2.1 Getting There:Technologies in Space Transport

Robotic space probes have investigated all planets except Pluto!

To launch an object into space, you must overcome Earth’s gravity with a speed of 28,000 km/h!

400 BC

• Greek mathematician, Arachytas used escaping gas to propel a model pigeon along a wire.

100 AD

• Chinese experiment with gunpowder and made rocket propelled arrows to be used in battle.

1231 Chinese Mongol War

• Chinese used rockets against the Mongols who were besieging the city of Kai-fung-fu.

• An arrow with a tube of gunpowder produced an arrow of flying fire.

1700 Sir Isaac Newton• Laid down the laws for the principal of

rocketryNewton’s 3rd Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

1926 Robert Goddard (Germany)

• His first rocket climbed 12.5m

1942 • Germany launches V-2 Rocket powered

by liquid oxygen and alcohol

1957 SPUTNIK

• Soviet Union launches the first satellite into space.

A month later . . .• The first dog in space.

• Laika aboard a space capsule obits the Earth for 7 days.

• Between 1959 and 1971, NASA spacecraft were dispatched to study the Moon

• They also scanned the inner planets Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars.

• Later in the 70’s various pioneer and voyager space crafts were sent to take images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and then later Mars and Venus

1962

• Canada become the 3rd nation to (after the Soviet Union, and the USA) to put a satellite into orbit. The satellite was called the Alouette 1.

1961 First man in space

• Soviet Yuri Gagarin becomes first man to orbit the Earth.

1969 Man on the moon

• Apollo 11 Mission puts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon

NASA Manned Space Flight History

• Project MercuryInitiated in 1958, completed in 1963, Project Mercury was the United States' first man-in-space program.

• Project GeminiThe second U.S. manned space program was announced in January 1962. Gemini involved 12 flights, including two unmanned flight tests of the equipment.

Gemini 7 as seen by Gemini 6First rendezvous in space

Gemini VIII

• Project Apollo• It all started on May 25, 1961, when President John F.

Kennedy announced the goal of sending astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade.

• Six of the missions -- Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 -- went on to land on the moon, studying soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind. Apollos 7 and 9 tested spacecraft in Earth orbit; Apollo 10 orbited the moon as the dress rehearsal for the first landing. An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to scrub its landing, but the "can-do" problem solving of the crew and mission control turned the mission into a "successful failure."

• Apollo-SoyuzThe mission started with the Russian Soyuz launch on July 15, 1975, followed by the U.S. Apollo launch on the same day. Docking in space of the two craft occurred on July 17, and joint operations were conducted for two full days. Both spacecraft landed safely and on schedule.

• Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle is a viable part of American History. Standing as one of NASA's foremost projects, the shuttle has accomplished many tasks that have enhanced the quality of life on Earth.

NASA Website

3 Basic Parts of a Rocket1. Structural and Mechanical Elements are

everything including the rocket, engines, storage tanks and fins on the outside.

2. Fuel includes any number of materials such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and gasoline.

3. Payload includes the materials needed for the flight such as crew cabins, food, air, water, people and equipment.

The Future of Space Travel1. Ion Drives

Engines that use Xenon gas that is electrically charged, accelerated, then emitted as exhaust.

• Thrust generated by an ion drive is 10 000 times weaker than today's chemically fuel rockets,

•however the force generated lasts a very long time and uses very little energy.

• In space a little amount of force goes a long way.

• Ion drives may be useful when traveling great distance in space.

• The technology has already been tested by NASA’s Deep Space 1 Space Craft.

2. Solar SailsThe sun emits electromagnetic energy in the form of photons.The carbon fiber solar sail would catch these photons and potentially propel a space craft up to 5 times faster than current space crafts.

• NASA has successfully tested deployment technologies on small scale sails in vacuum chambers.

• No solar sails have been successfully used in space as primary propulsion systems, but research in the area is continuing.

Three types of spacecraft in use:• 1. Shuttles – transport personnel and

equipment to orbiting spacecraft.

• 2. Space probes – contain instrumentation for robotic exploration of space

• 3. Space stations – orbiting spacecraft with living quarters, work areas and support systems needed to work and live in space.

3. The International Space Station• Currently orbiting the earth at an altitude of

350 Km.

• Joint project between 16 nations including the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, and Brazil as well as 11 European Nations.

