears that, like Aldous Huxley's concerns about human cloning, questions Karel Čapek raised eighty years earlier in science fiction have become real debates.

Possible dangers

The concern that robots might displace or compete with humans is common. In his I, Robot series, Isaac Asimov created the Three Laws of Robotics in a literary attempt to control the competition of robots with humans: # A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. # A robot must obey the orders given to it by the human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. # A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Unfortunately the issue may be not so simple to resolve. Asimov himself based the plots of several novels and short stories on probing into the applicability and sufficiency of the Three Laws. The laws or rules that could or must apply to robots or other "autonomous capital" in cooperation or competition with humans have spurred investigation of macro-economics of this competition, notably by Alessandro Acquisti building on much older work by John von Neumann. Even without overt malicious programming, robots and humans simply do not have the same body tolerances or awareness, leading to accidents: In Jackson, Michigan on July 21, 1984, a factory robot crushed a worker against a safety bar in apparently the first robot-related death in the United States. Since then, laser light curtains have been required to protect against such dangers from heavy equipment. In another take on the issue, the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Prototype" depicted a group of robots known as Automated Personnel Units, which had been built for combat by a pair of warring species but later killed their creators when the war ended.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3897583.stm "Robots get bookish in libraries"]
- [http://www.mobilerobots.com/ethicalRobotics.html "Will Robots Take Over the World?"]
- [http://www.avt.me.vt.edu/index.html The Autonomous Vehicle Team at Virginia Tech]
- [http://www.me.vt.edu/grandchallenge/ The DARPA Grand Challenge Team at Virginia Tech]
- Prototype (Voyager episode)

Classes of robots

- Analog robots (they use analog circuitry to perform goals such as going towards light; its analog circuitry is used extensively in BEAM robotics)
- Arthropod robots (exoskeletons)
- Autonomous Robots
- Autonomous research robots
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
- Humanoid robot
- Hyper redundant robots
- Locomotion Styles
- Differential wheeled robots
- Snakebot
- Walker
- Biped Robots
- Multi-legged robots: Quadruped Robots, Hexapod Robots
- Nanorobots
- Service robots
- Domestic robots (Domobots)
- Educational Robotics
- LEGO Mindstorms
- BEAM robotics
- Entertainment robots
- robot combat
- Industrial robots
- Laboratory robotics
- Ludobots: play/entertainment robots, like Sony's Aibo 'dogbot'
- Medical robots
- Military robots
- Social robots

Research areas associated with robotics

- Behavior based robotics and Subsumption architecture
- Biomorphic robotics
- Developmental robotics
- Epigenetic robotics
- Evolutionary robotics
- Cognitive robotics
- Robot control
- Robot kinematics
- Artificial intelligence
- Automated planning and scheduling
- Mechatronics
- Neural networks
- Cybernetics
- Artificial consciousness
- Telerobotics / Telepresence
- Nanotechnology and MEMS
- Swarm robotics
- Human Robot Interaction

Additional robot topics

- Carbon chauvinism (see: Alternative biochemistry)
- Clanking replicators
- Disabled robotics: Robot exoskeleton
- Courier Robots
- Gynoid
- Isaac Asimov's Robot Series
- List of fictional robots and androids
- Microbot
- Passive dynamics
- Rapid prototyping
- RoboCup
- Robotherapy
- Robotic mapping
- Robotic unicycle
- Robots in literature and fantasy: Robby the Robot
- Uncanny Valley
- Self Reconfigurable

Notable roboticists

:See also: roboticist
- Jacques de Vaucanson Invented various early automatons
- Grey Walter Constructed autonomous 'turtle' robots in the 1940s
- Ronald Arkin, Georgia Tech College of Computing
- Rodney Brooks, MIT CSAIL
- Sebastian Thrun, Stanford University Inventor of Markov localization
- George Devol Inventor of the patented devices behind Unimation Inc.
- Joseph F. Engelberger Founder of Unimation Inc.
- Shigeo Hirose, Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Hirochika Inoue, Tokyo University
- Takeo Kanade, CMU Robotics Institute
- Hans Moravec, CMU Robotics Institute
- Oh Jun-ho Inventor of Korean walking/golfing robot Hubo
- Tomas Lozano-Perez MIT CSAIL
- Maja Mataric' University of Southern California pioneered using basis behaviors to produce group behaviors on mobile robots
- Masahiro Mori
- Marc Raibert, Inventor of hopping and running machines
- Bernie Roth, Stanford University
- J. Kenneth Salisbury, Stanford University
- Stefan Schaal, University of Southern California researcher of humanoid robots
- Victor Scheinman
- Mark Tilden, LANL
- Red Whittaker, CMU Robotics Institute
- Cynthia Breazeal, Director of MIT Media Lab's Robotic Life Group
- Robert Ambrose, NASA's Johnson Space Center
- Robin Murphy, Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, works on AI Robotics
- Jeff Trinkle, RPI
- Miomir Vukobratovic, Mihaljo Pupin Institute, Belgrad. In 1968, he developed the "Zero Moment Point" method for balancing walking robots. His first walking robot was developed in 1972.

