Bio
Dr. Steven Howe
Dr. Steven D. Howe was appointed the first Director of the CSNR in 2005. He was previously part of the Thermonuclear Applications group of the Applied Physics Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Howe's research interests include antiproton physics and applications, nuclear rocket propulsion, hyper-velocity aerodynamics and thermodynamics, and non-equilibrium X-ray emission.
Dr. Howe is also a fiction writer, having published the novella Wrench and Claw in Analog Magazine and the novel Honor Bound Honor Born, which detailed the possible development of the first commercial base on the Moon.
Dr. Howe has appeared in numerous television programs about space and rocketry. He holds five patents involving the storage and application of antiprotons, and he is the co-founder of Hbar Technologies. Dr. Howe has served on a number of national committees.
Encyclopædia Britannica Articles
- nuclear energy
Energy released from atomic nuclei in significant amounts. In 1919 Ernest Rutherford discovered that alpha rays could split the nucleus of an atom. This led ultimately to the discovery of the neutron and the release of huge amounts of energy by the process of nuclear fission. Nuclear energy is also released as a result of nuclear fusion. The release of nuclear energy can be controlled or uncontrolled. Nuclear reactors carefully control the release of energy, whereas the energy release of a nuclear weapon or resulting from a core meltdown in a nuclear reactor is uncontrolled. See also chain reaction, nuclear power, radioactivity.
- nuclear energy on britannica.com
- space exploration
Investigation of the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere by means of manned and unmanned spacecraft. Study of the use of rockets for spaceflight began early in the 20th century. Germany's research on rocket propulsion in the 1930s led to development of the V-2 missile. After World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, with the aid of relocated German scientists, competed in the “space race,” making substantial progress in high-altitude rocket technology (see staged rocket). Both launched their first satellites (see Sputnik; Explorer) in the late 1950s (followed by other satellites and unmanned lunar probes) and their first manned space vehicles (see Vostok; Mercury) in 1961. A succession of longer and more complex manned space missions followed, most notably the U.S. Apollo program, including the first manned lunar landing in 1969, and the Soviet Soyuz and Salyut missions. Beginning in the 1960s, U.S. and Soviet scientists also launched unmanned deep-space probes for studies of the planets and other solar system objects (see Pioneer; Venera; Viking; Voyager; Galileo), and Earth-orbiting astronomical observatories (see, for example, Hubble Space Telescope), which permitted observation of cosmic objects from above the filtering and distorting effects of Earth's atmosphere. In the 1970s and '80s the Soviet Union concentrated on the development of space stations for scientific research and military reconnaissance (see Salyut; Mir). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia continued its space program, but on a reduced basis owing to economic constraints. In 1973 the U.S. launched its own space station (see Skylab), and since the mid 1970s it has devoted much of its manned space efforts to the space shuttle program and, more recently, to developing the International Space Station in collaboration with Russia and other countries.
- space exploration on britannica.com
© 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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