Historical research work on the topic
« What is the future of aerospace transport?»
SpaceX— Road to the future
About the history and development prospects of the companySpaceX
Scientific adviser: Gibatov Ildar Rafisovich, history teacher, MOBU secondary school No. 2 p. Bizhbulyak.
Research hypothesis: in the future it will be possible to use SpaceX projects as a universal aerospace transport.
Objective: to find out if Space X projects can be used for the development of aerospace transport.
Tasks:
- Learn the history of the company;
- Explore the evolution of SpaceX launch vehicles;
- Explore project prospects
Research methods:
- Study and analysis of literature and relevant sites on the Internet;
- Analysis of company reports;
- Comparison with domestic ideas.
Object of study: private space company Space Exploration Technologies
ProjectSpaceX.Project history
By studying literature and sources on the Internet, I learn about the SpaceX project, its founder, the history of the company. In the course of research, I study its launch vehicles and bring them specifications, I analyze the reasons for unsuccessful launches.
Prospects for launch vehiclesSpaceX
Continuing to get to know SpaceX, I found out that the next development of its rockets is the Falcon Heavy launcher - a super-heavy class rocket, it will be capable of delivering a fully loaded Dragon spacecraft to Mars, or to Jupiter. I also learn that it will use a unique system of cross-feeding fuel.
Engines developed by the companySpaceX
SpaceX uses its own Merlin engines in its launch vehicles, which operate on an open cycle basis. This scheme is simple, reliable, and inexpensive to create and use, it is also with a great reserve for the future, and promotes the use of reusable systems. I give a comparison of the engine thrust with others and their cost, I calculate the thrust-to-weight ratio of the engine.
Reusable - reusability
While researching the company's boosters and engines, I learned about SpaceX's first stage booster project. I have found that the cost of launch is reduced by ~60% this way. And the company can invest these funds in its future developments and prospects.
In 2004, the company began developing the Dragon ship, which made its first flight in December 2010. Dragon is unique in its ability to return cargo from the ISS to Earth, and it is the first ship made by a private company to dock with the ISS. I learn that in the future of the ship - a unique mission "Mars 2020".
Conclusion
Based on all the materials presented, I came to the conclusion that in the future it will be possible to use the SpaceX project for aerospace transport.
List of used literature
- Ashley Vance - Elon Musk. Tesla, SpaceX and the road to the future. (Publisher: Olimp-Business; 2015; ISBN 978-5-9693-0307-2, 978-0-06-230123-9, 978-59693-0330-0)
- V.A. Afanasiev - Experimental development of spacecraft (Publisher: M .: Izd-vo MAI .; 1994; ISBN: 5-7035-0318-3)
- V. Maksimovsky - “Angara-Baikal. O reusable booster rocket module»
- SpaceX official website - http://spacex.com
- SpaceX official YouTube channel - https://goo.gl/w6x3gW
- Material from Wikipedia - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX
Problematic issues
to carry out historical research work
International Olympiad in the history of aviation and aeronautics
1. Aircraft carriers: archaism or necessity?
2. Aviation museums of the world - a school of engineer and designer.
3. Airport of the future - how was it presented in the past and what do they think about the future?
4. Paper airplane - child's play and scientific research?
5. Aerial acrobatics: sport or circus?
6. Aircraft carriers: myth or reality?
7. Kites: child's play or practical aeronautics?
8. Balloons: science, sports, tourism, entertainment…
9. Air ram - is it exclusively a Russian weapon?
10. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a thermoplane over other aircraft?
11. What is the cause of aircraft accidents?
12. Aerobatics: martial art or sport?
13. Are gliders a sport only for the rich?
14. Why and how were stratospheric balloons used?
15. Is there a future for nuclear aircraft?
16. Is there a future for airships?
17. Is there a future for ornithopters?
18. Are there any prospects for the development of backpack aircraft?
19. Is there any benefit in studying forgotten 20th century aircraft designs?
20. Riddle of "Bells" and "Hook" in the sky
21. Why does an aircraft need a caterpillar chassis?
22. Why does an aircraft need an air cushion landing gear?
23. How can air passengers avoid air sickness?
24. How to fight air terrorism?
25. How are astronauts trained?
26. How did they cover the airspace with balloons during the war years?
27. How did the idea of human flight originate?
28. How did the Airbus concept come about?
29. How are the laws and patterns of dialectics manifested in aviation?
30. How and why was the idea of an amphibious aircraft born?
31. How and where did composite materials first appear in aircraft construction?
32. How and where do robots work in aviation?
33. How were balloons used in military operations?
34. How is aircraft interior design changing?
35. How was the desire to fly reflected in the visual arts and literature?
36. How is the history of aviation reflected in world cinema?
37. How is fashion reflected in flight uniforms?
38. How did the design school of I.I. Sikorsky on the development of world aviation?
39. How is fashion manifested in aviation and aeronautics?
40. How are the most important events in the development of air space reflected in philately, numismatics, faleristics and other types of collecting?
