What are dwarf planets made of? Dwarf planets. Dwarf planets - explanation for children

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Ceres

(Ceres) Average radius: 487.3 km. Period of revolution around the Sun: 4.60 years.

Ceres is the largest asteroid and the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, which is located in the inner Solar System. At first it was considered a planet in the solar system. Then, in 1802, it was classified as an asteroid, and as a result of the clarification of the concept of “planet” by the International Astronomical Union on August 24, 2006 at the XXVI General Assembly of the IAC, Ceres received the status of a dwarf planet.

The planet is the largest and most massive body in the asteroid belt. It is larger in size than many satellites of the giant planets, and contains 32% of the total mass of the belt. Observations show that Ceres has a spherical shape. This indicates that it has sufficient gravity for this. Its surface is likely a mixture of water ice and various hydrated minerals such as carbonates and clays. Ceres may have a rocky core and an icy mantle, and it is even likely that it contains oceans of liquid water beneath its surface. In 2007, the American spacecraft Dawn was launched to study the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The program envisages the spacecraft entering orbit around Vesta in 2011, and Ceres in 2015. When observed from Earth, its apparent brightness ranges from 6.7t to 9.3t. The planet was discovered on January 1, 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi at the Palermo Astronomical Observatory. It was named after the ancient Roman goddess of fertility, Ceres.

Haumea

(Haumea) Average radius: 1400 km. Period of revolution around the Sun: 283.28 years.

Haumea is a dwarf planet, a plutoid trans-Neptunian object (TNO), which has two satellites with orbital periods of 18 and 49 days. It has a highly elongated shape, as astronomers believe, due to rapid rotation around its axis with a period of about 4 hours. It is likely that the brightness fluctuations observed in Haumea support this assumption. According to astronomers from the Palomar Observatory (California, USA), the planet has a size comparable to the size of Pluto. Its average density is estimated to be higher than that of its neighbors in the Kuiper belt - up to 3 g/cm3.

Spectral studies of Haumea show that its surface, like the surface of Charon, is covered predominantly with water ice.

There is a hypothesis of the origin of the planet as a result of the collision of two celestial bodies. Most of the methane and water ice evaporated after the impact and was thrown into the surrounding space. This substance could subsequently form two satellites of Haumea. An indirect confirmation can be considered the fact that at least three more smaller objects with spectra similar to Haumea are in close orbits - possibly its “fragments” and a body that collapsed after the impact, which should have had a diameter of about 1600 km.

The planet was discovered on July 29, 2005 by Spanish astronomers from Ortiz's group, who carried out observations at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. It received its name in honor of the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth, Haumea, originally from Nuumealani, the sacred land of the gods.

Makemake

(Makemake) Average radius: 750 km. Period of revolution around the Sun: 309.88 years.

Makemake is the largest known Kuiper Belt object among the Kyubiwanos, objects whose orbits lie beyond Neptune's orbit and do not intersect it. It is also the third largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System. It has no discovered satellites, making the planet unique among the largest Kuiper Belt objects.

The surface temperature of Makemake is extremely low, around -243 °C, which is confirmed by its high reflectivity - albedo. This suggests that its surface is covered with methane, ethane and, possibly, nitrogen ice. Spectral analysis of Makemake's surface shows that methane is present on the surface of the object in the form of large grains, about one centimeter in size. In addition, there may be ethane and tholins, most likely formed when methane was exposed to solar radiation. Scientists explain the reddish hue of Makemake in the visible spectrum by its tholin content.

There is evidence of the presence of nitrogen ice on the surface of the planet. It is possible that Makemake has a temporary atmosphere, which can be fueled by methane evaporating at perihelion. No satellites have been detected in orbit around Makemake, making it difficult to determine its mass.

Makemake was discovered on March 31, 2005 by a group of American astronomers at the Palomar Observatory led by Michael Brown. Since this event occurred shortly before Easter, the planet was named after the creator god of mankind and the abundance from the myths of the Rapanui people, the original inhabitants of Easter Island.

Eris

(Eris) Average radius: 1163 km. Period of revolution around the Sun: 557 years.

