Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy, Revised Edition, offers a complete, up-to-date presentation of the main concepts, terms, facilities, and people in astronomy. The encyclopedia pays special attention to space-based astronomy and space exploration. Broad coverage includes terms such as astrophysics, planetary engineering, and cosmology, as well as both American and international astronomy and space technology.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• A
• Abell cluster
• aberration of starlight
• ablative material
• abundance of elements in the Universe
• active galaxies (AGs)
• Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
• Advanced Earth Observation Satellite (ADEOS)
• aerocapture
• aerospace telecommunications
• age of Earth
• age of the Universe
• airborne astronomy
• air-breathing missile
• alien life-form (ALF)
• Alouette spacecraft
• alpha (α) star
• Alvarez, Luis Walter
• Amalthea
• Ananke
• ancient astronomical instruments
• Anik spacecraft
• Antarctic meteorites
• anthropic principle
• antiballistic missile system (ABM)
• antimatter cosmology
• antisatellite spacecraft (ASAT)
• aperture synthesis
• Apollo Project
• Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
• Applications Technology Satellite (ATS)
• Aqua spacecraft
• archaeological astronomy
• Arecibo Observatory
• Ariel (spacecraft)
• artificial intelligence and space technology
• Aryabhata
• AsiaSat 3
• asteroid
• asteroid defense system
• asteroid mining
• astroengineering
• astrolabe
• Astronomische Nederlandse Satellite (ANS)
• astrophysics
• Athena (launch vehicle)
• Atlas
• atmospheric heave
• Aura spacecraft
• B
• Baikonur Cosmodrome
• ballistic missile
• ballistic missile defense (BMD)
• ballistic missiles
• Belinda
• beta (β) star
• Bianca
• big bang theory
• bioclean room
• biogenic elements
• black holes
• blackbody
• Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory
• C
• calendar
• Caliban
• Calypso
• Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
• Cape Canaveral
• Carme
• Cassini mission
• cataclysmic variable (CV)
• celestial coordinates
• Cernan, Eugene A.
• Challenger accident
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO)
• chemical evolution of the Universe
• circumsolar space
• circumstellar
• Clarke, Sir Arthur C.
• close encounter (CE)
• closed universe
• coherent light
• comet
• communications satellites
• Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO)
• consequences of interstellar contact
• constellation
• Constellation X-Ray Observatory
• Copernican system
• Cordelia
• Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
• cosmic consequences of space exploration
• Cosmic Ray Satellite-B (COS-B)
• cosmological constant
• cosmology
• COSPAS-SARSAT program
• countdown
• Cressida
• cyborg
• D
• Dactyl
• dark energy
• dark matter
• Dawn mission
• Deep Impact mission
• Deep Space 1 (DS1)
• Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR)
• Deep Space Network (DSN)
• Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)
• Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)
• Defense Support Program (DSP)
• defensive satellite weapon (DSAT)
• degenerate matter
• Delta
• delta star
• Despina
• Destiny
• Dirac cosmology
• Discoverer
• Drake equation
• Dyson sphere
• E
• Earth
• Earth Observing-1 (EO-1)
• Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)
• Earthlike planet
• Earth's trapped radiation belts
• ecosphere (space and astronomy)
• Einstein Observatory
• Elara
• electric propulsion
• electromagnetic communications
• electromagnetic (EM) spectrum
• electromagnetic gun
• electromagnetic launcher
• entropy
• epsilon (ε) star
• eta (η) star
• Eutelsat
• evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV)
• exobiology
• exotheology
• Explorer 1
• extragalactic
• extrasolar planets
• extraterrestrial catastrophe theory
• extraterrestrial civilizations
• extraterrestrial contamination
• extraterrestrial life
• extraterrestrial resources
• F
• Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST)
• “faster-than-light” travel
• Fermi paradox
• flat universe
• flyby
• fundamental forces in nature
• G
• g
• Gaia mission
• galactic disk
• galactic halo
• Galatea
• galaxies
• Galileo Project
• gamma (γ) star
• gamma-ray astronomy
• Genesis Solar Wind Sample Return mission
• geocentric cosmology
• Giotto spacecraft
• global change
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
• Gorizont spacecraft
• gravitation
• gravitational lensing
• gravity
• gravity anomaly
• Gravity Probe B
• Green Bank Telescope (GBT)
• “greening the galaxy”
• guest star
• H
• Harvard classification system
• Harvard College Observatory (HCO)
• Hayabusa (spacecraft)
• hazards of space travel
• Helene
• heliocentric
• heliocentric cosmology
• Hellas
• High-Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO)
• Hipparcos spacecraft
• horizon mission methodology (HMM)
• hot Jupiter
• Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
• Hubble's law
• Huygens probe
• hyperspace
• I
• ice catastrophe
• “infective theory of life”
• inferior planets
• infrared astronomy
• infrared imagery
• infrared radiometer
• infrared sensor
• inner planets
• intergalactic
• International Astronautical Federation (IAF)
• interplanetary
• interstellar
• interstellar communication
• interstellar medium (ISM)
• J
• Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• Jovian planet
