9781422284797

Blast off into the Unknown with . . .

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Archaeologists! Astronauts! Big-Animal Vets! Biomedical Engineers! Civil Engineers!

Climatologists! Crime Scene Techs! Cyber Spy Hunters! Marine Biologists! Robot Builders!

By K.C. Kelley

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3416-7 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3418-1 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8479-7

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Tom Carling, Carling Design Inc. Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Cover image: NASA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kelley, K. C., author.

Astronauts! / by K.C. Kelley.

pages cm. -- (Scientists in action!) Audience: Grades 9-12.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4222-3418-1 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-4222-3416-7 (series : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-4222-8479-7 (ebook) 1. Astronauts--Juvenile literature. 2. Astronautics--Juvenile literature. 3. Outer space--Exploration--Juvenile literature. I. Title. TL793.K43 2015 629.45--dc23 2015004672

Contents

Action!. .................................................................... 6 The Scientists and Their Science....................... 12 Tools of the Trade................................................. 22 Tales From the Field!. .......................................... 32 Scientists in the News......................................... 44

Find Out More..................................................................... 46

Series Glossary of Key Terms............................................ 47

Index/About the Author.................................................... 48

Key Icons to Look For

Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowl- edge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weav- ing together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connect- ed to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains ter- minology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

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Action!

r. Thomas Marshburn (pictured at left) was a college professor, but at this moment in the spring of 2013, he was a looong way from the class- room. Years earlier, he had spent many years studying hard to become a medical doctor. He also had a degree in physics. He had become a teacher to pass on what he had learned along the way. So why was he floating 200 miles (321 km) above the Earth, wearing a space suit and facing a pressure-packed situation? Because Marshburn was a scientist and an astronaut. As the Earth spun below him, Marshburn had to call on all of his skills to help save his fellow astronauts.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND airlock  a room on a space station from which astronauts can move from inside to outside the station and back ammonia  a gas used in refrigeration; can be deadly if inhaled

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Marshburn had grown up in North Carolina and Georgia. After at- tending four different schools to study science and medicine, he had worked as an emergency-room doctor. On that job, he had to deal with sudden problems, and had to make fast decisions. He did not have time to get rattled when a car-crash victim came in for help. He had to get the work done, no matter what. He then took a job using his medical expertise to help the space program, making sure future astronauts were healthy and ready for space. After a while, he decided to make the big leap himself and be- come an astronaut, too! After taking tests and doing interviews, he became an astronaut in 2004. In 2009, he flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour ; his astronaut dream had come true! His mission was to deliver parts and experiments to the International Space Station (ISS). During that time, he took his first space walks, working outside the station for more than 18 hours. That experience would come in handy later on. In 2013, he was chosen for another mission—to live on the ISS for six months! While living with astronauts from Canada and Rus- sia, Marshburn helped them stay healthy while he also did important scientific research. He learned to eat his meals while floating in zero gravity. He had to sleep in a bag stuck to a wall. He went six months without a real shower, using only handy wipes to clean up. Still, he loved every minute of it. On May 11, 2013, just a few days before he was to come home, there was a problem. Ammonia , a dangerous gas, was leaking into the space station. There was only one way to fix it: time for a space walk. Usually space walks are planned for months, and every possible situation is covered. NASA had not tried such a sudden space walk

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before. Anything could go wrong due to the lack of planning. Now, how- ever, there was no time to wait. The doctor from Georgia had to pull on his space suit and head out into the icy blackness to save the day. Marshburn and fellow astronaut Christopher Cassidy moved into the airlock on board the ISS. They had spent the previous few hours going over their tasks. Teams on the ground had shown them what to do, and they looked at diagrams of what they would find outside. Out- side the window, they could see small chips of frozen ammonia leaking into space. If that leak turned around and leaked inside the station, it could be very dangerous for the men living aboard. The ammonia also helped keep power grids cool. Without that power, some of the

After putting on his space suit, Marshburn went through the airlock and into the freezing, airless environment outside the International Space Station.

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Using hand tools strapped to his suit (so they did not float away), Marshburn made careful repairs to a broken pump that would keep the astronauts inside the station safe from harm.

important scientific experiments on board might be damaged. There was no more time to wait. The two astronauts gathered their tools and waited for the airlock to open. After attaching safety lines to the station itself, they stepped into space. The two men clung to the outside of the station as it whizzed through space. They could look down and see clouds covering the land. As they continued their orbit, oceans came into view.Whole mountain ranges were visible. It was an amazing sight, but they had to get to work.

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Other astronauts watched from inside the station, while on the ground far below, NASA experts looked on helplessly. It was up to the floating doctor to save the day. Wearing bulky gloves but using delicate tools, the two men carefully installed a new pump that would stop the leak. Marshburn was used to working in pressure situations. This was like life back in the ER . . . in zero gravity. Though his wrench was tied to his glove, Marshburn still held on tightly.Then he carefully tightened the last bolt. Marshburn and Cassidy watched carefully for many minutes to see if any more ammonia leaked out. The situation was tense, but Marshburn remained cool and calm. Finally, after testing the pump, the word came through: All clear! No more leak! When Thomas Marshburn was working as a doctor, he probably never thought that one day he would become a scientist in space! Now he was one of dozens of men and women who had taken their love of science to new heights . . . really, really high new heights!

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The Scientists and Their Science 1

magine if you were a scientist . . . and your laboratory was 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth. That’s the case for many of the men and women who have lived and worked on American space shuttles and at the ISS. Science is a major reason for space exploration, so scientists need to go where the action is! On space shuttle missions and on the ISS, scientists of all kinds work in zero gravity. They perform experiments in many branches of science, learning how humans can live in space. Some of the things they have learned while working as astronauts have helped make life on Earth better. Scientists are a huge part of the world’s space exploration programs.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND cosmonauts  space travelers from the Soviet Union or Russia meteorology  the study of weather physicists  scientists who study physics, which exam- ines how matter and energy move and relate

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That was not always true. When the space programs in the United States and Russia began in the early 1960s, all the first space travelers were from the military. Astronauts (from the Unit- ed States) and cosmonauts (from the Soviet Union) needed to be pilots first and explorers second. Flying the huge rockets and then steering the small cap- sules called for skills that scientists just didn’t have. Early space missions were super-dangerous, and experienced pi- lots were ready for any flying emergency. The first Mercury 7 astronauts, for example, were all pilots. John Glenn, the first man to orbit Earth, was a decorat- ed fighter pilot from the U.S. Marines. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first men on the moon, were U.S. Air Force pilots who had flown in combat. Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, the first man in

The Six Scientists

Early NASA astronauts were all military test pilots. NASA be- lieved that astronauts had to be fliers first. In 1965, though, NASA added new men to the astronaut program who were scientists first. Some were in the military, too, but all had studied in their fields for years. Two (*) never made it to space, the other four took part in Skylab or Apollo missions. Owen Garriott , physics Edward Gibson , physics Duane Graveline * , medicine Joseph Kerwin , medicine Curtis Michel * , physics Harrison Schmitt , geology

space in 1961, had flown in the Soviet Air Forces. In 1965, however, NASA decided to bring scientists to the science. They hired six new astronauts who were scientists first and pilots second. Four of those men later worked in space. It was the beginning of a new chapter for space exploration.While pilots were still needed, and many astronauts still came from the different branches of the U.S. military, more and more people headed to space for science.

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