Notable robots

Operational robots
- QRIO
- Aibo
- Asimo
- Hubo Korean humanoid robot
- PackBot
- PatrolBot
- Shakey
- Robonaut
- Da Vinci
- Roomba
- Stanley
- Wakamaru Robots in science fiction
- Alpha 5, Alpha 6, Alpha 7
- Bender
- C-3PO
- HAL
- Johnny 5
- KITT
- Marvin
- Max
- R2-D2
- R. Daneel Olivaw
- Robby the Robot
- T-800
- workbot
- Optimus Prime
- The Transformers

External links

Media coverage and articles

- [http://web.archive.org/web/20040710071552/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/07/06/hospital.robots.ap/index.html Courier robots get traction in hospitals] – CNN/AP, 6 July 2004
- [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/race.html The Humanoid Race] – An overview of progress as of 2004 in various aspects of humanoid robot construction, Wired.
- [http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-01-09-10 Robot navigation and vision system] – BetterHumans, 9 January 2003
- [http://www.intel.com/employee/retiree/circuit/robot.htm Robot nurse escorts and schmoozes the elderly] – Intel publication, 24 August 2004
- [http://www.marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm Robotic Nation] by Marshall Brain ([http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/03/07/24/1227209.shtml?tid=126 Slashdot discussion])
- [http://samvak.tripod.com/robot.html Critical analysis of Asimov's three laws of robotics] by Sam Vaknin
- [http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/LegalRightsOfRobots.htm The Legal Rights of Robots] by Robert A. Freitas
- [http://www.intel.com/update/contents/it05031.htm Mobile Robots as Gateways into Wireless Sensor Networks] – Intel Magazine, November 2004
- [http://www.contractoruk.com/news/001936.html Artificial chromosomes in robots] February 2005
- [http://haas.ca/articles/20040415-robots.cfm A Word About The World Robot Declaration] April 2004

General information and non-profit organizations

- [http://www.societyofrobots.com/ Society of Robots] – 'How to build a robot' tutorials, and a robot forum to get help.
- [http://www.euron.org/ EURON]: the European Robotics Research Network which currently assembles over 150 robotics research institutes and robotics companies in Europe.
- [http://www.labautomation.org/ ALA] – The Association for Laboratory Automation
- [http://www.lab-robotics.org/ LRIG] – The Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
- [http://www.SeattleRobotics.org/ SeattleRobotics.org] – The Seattle Robotics Society, one of the oldest and largest hobby robotics groups in the world.
- [http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Robotics/Robots/ Open Directory Section for Famous Robots] – Links and descriptions for well-known robots; Asimo, COG, and many others
- [http://www.ifr.org/ International Federation of Robotics]
- [http://www.robo-etf.org/ Robotics Engineering Task Force] (not updated since 2003)
- [http://www.gorobotics.net/ GoRobotics.net] Robotics resource website - robot news, projects, books, and club listings.
- [http://www.eurobot.org/eng/ Eurobot, an international amateur robotics contest]
- [http://robots.net/ robots.net] – Hobbyist and professional robotics site with news, robot gallery, project descriptions, and articles
- [http://oap.sourceforge.net/ Open Automaton Project] at sourceforge.net
- [http://www.robothalloffame.org/ The Robot Hall of Fame]
- [http://www.robotdirectory.org/ The Robot Directory] – An online gallery of robots
- [http://www.roboticsindia.com/ Robotics India] – Robotics Community portal with forums, chat, downloads and information relevant to robotics.
- [http://www.orionrobots.co.uk/tiki-index.php The OrionWiki] – Specifically aimed at technical content; also: downloads and personal spaces for robot builders/hobbyists
- [http://www.amorphicrobotworks.org/ AmorphicRobotWorks(ARW)] – A group working to create robotic performances and installations
- [http://www.robot.org.uk/ www.robot.org.uk] – A guide for robot builders with lists of reviewed books, magazines, approved parts suppliers, etc.
- [http://www.robodock.org/ Robodock] – A theater festival in The Netherlands heavily inspired by robotica.
- [http://www.robotsrule.com/phpBB2/ Robots Forum] Discussion forum for Robot builders
- [http://www.robotmc.org/ Robot MC (Dutch, belgium)] – Belgian robot club. Site includes videos and photos.
- [http://robotics.calpoly.edu/ Cal Poly Robotics Club] – Site includes project descriptions, tutorials, and development tools.
- [http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html A brief history of robotics]
- [http://www.movie-monsters.co.uk/robots.html Robots in sci-fi and horror films]
- [http://www.transmediale.de/page/detail/detail.0.projects.353.2.html Analog Robots] – A brief description.
- [http://www.solarbotics.net BEAM community] A specific type of analog robot.
- [http://www.nsi.edu/nomad/iros2003_jlk_gme.pdf#search='Darwin%20VII' Darwin VII, based on principles of the nervous system]
- [http://babel.massart.edu/~fredless/ Fred Wolflink's Massachusetts College of Art Robotic Art Pages]
- [http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/lucy.htm Lucy the Orangutan, based on principles of the nervous system]
- [http://www.endtas.com/robot Endtas robotics community website]
- [http://jwbats.blogspot.com/2005/10/robots-mainstream-by-2006-2007.html Robots Mainstream by 2006, 2007?] Information about robots moving into mainstream use, which is estimated to be around 2007.
- [http://lucy.vub.ac.be/robotmovie.htm Compilation video of some amazing robots] Compilation video (30min) of some amazing robots as qrio, asimo, HRP2, Partner robot, HAL,...
- [http://www.hobbyrobotics.org HobbyRobotics.org] provides reviews and links to information for hobby roboticists.

