Transcript Unit E - Topic 2.0 Notes

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
rocketry
Newton’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 Mercury
Initiated in 1958, completed in 1963,
Project Mercury was the United States'
first man-in-space program.
• Project Gemini
The second U.S. manned space program
was announced in January 1962. Gemini
involved 12 flights, including two
unmanned flight tests of the equipment.
Gemini VIII
Gemini 7 as seen by Gemini 6
First rendezvous in space
• 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-Soyuz
The 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 Shuttle
The 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 Rocket
1. 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 Travel
1. 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 Sails
The 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.
Not even research animals are excused from
the program.
• "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 ultrapure water by the time our water's finished."
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
2.3
Using 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
Low Earth Orbit
• 200 – 1000 Km in altitude
• Usually used for remote sensing (taking
images to make observations of the Earth)
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