International Space Station ISS
Category : Space Technology Tags : space craft satellite technology exploration
It was the largest man made object in the space which can be visually seen by naked eye. The International Space Station (ISS) is a join project between several nation including USA, Russia, Japan, Canada and the Europian. It is also the most expensive object man have ever built. The cost is estimated to be approximately 100 billion Euro over a course of 30 years.
The construction of the ISS begin in November 1998 when a Russian Proton rocket send the first segment of the ISS into Earth Low Orbit followed by the rest of delivery of segments of the ISS. To-date the ISS is consist on 10 different segment assembled altogether and several more to come. The ISS is expected to complete its construction by the year 2011.
The ISS is powered by several large Solar Panels which generate about 32.8kW of electrical power to operate the entire ISS. The station is located between 278 km to 460 km above Earth surface and travel at a speed of 27,724 km/h. It could complete 15.7 orbit around the planet each day.
Planet Pluto
Category : Solar System Tags : history planet
| Planet Name | Pluto |
| Diameter | 2306 km |
| Circumference | 7,247 km |
| Mass | 1.3 E+22 kg |
| Distance from Sun | 5,906 million km (49 AU) |
| Rotation period | unknown |
| Orbit period | unknown |
| Satellite | 3 |
| Surface Temp | -218 C to -240 C |
| Composition | Nitrogen, Methane |
Pluto is once considered as one of the planet in our Solar System. Discovered in 1930, this little planet has been reclassified into a dwarf planet in 2006 after the International Astronomical Union formalise the definition of a planet.
According to the definition of a planet, there are three major condition a planet need to meet which include;
1. The planet must orbit around Sun.
2. The object must be massive enough and have enough gravity to hold itself into a spherical form.
3. It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. (Pluto failed to meet this third condition).
Pluto is not the largest object in the outer region of the Solar System, in fact another dwarf planet, Eris which lies in the outer region of the Solar System is even larger that Pluto.
List of Moons orbiting Pluto
| Moon | Diameter (km) |
| Charon | 1172 |
| Nix | 46 |
| Hydra | 61 |
Planet Neptune
Category : Solar System Tags : history planet
| Planet Name | Neptune |
| Diameter | 48,682 km |
| Circumference | 153,000 km |
| Mass | 1.02 E+26 kg |
| Distance from Sun | 4,550 million km (30.1 AU) |
| Rotation period | 16.1 hours |
| Orbit period | 164.8 years |
| Satellite | 13 |
| Surface Temp | -201 C to -218 C |
| Composition | Hydrogen (80%), Helium (19%), Methane (1.5%), Ammonia, Hydrogen Deuteride, Water |
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is the fourth largest planet in the Solar System approximately 17 times Earth mass. Neptune is a gas giant class planet where it has a very think layer of atmosphere and Neptune has the highest wind speed recorded at 2100 km/h.
Neptune is the furthest planet in the Solar System located 4.5 billion kilometer away from the Sun. That is about 30 times the distance between the Sun and Earth (30AU). It takes Neptune almost 165 years to complete an orbit around the Sun. Like most gas giant planets, Neptune planetary rotation is rather fast compared to Earth. It only takes about 16 hours to complete each rotation.
List of Moons orbiting Neptune
| Moon | Diameter (km) |
| Triton | 2700 |
| Proteus | 418 |
| Nereid | 340 |
| Larissa | 192 |
| Galatea | 158 |
| Despina | 148 |
| Thalassa | 80 |
| Naiad | 58 |
Planet Uranus
Category : Solar System Tags : history planet
| Planet Name | Uranus |
| Diameter | 51,118 km |
| Circumference | 160,656 km |
| Mass | 8.68 E+25 kg |
| Distance from Sun | 2,876 million km (19.2 AU) |
| Rotation period | 17 hours 14 minutes |
| Orbit period | 84 years |
| Satellite | 27 |
| Surface Temp | -197 C to -220 C |
| Composition | Hydrogen (83%), Helium (15%), Methane (2.3%), Ammonia, Hydrogen Deuteride, Water |
Uranus is the seventh planet in the Solar System. It is one of the four gas giant resided in ther outer region of the Solar System. Uranus has a similar composition that of Neptune but Uranus happens to be the coldest planet in the Solar System. Its temperature could go as low as -224 C.