Eris is a dwarf planet, a plutoid, slightly smaller in size than Pluto. Until August 24, 2006, it claimed planetary status because it was thought that Eris might be larger than Mercury. However, precise measurements in November 2010 from the shadow of Eris, which was observed on Earth, when the planetoid passed in front of one of the stars in the constellation Cetus, made it possible to determine its diameter, which, according to the results of data analysis, was 2340 km. Thus, the question of which dwarf planet is the largest remains open to this day, since the diameter of Pluto, according to updated data, is estimated at 2322 km.

The International Astronomical Union classifies Eris as a “dwarf planet.” On June 11, 2008, the MAC announced the introduction of the concept of plutoid, which defines a subtype of dwarf planets that orbit the Sun in orbits whose radii are larger than the radius of Neptune's orbit and whose shape is close to spherical. Pluto, Makemake and Haumea were also classified as this subspecies.

Thanks to the presence of one satellite, the mass of Eris was established very accurately and amounted to 1.67x1022 kg, which is greater than the mass of Pluto. Its density is close to that of Pluto and other Kuiper Belt bodies. Spectroscopic studies show that methane snow mixed with nitrogen ice lies on the surface of Eris.

Eris was discovered by a group of American scientists consisting of M. Brown, C. Trujillo and D. Rabinovich and named after the Greek goddess of discord.

Dwarf planets

The term "dwarf planet" was adopted in 2006. This definition has met with both approval and criticism, and is still disputed by some scientists. For example, as the simplest alternative, they propose a conditional division between planets and dwarf planets by size or even
Moons: if larger, then it is a planet, if smaller, then it is a planetoid. This term can only be applied to celestial objects located in.
A dwarf planet is a celestial body that has a number of distinctive features:

1. orbits around ;2. has sufficient mass to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium under the influence of gravity and have a close to round shape; 3. is not a satellite of the planet; 4. does not dominate its orbit (cannot clear space from other objects).

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially recognizes five dwarf planets.

However, it is possible that at least 40 more of the known objects in the world belong to this category. Scientists estimate that up to 200 dwarf planets may be discovered in the Kuiper belt and up to 2,000 dwarf planets beyond it.

According to the definition adopted by the IAU in 2006, a dwarf planet is “a celestial body orbiting a star that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity without clearing the immediate region of planetesimals, and is not a satellite. In addition, it must have sufficient mass to overcome its compressive strength and achieve hydrostatic equilibrium.”

Essentially, the term means any planetary mass object that is neither a planet nor a natural satellite that meets two basic criteria. Firstly, it must be in a direct orbit of the Sun and not be a moon around another body. Secondly, it must be massive enough to become spherical under the influence of its own gravity. And, unlike a planet, it doesn't have to clear the neighborhood around its orbit.

Size and weight

For a body to round, it must be massive enough for gravity to become the dominant force influencing the body's shape. The internal pressure generated by this mass will cause the surface to become plastic, smoothing out high rises and filling depressions. This does not happen with small bodies less than a kilometer in diameter (like asteroids); they are governed by forces outside their own gravitational forces, which tend to maintain irregular shapes.

Largest known trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)

Meanwhile, bodies several kilometers across - when gravity is significant but not dominant - take the shape of a spheroid or "potato". The larger the body, the higher its internal pressure until it becomes sufficient to overcome the internal compression force and achieve hydrostatic equilibrium. At this point the body is as round as it can be, given its rotation and tidal effects. This is the definition of the dwarf planet limit.

However, rotation can also affect the shape of a dwarf planet. If the body does not rotate, it will be a sphere. The faster it spins, the more elongated or versatile it will become. An extreme example of this is Haumea, which is almost twice as long at the main axis as at the poles. Tidal forces also cause the body's rotation to gradually become tidally locked, leaving the body with one side facing the companion. An extreme example of such a system is Pluto-Charon, both bodies are tidally locked to each other.

