A little bit of engineering (Несколько текстов для зачёта), страница 29

To travel from one planet to another, a spacecraft must follow a precise path, or trajectory, through space. The amount of energy that a spacecraft’s launch rocket and onboard thrusters must provide varies with the type of trajectory. The trajectory that requires the least amount of energy is called a Hohmann transfer. A Hohmann transfer follows the shape of an ellipse, or a flattened circle, whose sides just touch the orbits of the two planets.

The trajectory must also take into account the motion of the planets around the Sun. For example, a probe traveling from Earth to Mars must aim for where Mars will be at the time of the spacecraft’s arrival, not where Mars is at the time of launch.

In many interplanetary missions, a spacecraft flies past a third planet and uses the planet’s gravitational field to bend the craft’s trajectory and accelerate it toward its target planet. This is known as a gravitational slingshot maneuver. The first spacecraft to use this technique was the Mariner 10 probe (see Mariner), which flew past Venus on its way to Mercury in 1974.

Most spacecraft depend on a combination of internal automatic systems and commands from ground controllers to keep on the correct path. Normally, ground controllers can communicate with a spacecraft only when it is within sight of an Earth-based receiving station. This poses problems for spacecraft in low Earth orbit—that is, within 2,000 km (1,200 mi) of the planet’s surface—as such craft are only within sight of a relatively small portion of the globe at any given moment. One way around this restriction is to place special satellites in orbit to act as relays between the orbiting spacecraft and ground stations, allowing continuous communications. NASA has done this for the U.S. space shuttle with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).

At an altitude of about 35,800 km (about 22,200 mi), a satellite’s motion exactly matches the speed of Earth’s rotation. As a result, the satellite appears to hover over a specific spot on Earth’s surface. This so-called stationary, or geosynchronous, orbit is ideal for communications satellites, whose job is to relay information between widely separated points on the globe.

Spacecraft on interplanetary trajectories may travel millions or even billions of kilometers from Earth. In these cases their radio signals are so weak that giant receiving stations are necessary to detect them. The largest stations have antenna dishes in excess of 70 m (230 ft) across. NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory operate the Deep Space Network, a system of three tracking stations with several antennas each. The stations are in California, Spain, and Australia, providing continuous contact with distant spacecraft as Earth spins on its axis.

Much of the work of ground controllers involves monitoring a spacecraft’s health and flight path. Using a process called telemetry, a spacecraft can transmit data about the functioning of its internal components. In addition, engineers can use a spacecraft’s radio signals to assess its flight path. This is possible because of the Doppler effect. Because of the Doppler effect, a spacecraft’s motion causes tiny shifts in the frequency of its radio signals—just as the motion of a passing car causes the apparent pitch of its horn to go up as the car approaches an observer and down as the car moves away. By analyzing Doppler shifts in a spacecraft’s radio signals, controllers can determine the craft’s speed and direction. Over time, controllers can combine the Doppler shift data with data on the spacecraft’s position in the sky to produce an accurate picture of the craft’s path through space.

The guidance system helps control the craft’s orientation in space and its flight path. In the early days of spaceflight, guidance was accomplished by means of radio signals from Earth. The Mercury spacecraft and its Atlas booster utilized such radio guidance signals broadcast from ground stations. During launch, for example, the Atlas received steering commands that it used to adjust the direction of its engines. However, Mercury flight controllers found that radio guidance was limited in accuracy because interference with the atmosphere tends to make the signals weaker.

Beginning with Gemini, engineers used a system called inertial guidance to stabilize rockets and spacecraft. This system takes advantage of the tendency of a spinning gyroscope to remain in the same orientation. A gyroscope mounted on a set of gimbals, or a mechanism that allows it to move freely, can maintain its orientation even if the spacecraft’s orientation changes. An inertial guidance system contains several gyroscopes, each oriented along a different axis. When the spacecraft rotates along one or more of its axes, measuring devices tell how far it has turned from the gyroscopes’ own orientations. In this way, the gyroscopes provide a constant reference by which to judge the craft’s orientation in space. Signals from the guidance system are fed into the spacecraft’s onboard computer, which uses this information to control the craft’s maneuvers.

The Global Positioning System satellites, which enable ships, airplanes, and even hikers to know their positions with extreme accuracy, should play a similar role in spacecraft. The space shuttle Atlantis was equipped with GPS receivers during an upgrade in late 1998.

