Life as we Knew it

 

 

 

Life as we Knew it by Susan Beth Pfefer

 

          Everything was normal until the moon was knocked out of orbit...

          Asteroids hit the moon all the time, but the one scheduled to hit at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18 is one of the largest ones yet. To Miranda, the asteroid can only mean one thing: more homework. More homework on top of her best friends fighting, her dad's newly pregnant wife, and the fight with her mother over whether or not she can return to ice skating after a serious injury.  This asteroid however creates worldwide disasters.
       
         The moon controls many of the environmental factors on Earth, and when the moon's orbit is changed, so is the environment. Tidal waves destroy cities and states along the coast, killing millions of people. These coastal cities can not be seen anymore because all of it is under-water. Thunderstorms knock out the electricity in Miranda's school and everywhere across the country. None of it seems real to Miranda, until her mom picks her up from school early, soaking wet.  Her mother sends Miranda, her brother, and Mrs. Nesbitt, a family friend, on a grocery run to buy all the canned soup, aspirin, vitamin pills and toilet paper they possibly can.  The stores are jam packed and have people running around, screaming at the top of their lungs and trying to load everything they can into their shopping carts.  It sort of seems like war to Miranda's family.  It was a very good idea to pick up Miranda early, because if her mom didn't, their family probably would have starved to death.

“What about desserts?" I asked. "If the world comes to an end, I'm going to want cookies."
"We're all going to want cookies if the world comes to an end," Mrs. Nesbitt agreed. "And chips and pretzels. If the world is coming to an end, why should I care about my blood pressure?"
"Okay, we'll die fat," Mom said.”

 

        I will write more once I finish reading the book. I am very excited and nervous to find out how Miranda's family decides to cope with this dangerous and horrible situation.





Rockets

The first time true rockets were used was by the Chinese in 1232 AD.  At this time the Chinese and the Mongols were at war with each other.  The Chinese had manufactured “arrows of flying fire” to use as weapons to fight the Mongols.  These simple rockets were really a tube, capped at one end that contained gunpowder.  The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick.  When the gunpowder was lit, the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas that escaped out the open end and created the thrust that launched the rocket.  The stick kept the rocket headed in one general direction as it flew through the air.    

          Understanding gravity and mass is critical to the study of rocketry.  Every time you jump, you experience gravity. Gravity pulls you back down to the ground.  Without gravity, you'd float off into the atmosphere, thus pulling you out into space.  You see gravity at work any time you drop a book, or toss a ball up into the air. The fact that these objects fall to the ground rather than float in the air is the product of gravity. 

The definition of gravity is “the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth or toward any other physical body having mass”.  Even in space, gravity keeps the moon in orbit.  We know that objects with a greater mass have a higher gravitational force, but we simply don’t know why gravity exists. 

            As far as mass is concerned, it is easy to understand that moving objects with a larger mass is harder than moving smaller objects. For example, in the playground it is harder to get a bigger person moving on the swings than a smaller person.  This has an effect on the mass of a rocket as well.  In a more literal way, when a rocket is lighter, it flies farther because there is less mass, and mass brings objects to the ground.  In this situation gravity cannot control the rocket from dropping to the ground.   If objects with a greater mass have a higher gravitational force, then changing the dependent variables, length of the rocket and nose cone, will result in different distances that the rocket will travel. Smaller mass rocket components will result in longer distances travelled.