The IAU does not determine upper and lower limits on the size and mass of dwarf planets. While the lower limit is determined by the achievement of an equilibrium hydrostatic shape, the size or mass at which that object reaches that shape depends on its composition and thermal history.

For example, bodies made of hard silicates (like rocky asteroids) should reach hydrostatic equilibrium with a diameter of about 600 kilometers and a mass of 3.4 x 10^20 kg. For a less rigid body of water ice, this limit would be closer to 320 km and 10^19 kg. As a result, to date there is no specific standard for defining a dwarf planet based on its size or mass, but instead it is usually defined based on its shape.

Orbital position

In addition to hydrostatic equilibrium, many astronomers have insisted on drawing a line between planets and dwarf planets based on their inability to "clear the environs of their orbit." In short, planets can remove smaller bodies near their orbits through collision, capture, or gravitational perturbation, whereas dwarf planets do not have the necessary mass to achieve this.

To calculate the likelihood that a planet will clear its orbit, planetary scientists Alan Stern and Harold Levinson introduced a parameter they call lambda.

This parameter expresses the probability of a collision as a function of a given deviation in the object's orbit. The value of this parameter in the Stern model is proportional to the square of the mass and inversely proportional to time and can be used to estimate the potential of a body to clear the vicinity of its orbit.

Astronomers like Steven Sauter, a scientist at New York University and a research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, suggest using this parameter to draw the line between planets and dwarf planets. Sauter also proposed a parameter he calls the planetary discriminant - denoted by the letter "mu" - which is calculated by dividing the mass of a body by the total mass of the bodies of other objects in the same orbit.

Recognized and possible dwarf planets

There are currently five dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, Haumea and Ceres. Only Ceres and Pluto have been observed enough to be unquestionably placed in this category. The IAU has ruled that unnamed trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with an absolute magnitude brighter than +1 (and mathematically limited to a minimum diameter of 838 km) should be classified as dwarf planets.

Possible candidates currently under consideration include Orcus, 2002 MS4, Salacia, Quaoar, 2007 OR10 and Sedna. All of these objects are located in the Kuiper Belt; with the exception of Sedna, which is considered separately - a separate class of dynamic TNOs in the outer Solar system.

It is possible that there are another 40 objects in the solar system that could fairly be designated dwarf planets. It is estimated that up to 200 dwarf planets could be found in the Kuiper belt once it is explored, and the number could exceed 10,000 outside the belt.

Disagreements

Immediately after the IAU decision regarding the definition of the planet, a number of scientists expressed their disagreement. Mike Brown (leader of the Caltech team that discovered Eris) agrees with reducing the number of planets to eight. However, a number of astronomers like Alan Stern regarding the IAU definition.

Stern argues that, like Pluto, Earth, Mars, and Neptune also do not completely clear their orbital zones. The Earth orbits the Sun with 10,000 near-Earth asteroids, which Stern estimates runs counter to the clearing of Earth's orbit. Jupiter, meanwhile, is accompanied by 100,000 Trojan asteroids on its orbital path.

In 2011, Stern referred to Pluto as a planet and considered other dwarf planets like Ceres and Eris, as well as large moons, as additional planets. However, other astronomers argue that although large planets do not clear their orbits, they completely control the orbits of other bodies within their orbital zone.

Another controversial application of the new definition of planets concerns planets outside the solar system. Methods for identifying extrasolar objects do not directly determine whether an object is “clearing its orbit,” only indirectly. As a result, in 2001, the IAU adopted separate “working” definitions for extrasolar planets, including this dubious criterion: “The minimum mass/size required to consider an extrasolar object as a planet must correspond to the parameters adopted for the Solar System.”

Although not all IAU members were in favor of adopting this definition of planets and dwarf planets, NASA recently announced that it would use the new guidelines established by the IAU. However, the debate over the 2006 decision is still ongoing, and we can well expect further developments on this front as more “dwarf planets” are discovered and identified.

By IAU standards, it's fairly easy to identify a dwarf planet, but fitting the solar system into the three-tier classification system will become increasingly difficult as our understanding of the universe expands.