41. How does the "golden section" manifest itself in aircraft structures?
42. How are the laws of the structure and development of technology in aviation manifested?
43. How was aviation terminology born?
45. How was the fate of Russian aviation engineers who emigrated to other countries?
46. How to reduce the risks of aircraft test pilots?
47. How to save the crew and passengers?
48. How to fit an aircraft in a suitcase and why is it necessary?
49. How was the concept of an inconspicuous aircraft formed in Russia and in the world?
50. How is the image of the pioneers of airspace development formed?
51. What barriers stand in the way of aviation development?
52. What are the tasks of giant aircraft?
53. What aircraft were ahead of their time and why?
54. What aircraft have become the most mysterious in history?
55. What hopes do experts associate with motor gliders in the 21st century?
56. What new scientific directions in aviation appeared in the late XX - early XXI centuries?
57. What are the prospects for wooden aircraft construction?
58. What are the prospects for Russian small aviation in the 21st century?
59. What exploits of Soviet pilots during the Great Patriotic War were forgotten?
60. What advantages do gyroplanes have over other aircraft?
61. What instruments were on board the first aircraft?
62. What are the priorities of Russia in the field of airspace development?
63. What problems have been and remain with the air taxi?
64. What records are recorded for muscle cars?
65. What are the most outstanding Russian international aviation records?
66. What are the most important dates in the history of world aviation?
67. What environmental problems exist in aviation?
68. What production technologies have had a significant impact on the development of aviation?
69. What technologies have played a key role in the history of the aircraft industry?
70. What stages of development did aviation small arms and cannon armament go through?
71. What is the reliability of information on the history of aviation and aeronautics on the Internet?
72. What is the historical role of the computer in aviation?
73. What is the role of women in the history of aviation and aeronautics?
74. What is the role of borrowing foreign experience in the development of the domestic aircraft industry?
75. What is the essence of Henri Coande's concept of supercirculation?
76. What is the past and future of aircraft modeling?
77. What are the disadvantages of using VTOL?
78. What are the prospects for combating unmanned aerial vehicles?
79. What are the limits of the use of multi-engine air giants?
80. What are the advantages of ekranoplanes and the disadvantages of ekranoplanes?
81. What is the future of aerospace transport?
82. What is the future of private aviation in Russia?
83. What could be the role of biotechnology in aviation?
84. What role did the steam engine play in the history of aviation?
85. What role does aviation play in rescue missions?
86. What role did projectiles play in World War II?
87. When and how did paper aviation originate?
88. When will a passenger plane fly at hypersonic speed?
89. When will alternative fuel planes fly?
90. When will electric planes and magnetolets fly?
91. Who stood at the origins of domestic avionics?
92. What does "air hooliganism" lead to?
93. Dead loop - the history of one term and the history of aerobatics
94. Can aviation be non-aerodrome?
95. Is it possible to learn to fly by training only on a flight simulator?
96. Is it possible to create a completely "invisible" aircraft?
97. unknown facts great flights.