Commercial projects

- [http://www.dimensionengineering.com/ Dimension Engineering] – Robotics products and example projects aimed at hobbyists
- [http://www.trueforce.com/ trueforce.com] – Technical information on robotics, with a list of suppliers
- [http://www.robofolio.com/ The Robofolio] – An excellent portal for robot hobbyists.
- [http://www.roboticspot.com/en/ RoboticSpot.com] – Site about robotics, news, events and articles in English and Spanish
- [http://www.rhinorobotics.com/ Rhino Robotics] – Manufacturer of educational robots
- [http://www.mobilerobots.com/ MobileRobots, Inc] – Autonomous robots and intelligent control systems for development of commercial applications
- [http://www.robotics.com/robots.html Robot Information Central] – Link directory at a commercial site
- [http://www.iguana-robotics.com/RobotUniverse/ Robot Universe] – Link directory at a commercial site
- [http://www.robots.com/ robots.com] – Pay per click directory of links with some items related to robotics
- [http://ants.dif.um.es/~humberto/robots/ BGA architecture and robotic software ]
- [http://www.autopenhosting.org/robots/ Fractal Robots] Information on Fractal Robots
- [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412220012.html Hubo, a low cost humanoid robot launched in Korea]
- [http://evolution.com Evolution Robotics, developed vision for sony AIBO and ER-1]
- [http://www.digitalinspection.co.uk/ Robot Vision]
- [http://www.movie-monsters.co.uk/robots.html Robots in film]
- Robot
- Robot Category:Computer vision ko:로봇 ja:ロボット th:หุ่นยนต์

Spacecraft

, 2004.]] A spacecraft is a vehicle that travels through space. Spacecraft include robotic or unmanned space probes as well as manned vehicles. The term is sometimes also used to describe artificial satellites, which have similar design criteria.

Overview

The term spaceship is generally applied only to spacecraft capable of transporting people. A space suit has at times been called a miniature spacecraft or spaceship, emphasizing its purpose of keeping its wearer alive while traveling in the vacuum of outer space. The spacecraft is one of the primal elements in science fiction. Numerous short stories and novels are built up around various ideas for spacecraft. Some hard science fiction books focus on the technical details of the craft, while others treat the spacecraft as a given and delve little into its actual implementation.

Examples of past or existing spacecraft

Manned
- Apollo Spacecraft
- Gemini Spacecraft
- International Space Station
- Mir
- Mercury Spacecraft
- Shuttle Buran
- Shenzhou Spacecraft
- Space Shuttle
- Soyuz Spacecraft
- SpaceShipOne
- Voskhod Spacecraft
- Vostok Spacecraft Unmanned
- Cassini-Huygens
- Cluster
- Deep Space 1
- Genesis
- Mars Exploration Rover
- Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars Pathfinder
- Pioneer 10
- Pioneer 11
- Progress
- SOHO
- Stardust
- Viking 1
- Viking 2
- Voyager 1
- Voyager 2
- WMAP

Spacecraft under development

- Crew Exploration Vehicle
- Kliper
- Automated Transfer Vehicle
- H-II Transfer Vehicle
- Ansari X Prize (incl. a list of spacecraft in various stages of completion as of 2005) The US Space Command, according to its "Long Range Plan", is currently planning to develop a weaponized spaceship, which has yet to be announced.[http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/usspac/]

External links

- [http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions/phase.html NASA: Space Science Spacecraft Missions]
- [http://www.skyrocket.de/space/ Gunter's Space Page - Complete information on spacecraft]
- [http://www.cinespaceships.net/ Cinespaceships - Database on spaceships in movie]
- ja:宇宙船

Lunar Orbiter program

The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five unmanned Lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States in 1966 through 1967 with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface before the Apollo landings. All five missions were successful, and 99 % of the Moon was photographed with a resolution of 60 m or better. The first three missions were dedicated to imaging 20 potential lunar landing sites, selected based on Earth based observations. These were flown at low inclination orbits. The fourth and fifth missions were devoted to broader scientific objectives and were flown in high altitude polar orbits. Lunar Orbiter 4 photographed the entire nearside and 95 % of the farside, and Lunar Orbiter 5 completed the farside coverage and acquired medium (20 m) and high (2 m) resolution images of 36 pre-selected areas. The Lunar Orbiters had an ingenious imaging system, which consisted of a dual lens camera, a film processing unit, a readout scanner, and a film handling apparatus. Both lenses, a 610 mm narrow angle high resolution (HR) lens and an 80 mm wide angle medium resolution (MR) lens, placed their frame exposures on a single roll of 70 mm film. The axes of the two cameras were coincident so the area imaged in the HR frames were centered within the MR frame areas. The film was moved during exposure to compensate for the spacecraft velocity, which was estimated by an electro-optical sensor. The film was then processed, scanned, and the images transmitted back to Earth.