• Construction of the space station continues.

• The space station is in a Low Earth Orbit, and can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

• It orbits at an altitude of approximately 350 km above the surface of the Earth travelling at an average speed of 27,700 km/h completing 15.7 orbits per day.

4. The Next Step

• Scientists believe the best place to begin an interplanetary flight is from a space station or even the moon.

2.2 Surviving There: Technologies for Living in Space

Outside of the Earth’s thin atmosphere lies the cold vacuum of space.

An environment hostile to humans in many ways.

NASA is close to having the technology to send humans to Mars and back, however, a mission like this would take 2-3 years!

A. Hazards of Living in Space

• Environmental Hazards– Space is a vacuum– No food, no water, no air!– Extreme temperatures– Cosmic radiation– Risk of being struck by meteoroids– No atmospheric pressure to regulate heart

rates

• Psychological Challenges to Confined Living:– Close, confined quarters for long periods of

time.

• Effects of Microgravity on the Body– In conditions of weightlessness the body

undergoes many changes: bones expand, muscles atrophy (weaken) and heart rate is affected.

– In space an astronaut is almost completely weightless

– On Mars an astronaut would weigh 1/3 of what he/she weighs on Earth.

– Weightlessness– -weightlessness

4 features needed to live in space

1. clean water

2. breathable air

3. comfortable temperatures and air pressure

4. source of power

B. Recycling Water in Space

• The International Space Station will be using a device that can recycle almost 100% of the water on the space station (including waste water, water for hygiene and water in the atmosphere).

• The ECLSS (Environmental Control and Life Support System) Water Recycling System (WRS), will:– reclaim waste waters from the Space Shuttle's fuel

cells, from urine, oral hygiene and hand washing, and by condensing humidity from the air.

– recycle water to produce oxygen– Remove CO2 from the air– Filter microorganisms and dust from the air– Keep air pressure, humidity and temperature stable

• Without such careful recycling 40,000 pounds per year of water from Earth would be required to resupply a minimum of four crewmembers for the life of the station.

• "Lab animals on the ISS breath and urinate, too, and we plan to reclaim their waste products along with the crew's.

• It might sound disgusting, but water leaving the space station's purification machines will be cleaner than what most of us drink on Earth.

• "The water that we generate is much cleaner than anything you'll ever get out of any tap in the United States," says Carter. "We certainly do a much more aggressive treatment process. We have practically ultra-pure water by the time our water's finished."

Not even research animals are excused from the program.

C. Producing Oxygen in Space

• Electrolysis uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

• The hydrogen is vented into space.

• The oxygen produced can supply most of the crews needs.

Audio File

D. Space Suits

• Must supply air, water, a heating and cooling system, and even a portable toilet.

• Must be flexible and allow movement.

Mercury and Gemini Space Suits

Apollo Space Suits

•Value: $400 000 US

Shuttle Suit

• Value: $20 000 US

2.3Using Space Technology to meet

human needs

Satellites – objects built and sent into Earth’s orbit by humans.

• Artificial satellites: man-made objects sent out into orbit.

• Natural satellites: Any small body that orbits a larger body, eg. Moons.

Uses of Satellites

• Observation/Research

• Communication

• Observe/predict weather

• Observe/predict magnetic storms

• Location

• T.V.

• Long distance phone calls

• A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a disturbance in space weather.

• a geomagnetic storm is caused by a solar wind shock wave which typically strikes the Earth's magnetic field 24 to 36 hours after the event.

• Magnetic storms usually last 24 to 48 hours, but some may last for many days.

• In 1989, an electromagnetic storm disrupted power throughout most of Quebec — it caused auroras as far south as Texas.

CME Video

Geosynchronous Orbit

• Satellite moves at same rate Earth spins.• Satellite is always positioned over same

location on Earth.

• Geosynch video

• 200 – 1000 Km in altitude

• Usually used for remote sensing (taking images to make observations of the Earth)

Low Earth Orbit

GPS

• Global Positioning System

• 24 global positioning satellites orbit the Earth which means that at least 3 are above any given location on our planet at any given moment.

• Radio signals from the satellites are picked up by GPS units and the users location is triangulated.

• Triangulation via GPS Satellites

Space Age Materials