98. Does a modern engineer need art? Aviation designers: writers, artists, poets.
99. Are the risks of aerobatic teams justified?
100. Why are polyplane wing schemes being revived on modern aircraft?
101. Why do states strive to participate in the aerospace shows of the world?
102. Why are many aircraft engine projects forgotten?
103. Why and how do people use animals to test aerospace technology?
104. Why do we forget the names of great scientists and engineers?
105. Why is it necessary to spend money on the construction of monuments to aircraft?
106. Why is a fiery ram a Russian weapon?
107. Why do projects of hybrid aerostatic aircraft appear?
108. Why do unusual aircraft appear (tankers, command posts, tanks, meteorological reconnaissance aircraft)?
109. Why did they create aircraft with rocket engines?
110. Why did this or that event (of your choice) become a milestone in the history of aviation?
111. Why did the aircraft have a combined power plant?
112. Plane and train: are they compatible?
113. Replica aircraft: sport or art?
114. Transforming aircraft: a futuristic idea or a necessity?
115. The most popular culinary recipes on board passenger airliners.
116. Supersonic hydroaviation aircraft - fiction or reality?
117. What is the purpose of building aircraft with a load-bearing fuselage?
118. Hidden meanings of aeronautonyms, do aircraft have names?
119. Will aviation become unmanned?
120. Is there an aviation professional dialect and who speaks it?
121. Are there flexible wing aircraft?
122. What is the difference between fighters of five generations?
123. What will nanotechnologies give to the aircraft industry?
124. What do we know about the exploits of pilots in peacetime?
125. What is winged alloys?
126. What is a microplane and what tasks does it solve?
Introduction
1. Historical study of the issue
2. Promising engines of the future
3. Prospects of private companies in the aerospace sector
Conclusion
List of used literature
INTRODUCTION
Thanks to the development of technology in the world, life began to rush at an accelerated pace. Now technologies have developed greatly - even computers of our time, in comparison with machines 20-30 years ago, have become so powerful that you can’t even believe it. In a relatively short time, technology has evolved to levels we never imagined.
Thanks to the development of information and other technologies, great changes have also taken place in other areas. For example, aviation, if you look - what it was before and now - this is a big difference, it has become more complex, more powerful, safer for flights.
Nowadays, technologies are developing towards aerospace transport. Speaking about aerospace transport, I imagine that we will soon begin to closely study outer space by flights over large space distances.
The aim of the work is to consider the question - what is the future of aerospace transport?
In this regard, the following tasks were set in the work:
- perform a historical study of the issue;
- consider promising engines of the future;
- to study the prospects of private companies in the aerospace sector.
1. HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE ISSUE
For the first time, progressive mankind believed in the reality of flight to distant worlds at the end of the 19th century. It was then that it became clear that if the aircraft is given the speed necessary to overcome gravity and maintains it for a sufficient time, it will be able to go beyond the earth's atmosphere and gain a foothold in orbit.
On October 4, 1957, a new, or rather the first, era in space exploration began - the launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth, Sputnik-1 (Fig. 3), using the R-7 rocket (Fig. 1.2), designed under the leadership of Sergei Korolev. The first satellite was microscopic, just over half a meter in diameter and weighed only 83 kg. He made a complete revolution around the Earth in 96 minutes.
Just a month after the launch of Sputnik-1, the first animal, the dog Laika, went into orbit aboard the second artificial Earth satellite (Fig. 4). Her goal was to test the survival of living beings under the conditions of space flight. The launch and launch of the satellite into orbit were successful, but after four orbits around the Earth, due to an error in calculations, the temperature inside the apparatus rose excessively, and Laika died. The satellite itself rotated in space for another 5 months, and then lost speed and burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere.
Laika - the first animal launched into Earth's orbit (Fig. 4)
The first shaggy cosmonauts who, upon returning, greeted their "senders" with joyful barks, were Belka and Strelka (Fig. 5), who set off to conquer the expanses of the sky on the fifth satellite in August 1960. Their flight lasted a little more than a day, and during this time the dogs managed to circle the planet 17 times. As a result of the launch, the spacecraft itself was also finalized and finally approved - in just 8 months, the first person will go into space in a similar apparatus.
Belka and Strelka(fig 5)
Day April 12, 1961 the first man to conquer space - Yuri Gagarin on the Vostok-1 spacecraft. It should be noted that the flight conditions were far from those that are now offered to space tourists: Gagarin experienced eight to ten times overload, there was a period when the ship literally tumbled, and behind the windows the skin burned and metal melted.
Yuri Gagarin (fig. 6)
Following Gagarin's flight, significant milestones in the history of space exploration fell one after another: the world's first group space flight was made (Fig. 8), then the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1963) went into space (Fig. 7), the first space flight took place multi-seat spacecraft, Alexei Leonov (Fig. 10) became the first person to perform a spacewalk (1965). Finally, on July 21, 1969, the first landing of a man on the moon took place (Fig. 9)
The first definition of aerospace engineering appeared in 1958. The definition united the Earth's atmosphere and outer space into a single sphere and combined both terms: aircraft (aero) and spacecraft (space). In response to the USSR's first launch of the first Earth satellite into space on October 4, 1957, engineers aerospace industry The United States launched the first American satellite on January 31, 1958.