Spacecraft and Subsystems

The main bus of the Lunar Orbiter had the general shape of a truncated cone, 1.65 metres tall and 1.5 m in diameter at the base. The spacecraft was comprised of three decks supported by trusses and an arch. The equipment deck at the base of the craft held the battery, transponder, flight progammer, inertial reference unit (IRU), Canopus star tracker, command decoder, multiplex encoder, traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA), and the photographic system. Four solar panels were mounted to extend out from this deck with a total span across of 3.72 m. Also extending out from the base of the spacecraft were a high gain antenna on a 1.32 m boom and a low gain antenna on a 2.08 m boom. Above the equipment deck, the middle deck held the velocity control engine, propellant, oxidizer and pressurization tanks, Sun sensors, and micrometeoroid detectors. The third deck consisted of a heat shield to protect the spacecraft from the firing of the velocity control engine. The nozzle of the engine protruded through the center of the shield. Mounted on the perimeter of the top deck were four attitude control thrusters. Power of 375 W was provided by the four solar arrays containing 10,856 n/p solar cells which would directly run the spacecraft and also charge the 12 A·h nickel-cadmium battery. The batteries were used during brief periods of occultation when no solar power was available. Propulsion for major maneuvers was provided by the gimballed velocity control engine, a hypergolic 100 pound-force (445 N) thrust Marquardt rocket motor. Three axis stabilization and attitude control were provided by four one lbf (4 N) nitrogen gas jets. Navigational knowledge was provided by five Sun sensors, Canopus star sensor, and the IRU equipped with internal gyros. Communications were via a 10 W transmitter and the directional 1 m diameter high gain antenna for transmission of photographs and a 0.5 W transmitter and omnidirectional low gain antenna for other communications. Both antennas operated in S-band at 2295 MHz. Thermal control was maintained by a multilayer aluminized Mylar® and Dacron thermal blanket which enshrouded the main bus, special paint, insulation, and small heaters.

Results of the Lunar Orbiter Program

The Lunar Orbiter program consisted of 5 Lunar Orbiters which returned photography of 99 % of the surface of the Moon (near and far side) with resolution down to 1 meter. Altogether the Orbiters returned 2180 high resolution and 882 medium resolution frames. The micrometeoroid experiments recorded 22 impacts showing the average micrometeoroid flux near the Moon was about two orders of magnitude greater than in interplanetary space but slightly less than the near Earth environment. The radiation experiments confirmed that the design of Apollo hardware would protect the astronauts from average and greater than average short term exposure to solar particle events. The use of Lunar Orbiters for tracking to evaluate the Manned Space Flight Network tracking stations and Apollo Orbit Determination Program was successful, with three Lunar Orbiters (2, 3, and 5) being tracked simultaneously from August to October 1967. The Lunar Orbiters were all eventually commanded to crash on the Moon before their attitude control gas ran out so they would not present navigational or communications hazards to later Apollo flights. The Lunar Orbiter program was managed by NASA Langley Research Center at a total cost of roughly $200 million. far side far side
- Lunar Orbiter 1
- Launched August 10 1966
- Imaged Moon: August 18 to 29 1966
- Apollo landing site survey mission
- Lunar Orbiter 2
- Launched November 6 1966
- Imaged Moon: November 18 to 25 1966
- Apollo landing site survey mission
- Lunar Orbiter 3
- Launched February 5 1967
- Imaged Moon: February 15 to 23 1967
- Apollo landing site survey mission
- Lunar Orbiter 4
- Launched May 4 1967
- Imaged Moon: May 11 to 26 1967
- Lunar mapping mission
- Lunar Orbiter 5
- Launched August 1 1967
- Imaged Moon: August 6 to 18 1967
- Lunar mapping and hi-res survey mission

External links

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770016195_1977016195.pdf DESTINATION MOON: A history of the Lunar Orbiter Program (PDF) 1976, NASA TM X-3487]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/TM-3487/top.htm DESTINATION MOON: A history of the Lunar Orbiter Program (HTML)] Both links lead to a whole book on the program. For the HTML one, scroll down to see the table of contents link.
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710026703_1971026703.pdf Guide to Lunar Orbiter Photographs (PDF) 1970, NASA SP-242]

Surveyor program

The Surveyor Program comprised unmanned spaceflights to the Moon, with soft landings, without returning (although Surveyor 6 became the first spacecraft to lift off the moon). It was initiated and carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landing on the Moon. This was done in preparation for the Apollo Program. The program was implemented by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and performed several other services beyond its primary goal. The ability for a spacecraft to make midcourse corrections was demonstrated, and the landers carried instruments to assist with evaluation of the suitability of their landing sites for manned Apollo landings. The Surveyor Shovel was a project to determine the composition of the Moon's surface. The robotic shovel was designed to dig at the surface and determine the composition of the materials. Before this project, it was unknown how deep the dust on the moon was. If the dust were to be too deep, then no Astronaut could land. Today, of course, we now know that the Astronauts could walk the face of the Moon, as evidenced by the photographs of their footprints. There were seven Surveyor missions, five were successful. Surveyor 2 and 4 failed. Each consisted of a single unmanned spacecraft designed and built by Hughes Aircraft Company.

Mission list

- Surveyor 1 - Launched May 30, 1966; landed on Oceanus Procellarum, June 2, 1966
- Surveyor 2 - Launched September 20, 1966; crashed near Copernicus crater, September 23, 1966
- Surveyor 3 - Launched April 17, 1967; landed on Oceanus Procellarum, April 20, 1967
- Surveyor 4 - Launched July 14, 1967; crashed on Sinus Medii, July 17, 1967
- Surveyor 5 - Launched September 3, 1967; landed on Mare Tranquillitatis, September 11, 1967
- Surveyor 6 - Launched November 7, 1967; landed on Sinus Medii, November 10, 1967
- Surveyor 7 - Launched January 7, 1968; landed near Tycho crater, January 10, 1968 Apollo 12 landed within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 landing site.