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Introduction

2. Historical background

3. List of dwarf planets

4. Mass restrictions

8. Makemake

Conclusion

Bibliography

Application

Introduction

In this part of my essay, I would like to justify the reasons for my choice of the topic of dwarf planets.

It seemed to me that they [the dwarf planets] are very similar to us, eleventh graders: we are no longer small asteroids moving in orbit around the Sun, but we are not yet planets with their own gravity. Perhaps such a comparison may seem too romantic to some, but, nevertheless, it was this closeness and similarity that attracted me to this topic.

dwarf planet sign

1. Dwarf planet: term and signs

So what is a dwarf planet?

A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union, is a celestial body that:

Does not dominate its orbit (cannot clear space from other objects).

2. Historical background

The term "dwarf planet" was adopted in 2006 as part of the classification of bodies orbiting the Sun into three categories. Bodies large enough to clear the environs of their orbit are defined as planets, and bodies not large enough to achieve even hydrostatic equilibrium are defined as small solar system bodies or asteroids. Dwarf planets occupy an intermediate position between these two categories. This definition has met with both approval and criticism, and is still disputed by some scientists. For example, as the simplest alternative, they propose a conditional division between planets and dwarf planets based on the size of Mercury or even the Moon: if larger, then it is a planet, if smaller, then it is a planetoid.

In 2006, the IAU officially named three bodies that immediately received the classification of dwarf planets - Ceres, Eris and Pluto. Later, two more objects were declared dwarf planets. The term "dwarf planet" should be distinguished from the concept of "minor planet", which is used to describe asteroids.

3. List of dwarf planets

The International Astronomical Union officially recognizes five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Eris; however, it is possible that at least 40 more of the known objects in the solar system belong to this category. Scientists estimate that up to 200 dwarf planets may be discovered in the Kuiper belt and up to 2,000 dwarf planets beyond it. Because Pluto shares its orbital space with many other objects in the Kuiper Belt - the ring of icy debris beyond Neptune's orbit - it was not included in the list of planets. Thus, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet. It is interesting that from this list only he [Pluto] was “demoted”, becoming a dwarf planet and losing the status of a planet, while the rest were, on the contrary, “promoted”, ceasing to be just one of the asteroids.

Three large objects in the asteroid belt (Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea) would have to be classified as dwarf planets if it turns out that their shape is determined by hydrostatic equilibrium. To date, this has not been convincingly proven.

4. Mass restrictions

The lower and upper limits for the size and mass of dwarf planets are not specified in the IAU decision. There are no strict restrictions on the upper limits, and an object larger or more massive than Mercury with an unrefined orbital neighborhood can be classified as a dwarf planet.

The lower limit is determined by the concept of a hydrostatically equilibrium shape, but the size and mass of the object that has achieved this shape is unknown. Empirical observations suggest that they may vary greatly depending on the composition and history of the object. The original IAU preliminary decision defining hydrostatic equilibrium applied "to objects with a mass greater than 51,020 kg and a diameter greater than 800 km", but this was not included in the final decision 5A, which was approved.

According to some astronomers, the new definition means the addition of up to 45 new dwarf planets.

Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 during the search for the mysterious Planet X, which was disrupting Neptune's orbit.

Pluto was originally thought to be at least the size of Earth, but it is now known to have a diameter of only 2,352 kilometers - 5 times smaller than Earth's - and a mass only 0.2% of Earth's.

Pluto has an extremely elongated elliptical orbit, which is not in the same plane as the orbits of the eight planets in the solar system. On average, the dwarf planet orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.87 billion kilometers, completing one revolution every 248 years.

Due to its distance from the star, Pluto is one of the coldest places in our system. The temperature on its surface hovers around minus 225 degrees Celsius.

Pluto has 4 known moons: Charon, Nyx, Hydra, and a recently discovered tiny moon called P4 (the final name will probably be Cerberus). Nyx, Hydra and P4 are relatively small, Charon is only half the size of Pluto itself, and the center of mass around which they orbit is outside their bodies. For this reason, most astronomers call them a double dwarf planet.