For convenience, spacecraft (SC) are divided into 3 generations
FIRST GENERATION
The first generation should be considered the Soviet "Vostok" and the American "Mercury". They had to solve only one problem: to prove that a person can be put into near-Earth orbit, that one can live in space, and one can return to Earth alive and healthy.
SPACESHIPS VOSTOK
A three-stage launch vehicle consists of four side blocks (stage I) located around a central block (stage II). The third stage of the rocket is placed above the central block. A four-chamber liquid-propellant engine RD-107 was installed on each of the blocks of the first stage, and a four-chamber jet engine RD-108 was installed at the second stage. Stage III was equipped with a single-chamber liquid-propellant engine with four steering nozzles.
Launch vehicle "Vostok"
1 - head fairing;
2 - payload;
3 - oxygen tank;
4 - screen; 5 - kerosene tank;
6 - control nozzle;
7 — liquid rocket engine (LRE);
8 - transition farm;
9 - reflector;
10 - instrument compartment of the central unit;
11 and 12 - head unit options
(from AMS "Luna-1" and from AMS "Luna-3", respectively).
The Vostok spacecraft consisted of a descent vehicle and an instrument-assembly compartment connected together. The mass of the ship is about 5 tons.
The descent vehicle (cockpit) was made in the form of a ball with a diameter of 2.3 m. The descent vehicle was equipped with an astronaut's seat, control devices, and a life support system. The seat was located in such a way that the overload that occurs during takeoff and landing had the least effect on the astronaut.
Capsule after landing (Figure 14)
SECOND GENERATION
The main task of the second generation is the development of systems for ships of the next generations.
On Voskhod, the landing system was worked out. The rejection of the ejection system made it possible to increase its capacity without major processing of the ship.
SPACESHIPS "VOSHOD"
Spacecraft "Voskhod-2" (Fig. 15)
The tasks of space flights are expanding and spacecraft are being improved accordingly. On October 12, 1964, three people immediately ascended into space on the Voskhod spacecraft: V. M. Komarov (ship commander), K. P. Feoktistov (now Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences) and B. B. Egorov (doctor).
Spacecraft "Voskhod-1" (Fig. 16)
The new ship was significantly different from the ships of the Vostok series. It accommodated three astronauts, had a soft landing system. "Voskhod-2" had an airlock to exit the ship into outer space.
The Voskhod-2 flight took place on March 18, 1965. After the spacecraft entered orbit, the lock chamber was opened. The airlock unfolded on the outside of the cabin, forming a cylinder that could accommodate a man in a space suit.
Voskhod-2 spacecraft and locking scheme on the ship
1,4,9, 11 - antennas;
2 - television camera;
3 - cylinders with compressed air and oxygen;
5 - television camera;
6 - lock before filling;
7 - descent vehicle;
8 - aggregate compartment;
10 - the engine of the braking system;
A - filling the lock with air;
B - exit of the cosmonaut into the airlock (the hatch is open);
B - air outlet from the airlock to the outside (the hatch is closed);
D - spacewalk of an astronaut with the outer hatch open;
D - separation of the airlock from the cabin.
THIRD GENERATION
Spacecraft "Soyuz" and "Apollo" - these ships were intended for flight to the moon and, accordingly, could enter the earth's atmosphere with a second cosmic velocity.
SPACESHIPS "SOYUZ"
Soyuz spacecraft (Fig. 17)
The Soyuz spacecraft consists of an orbital compartment, a descent module, and an instrument-aggregate compartment.
Astronauts' chairs are located in the cabin of the descent vehicle. The shape of the chair makes it easier to endure the overloads that occur during takeoff and landing. The special shock-absorber softens the blows arising at landing.
The Soyuz has two autonomously operating life support systems: the cockpit life support system and the space suit life support system.