External links

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690027073_1969027073.pdf Surveyor Program Results (PDF) 1969]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720019081_1972019081.pdf Analysis of Surveyor 3 material and photographs returned by Apollo 12 (PDF) 1972]

Apollo Program

:For other meanings, see Apollo (disambiguation). Apollo (disambiguation) Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1972. It was devoted to the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth within the decade of the 1960s. This goal was achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. The program continued into the early 1970s to carry out the initial hands-on scientific exploration of the Moon, with a total of six successful landings. As of 2005, there has not been any further human spaceflight beyond low earth orbit. The later Skylab program and the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project used equipment originally produced for Apollo, and are often considered to be part of the overall program. The name Apollo, like earlier manned space-flight programs, was named after a god from classical civilizations, and comes from one of the Greek gods.

Background

The Apollo Program was originally conceived late in the Eisenhower administration as a follow-on to the Mercury program, doing advanced manned earth-orbital missions. In fact, it became the third program, following Gemini. The Apollo Program was dramatically reoriented to an aggressive lunar landing goal by President Kennedy with his announcement at a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: :"...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..." (Excerpt from "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs" [http://www.jfklibrary.org/j052561.htm])

Choosing a mission mode

Having settled upon the Moon as a target, the Apollo mission planners were faced with the challenge of designing a set of flights that would meet Kennedy's stated goal while minimizing risk to human life, cost and demands on technology and astronaut skill. Three possible plans were considered. 1961
- Direct ascent: This plan was to boost a spaceship directly to the moon. The entire spacecraft would land on and return from the moon. This would have required a Nova rocket far more powerful than any in existence at the time.
- Earth orbit rendezvous: This plan, known as Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), would have required the launch of two Saturn V rockets, one containing the space ship and one containing fuel. The spaceship would have docked in earth orbit and be fueled with enough fuel to make it to the moon and back. Again, the entire spacecraft would have landed on the moon.
- Lunar orbit rendezvous: This plan, which was adopted, is credited to John Houbolt and used the technique of 'Lunar Orbit Rendezvous' (LOR). The spacecraft was modular, composed of a 'Command/Service Module' (CSM) and a 'Lunar Module' (LM; originally Lunar Excursion Module ). The CSM contained the life support systems for the three man crew's five day round trip to the moon and the heat shield for their reentry to Earth's atmosphere. The LM would separate from the CSM in lunar orbit and carry two astronauts for the descent to the lunar surface, then back up to the CSM. In contrast with the other plans, the LOR plan required only a small part of the spacecraft to land on the moon, thereby minimizing the mass to be launched from the moon's surface for the return trip. The mass to be launched was further minimized by leaving part of the LM (that with the descent engine) behind, on the moon. The Lunar Module itself was composed of a descent stage and an ascent stage, the former serving as a launch platform for the latter when the lunar exploration party blasted off for lunar orbit where they would dock with the CSM prior to returning to Earth. The plan had the advantage that since the LM was to be eventually discarded, it could be made very light, so the moon mission could be launched with a single Saturn V rocket. However, at the time that LOR was decided, some mission planners were uneasy at the large numbers of dockings and undockings called for by the plan. To learn lunar landing techniques, astronauts practiced in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), a flying vehicle that simulated (by means of a special, additional jet engine) the reduced gravity that the Lunar Module would actually fly in.

Flights

The Apollo program included eleven manned flights, designated Apollo 7 through Apollo 17, all launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Apollo 4 through Apollo 6 were unmanned test flights (officially there was no Apollo 2 or Apollo 3). The Apollo 1 designation was retroactively applied to the originally planned first manned flight which ended in a disastrous fire during a launch pad test that killed three astronauts, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger B. Chaffee, in January 1967. The first of the manned flights employed the Saturn IB launch vehicle; the remaining flights all used the more powerful Saturn V. Two of the flights (Apollo 7 and Apollo 9) were Earth orbital missions, two of the flights (Apollo 8 and Apollo 10) were lunar orbital missions, and the remaining 7 flights were lunar landing missions (although one, Apollo 13, failed to land). Apollo 7 tested the Apollo command and service modules (CSM) in Earth orbit. Apollo 8 tested the CSM in lunar orbit. Apollo 9 tested the lunar module (LM) in earth orbit. Apollo 10 tested the LM in lunar orbit. Apollo 11 achieved the first human lunar landing. Apollo 12 achieved the first lunar landing at a precise location. Apollo 13 failed to achieve a lunar landing, but succeeded in returning the crew safely to earth following a potentially disastrous in-flight explosion. Apollo 14 resumed the lunar exploration program. Apollo 15 introduced a new level of lunar exploration capability, with a long-stay-time LM and a lunar roving vehicle. Apollo 16 was the first manned landing in the lunar highlands. Apollo 17, the final mission, was the first to include a scientist-astronaut, and the program's first manned night launch.

