Space Travelers

Sandy

Yesterday I had the priviledge of visiting JPL in Pasadena, CA. I was delighted to be able to see how the space crafts are designed and the materials that are used. Depending on where they are headed, the reflective gold sheets are for deflecting heat, while the black materials are for drawing heat to the craft. Other colors are used depending on the desired temperature. Some of the models are full scale, while others are 1/2 to 1/4 scale. The Voyager photo wall contains the photos of life on earth and diagrams of our location in the univierse should the craft ever be intercepted by another civilization. There is also a voice and sound recording on board which is secured in a unit inscribed with a map to decipher the information.
I was able to view the control center, but no photos were allowed.

Here are some of the photos:

Casinni Spacecraft (the arm is to determine the magnetic field, I believe this is 1/4 scale).


Galileo (Full Scale)




Photos of earths inhabitants


Sounds of earth



Scientific experiments on Casinni


Mars Orbiter


VOYAGER






Recording cover


Sandy

gubbs

Interesting stuff Sandy, and some goood shots, especially this one