Expert: Tom Whiting - 3/5/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
My name is Dustin and for my National History Day project I am doing the innovation of space travel, and i was wondering if you could answer these few questions.
1. How has space travel helped astrology?
2. How has it changed over time that you have seen?
3. What are some of the peices of in space tecnology that have helped you in your studies?

ANSWER: Hi Dustin,
Didn't know that there was a National History Day?  Which day is that?  There is a National Astronomy Day and that is Saturday (night) April 24th this year. (I don't think there is a National Astrology Day, but I could be wrong).

1. Astrology is the false belief that the position of the sun and planets against the background sky areas (also called constellations) somehow influence our life, and can tell the future.
So space travel and the science of astronomy have completely destroyed the false belief in
astrology among intelligent people. We now know that those bodies don't even know we exist
let alone influence our free will. There is no more connection with the position of those bodies in our sky, than the jet aircraft in the pattern at O'Hara International Airport... watch out for that guy on final approach at the time of your birth, as it influences your economic life!!
As far as them predicting the future, how come astrologers don't hit the powerball or the stock market, if they are that accurate with future predictions?

2. There is far less belief in astrology today then in the past, when witchcraft, fortune tellers, and soothsayers earned their money.  We're better educated now.

3. I don't do astrology, I do astronomy.  Telescopes...and modern digital cameras.  Without them, we'd still be in the 1600's.
Hope this helps,
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA
PS...astrology is a dirty word among all astronomers... we hate it.

3.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry but i asked the question the wrong way =]
1. How has space travel helped astronomy?
2. How has it changed over time that you have seen?
3. What are some of the pieces of in space technology that have helped you in your studies?
(im sorry for my misuse in "ologys")
This national history day is like a program that was started to get students interested in history its not a national holiday.

Answer
1. Human space travel has spurred a general interest in astronomy in the past 50 years, and we did learn a lot about the moon, especially it's initial formation of the moon with samples returned from the Apollo missions. But the majority of "help" has been the un-manned instruments, especially telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope.

2.  How has it (space travel?) changed?  It's been downgraded from pure exploration to low Earth orbit with the International Space Station.  We need to get back to pure exploration with manned missions to near-Earth asteroids and a Mars mission. It's also gotten more expensive.

2.  How has it (astronomy?) changed? The equipment has become more sensitive so that we can now even determine if relatively nearby stars have planets circling them. We can detect small, faint Kuiper asteroid belt objects, showing that Pluto for instance, is just one of many thousands of faint Kuiper asteroid belt objects and thus leading to a revision in our proper classification of Pluto as not a major planet, but merely one of thousands of small Kuiper belt asteroids.

3.  As I said earlier, better telescopes, spectroscopes, and digital cameras.
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting