Happy Pi Day!
As March 14th, "Pi Day" approaches, a look at how NASA uses this number to explore space.
Posted — UpdatedWe couldn't explore space without pi
NASA calls pi the "Swiss Army knife of numbers". From measuring the size of a single atom to the size of our universe, the ratio of the distance around it (circumference) to the distance across (diameter) is always equal to pi.
While the fuel tank in your car is more-or-less like a box, NASA's fuel tanks on the ground and in space are more spherical to accommodate fuels stored at high pressures. Propulsion engineers use pi in calculating the size and weight of those tanks as well as how much fuel they can squeeze in there.
Engineers used pi extensively in designing the parachute with slowed the Perseverance rover, and previous missions as they landed on Mars. It also helped the, encode a message for fans to decode.
Scientists use pi to find planets outside our solar system. By combining information about light coming from distant stars changes as an orbiting planet passes in front, with the formula for the area of a circle, we can come up with a pretty good estimation of the planet's size.
Just knowing the circumference, diameter and surface area of a crater can tell scientists a lot about the asteroid or meteor that created it.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) uses 15 decimal places (3.141592653589793) for interplanetary navigation. Why not more?
15 digits are plenty to calculate the circumference of the Earth to accuracy within the size of a molecule according to Marc Rayman, JPL's Chief Engineer for Mission Operations and Science.
Consider Voyager 1, the furthest human-made object from Earth, currently 14.1 billion miles away. If used that 15th decimal place approximation of Pi to calculate size of the circle Voyager is within approximate of Pi, the result would be off by less than 2 inches.
You can calculate the area of the 93 billion light year wide visible universe to with in diameter of a Hydrogen atom with pi to 40 decimal places.
If you really want to celebrate Pi Day like a true math nerd, set your alarm for Saturday at 8:59:26 pm (3/14 1:59:26 UTC)
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