Apollo Applications Program

In the speech which initiated Apollo, Kennedy declared that no other program would have as great a long-range effect on America's ambitions in outer space. Following the success of Project Apollo, both NASA and its major contractors investigated several post-lunar applications for the Apollo hardware. The "Apollo Extension Series", later called the "Apollo Applications Program", proposed at least ten flights. Many of these would use the space that the lunar module took up in the Saturn rocket to carry scientific equipment. One plan involved using the Saturn IB to take the Command/Service Module (CSM) to a variety of low-earth orbits for missions lasting up to 45 days. Some missions would involve the docking of two CSMs, and transfer of supplies. The Saturn V would be necessary to take it to polar orbit, or sun-synchronous orbit (neither of which has yet been achieved by any manned spacecraft), and even to the geosynchronous orbit of Syncom 3, a communications satellite not quite in geostationary orbit. This was the first functioning communications satellite at that now-common great distance from the Earth, and it was small enough to be carried through the hatch and taken back to Earth for study as to the effects of radiation on its electronic components in that environment over a period of years. A return to the moon was also planned, this time to orbit for a longer time to map the surface with high-precision equipment. This mission would not include a landing. Of all the plans only two were implemented; the Skylab space station (May 1973 – February 1974), and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (July 1975). Skylab's fuselage was constructed from the second stage of a Saturn IB, and the station was equipped with the Apollo Telescope Mount, itself based on a lunar module. The station's three crews were ferried into orbit atop Saturn IBs, riding in CSMs; the station itself had been launched with a modified Saturn V. Skylab's last crew departed the station on February 8, 1974, whilst the station itself returned prematurely to Earth in 1979, by which time it had become the oldest operational Apollo component. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project involved a docking in Earth orbit between an un-named CSM and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The mission lasted from July 15 to July 24, 1975. Although the Soviet Union continued to operate the Soyuz and Salyut space vehicles, NASA's next manned mission would not be until STS-1 on April 12, 1981.

End of the program

1981 Originally three additional lunar landing missions had been planned, as Apollo 18 through Apollo 20. In light of the drastically shrinking NASA budget and the decision not to produce a second batch of Saturn Vs, these missions were cancelled to make funds available for the development of the Space Shuttle, and to make their Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V launch vehicles available to the Skylab program. Only one of the Saturn Vs was actually used; the others became museum exhibits. Another excerpt from Kennedy's Special Message to Congress: :"I believe we should go to the moon. But I think every citizen of this country as well as the Members of the Congress should consider the matter carefully in making their judgment, to which we have given attention over many weeks and months, because it is a heavy burden, and there is no sense in agreeing or desiring that the United States take an affirmative position in outer space, unless we are prepared to do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. If we are not, we should decide today and this year. Skylab :"This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, material and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful interagency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel. :"New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further--unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space." (Excerpt from "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs")

Reasons for Apollo

The Apollo program was at least partly motivated by psycho-political considerations, in response to persistent perceptions of American inferiority in space technology vis-a-vis the Soviets, in the context of the Cold War and the Space Race. In this respect it succeeded brilliantly. In fact, American superiority in manned spaceflight was achieved in the precursory Gemini program, even before the first Apollo flight. The Apollo program stimulated many areas of technology. The flight computer design used in both the lunar and command modules was, along with the Minuteman Missile System, the driving force behind early research into integrated circuits. The fuel cell developed for this program was the first practical fuel cell. Computer controlled machining (CNC) was pioneered in fabricating Apollo structural components. Many astronauts and cosmonauts have commented on the profound effects that seeing earth from space has had on them. One of the most important legacies of the Apollo program was the now-common, but not universal view of Earth as a fragile, small planet, captured in the photographs taken by the astronauts during the lunar missions. The most famous of these photographs, taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts, is "The Blue Marble." These photographs have also motivated many people toward environmentalism and space colonization.

Miscellaneous information

- The cost of the entire Apollo program: USD $25.4 billion -1969 Dollars ($135-billion in 2005 Dollars). See NASA Budget. (Includes Mercury, Gemini, Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbitar, Apollo programs.) Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket cost alone, was about $ 83-billion 2005 Dollars (Apollo spacecraft cost $ 28-billion (CS/M $ 17-billion; LM $ 11-billion), Saturn I, IB, V costs about $ 46-billion 2005 dollars).
- Amount of moon material brought back by the Apollo program: 381.7 kg (841.5 lb). Most of the material is stored at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston.

Missions

Lunar Receiving Laboratory The Apollo program used four types of launch vehicles:
- Little Joe II - unmanned suborbital launch escape system development.
- Saturn I - unmanned suborbital and orbital hardware development.
- Saturn IB - unmanned and manned earth orbit development and operational missions.
- Saturn V - unmanned and manned earth orbit and lunar missions. Something to note with Apollo flights is that Marshall Space Flight Center, which designed the Saturn rockets, referred to the flights as Saturn-Apollo (SA), while Kennedy Space Center referred to the flights as Apollo-Saturn (AS). This is why the unmanned Saturn 1 flights are referred to as SA and the unmanned Saturn 1B are referred to as AS. Dates given below are dates of launch.