Although Pluto is difficult to study due to its remoteness, scientists have been able to calculate its approximate composition: it is 70% rock and 30% ice. The dwarf planet's surface is covered mostly with frozen nitrogen. There is a very thin atmosphere, extending 3,000 kilometers into space and consisting mostly of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide.

In a few years, Pluto will finally get a good look: NASA's New Horizons probe will fly by the dwarf planet in July 2015, showing such a cold and distant world for the first time in history.

Caltech astronomer Mike Brown led the team that discovered Eris in 2005. The search was stimulated by the IAU's intention to classify Pluto into the newly created category of dwarf planets, which happened a year later.

The decision to give this dwarf planet such a name remains controversial. Eris is the Greek goddess of discord and hostility, who caused envy and jealousy among the goddesses, which led to the Trojan War. The only known moon of Eris was named after the daughter of the goddess, Dysnomia, who “worked” in the Pantheon as the spirit of lawlessness.

Eris is almost the same size as Pluto, but 25% more massive than it, which is explained by its higher content of rock and less ice. However, its surface also consists mainly of nitrogen ice.

Like Pluto, Eris has a highly elliptical orbit. Eris is even more distant from the sun, its orbit is at an average distance of 10.1 billion kilometers from the sun. One Eridanian year is 557 years.

Huamea was discovered in the Kuiper Belt near the orbit of Pluto in late 2004 by Brown's team, and has become one of the strangest objects in the solar system.

This dwarf planet is 1,930 kilometers across, almost the size of Pluto, but three times lighter. This is mainly due to its non-spherical shape. Most of all, Huamea resembles an American football.

This dwarf planet makes one revolution around its axis in just 4 hours, which makes it also one of the fastest rotating bodies in our system. This ultra-high rotation speed is responsible for the dwarf planet's elongated shape.

Huamea, named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth, has two satellites named for her daughters: Hi'iaka and Namaka.

It was recently discovered that 75% of Huamea's surface is covered with crystallized water ice, similar to the ice in a refrigerator freezer. It takes energy for ice to maintain this structured shape. Astronomers speculate that the energy may come from the decay of radioactive elements within Haumea, as well as from heat generated by tidal forces in gravitational interaction with its moons. Huamea completes a revolution around the Sun in 283 years.

8. Makemake

Brown's team also discovered Makemake in 2005. Astronomers have not yet established the exact size of this dwarf planet; it is approximately three-quarters the size of Pluto. This makes this object the third largest dwarf planet after Pluto and Eris.

Makemake is the second brightest Kuiper Belt object after Pluto and can be seen even with a good amateur telescope. Like Huamea, Makemake is named after a Polynesian deity - this time after the name of the creator of mankind and the god of fertility in the Rapa Nui pantheon - the indigenous inhabitants of Easter Island.

Like Pluto and Eris, Makemake appears reddish in the visible spectrum. Scientists believe that the surface of the dwarf planet is covered with frozen methane. Makemake has no moons discovered, which is unique among dwarf planets.

Ceres is the only dwarf planet not in the Kuiper belt. Its orbit passes through the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, making one revolution every 4.6 years.

Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, and contains about a third of the belt's total mass. Meanwhile, at only 950 kilometers across, it is the smallest known dwarf planet. Ceres is the goddess of fertility and motherhood in ancient Roman mythology.

This dwarf planet was discovered much earlier than others due to its proximity. Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered it in 1801. For the next half century, astronomers considered it a real planet, until it became clear that it was just one of many objects in the asteroid belt.

Today, most astronomers classify Ceres as a protoplanet, believing that it could have grown into a full-fledged planet like Mars or Earth if Jupiter had not interrupted this process with its powerful gravity in ancient times.

Scientists believe that Ceres consists of a rocky core surrounded by a thick mantle of water ice. Some researchers even suggest the existence of an ocean of liquid water under a layer of ice.

In a few years, the whole world will be able to learn a lot about this dwarf planet - in February 2015, NASA's Down spacecraft, currently orbiting the asteroid Vesta, will arrive at Ceres to study it in detail.