• Juliet
• Jupiter
• Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO)
• K
• Kardashev civilizations
• Kennedy, John Fitzgerald
• Kerr black hole
• Kirkwood gaps
• Kourou launch complex
• L
• laboratory hypothesis
• Larissa
• Latin space designations
• Leda
• light flash
• light-minute (lm)
• light-second (ls)
• little green men (LGM)
• logistics module
• lunar
• lunar crater
• Lysithea
• M
• Mars
• Mars balloon
• Mars base
• Mars Exploration Rover mission
• Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
• Mars Observer mission
• Mars Pathfinder
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
• Mars Sample Return mission (MSRM)
• Mars surface rover
• Martian meteorites
• materials processing in space (MPS)
• Mercury
• Mercury Project
• Messenger spacecraft
• Messier Catalog
• meteoroids
• Metis
• micro-
• microgravity
• Moon
• Morgan-Keenan (MK) classification
• N
• Naiad
• naked eye astronomy
• NASA's Great Observatories Program
• NASA's Origins Program
• National Air and Space Museum (NASM)
• National Solar Observatory (NSO)
• National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)
• Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission
• Neptune
• Nereid
• neutrino astronomy
• New Horizons Pluto–Kuiper Belt Flyby mission
• Newton, Sir Isaac
• North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
• nuclear fusion and space exploration
• O
• Oberon
• oblateness
• obliquity of the ecliptic
• observable universe
• occult (astronomy)
• ocean remote sensing
• open universe
• Ophelia
• optical double
• optical interferometer
• orbital mechanics
• orbital transfer vehicle (OTV)
• Orbiter (space shuttle)
• orbits of objects in space
• outer planets
• P
• Paaliaq
• Pan
• Pandora
• panspermia
• Pasiphaë
• Pasithee
• Pauli exclusion principle
• Pegasus (launch vehicle)
• Phobos
• pico-
• Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft
• Pioneer plaque
• Pioneer Venus mission
• pixel
• Planck spacecraft
• planet fall
• Planet Nine
• planetary engineering
• Pluto
• Portia
• pressurized habitable environment
• primary body
• primitive atmosphere
• principle of mediocrity
• Progress spacecraft
• Project Cyclops
• Project Daedalus
• Project Orion
• Project Ozma
• propellant
• Prospero
• protosun
• Puck
• pulsating variable star
• Q
• quantum cosmology
• quasars
• Quickbird
• QuikSCAT
• R
• radar astronomy
• radar imaging
• radio astronomy
• radio frequency (RF)
• radio galaxy
• radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG)
• reconnaissance satellite
• regenerative life support system (RLSS)
• remote sensing
• resilience
• ringed world
• robotics in space
• Roche limit
• rocket
• rocket ramjet
• rocketry
• rogue star
• Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad
• RORSAT
• Rosalind
• Russian Space Agency
• S
• Salyut
• Satellite Power System (SPS)
• satellite-based communications
• saturated vapor
• Saturn
• Saturn
• science fiction
• Scorpius X-1
• search and rescue satellite
• Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
• Seasat
• Sedna
• self-replicating system (SRS)
• Setebos
• Shenzhou 5
• Shenzhou 6
• shimanagashi syndrome
• short-range attack missile (SRAM)
• single-stage-to-orbit vehicle (SSTO)
• Sinope
• Skylab (SL)
• Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)
• sol (astronomy)
• solar sail
• solipsism syndrome
• South Atlantic anomaly (SAA)
• Soyuz spacecraft
• space base
• space commerce
• space construction
• space debris
• space food
• space law
• space nuclear power (SNP)
• space platform
• space radiation environment
• space resources
• space station
• space technology and national security
• Space Transportation System (STS)
• space weather
• space-age archaeology
• spacecraft
• spacecraft charging
• spacecraft navigation
• Spitzer, Lyman, Jr.
• stagnation point
• standard candle (astronomical)
• star
• star probe
• starship
• Stephano
• Stonehenge
• Subaru Telescope
• subsatellite point
• Sun
• sundial
• sunspot cycle
• supernova
• Swift spacecraft
• Sycorax
• system integration process
• T
• taikonaut
• teleportation
• Telesto
• tera-
• terran
• terrestrial planets
• Thalassa
• theorem of detailed cosmic reversibility
• theory of relativity
• thermal control
• thermodynamics
• Thousand Astronomical Unit (TAU) mission
• tidal force
• Titan
• Titan
• Titania
• Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)
• transit (planetary)
• Trans-Neptunian object (TNO)
• Tychonic system
• U
• Ulysses mission
• Umbriel
• unidentified flying objects (UFOs)
• United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program
• Unity (astronomy)
• Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
• Uranus
• V
• Vatican Observatory
• Venus
• vernal equinox
• Very Large Array (VLA)
• Very Large Telescope (VLT)
• Viking Project
• Voyager record
• Voyager spacecraft
• Vulcan
• W
• Wallops Flight Facility (WFF)
• Walt Disney and space travel
• water hole
• weather satellites
• weather satellites and global weather forecasting
• Webb, James E.
• Wells, Herbert George
• white dwarf
• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
• X
• X-37B
• XMM-Newton (spacecraft)
• X-ray astronomy
• Y
• Yarkovsky effect
• Yerkes Observatory
• ylem
• Yohkoh (spacecraft)
• young Population I stars
• Z
• Zarya
• Zenit (launch vehicle)
• zero-gravity aircraft
• zeta star
• zodiac
• Zond
• zoo hypothesis
• Zucchi, Niccolo
• Zvezda