Unmanned Saturn I

- SA-1 - October 27, 1961. Test of the S-1 Rocket
- SA-2 - April 25, 1962. Test of the S-1 Rocket and carried 109 m³ of water into the upper atmosphere to investigate effects on radio transmission and changes in local weather conditions.
- SA-3 - November 16, 1962. Same as SA-2
- SA-4 - March 28, 1963. Test effects of premature engine shutdown
- SA-5 - January 29, 1964. First flight of live second stage
- A-101 - May 28, 1964. Tested the structural integrity of a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module
- A-102 - September 18, 1964. Carried the first programmable computer on the Saturn I vehicle; last test flight
- A-103 - February 16, 1965. Carried Pegasus A micrometeorite satellite
- A-104 - May 25, 1965. Carried Pegasus B micrometeorite satellite
- A-105 - July 30, 1965. Carried Pegasus C micrometeorite satellite

Unmanned pad abort tests

1965
- Pad Abort Test-1 - November 7, 1963. Launch Escape System (LES) abort test from launch pad.
- Pad Abort Test-2 - June 29, 1965. LES pad abort test of near Block-I CM.

Unmanned Little Joe II

- QTV - August 28, 1963. Little Joe II qualification test.
- A-001 - May 13, 1964. LES transonic abort test.
- A-002 - December 8, 1964. LES maximum altitude, Max-Q abort test.
- A-003 - May 19, 1965. LES canard maximum altitude abort test.
- A-004 - January 20, 1966. LES test of maximum weight, tumbling Block-I CM.

Unmanned Apollo-Saturn IB and Saturn V

- AS-201 - February 26, 1966. First test flight of Saturn IB rocket
- AS-203 - July 5, 1966. Investigated effects of weightlessness on fuel tanks of S-IVB
- AS-202 - August 25, 1966. Sub-orbital test flight of Command and Service Module
- Apollo 4 - November 9, 1967. First test of the Saturn V booster
- Apollo 5 - January 22, 1968. Test of the Saturn IB booster and Lunar Module
- Apollo 6 - April 4, 1968. Test of the Saturn V booster

Manned

- Apollo 1 - Crew died in spacecraft fire atop launch vehicle during pre-launch tests on January 27, 1967.
- Apollo 7 - October 11, 1968. First manned Apollo flight, first manned flight of the Saturn IB.
- Apollo 8 - December 21, 1968. First manned flight around the Moon, first manned flight of the Saturn V.
- Apollo 9 - March 3, 1969. First manned flight of the Lunar Module.
- Apollo 10 - May 18, 1969. First manned flight of the Lunar Module around the Moon.
- Apollo 11 - July 16, 1969. First manned landing on the Moon, July 20.
- Apollo 12 - November 14, 1969. First precise manned landing on the Moon.
- Apollo 13 - April 11, 1970. Oxygen tank explodes en route, landing is cancelled, first (and, as of 2005, only) manned non-orbital lunar flight.
- Apollo 14 - January 31, 1971. Alan Shepard, the sole astronaut of the Mercury MR-3 mission, walks on the Moon.
- Apollo 15 - July 26, 1971. First mission with the Lunar Rover vehicle.
- Apollo 16 - April 16, 1972. First landing in the lunar highlands.
- Apollo 17 - December 7, 1972. Final Apollo lunar mission, first night launch, only mission with a professional geologist. The original pre-lunar landing program was more conservative but as the 'all-up' test flights for the Saturn V proved successful missions were deleted. The revised schedule published in October 1967 had the first manned Apollo CSM earth orbit mission (Apollo 7) followed by an Earth Orbit Rendezvous of the CSM and LM launched on two Saturn 1Bs (Apollo 8) followed by a Saturn V launched CSM on a Large Earth Orbit Mission (Apollo 9) followed by the Saturn V launched dress rehearsal in Lunar Orbit with Apollo 10. By the summer of 1968 it became clear to program managers that a fully functional LM would not be available for the Apollo 8 mission. Rather than perform a simple earth orbiting mission, they chose to send Apollo 8 around the moon during Christmas. The original idea for this switch was the brainchild of George Low. Although it has often been claimed that this change was made as a direct response to Soviet attempts to fly a piloted Zond spacecraft around the moon, there is no evidence that this was actually the case. NASA officials were aware of the Soviet Zond flights, but the timing of the Zond missions does not correspond well with the extensive written record from NASA about the Apollo 8 decision. It is relatively certain that the Apollo 8 decision was primarily based upon the LM schedule, rather than fear of the Soviets beating the Americans to the moon.

Cancelled missions

- Apollo 18
- Apollo 19
- Apollo 20

Later missions using left over Apollo hardware

- Skylab - May 14, 1973.
- Skylab 2 - May 25, 1973.
- Skylab 3 - July 28, 1973.
- Skylab 4 - November 16, 1973.
- Apollo-Soyuz - July 15, 1975.

Apollo Launch Complex utilization

- Launch Complex 34 - SA-1, SA-2, SA-3, SA-4, AS-201, AS-202, AS-204 (Apollo 1), AS-205 (Apollo 7)
- Launch Complex 37A - no launches
- Launch Complex 37B - SA-5, A-101, A-102, A-103, A-104, A-105, AS-203, AS-204 (Apollo 5)
- Launch Complex 39A - AS-501 (Apollo 4), AS-502 (Apollo 6), AS-503 (Apollo 8), AS-504 (Apollo 9), AS-506 (Apollo 11), AS-507 (Apollo 12), AS-508 (Apollo 13), AS-509 (Apollo 14), AS-510 (Apollo 15), AS-511 (Apollo 16), AS-512 (Apollo 17), AS-513 (Skylab 1)
- Launch Complex 39B - AS-505 (Apollo 10), AS-206 (Skylab 2), AS-207 (Skylab 3), AS-208 (Skylab 4), AS-210 (ASTP).