Launch vehicle "Soyuz"
Starting weight, t - 300
Payload weight, kg
Soyuz - 6800
"Progress" - 7020
Engine thrust, kN
I stage - 4000
II stage - 940
III steps - 294
Maximum speed, m/s 8000
1— emergency rescue system (SAS);
2—powder accelerators;
3 — ship "Soyuz";
4 - stabilizing shields;
5 and 6 - fuel tanks III stage;
7 — engine stage III;
8 - farm between II and III steps;
9 - tank with oxidizer stage I;
10 - tank with oxidizer stage I;
11 and 12—tanks with fuel of the 1st stage;
13 - tank with liquid nitrogen;
14 — engine of the first stage;
15 — engine stage II;
16 - control chamber;
7 - air steering wheel.
Launch vehicle "Soyuz" (Fig. 18)
The Soyuz T spacecraft was created on the basis of the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz T-2 was first put into orbit in June 1980. The new vehicle was created taking into account the experience of developing and operating the Soyuz spacecraft. The launch weight of the ship is 6850 kg. The estimated duration of an autonomous flight is 4 days, as part of the orbital complex 120 days.
Head unit options (Fig. 19)
I - with the ship "Voskhod-2";
II - with the Soyuz-5 spacecraft;
III - with the Soyuz-12 spacecraft;
IV - with the Soyuz-19 spacecraft
BRANCH: CARGO SHIPS
When developing orbital stations of the second generation (the stations are designed to replenish consumables during the flight), the question arose of delivering cargo to orbital stations. For this, we developed the ship "Progress"
CARGO SHIP PROGRESS
Docking of the Progress M-27M cargo spacecraft with the ISS (Fig. 19)
Progress is a series of transport unmanned cargo spacecraft (TGC) launched into orbit using a Soyuz launch vehicle. Developed in the USSR to supply orbital stations.
The development of a new ship based on the Soyuz spacecraft under the code 7K-TG was started in 1973. The first Progress went into orbit on January 20, 1978.
The developer and manufacturer of the ships of the Progress family from the 1970s to the present is the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation.
Transport cargo ship "Progress M1-10" (Fig. 20)
The first Progress-1 cargo ship was launched to the Salyut-6 orbital station on January 20, 1978. The operation was controlled by the Mission Control Center and cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Georgy Grechko, who were at the Salyut-6 station. On January 22, the ship was docked with the station in automatic mode.
BRANCH: REUSABLE SHUTTOPS
I will single out this type of ships as a branch. Since they are an alternative to orbital stations.
"SPACE SHUTTLE"
The space shuttle is a reusable transport spacecraft. It was understood that the shuttles would "scurry like shuttles" between low Earth orbit and the Earth, delivering payloads in both directions.
Space shuttle after landing (Figure 21)
The space shuttle program has been developed by North American Rockwell and a group of associated contractors on behalf of NASA since 1971. Development and development work was carried out as part of a joint program between NASA and the Air Force. In total, five shuttles were built (two of them died in accidents) and one prototype. Flights into space were carried out from April 12, 1981 to July 21, 2011.
Space shuttle at launch (Figure 22)
In 1985, NASA planned that by 1990 there would be 24 launches per year, and each of the ships would make up to 100 flights into space. In practice, they were used much less - over 30 years of operation, 135 launches were made (including two disasters).
Shuttle takeoff to the ISS
On October 30, 1968, two NASA headquarters approached American space companies with a proposal to explore the possibility of creating a reusable space system, which was supposed to reduce the costs of the space agency, subject to intensive use.
Space shuttle "Buran" (Fig. 23)
It was decided to insist on the creation of the shuttle, but not as a transport ship for the assembly and maintenance of the space station, but as a system capable of making a profit and recouping investments by launching satellites into orbit on a commercial basis.
2. PROMISING ENGINES OF THE FUTURE
Modern rocket engines do a good job of putting technology into orbit, but are completely unsuitable for long-term space travel. Therefore, for more than a decade, scientists have been working on the creation of alternative space engines that could accelerate ships to record speeds. Consider the main ideas of engines from this area.
EmDrive
EmDrive engine (Figure 24)
EmDrive (Electro Magnetic Drive, electromagnetic motor) uses electromagnetic microwave cavities to directly convert energy into thrust without the need for fuel. The design is a metal bucket in shape, sealed at both ends. Inside this bucket is a magnetron that emits electromagnetic waves.
The scheme of the EmDrive engine (Fig. 25)
First proposed by a British research company, the EmDrive concept was rejected by most of the scientific community as violating the laws of physics, including the law of conservation of momentum.
