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| How to Navigate Site |
Need help in navigating
this site? Below is a breakdown of how the site is organized. We have
included pictures to enhance your knownledge, and color-coded things
to help you keep track of where you are. We have also answered some
questions you may have about the site.
| Q. What is the purpose of this site? |
| A. The purpose of this site
is to explain how space travel is possible and introduce missions
that, despite the dangers, have continued to be conducted. |
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| Q. How did you decide on which missions
to include? |
A. Here, we have included the famous or
infamous manned missions that in some way has been a "first."
These historical missions describe the developments of space
travel and introduce well known astronauts.
In the unmanned section, we have included a variety of "firsts,"
recent missions (as of 2004), and missions that were extremely
successful in gathering scientific data. |
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| Q: What is the purpose of the "Audio
Version" icon? |
| A. When a user clicks the
"Audio Version" icon, an mp3 reads the analysis on
the current page. We believe that people have different
ways of learning. People learn by interaction, by reading, by
images, and by listening. This accommodates users who learn
better by listening. |
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| Q. Why does this site have a blue scheme? |
| A. We were thinking at first to use white
background with black text or vice versa, but we realized this
produces a somewhat blinding effect. Thus, we decided to use
a soothing blue scheme that will be pleasing to the eyes. |
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| Q. Why are icons used as a navigation element? |
| A. When the navigation is just plain text,
the website is not appealing. The icon + text combination provides
a quick navigation element. It also allows users who do not
want to have to read navigation text to just simply refer to
the graphical icon for quick reference. The yellow highlight
when the mouse hovers over the icon helps the user choose the
correct topic for viewing. |
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| Q: Why was yellow used as a link color?
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| A. Yellow provides a clear contrast against
the white text. This way, users will not be confused as to what
they can click for more information. |
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| Q: Where did you find all the icons for
this site? |
| A. We hand drew each icon on the computer
to match the topic. |
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| Q: Why are there
two "Main" icons on the menu? |
| A. While we were working on the website,
we realized that when users are viewing the lower half of the
website, there is no convenient way to reach the main page.
Thus, for ease of navigation, we have placed another "Main"
icon at the lower half of the menu. |
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The following table are the colors that occur most often throughout the site.
| Content and Information |
White |
| Links aside from menu |
Yellow |
| Links on menu |
Blue |
| Introduction & Subsection Titles |
Orange |
| Headers of tables & Numbers of tables |
| Overview, Analysis, and Subsection headers |
There are 3 layouts that will occur most often throughout the site. Click the following links to view a detailed description of each.
General Layout
Topic Layout
Subsection Layout |
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| 1. Main |
This is where all the content and information is located. |
| 2. Menu |
Use
this part to navigate around the site. It is broken down
into 4 sections.
1. Main
2. Spacecraft Essentials
3. Missions
4. Miscellaneous |
| 3. Location |
This part indicates where you currently
are. This helps you keep track of your location.
For example, if you look at the top of this page, it says
"Main > How to Navigate Site." This means
that Main is the root and you are one page away from it.
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| 4. Footer |
This section contains links to Main, Our Site, How to Navigate Site, Change Language, and Site Map. |
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| 1. Subsections |
This part lists the subsections of a topic. It provides an easy way to navigate within the topic.
All links are displayed in yellow. |
| 2. Introduction
Message |
The introduction message is a brief explanation of what the topic is about. |
| 3. Subsection
Description |
This contains the listing of subsections
and a brief description of each. Following the description
is a link labeled ">> Click here for more
info." If you'd like to learn about this subsection,
click the link to be directed to the appropriate page.
Notice that all links are displayed in yellow to distinguish from the actual content color of white. |
| 4. Footer |
For ease of navigation, we have
provided a "Forward >>" button to continue
to the next subsection. There is also a "^ Top ^"
button that allows you to view the top of the page without
having to scroll back up.
All links are displayed in yellow. |
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| 1. Subsections |
This lists the subsections
of a topic to provides an easy way to navigate.
Links are displayed in yellow. |
| 2. Subsection Heading |
This shows you which subsection
you are currently viewing.
All subsection headings are displayed in orange. |
| 3. Overview |
This is a brief description of what
the subsection is about.
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| 4. Analysis |
This is an in-depth description
of the subsection. |
| 5. Footer |
This provides an easy way to navigate
between the previous and next topics. There is also a
link to go back to the top of the page. This allows users
to view the site without much scrolling.
Links are displayed in yellow. |
| 6. Subsection |
The subsections are listed once again at the bottom. This provides an easy way to jump to different subsections without having to scroll up.
Links are displayed in yellow. |
| 7. Printer Friendly Version |
When you click this icon, a new
browser window will pop up with a text version of the
page you are currently looking at. The text only page
will contain no images, colors, or styles. It is strictly
the text of the content. |
| 8. Audio Version |
When you click this icon, an mp3 file containing the
analysis will be read to you. This is for those who
learn better by listening or would like to take a break
from reading.
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Main 