When you look up the sky, you can see stars. It is magnificent. From
ancient to present, people are always stunned by starry nights.
Due to the touch from sky, people want to know more about what is behind
the beautiful scenery. We are curious about why and how a phenomenon happens.
1.Here is Jupiter. There is a famous theory
called the three-circulation on earth. Similarly, there are several
circulations on Jupiter. Since Jupiter is much bigger, there are more
circulations. On Jupiter, we can categorize the surface into two types, zones
and belts, according to atmospheric movements. Zone looks brighter and air descends
there, so the top of Troposphere(對流層) is lower and thus warmer. Belt is the opposite.
Between belts and zones are jet streams which are fast airflows. There is also a strong west wind jet stream on earth.
The red spot is actually an anticyclone (反氣旋) twice bigger than the earth in size. Unlike a cyclone on earth which only last for few days, the red spot on Jupiter
has already existed for 300 years . What makes it last for so long? Scientists
thinks that it receives energy from the jet streams nearby.
2.Here is 2015 Nobel Prize in physics. The experiments lead to the result-------three
kinds of neutrinos can change identity with one another. If a particle can
change identity, it can not be massless. Therefore, neutrinos have mass. This
discovery conflict with standard model, so the model must be modified. Besides,
neutrinos are the second numerous particle in the universe (photons are the
most), so the fact that they have mass will change our understanding of
universe significantly.
Besides, people desire to get closer to the sky. Therefore, rocket was
invented. This is the famous movie called "October Sky". In a city
called “Coalwood” in West Virginia ,people do not dream much about future.
Parents believe that children should either play football or become a miner. It
seems that there are no other options for career. However, the boys wanted to
do something different. They had a dream of building their own rocket. They started from collecting materials, producing
fuel, and designing launching equipment. After several failures, they finally
accomplished a rocket and launched it successfully.
Nowadays, there are several rocket companies
share the same dream, determination, and bravery with the boys in the movie.
Two of them I want to mention are SpaceX and ARRC.
1.SpaceX is
a private company that designs, manufactures, and launches rockets and
spacecrafts. It was established in 2002, by Elon Musk, who is also
the CEO of Paypal, Tesla, and SolarCity. According to statistics, when a rocket
is launched, fuel costs only takes up 0.3% of the overall expense.
In other words, most of the expense is spent on the rocket. Therefore, if we
can reuse the rocket, the costs would be reduced by a huge amount. The
objective of SpaceX is to build
reusable rockets and send millions of people to establish a colonial on Mars in the end.
Although it seems crazy, his dream may
actually be possible one day. SpaceX has made great progress. They have
successfully launched two rockets (Falcon1 and Falcon 9) to reach orbits, and sent
a spacecraft (Dragon) to supply International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX
is the first private company to have made these achievements. The
accomplishment won SpaceX a USD1.6 billion contract, according to which SpaceX
is to run12 missions of supplying ISS for NASA.
Although there is still a long way to go,
we can expect a surprising future of SpaceX.
2.ARRC is a Taiwanese organization that makes rockets. Members come from
6 universities (including 交大、成大、屏科大...）Their
goal is to produce a made-in-Taiwan rocket.
They
started from the very beginning-----learning the basic concepts of how rockets
work. They manufacture many components in the factory by themselves and even
made a parachute by watching videos on YouTube. Since many companies are
competing in the rocket market, the founder of ARRC promised to make even
cheaper rockets than SpaceX. They have invented an exclusive hybrid propulsion
system which is safer and also in low cost.
People often ask why they are willing to do something without a certain outcome
even though they are teased as idiots. The answer is obvious------to prove that
Taiwan’s technological skills do not fall behind the world. In fact, they may
even exceed global standards. Rockets are extremely complicated, requiring the
combination of science and engineering. Therefore, if we successfully launch a
rocket, it means that we are able to solve problems and actually produce a huge
product by our own. It will transform the technology industry from mere
manufacture to design.
Boys in October sky, SpaceX ,and ARRC have some spirit in common. They are
all courageous to be different and they stick to their dream although it seems
impossible to reach in the beginning. Eventually, they all made some
accomplishment. So, the point is that when we face all difficulties, will we actually
stick to our dream or compromise due to reality? It is really the decision
which makes all the difference.
Exploring the universe is a dream that
people have been pursuing for thousands of years. No matter you are simply
touched by the stars ,curious about how air circulates on Mars and the importance
of neutrino, or eager to make a rocket and actually approach space. We often
get inspirations from nature and also from the people who seek better answers
in nature.