White theorized that EmDrive's thrust is generated by virtual particles in the quantum vacuum, which behave like fuel ions in magnetohydrodynamic propulsion systems, extracting "fuel" from the very fabric of space-time and eliminating the need for fuel. Although many scholars have criticized White's theoretical model, others believe that he at least points to the correct
Physics is an experimental science, and the fact that the EmDrive works has been confirmed in the lab, but the nature of the observed thrust is still unclear.
EmDrive engine test
Given the pros of the EM Drive, it's not hard to see why people want to see it work. Theoretically, it could generate enough thrust to fly to the Moon in four hours, to Mars in 70 days, to Pluto in 18 months, all without a drop of propellant. Unfortunately, this propulsion system is based on principles that violate the law of conservation of momentum.
The report also acknowledges the need for further testing to rule out other possible causes. And if external causes can also be ruled out, future tests will challenge the performance of the EM Drive.
Temperature propagation gradient on the surface (Fig. 26)
On top of all this, the IB Times notes that the doctor's post contained information from an excerpt from the article:
“Data from tests of forward, reverse and zero thrust in TM212 mode at less than 8106 mm Hg. Art. showed that the system consistently delivers thrust with a power factor of 1.2 +/- 0.1 mN/kW.”
solar sail
Solar sail (fig. 27)
The Planetary Society launched a project called LightSail to explore the possibility of developing a spacecraft powered entirely by solar power and accelerated solely by sunlight.
The problem, however, is that the pressure of light is extremely low and decreases with increasing distance from the source. Therefore, to be effective, such a sail must have a very low weight and a very large area.
After several unsuccessful attempts by the LightSail 1 program in 2015, the test run and deployment of the solar sail were still successfully completed. A new solar sail variant, LightSail 2, is scheduled to be launched into Earth orbit by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018.
electric sail
The sun emits not only photons, but also electrically charged particles of matter: electrons, protons and ions. All of them form the so-called solar wind, which every second carries away about one million tons of matter from the surface of the star.
The solar wind travels billions of kilometers and is responsible for some natural phenomena on our planet.
The solar wind, like the air wind, is quite suitable for traveling, you just need to make it blow into the sails. Electric sail project created in 2006 by Finnish scientist Pekka Janhunen. This engine consists of several long, thin cables, similar to the spokes of a rimless wheel.
The principle of operation of the electric sail (Fig. 28)
The principle on which HERTS works is the exchange of momentum between an array of long energized wires and solar wind protons that flow radially from the Sun at speeds of 300 to 700 km/s. High-voltage positively charged wires oriented toward the solar wind flow reflect the flowing protons, resulting in a reactive force in the wires - also directed radially away from the Sun. Within months, this small force will accelerate the spacecraft to gigantic speeds of the order of 100-150 km/s (from 20 to 30 AU per year).
ion engine
Ion thruster (Figure 29)
The flow of charged particles of matter, that is, ions, is emitted not only by stars. Ionized gas can also be created artificially. Normally, gas particles are electrically neutral, but when its atoms or molecules lose electrons, they turn into ions. In its total mass, such a gas still does not have an electric charge, but its individual particles become charged, which means they can move in a magnetic field.
In an ion thruster, an inert gas is ionized by a stream of high-energy electrons. They knock electrons out of atoms, and they acquire a positive charge. Further, the resulting ions are accelerated in an electrostatic field to speeds of the order of 200 km / s, which is 50 times greater than the speed of gas outflow from chemical jet engines. However, modern ion thrusters have very little thrust - about 50-100 millinewtons. Such an engine would not even be able to move off the table. But he has a serious plus.
The high specific impulse can significantly reduce fuel consumption in the engine. For gas ionization, energy obtained from solar panels is used, so the ion engine is able to work for a very long time - up to three years without interruption. For such a period, he will have time to accelerate the spacecraft to speeds that chemical engines never dreamed of.
Ion thrusters have roamed the solar system more than once as part of various missions, but usually as auxiliary, not primary.
Recent testing of the X3 accelerator (a type of Hall engine) has shown that the unit is capable of operating at over 100 kW and generating 5.4 Newtons of force, which is this moment became the highest efficiency rating for any ion plasma drive.
Fusion engine
Thermonuclear engine (fig. 30)
People have been trying to tame the energy of thermonuclear fusion since the middle of the 20th century, but so far they have not been able to do it. Nevertheless, controlled thermonuclear fusion is still very attractive, because it is a source of enormous energy obtained from very cheap fuel - isotopes of helium and hydrogen.