Resided about 3 billion km from the Sun, Uranus complete its orbit around the Sun every 84 years. The planet only takes 17 hours and 14 minutes to complete a day. One of the most unique thing about Uranus is its axial tilt angle which tilt at 97.77 degrees. This would mean that one of the pole of Uranus will be facing directly to the Sun while the other pole will be completely dark during part of its orbit around the Sun.
List of Moons orbiting Uranus
| Satellite | Diameter (km) |
| Cordelia | 26 |
| Ophelia | 32 |
| Bianca | 44 |
| Cressida | 66 |
| Desdemona | 58 |
| Juliet | 84 |
| Portia | 110 |
| Rosalind | 54 |
| 2003U2 | 12 |
| Belinda | 68 |
| 1986U10 | 80 |
| Puck | 154 |
| 2003U1 | 16 |
| Miranda | 472 |
| Ariel | 1158 |
| Umbriel | 1170 |
| Titania | 1578 |
| Oberon | 1522 |
| 2001U3 | 12 |
| Caliban | 80 |
| Stephano | 30 |
| Trinculo | 10 |
| Sycorax | 160 |
| 2003U3 | 12 |
| Prospero | 40 |
| Setebos | 20 |
| 2002U2 | 12 |
Planet Saturn
Category : Solar System Tags : history planet
| Planet Name | Saturn |
| Diameter | 120,536 km |
| Circumference | 378,827 km |
| Mass | 5.68 E+26 kg |
| Distance from Sun | 1,433 million km (9.5 AU) |
| Rotation period | 10 hours 34 minutes |
| Orbit period | 29.5 years |
| Satellite | 61 |
| Surface Temp | -189 C to -139 C |
| Composition | Hydrogen (96%), Helium (3%), Methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen Deuteride, Ethane, Water |
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is one of the four gas giant planet in the outer region of the Solar System and was the second largest planet. This is the only planet in the Solar System which has a visible prominent ring surrounding the planet. Although the others gas giant also possess similar ring, but it is mostly composed of gases and dust which make them less visible.
Saturn complete a day in just slightly more than 10 hours. With its sheer size and thick atmospheric layer, wind could blow up to 1,800 km per hour which is even faster than of Jupiter wind speed.
There are 61 known satellite or moon orbiting Saturn with its largest moon, Titan which is larger than planet Mercury.
The most remarkable thing about Saturn is it planetary ring which surround Saturn's equator. The ring extent from 6,530 km from Saturn until 120,700km in diameter from Saturn. Although the size of the ring was so vast, the average thickness of the ring is only about 20 meters thick. The ring is mainly composed of ice and other particles with size ranging from a tiny dust to a small vehicle.
Satellites orbiting Saturn
| Satellite Name | Diameter (km) | Mass (kg) |
| Titan | 5150 | 1.35E+23 |
| Rhea | 1530 | 2.49E+21 |
| Iapetus | 1460 | 1.88E+21 |
| Dione | 1120 | 1.05E+21 |
| Tethys | 1060 | 7.55E+20 |
| Enceladus | 520 | 8.40E+19 |
| Mimas | 392 | 3.80E+19 |
| Hyperion | 286 | 1.77E+19 |
| Phoebe | 220 | 4.00E+18 |
| Janus | 178 | 2.00E+18 |
| Epimetheus | 114 | 5.60E+17 |
| Prometheus | 92 | 2.70E+17 |
| Pandora | 92 | 2.20E+17 |
Others satellites orbiting Saturn;
Helene, Telesto, Atlas, Calypso, Pan, Ymir, Paaliaq, Tarvos, Ijiraq, Suttungr, Kiviuq,
Mundilfari, Albiorix, Skathi, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Thrymr
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