Today in History – January 14, 2005 – Huygens Probe Lands on Titan.

After spending seven years in space, the Huygens probe separated from the main Cassini spacecraft on December 24, 2004, and spent the next three weeks traveling to the moon Titan. After beginning its descent, it transmitted scientific data for nearly five hours before running out of power. The Huygens probe was named after the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. He is credited with the discovery of Titan and thus it was deemed fitting to name the probe after him.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources Saturn and Cassini. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – January 13, 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile.

The plastic car Ford patented used soy-based plastics and was 25% to 33% lighter than conventional cars of his day. Ford’s dream was to use agricultural-based plastics to provide another market for farmers to sell their crops.

Sustainability in design is beginning to make a comeback as manufacturers are using recycled products in car interiors. However in today’s oil-conscious world, car manufacturers are focusing most heavily on hybrid vehicles and fuel diversity. A variety of new cars are equipped with engines that are designed to run on both traditional gasoline and an ethanol blend. And although many more plastics and composites are being used in cars, they are not of the type that Ford envisioned. A recent article in Business Week (“Lighter Cars Can Help the U.S. Kick Oil”) points out that vehicle weight has only risen over recent decades. A significant decrease in weight, like the one that Ford initially achieved, could be just as beneficial to fuel economy.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources plastics and their applications. Or visit the Materials Engineering Education or the Mechanical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – December 27, 1571 – Birth of Johannes Kepler.  When Kepler made his calculations from measurements taken by Tycho Brahe and himself, at the turn of the seventeenth century, they had to create many of the instruments that they used.  The types of tedious observations and measurements taken by Brahe and Kepler had never been attempted before.  Thus when Kepler first published his results in 1609, writing what would later become the first two laws of planetary motion, he was in the best position to determine whether the Ptolemaic Earth-centered system was correct or the Copernican heliocentric system.

In 2009 NASA plans to launch the Kepler Mission, a space telescope designed to search for other planets outside our own solar system.  To date, astronomers have only been able to find gas-giant planets, such as our own Jupiter, with the current technology.  The Kepler mission will place a telescope in space that will focus on a specific area long enough to be able to find the presence of smaller Earth-like planets.  Once one has been located, the telescope will be able to study it well enough to determine whether or not it would be able to sustain life.

400 years after Kepler published the results of his studies of the planets from relatively crude observations, NASA will have sent a telescope into space to find and study planets outside our own solar system.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources planetary motion and Kepler’s Laws or general astronomy. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education or the Engineering Mechanics Education community sites.

Today in History – January 14, 2005 – Huygens Probe Lands on Titan.

After spending seven years in space, the Huygens probe separated from the main Cassini spacecraft on December 24, 2004, and spent the next three weeks traveling to the moon Titan. After beginning its descent, it transmitted scientific data for nearly five hours before running out of power. The Huygens probe was named after the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. He is credited with the discovery of Titan and thus it was deemed fitting to name the probe after him.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources Saturn and Cassini. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – January 13, 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile.

The plastic car Ford patented used soy-based plastics and was 25% to 33% lighter than conventional cars of his day. Ford’s dream was to use agricultural-based plastics to provide another market for farmers to sell their crops.

Sustainability in design is beginning to make a comeback as manufacturers are using recycled products in car interiors. However in today’s oil-conscious world, car manufacturers are focusing most heavily on hybrid vehicles and fuel diversity. A variety of new cars are equipped with engines that are designed to run on both traditional gasoline and an ethanol blend. And although many more plastics and composites are being used in cars, they are not of the type that Ford envisioned. A recent article in Business Week (“Lighter Cars Can Help the U.S. Kick Oil”) points out that vehicle weight has only risen over recent decades. A significant decrease in weight, like the one that Ford initially achieved, could be just as beneficial to fuel economy.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources plastics and their applications. Or visit the Materials Engineering Education or the Mechanical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – December 27, 1571 – Birth of Johannes Kepler.  When Kepler made his calculations from measurements taken by Tycho Brahe and himself, at the turn of the seventeenth century, they had to create many of the instruments that they used.  The types of tedious observations and measurements taken by Brahe and Kepler had never been attempted before.  Thus when Kepler first published his results in 1609, writing what would later become the first two laws of planetary motion, he was in the best position to determine whether the Ptolemaic Earth-centered system was correct or the Copernican heliocentric system.