References

- Kranz, Gene, Failure is Not an Option. Factual, from the standpoint of a chief flight controller during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. ISBN 0743200799
- Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. ISBN 0140272011. Chaikin has interviewed all the surviving astronauts, plus many others who worked with the program.
- Murray, Charles; Cox, Catherine B. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. ISBN 0671611011. This is an excellent account of what it took to build and fly Apollo.
- Cooper, Henry S. F. Jr. Thirteen: The Flight That Failed. ISBN 0801850975. Although this book focuses on Apollo 13, it is extremely well-researched and provides a wealth of background information on Apollo technology and procedures.
- Wilhelms, Don E. To a Rocky Moon. ISBN 0816510652. Tells the history of Lunar exploration from a geologist's point of view.
- Pellegrino, Charles R.; Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. ISBN 0380802619. Tells Grumman's story of building the Lunar Modules.
- Lovell, Jim; Kluger, Jeffrey. Lost Moon: The perilous voyage of Apollo 13 aka Apollo 13: Lost Moon. ISBN 0618056653. Details the flight of Apollo 13.
- Collins, Michael . Carrying the Fire; an Astronaut's journeys. Astronaut Mike Collins autobiography of his experiences as an astronaut, including his flight aboard Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon
- Slayton, Donald K.; Cassutt, Michael. Deke! An Autobiograpy. ISBN 031285918X. This is an excellent account of Deke Slayton's life as an astronaut and of his work as chief of the astronaut office, including selection of the crews which flew Apollo to the Moon.
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790020032_1979020032.pdf Chariots for Apollo: A history of Manned Lunar Spacecraft - NASA report (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690022643_1969022643.pdf The Apollo spacecraft. Volume 1 - A chronology: From origin to 7 Nov. 1962 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740004394_1974004394.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 2 - A chronology: 8 November 1962 - 30 September 1964 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19760014180_1976014180.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 3 - A chronology: 1 October 1964 - 20 January 1966 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800011953_1980011953.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 4 - A chronology: 21 January 1966 - 13 July 1974 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750013242_1975013242.pdf Apollo program summary report: Synopsis of the Apollo program - NASA report (PDF format)]

External links

- [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/index.html Official Apollo program website]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/contents.html Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft By Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm NASA SP-4009 The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm SP-4029 Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff]
- [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html The Apollo Program (1963 - 1972)]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal]
- [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo.html Project Apollo (Kennedy Space Center)]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/apollo.html Project Apollo Drawings and Technical Diagrams]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/diagrams.htm Technical Diagrams and Drawings]
- [http://www.lunarrock.com/Inventory.asp Lunar Rock Inventory]
- [http://www.apolloarchive.com/ The Project Apollo Archive]
- [http://www.globalcuts.com/NASA/stock_footage_trailer_movie.htm Spirit of Apollo] Apollo 11 Memorial Video
- [http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm The Apollo Program (National Air and Space Museum)]
- [http://www.io.com/~o_m/ssh_forgotten_astp.html OMWorld's ASTP Docking Trainer Page]
- [http://sourceforge.net/projects/nassp/ Project Apollo for Orbiter spaceflight simulator]
- [http://moon.google.com/ Google Moon: interactive map of the Moon and Apollo landing sites] Category:Human spaceflight programmes ko:아폴로 계획 ja:アポロ計画

Radiation

Radiation can refer to one of the following:
- Alpha radiation
- Beta radiation
- Gamma radiation
- Delta radiation
- Epsilon radiation
- Neutron radiation
- Cherenkov radiation, radiation by a particle moving through an insulating medium faster than the speed of light in that medium.
- Electromagnetic radiation, a stream of photons of a variety of different energies.
- Ionizing radiation, a stream of particles with sufficient energy to cause ionization.
- Gravitational radiation, a predicted consequence of general relativity.
- Non-ionizing radiation, electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy to ionize living material.
- Particle radiation, any kind of radiation in which the individual elements behave like particles.
- Synchrotron radiation, the emission of radiation by a charged particle undergoing acceleration.
- Thermal radiation, the process by which a hot object emits electromagnetic radiation.
- Radiant energy, radiation emitted by a source into the surrounding environment.
- Adaptive radiation, in evolutionary biology, a process by which one species becomes many in order to adapt to specific ecological niches. In fiction, radiation can also refer to:
- Theta radiation and Omicron radiation, which are found in Star Trek

10 August

August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 143 days remaining. The term "the 10th of August" is widely used by historians as a shorthand for the Storming of the Tuileries Palace on August 10 1792, the effective end of the French monarchy until it was restored in 1814.

Events

- 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
- AD 955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
- 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.
- 1680 - Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.
- 1792 - French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.
- 1809 - Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.
- 1821 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.
- 1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist Joseph Smithson.
- 1856 - In Last Island, Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek - The war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
- 1893 - At Augsburg, Rudolf Diesel's prime model runs on its own power for the first time. Because of this, August 10 is the International Biodiesel Day.
- 1905 - Russian and Japanese