Once in orbit, a spacecraft relies on its own rocket engines to change its orientation (or attitude) in space, the shape or orientation of its orbit, and its altitude. Of these three tasks, changes in orientation require the least energy. Relatively small rockets called thrusters control a spacecraft’s attitude. In a massive spacecraft, the attitude control thrusters may be full-fledged liquid-fuel rockets. Smaller spacecraft often use jets of compressed gas. Depending on which combination of thrusters is fired, the spacecraft turns on one or more of its three principal axes: roll, pitch, and yaw. Roll is a spacecraft’s rotation around its longitudinal axis, the horizontal axis that runs from front to rear. (In the case of the space shuttle orbiter, a roll maneuver resembles the motion of an airplane dipping its wing.) Pitch is rotation around the craft’s lateral axis, the horizontal axis that runs from side to side. (On the shuttle, a pitch maneuver resembles an airplane raising or lowering its nose.) Yaw is a spacecraft’s rotation around a vertical axis. (A space shuttle executing a yaw maneuver would appear to be sitting on a plane that is turning to the left or right.) A change in attitude might be required to point a scientific instrument at a particular target, to prepare a spacecraft for an upcoming maneuver in space, or to line the craft up for docking with another spacecraft.

When an orbiting spacecraft needs to drop out of orbit and descend to the surface, it must slow down to a speed less than orbital velocity. The craft slows down by using retrorockets in a process called a deorbit maneuver. On early piloted spacecraft, retrorockets used solid fuel because solid-fuel rockets were generally more reliable than liquid-fuel rockets. Vehicles such as the Apollo spacecraft and the space shuttle have used liquid-fuel retrorockets. In the deorbit maneuver, the retrorocket acts as a brake by firing into the line of flight. The duration of the firing is carefully controlled, because it will affect the path that the spacecraft takes into the atmosphere. The same technique has been used by Apollo lunar modules and by unpiloted planetary landers to leave orbit and head for a planet’s surface.

Spacecraft have used a variety of technologies to provide electrical power for running onboard systems. Engineers have used batteries and solar panels since the early days of space exploration. Often, spacecraft use a combination of the two: Solar panels provide power while the spacecraft is in sunlight, and batteries take over during orbital night. The solar panels also recharge the batteries, so the craft has an ongoing source of power. However, solar panels are impractical for many interplanetary spacecraft, which may travel vast distances from the Sun. Many of these craft have relied on thermonuclear electric generators, which create power from the decay of radioactive isotopes and have lifetimes measured in years or even decades. The twin Voyager spacecraft, which explored the outer solar system, used generators such as these. Thermonuclear electric generators are controversial because they carry radioactive substances. The radioactivity poses no danger once the spacecraft reaches space, but some people worry that an accident during launch or during an unplanned reentry into Earth’s atmosphere could release harmful radiation into the atmosphere. Concerned groups protested the 1997 launch of the Cassini spacecraft, which carried its radioactive material in explosion-proof graphite containers.

Space is a hostile environment for humans. Piloted spacecraft must supply oxygen, food, and water for their occupants. For longer flights, a spacecraft must provide a way to dispose of or recycle wastes. For very long flights, spacecraft will eventually have to become almost totally self-sufficient. For healthy spaceflight, the spacecraft must provide far more than just the core physical needs of astronauts. Exercise equipment, comfortable sleeping and recreation areas, and well-designed work areas are some of the amenities that soften spaceflight’s effects on humans.

The effort to save weight is so inherent to spacecraft design that it even affects the food supply. Much of the food eaten by astronauts is dehydrated to save both weight and space. In space, astronauts use a device like a water gun to rehydrate these items. Many food items are also carried in conventional form, ranging from bread to candy to fruit.

On many spacecraft, including the U.S. space shuttle, drinkable water is produced by fuel cells that also provide electrical power. The reaction between hydrogen and oxygen that creates electricity produces water as a byproduct. A small supply of water for emergency use is also carried in onboard storage tanks.

For very long-duration missions aboard space stations, water is recycled. Drinkable water can be extracted from a combination of waste water, urine, and moisture from the cabin atmosphere. This kind of system was used on the Mir space station and is used on the International Space Station. See also Space Station.

Perhaps the question most frequently asked of astronauts is, “How do you go to the bathroom in space?” The answer has changed over the years. On early missions such as Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, the bathroom facilities were relatively crude. For urine collection, the astronauts, all of whom were men, used a hose with a condom-like fitting at one end. Urine was then dumped overboard. Feces were collected in plastic bags and brought back to Earth for medical analyses. The Skylab space station featured a toilet that used forced air for suction. Mir used similar toilets, with special fittings for men and women, as does the space shuttle.