Fusion occurs when two hydrogen atoms collide and create a larger helium-4 atom, which releases energy in the process.
Synthesis can only occur in an extremely hot environment, the temperature of which is measured in millions of degrees. Plasma stars are the only natural objects hot enough to create a fusion reaction. Plasma, often referred to as the fourth state of matter, is an ionized gas made up of atoms that have lost some of their electrons. The fusion reaction is responsible for creating 85% of the Sun's energy.
The high level of heat required to create this type of plasma makes it impossible to enclose it in a container of any substance known to us. However, plasma conducts electricity well, which makes it possible to hold, control and accelerate it using a magnetic field.
A fusion engine can have a specific impulse as high as 300 times that of conventional chemical engines. A typical chemical rocket engine has an impulse of approximately 1300 seconds, which means that the engine produces 1 kilogram of thrust for 1 kilogram of propellant in 1300 seconds. A fusion rocket can have a momentum of 500,000 seconds.
At the moment, there are several projects for the design of a jet engine powered by thermonuclear fusion. The thermonuclear reactor in such an engine will be an unpressurized cylindrical chamber measuring 100-300 meters in length and 1-3 meters in diameter. Fuel must be supplied to the chamber in the form of high-temperature plasma, which, at sufficient pressure, enters into a nuclear fusion reaction. Coils of a magnetic system located around the chamber should keep this plasma from contact with the equipment.
The thermonuclear reaction zone is located along the axis of such a cylinder. With the help of magnetic fields, extremely hot plasma flows through the reactor nozzle, creating tremendous thrust, many times greater than that of chemical engines.
Antimatter Engine
All the matter around us consists of fermions - elementary particles with a half-integer spin. These are, for example, quarks that make up protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, as well as electrons. Each fermion has its own antiparticle. For an electron it is a positron, for a quark it is an antiquark.
Antiparticles have the same mass and the same spin as their usual "comrades", differing in the sign of all other quantum parameters. Theoretically, antiparticles are capable of making up antimatter, but so far, antimatter has not been registered anywhere in the Universe. For fundamental science, it is a big question why it is not there.
But in the laboratory, you can get a certain amount of antimatter. For example, an experiment was recently conducted comparing the properties of protons and antiprotons that were stored in a magnetic trap.
When antimatter and ordinary matter meet, a process of mutual annihilation occurs, accompanied by a surge of colossal energy. Accordingly, there is a desire to use this energy for space travel by creating a photon engine similar to a solar sail, only in this case the light will be generated by an internal source.
3. THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRIVATE COMPANIES
IN THE AEROSPACE DIRECTION
In recent years, government space agencies different countries lost their monopoly on flights outside the Earth. Increasingly, there are successful launches of private aircraft going into orbit or into suborbital space. I would like to talk about the prospects of private companies using the example of SpaceX.
SpaceX
SpaceX is a company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. The main goal of SpaceX is to reduce the cost of space travel and pave the way for the colonization of Mars.
The company developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles with the goal of making them reusable from the start, and the Dragon spacecraft (launched into orbit by the same Falcon 9s) to resupply the International Space Station. The passenger version of the Dragon V2 spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS is in the final phase of development.
SpaceX successfully developed and launched the Falcon 1 light-class and Falcon 9 medium-class launch vehicles into space; the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle is under development, with a first launch scheduled for January 2018.
Falcon 1
Falcon 1 (Figure 31)
The first launch of a launch vehicle from SpaceX occurred on March 24, 2006. The Falcon 1 spacecraft was 21.7 meters long and had a launch weight of 38,555 kilograms, of which 670 kg was payload. However, the launch ended in failure even at the stage of operation of the first stage.
The second and third launches of the Falcon 1 rocket were also unsuccessful for SpaceX. Moreover, in the latter case, the spacecraft already carried a payload: one American military satellite, two Malaysian commercial microsatellites, as well as the ashes of the dead for burial in space.
Investors who were eyeing the ambitious company were losing interest in it, and Elon Musk's personal funds were rapidly running out.
And then Musk decided to go for broke. Literally two months after the third fall of Falcon 1, on September 28, 2008, the fourth launch of the rocket was carried out, which turned out to be successful. At the same time, the director of SpaceX himself claims that if this launch failed, the company would cease to exist.
