science

Missão Centenário

Missão Centenário is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Missão Centenário rather than just read about it. In short: The Missão Centenário was born of an agreement between the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Russian Federal Space Agency on October 18, 2005. The main objective of this treaty would be to send the first Brazilian into space, Lt.

Key takeaways

Missão Centenário belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Missão Centenário to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Missão Centenário from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Missão Centenário was born of an agreement between the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Russian Federal Space Agency on October 18, 2005. The main objective of this treaty would be to send the first Brazilian into space, Lt. Col. Aviator Marcos Pontes. The name of the mission is a reference to the commemoration of the centenary of the first crewed flight of a Brazilian-designed aircraft, the Santos-Dumont 14-bis, in Paris on October 23, 1906. The vehicle used for launching the mission was the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft, and its launch took place on March 30, 2006 (11:30 p.m Brasília time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) to the International Space Station (ISS).

Bilateral agreement for the mission The Missão Centenário was made possible by a commercial agreement signed in October 2005 between Brazil and Russia, with representatives of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Russian Federal Space Agency. As a result, astronaut Marcos Cesar Pontes began training in Star City, a training center for cosmonauts near Moscow.

Launch The Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft carrying Lieutenant Colonel Marcos Pontes was launched at 11:30 p.m. on March 30, 2006 (Brasília time, 8:30 p.m. in the morning of March 31, 2006 Kazakhstan time) . Besides the Brazilian astronaut, the crew were the Russian Pavel Vinogradov and the American Jeffrey Williams, these two members of Expedition 13. When Pavel Vinagrodov hooked up the cabin video camera to Marcos Pontes during the launch, the Brazilian did not know what to say. He thought of waving, but that did not express what he felt, then he pointed to the flag and then up, meaning that they were all together, but he thought "wait a moment, pointing with one finger does not give the impression of 'together'!". So he pointed with two, as you can see in the video of the mission. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) in the early hours of Saturday, April 1. Prior to entry to the International Space Station (ISS), the international protocol was that Pavel would enter first, followed by Jeff and then Marcos. But when Pavel noticed Marcos with the Brazilian flag in his hands, he told him to come in first. Marcos replied that they might have problems. To this, the Russian replied that it would not be Marcos who would be entering, but a whole nation, and neither he nor Jeff would have the right to enter before a nation.

Experiments Lt. Col. Marcos Pontes carried out eight scientific experiments while at the ISS, so that their behavior in a microgravity environment could be analyzed. The educational experiments were accompanied through the Internet by students from schools in São José dos Campos, while conducting the same experiments on the ground. The experiments performed were:

Interviews During his stay at the ISS, Pontes conducted some interviews by video-conference. On April 3, 2006, an interview was broadcast in honour of Alberto Santos-Dumont, in which Pontes used a Panama hat like the inventor and a handkerchief with the acronym "SD".

Return Pontes returned on Soyuz TMA-7, which landed during the night of April 8, 2006, Brasilia time, with two other astronauts from Expedition 12 (Russian Valery Tokarev and American William McArthur) who were already on the ISS. The landing point was 60–80 kilometres (37–50 mi) from Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. Seventeen Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopters were used during the astronauts’ recovery. After the return, the three astronauts underwent a period of readaptation to gravity.

Total duration of the mission Marcos Pontes performed 155 orbits and the total duration of his mission was 9 days, 21 hours and 17 minutes.

Patch The patch of the Missão Centenário was produced jointly by Secom, MCT and AEB.

Commemorative acts As a celebration for this mission that was the first to bring a Brazilian astronaut into space, as well as being a tribute to the centenary of the first flight of an aircraft heavier than the air of Alberto Santos-Dumont in Europe, postage stamps and a medal were released.

Criticism The mission was criticized by part of the Brazilian scientific community, such as the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência (SBPC), according to which the money invested in the mission should be used to train staff as well as investing in other types of scientific research. In addition, they report the non-compliance of the Brazilian participation in the construction of the ISS. Other critics denounced the political use and crossed out the trip as space tourism. The Brazilian Space Agency and Marcos Pontes rebuffed these criticisms, saying that the space program has never had so much visibility in the press, which would make it possible in the future to allocate more funds for space exploration. In addition, the mission may encourage children to study and pursue a scientific career.

Gallery

References

External links

"AEB investment in the Missão Centenário". Comparative table of costs between the Missão Centenáio and other investments and annual consumption in the country. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. (in Portuguese) "Why spend on space exploration with so many people starving?". 28 November 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. (in Portuguese)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Missão Centenário

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Missão Centenário claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Missão Centenário before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Missão Centenário ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Missão Centenário

In research: Missão Centenário appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Missão Centenário in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Missão Centenário is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2005 in Brazil, 2005 in Russia, 2006 in Brazil, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Missão Centenário outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Missão Centenário in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Missão Centenário means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Missão Centenário out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Missão Centenário in simple terms?

Why does Missão Centenário matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Missão Centenário?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Missão Centenário.