Skylab was also the first spacecraft to offer astronauts the chance to bathe in space, by means of a collapsible shower. To prevent globs of water from escaping and floating around inside the cabin, the astronaut sealed the shower once inside. The astronaut used a handheld nozzle to dispense water and a small vacuum to remove it. On the space shuttle astronauts and cosmonauts have had to make do with sponge baths. The International Space Station has a shower in its habitation module.

Most piloted spacecraft have carried oxygen in onboard tanks in liquid form at cryogenic (super-cold) temperatures to save space. Liquid oxygen is about 800 times smaller in volume than gaseous oxygen at everyday temperatures. The Russian Mir space station used an additional source of oxygen: Special generators aboard Mir separated water into oxygen and hydrogen, and the hydrogen was vented overboard.

On Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, the cabin atmosphere was pure oxygen at about 0.3 kg/sq cm (about 5 lb/sq in). On the space shuttle a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen provides a pressure of 1.01 kg/sq cm (14.5 lb/sq in), slightly less than atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Shuttle astronauts who go on spacewalks must pre-breathe pure oxygen to purge nitrogen from their bloodstream. This eliminates the risk of decompression sickness, called the bends, because the shuttle space suit operates at a lower pressure (0.30 kg/sq cm, or 4.3 lb/sq in) than inside the cabin. Sudden decompression can cause nitrogen bubbles to form in blood and tissues, a painful and potentially lethal condition. The International Space Station has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere at a pressure similar to that in the shuttle.

In the past, astronauts on missions of a few days or less have often worked long hours. Some found that their need for sleep was reduced because of the minimal exertion required to move around in microgravity. However, the intense concentration required to complete busy flight plans can be tiring. On longer missions, proper rest is essential to the crew’s performance. Even on the Moon, astronauts on extended exploration missions—with surface stay times of three days—knew that they could not afford to go without a good night’s sleep. Redesigned space suits, which were easier to take off and put on, and hammocks that were strung across the lunar module cabin helped the Moon explorers get their rest.

On the Skylab space station, each astronaut had a small sleeping compartment with a sleeping restraint attached to the wall. On Mir, cosmonauts and astronauts sometimes took their sleeping bags and moved them to favorite locations inside one module or another. The International Space Station, like Skylab, has private sleeping quarters, and these will be expanded in the future to accommodate a greater number of people.

Recreation is also essential on long missions, and it takes many forms. Weightlessness provides an ongoing source of fascination and enjoyment, offering the opportunity for acrobatics, experimentation, and games. Looking out the window is perhaps the most popular pastime for astronauts orbiting Earth, providing ever-changing vistas of their home planet. On some flights, astronauts and cosmonauts read books, play musical instruments, watch videos, and engage in two-way conversations with family members on the ground.

Humans face many challenges when working in space. These challenges include communicating with Earth and other spacecraft, creating suitable environments for scientific experiments and other tasks, moving around in the microgravity of space, and working within cumbersome spacesuits.

Spacecraft in orbit around Earth cannot communicate continuously with the ground unless special relay satellites provide a link between the spacecraft and ground receiving stations. This problem disappears when astronauts leave Earth orbit. As Apollo astronauts traveled to the Moon, they were in constant touch with mission control. However, when they entered lunar orbit, communications were interrupted whenever the spacecraft flew over the far side of the Moon, because the Moon stood between the spacecraft and Earth. Lunar landing sites were on the near side of the Moon, so Earth was always overhead and the astronauts could maintain continuous contact with mission control. For astronauts who venture to other planets, the primary difficulty in communications will be one of distance. For example, radio signals from Mars will take as long as 20 minutes to reach Earth, making ordinary conversations impossible. For this reason, planetary explorers will have to be able to solve many problems on their own, without help from mission control.

The design of spacecraft interiors has changed as more powerful booster rockets have become available. Powerful boosters allow bigger spacecraft with roomier cabins. In Mercury and Gemini, for example, astronauts could not even stretch their legs completely. Their cockpits resembled those of jet fighters. The Apollo command module offered a bit of room in which to move around, and included a lower equipment bay with navigation equipment, a food pantry, and storage areas. The Soviet Vostoks had enough room for their sole occupant to float around, and Soyuz includes both a fairly cramped reentry module and a roomier orbital module. The orbital module is jettisoned prior to the cosmonauts’ return to Earth. The space shuttle has two floors—a flight deck with seats, controls, and windows and a middeck with storage lockers and space to perform experiments.