Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Apollo space program

(Encyclopedia)Apollo space program: see space exploration. ...

space probe

(Encyclopedia)space probe, space vehicle carrying sophisticated instrumentation but no crew, designed to explore various aspects of the solar system (see space exploration). Unlike an artificial satellite, which is...

space science

(Encyclopedia)space science, body of scientific knowledge as it relates to space exploration; it is sometimes also called astronautics. Space science draws on the conventional sciences of physics, chemistry, biolog...

polar exploration

(Encyclopedia)polar exploration: see Antarctica; Arctic, the. ...

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(Encyclopedia)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space e...

Mir, Soviet and Russian space station

(Encyclopedia)Mir, Soviet and Russian space station: see space exploration; space station. ...

deep-sea exploration

(Encyclopedia)deep-sea exploration: see oceanography. ...

space-time

(Encyclopedia)space-time, central concept in the theory of relativity that replaces the earlier concepts of space and time as separate absolute entities. In relativity one cannot uniquely distinguish space and time...

space medicine

(Encyclopedia)space medicine, study of the medical and biological effects of space travel on living organisms. The principal aim is to discover how well and for how long humans can withstand the extreme conditions ...

space station

(Encyclopedia)space station or space platform, artificial earth satellite, usually manned, that is placed in a fixed orbit and can serve as a base for astronomical observations; zero-gravity materials processing; s...