In 2009 NASA plans to launch the Kepler Mission, a space telescope designed to search for other planets outside our own solar system.  To date, astronomers have only been able to find gas-giant planets, such as our own Jupiter, with the current technology.  The Kepler mission will place a telescope in space that will focus on a specific area long enough to be able to find the presence of smaller Earth-like planets.  Once one has been located, the telescope will be able to study it well enough to determine whether or not it would be able to sustain life.

400 years after Kepler published the results of his studies of the planets from relatively crude observations, NASA will have sent a telescope into space to find and study planets outside our own solar system.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources planetary motion and Kepler’s Laws or general astronomy. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education or the Engineering Mechanics Education community sites.

Today in History – January 14, 2005 – Huygens Probe Lands on Titan.

After spending seven years in space, the Huygens probe separated from the main Cassini spacecraft on December 24, 2004, and spent the next three weeks traveling to the moon Titan. After beginning its descent, it transmitted scientific data for nearly five hours before running out of power. The Huygens probe was named after the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. He is credited with the discovery of Titan and thus it was deemed fitting to name the probe after him.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources Saturn and Cassini. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – January 13, 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile.

The plastic car Ford patented used soy-based plastics and was 25% to 33% lighter than conventional cars of his day. Ford’s dream was to use agricultural-based plastics to provide another market for farmers to sell their crops.

Sustainability in design is beginning to make a comeback as manufacturers are using recycled products in car interiors. However in today’s oil-conscious world, car manufacturers are focusing most heavily on hybrid vehicles and fuel diversity. A variety of new cars are equipped with engines that are designed to run on both traditional gasoline and an ethanol blend. And although many more plastics and composites are being used in cars, they are not of the type that Ford envisioned. A recent article in Business Week (“Lighter Cars Can Help the U.S. Kick Oil”) points out that vehicle weight has only risen over recent decades. A significant decrease in weight, like the one that Ford initially achieved, could be just as beneficial to fuel economy.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources plastics and their applications. Or visit the Materials Engineering Education or the Mechanical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – December 27, 1571 – Birth of Johannes Kepler.  When Kepler made his calculations from measurements taken by Tycho Brahe and himself, at the turn of the seventeenth century, they had to create many of the instruments that they used.  The types of tedious observations and measurements taken by Brahe and Kepler had never been attempted before.  Thus when Kepler first published his results in 1609, writing what would later become the first two laws of planetary motion, he was in the best position to determine whether the Ptolemaic Earth-centered system was correct or the Copernican heliocentric system.

In 2009 NASA plans to launch the Kepler Mission, a space telescope designed to search for other planets outside our own solar system.  To date, astronomers have only been able to find gas-giant planets, such as our own Jupiter, with the current technology.  The Kepler mission will place a telescope in space that will focus on a specific area long enough to be able to find the presence of smaller Earth-like planets.  Once one has been located, the telescope will be able to study it well enough to determine whether or not it would be able to sustain life.

400 years after Kepler published the results of his studies of the planets from relatively crude observations, NASA will have sent a telescope into space to find and study planets outside our own solar system.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources planetary motion and Kepler’s Laws or general astronomy. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education or the Engineering Mechanics Education community sites.

Today in History – January 14, 2005 – Huygens Probe Lands on Titan.

After spending seven years in space, the Huygens probe separated from the main Cassini spacecraft on December 24, 2004, and spent the next three weeks traveling to the moon Titan. After beginning its descent, it transmitted scientific data for nearly five hours before running out of power. The Huygens probe was named after the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. He is credited with the discovery of Titan and thus it was deemed fitting to name the probe after him.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources Saturn and Cassini. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.