In conclusion, I would like to summarize the most important information about dwarf planets:

A dwarf planet is a celestial body that:

Orbits the Sun;

Has sufficient mass to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium under the influence of gravity and have a close to round shape;

Not a satellite of the planet;

Does not dominate its orbit (cannot clear space from other objects);

The International Astronomical Union officially recognizes five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Because Pluto shares its orbital space with many other objects in the Kuiper Belt - the ring of icy debris beyond Neptune's orbit - it was not included in the list of planets. Thus, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet.

I hope that this essay was educational and useful for all readers. After all, space is one of the most mysterious, unknown and interesting topics for discussion. Moreover, as Fred Hoyle wrote, space is only an hour away if your car could drive vertically.

Bibliography

1. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet

2. http://scienceevents.ru/posts/3689-dwarf-planets-solar-system/

3. http://www.lassy.ru/news/karlikovye_planety/2011-08-23-159

Application

Fig.1 Arrangement order of dwarf planets

Fig.2 Dwarf planets compared to Earth

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In 2006, the International Astronomical Society introduced a new class of space objects, calling them dwarf planets. There are about fifty such bodies in the solar system, and the most famous of them is Pluto, which until that moment was considered a full-fledged planet.

A dwarf planet is a celestial body that:

• orbits the Sun;
• has sufficient mass to maintain a nearly spherical shape;
• is not a satellite of the planet;
• cannot, unlike planets, clear the area of ​​its orbit from other objects.

The five largest dwarf planets in the solar system are collected in infographics from Space.com, the Moon is shown here for size comparison.

Eris

The largest dwarf planet in the solar system is Eris, although it only recently became such after its dimensions were clarified. According to this information, Eris and Pluto are practically twins in mass and size, the difference in diameter is about 15 km.

Eris is named after the Greek goddess of discord, because after its discovery in 2003, scientists could not agree for some time whether to classify it as a planet or not.

The orbit of the dwarf planet is one and a half times farther from the Sun (68 astronomical units (AU, 150 million km), distance from the Sun to Earth) than Pluto. Eris moves in a highly elongated orbit, and its rotation period around the Sun is 561 Earth years. And the day here is almost equal to that on Earth.

Pluto

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and for a long time was considered the 9th planet, and at some point in its orbit it is closer to the Sun than Neptune. It is one of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt, a zone beyond the orbit of Neptune consisting of hundreds of thousands of rock and ice objects more than 10 kilometers in size.

Pluto completes a full circle around the Sun in 247 years; it also moves slowly around its axis - 6 and a half days. This dwarf planet is rich in satellites, there are as many as 5 of them.

site of the previous flight of the New Horizons probe over Pluto and its satellite Charon, published by NASA.

Haumea

The fastest rotating known body in the Solar System, measuring more than 100 km. Haumea has a highly elongated shape, two satellites and a system of rings. A day here lasts only 3.9 hours, but the speed of rotation around its axis does not affect the duration of the journey around the Sun; this will take 282 years.

This dwarf planet was named after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth. It is located in the Kuiper Belt, a little (relatively of course, this “slight” is 600 million km) further from the Sun than Pluto.

Makemake

300 million km deep into space lies another Kuiper Belt object, which takes more than 300 years to orbit the Sun. A day here lasts 22.5 hours. Despite the fact that this is a fairly bright object, it was discovered only in 2005.

The planet received its name in honor of the Polynesian god Make-Make, who was responsible for the creation of humanity and abundance.

Ceres

Unlike the previous participants in the list of the largest dwarf planets, which are located in distant space, almost on the border of the Solar system, Ceres is our neighbor and is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and is the dwarf planet closest to the Sun.

Modern telescopes were not required to detect this celestial body, so Ceres was found back in 1801. Its orbit is 2.8 times further from the Sun than the Earth's, and its orbit around the Sun is 4.6 years.

the site previously reported that signs were discovered on Ceres, and that there is a passage in the orbit of this dwarf planet. Also, one of the meteorites (presumably) from Ceres contains the components to create life.

We also suggest you get acquainted with the 10 main space missions, and how to follow them online.