International Space Station Provides New Feelings of Détente

The International Space Station (ISS) circles the globe 15.54 times every 24 hours with a crew of six astronauts. It’s a huge satellite that races around the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour. The international scientists who make up the crew travel in what’s called a low orbit that averages an altitude of 248 miles.

Three American and three Russian astronauts left Earth for the ISS in 2000 to become the first rotating group of scientists to live inside the ISS. The largest structure ever put into space, the ISS covers an area larger than a football field, including the end zones. It’s big enough to be seen at night with the naked eye; it resembles a streaking star as it crosses different parts of the globe. If it were on earth, the massive structure would weigh 400 tons.

The main assembly started in 1998 and went on two years; improvements have continued for the past 19 years. American shuttles and Russian rockets transported pressured modules, external trusses and solar arrays that were assembled in space like a giant erector set. The international mix of scientists who comprise the changing crews of the ISS demonstrate co-operation and trust in working together.

American and Russian governments paid the bulk of the costs to assemble and begin operation of the ISS. The European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency contribute money to help pay the $100 billion plus dollars spent so far to keep the ISS floating above Earth.

While the two superpowers distrust each other on a political platform, goodwill feelings are strong between Russia and the U.S. concerning the ISS. Trust and co-operation between the U.S. and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) was at a high water mark in the late 1960’s into most of the 1970’s. That time of mutual trust and co-operation became known as Détente (dey-tahnt). That’s French and means a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, by negotiations and agreement.

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States co-existed in a tumultuous time called the Cold War. Both countries competed in manufacturing military buildup including nuclear weapons. Tensions came to a head with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. It was a dangerous time when the U.S. came close to war with the Soviets.

Détente became a popular idea as leaders and citizens of the two countries realized that the stockpiling of weapons that could destroy Earth several times over was useless and extremely expensive. Efforts to put Americans and Soviets into space helped to overshadow the arms race.

The word Détente slowly left the lexicon of the two countries by the time the Berlin Wall was knocked down in November 1989. That’s when the Soviet Union and communism itself started coming apart.

Scientists who make up the crew of the ISS spend about six months in the satellite before a new crew of astronauts replaces them. The ISS provides a microgravity laboratory where crew members conduct experiments in biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields. The ISS and future space stations provide excellent opportunities to monitor weather patterns on Earth. Manned exploration to other planets such as Mars would also by greatly helped by such platforms as the ISS.

The ISS is the ninth successful, inhabited space station. Extended funding for the ISS project was approved in March 2017 by both the U.S. and Russia to keep it working through 2024. The replacement for the ISS will be developed and built during the next eight years in Russia by the Roscosmos agency. Roscosmos is the Russian equivalent to America’s NASA.

The commitment to keep funding the ISS for the next seven years gives the two superpowers a chance to keep Détente working in space and maybe, by example, make it spread among all nations.

Great American Eclipse Coming August 21st

Millions of Americans will look overhead this month as a total solar eclipse crosses the United States from coast to coast. People in all the contiguous states will see at least a partial eclipse while a narrow band of 14 states will get a full view of the Moon moving between the Earth and Sun.

The eclipse will begin on the Oregon coast as a partial eclipse at 9:06 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, August 21st. It will end later as a partial eclipse along the South Carolina coast at 4:06 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.

The Moon’s shadow will block the sunlight for two minutes and 40 seconds, turning day into darkness as the Moon aligns between the Earth and Sun. The air will feel cooler, as much as 10 degrees. Tagged the Great American Eclipse, the entire journey of the Moon’s shadow from the west coast to the east coast will take just 90 minutes.

Scientists will study the eclipse from numerous locations along the narrow band of cities. The next total eclipse that will pass across the U.S. will be in 2024. The last one occurred 99 years ago.

NASA scientists will get the closest look at the eclipse. Several of them will board a specially built Golfstream V jet from Tennessee to record the Moon’s shadow. The astrophysicists will get a very close but a very brief view of the corona. That’s the fuzzy halo that appears around the edges of the Sun when it’s completely covered by the Moon’s shadow.

The corona is what the scientists most want to study. When the Moon shades the brightness of the Sun and the corona is visible, scientists can study the escaping gases that shoot out into space for millions of miles. The corona is visible and safe to watch even to the unaided eye during the brief, total eclipse.

Thousands of photographs will be taken from the ground and from various airplanes in addition to the NASA group flight. The full eclipse takes less than five minutes each time it occurs over and over as the Moon crosses the U.S., so recording the eclipse from several cities will help with the research. 

The Moon will be moving at one and one half times the speed of sound as it crosses the U.S. That’s too fast for the special Golfstream jet to provide more than that one, quick view.

Throughout history, solar eclipses caused fear that resulted in myths and superstitions. Ancient cultures came up with various reasons to understand why the Sun temporarily vanished from the sky. People of ancient China believed that the Sun disappeared because it was eaten by a giant dragon. In fact, the Chinese word for eclipse is shi, which means “to eat.” In Vietnam, people believed a giant frog devoured the Sun. And Norse cultures blamed hungry wolves. Ancient Greeks believed a solar eclipse was a sign from angry gods who were signaling the beginning of pending disasters and destruction on the world.

Irrational fears of solar eclipses exist today. Many cultures around the world see eclipses as evil omens that bring death and destruction. Any such superstitions have no evidence of actually affecting human behavior. Scientists do, however, emphasize that anyone watching a solar eclipse must protect their eyes.

Use eye protection whenever you look at the Sun. The only safe time to watch a total eclipse is during the brief time the Moon’s shadow completely covers the Sun. Otherwise, use specially designed safety glasses that are available from several websites. But the only completely safe way to protect your eyes from sun damage is not to look directly at the sun.

Go outside if you are lucky enough to be in an area where the total or close to total eclipse occurs. The temperature will drop as daylight gives way to partial darkness. And you can watch it in detail on television broadcasts that can show the many photographs and recordings astrophysicists will produce with telescopes and from airplanes.