Research project

Space travelling

Kevin Stobbe
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 Thesis – Space exploration has enabled us to learn more about

outer space and improve the technology that we have here on

earth.

INDEX

Question 1. How is a spaceship, or rocket, structured?..............................................................................2

Question 2. How can astronauts breathe in space?....................................................................................4
Question 3. How much does one space trip cost?.......................................................................................5
Question 4. Why are there no more space trips to the moon?...................................................................7
Question 5. What daily inventions were originally meant for space traveling?..........................................9
Reflection..................................................................................................................................................10

Introduction – Nowadays, many entrepreneurs are thinking about a way to live on other

planets, keeping them away from concentrating on the main problems we still have to

solve. Also, I am very interested in this topic, because since I heard about the first space

missions, I found it interesting how this was

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QUESTION 1. HOW IS A SPACESHIP, OR ROCKET,

STRUCTURED?

A rocket´s anatomy is formed by many essential components, which are each very

important for the functionality of the spacecraft. Such as an engine, a power subsystem,

a steering system, and a communication system. In addition, various science instruments

help with the previous systems mentioned before.

Propulsion and thrust

There are different types of propulsion used in a spacecraft. The propulsion systems that

a satellite carries work depending on the orbital position that it needs to reach and the

type of mission. In addition to the launch vehicle-provided propulsion, an upper stage

may deliver the spacecraft to a higher or an escape orbit. The spacecraft may also

include its propulsion module, the main function is to make small adjustments to the

spacecraft’s orbit and maneuvers. Finally, the so-called station-keeping, which is the

fine orbit adjustments and maintenance is possible thanks to small thrusters.

To have a precise and efficient propulsion system, different gases are used to do so.

Cold gas propulsion is the simplest type of chemical propulsion. The propulsion system

consists of pressurized gas and a nozzle, and whenever thrust is needed the nozzle is

opened and the necessary amount of gas is expelled.

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There is also an alternative way to travel to space: solar-electric propulsion that works

with an ion engine. This ion engine shoots out a spray of ionized particles to push the

spacecraft on its way. Ion engines typically get to the required high power which is

needed to ionize the propellant particles from the spacecraft’s solar panels.

Power

A spacecraft must generate and distribute power to operate its subsystems and

instruments. Solar panels usually generate this necessary power for the spacecraft by

converting sunlight into electricity. If the spacecraft finds itself in an eclipse, which is

when the sun is blocked by a celestial object, and the solar panels are not able to

generate power, batteries automatically generate this energy.

Navigation

A navigation system is usually referred to as “Attitude and Orbit control” which is

essential for the spacecraft to maintain its attitude to stay on the route to its destination.

For the spacecraft to have enough energy, the solar panels must always point to the sun

so it can produce the needed electricity, so this can happen the spacecraft possess,

what’s called, some “electronic eyes”, which are sun and star sensors that can sense the

location of the sun, allowing the spacecraft’s position to be calculated.

Communications and data handling

The communication system returns scientific data, passed on to the scientists, that

allows the engineers on earth to monitor the condition of the spacecraft. This onboard

communication system also receives all the incoming commands from the earth.

Instructions are received from the earth in form of individual commands or sequences to

be executed at pre-defined times, these commands will be processed by the data

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handling systems that either executes these immediately or stores them for later

executions.

QUESTION 2. HOW CAN ASTRONAUTS BREATHE

IN SPACE?

Astronauts get their oxygen from water, since water is made up of two hydrogens and

one oxygen molecule, scientists have found a way to break down the water into its basic

molecules through a process called electrolysis. Even though the international space

station has a piece of very complex equipment, this process is easily doable at home.

(This image should give you a small idea of how electrolysis works)

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 QUESTION 3. HOW MUCH DOES ONE SPACE

TRIP COST?

The cost to launch a spacecraft into orbit has decreased thanks to innovation by SpaceX.

The following graphic shows the cost per kilogram for space launches across the globe

since 1960:

The space race

The 20th century was marked by the competition between two Cold War adversaries, the

Soviet Union and the USA, to achieve a superior spaceflight capability.

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This space race led to multiple technological innovations, although they came with high

costs, for instance, in the 1960s, NASA spent $28 billion to land the first astronauts on

the moon, a cost today equating to about $288 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars.

In the last few decades, space start-up companies have proved that they can compete

against heavyweight aerospace contractors, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Today, a

SpaceX rocket launching can be 97% cheaper than a Russian Soyuz like in the 60s.

(Graphic of the cost of space missions since 2000)

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 QUESTION 4. WHY ARE THERE NO MORE SPACE

TRIPS TO THE MOON?

In July 1969, the first humans landed on the moon as a part of the Apollo 11 mission.

But we have not been going back to the moon since 1973. Apollo 11 was followed by

six further trips to the moon, which of five, landed safely.

The last manned mission to the moon was the Apollo 17 mission, which took place

between the 7th and 19th of December 1972. It was a 12-day mission and broke a huge

variety of records, for example, the longest spacewalk, the longest lunar landing, and

the largest lunar samples brought back to the earth. But unfortunately, this became the

last mission for an indefinite amount of time.

The race of landing humans on the moon was started by President John F. Kennedy, in

his 1962s speech at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. Which is known today as the “We

Choose to go to Moon” speech. Kennedy was committed to getting a human to walk on

the moon by the end of the decade.

"And this will be done in the decade of the 60s. It may be done while some of you are

still here at school at this college and university. It will be done during the term of office

of some of the people who sit here on this platform. But it will be done. And it will be

done before the end of this decade."

And when the first moon landing took place, his goal had been achieved. However,

NASA faced a large funding cut, making the future of the Apollo missions untenable.

Originally, there had been 20 Apollo missions planned, but technological and
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researched-based missions were not seen as important as the achievement of the landing

on the moon itself and the final missions had been canceled.

QUESTION 5. WHAT DAILY INVENTIONS WERE

ORIGINALLY MEANT FOR SPACE TRAVELING?

Firefighting equipment

The polymers created for use in space suits have been valuable in creating flame-

retardant, heat-resistant suits for firefighters. Newer suits also feature circulating coolant

to keep firefighters from succumbing to the heat and advanced breathing systems

modeled after astronaut life support systems. The polymers created for use in space suits

have been valuable in creating flame-retardant, heat-resistant suits for firefighters.

Newer suits also feature circulating coolant to keep firefighters from succumbing to the

heat and advanced breathing systems modeled after astronaut life support systems.

Camera phones

In the 1990s, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory invented a light, miniature imaging

system that required little energy to take high-quality photographs from space. This

technology has become standard in cell phones and computer cameras. In the 1990s,

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory invented a light, miniature imaging system that

required little energy to take high-quality photographs from space. This technology has

become standard in cell phones and computer cameras.

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Portable Computers

In the 1990s, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had invented a lightweight, miniature

imaging system that required little power to capture high-quality images from space.

This technology has become standard in cell phone cameras and personal computers. In

the 1990s, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had invented a lightweight, miniature

imaging system that required little power to capture high-quality images from space.

This technology has become standard in cell phone cameras and personal computers.

REFLECTION

In conclusion, this was a really interesting project because I had the opportunity to learn

a lot more about space traveling and all kinds of necessary parts a spacecraft possesses

in order to function properly. Also, I learned about all kinds of different innovations that

originally were meant to simplify space expeditions and missions.

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