Falcon 1 launch vehicle
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 launch vehicle (Figure 32)
For the first time, this launch vehicle went into orbit on June 4, 2010. So far, there have been 18 Falcon 9 launches, all successful.
Falcon 9 is a family of disposable and partially reusable heavy-duty launch vehicles of the Falcon series of the American company SpaceX. Falcon 9 consists of two stages and uses RP-1 kerosene (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) as fuel components. The "9" in the name refers to the number of Merlin liquid rocket engines installed in the first stage of the launch vehicle.
The launch vehicle has gone through two significant modifications since its first launch.
Falcon 9 v1.0, launched five times from 2010 to 2013,
Falcon 9 v1.1, which replaced it with 15 launches; its use was completed in January 2016.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust (FT), the latest version, first launched in December 2015, uses supercooled propellant components and maximum engine thrust to increase launch vehicle performance by 30%.
Falcon 9 v1.1 (Figure 33)
The Falcon 9's first stage can be reused, equipped with equipment for its return and vertical landing on a landing pad or autonomous spaceport drone ship floating platform. And if the first launches of the Falcon 9 rocket did not imply its reusable action, now SpaceX has gradually begun testing the technology for reusing the first stage of the rocket. But it is precisely this part of it that is the most expensive expense item for space launches.
Launch of the launch vehicle and landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9
On December 22, 2015, after launching 11 Orbcomm-G2 satellites into orbit, the first stage of the Falcon 9 FT launch vehicle successfully landed on the Landing Zone pad for the first time.
On April 8, 2016, as part of the SpaceX CRS-8 mission, the first stage of the Falcon 9 FT rocket successfully landed on the Of Course I Still Love You offshore platform for the first time in rocket science history.
On March 30, 2017, the same stage, after maintenance, was re-launched as part of the SES-10 mission and again successfully landed on the offshore platform.
The Falcon 9 is used to launch geostationary commercial communications satellites, research spacecraft, the Dragon cargo spacecraft under the Commercial Resupply Services program to resupply the International Space Station, and will also be used to launch its Dragon V2 manned version.
Falcon Heavy
Falcon Heavy (Figure 34)
SpaceX is currently developing the Falcon Heavy spacecraft, which will be the most powerful launch vehicle in history. With a launch weight of 1463 tons, it can carry up to 53 tons of payload. It is expected that with the help of these rockets, SpaceX will carry out its missions to Mars.
As of 2017, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is the most powerful rocket in the world, capable of launching at least twice as much payload into space as any active space launch vehicle. The rocket was specifically designed to resume manned flights to the Moon, as well as to perform the first flights to Mars.
This rocket is capable of launching more than 54 metric tons (119,000 pounds) into orbit, equivalent to a Boeing 737 with passengers, crew, baggage and fuel. The Falcon Heavy will be able to launch up to 22.2 metric tons into geotransfer orbit, and will be able to send about 13.6 tons to Mars.
The Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice as much payload as United Launch Alliance's (ULA's) most powerful Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle in operation.
Launch of the launch vehicle and landing of its stages
The first stage, together with the boosters, forms a powerful bundle with 27 rocket engines, which together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at launch, which can be compared to about eighteen Boeing 747 aircraft.
At the top of the first stage is a special intermediate structure (interstage) that accommodates the second stage engines and special undocking equipment.
The first stage of the Falcon Heavy rocket is equipped with a reusable system for the controlled return and landing of the first stage and its side boosters in three different seats.
Considering the fact that in order to return the first stage to the landing site, it will be necessary to reduce the mass of the output payload, in connection with this, most likely, almost all of its landings will be carried out on the autonomous spaceport drone ship floating platform. But the side boosters, on the contrary, will return to the launch site to the landing sites.
The second stage is exactly the same as the Falcon 9. It is powered by a single Merlin 1D Vacuum engine, which is rated to burn for about six minutes and produce 934 kN of thrust, can be shut down and restarted multiple times as needed to deliver various payloads to different orbits.
Dragon
Shuttle Dragon (Fig. 35)
Dragon is SpaceX's privately owned reusable transport spacecraft, commissioned by NASA as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, designed to deliver and return payloads and, in the future, people to the International Space Station. It can deliver up to 3310 kilograms of payload into orbit and take up to 2500 kg from there.
The need for new cargo ships arose from the United States due to the termination of the Shuttle flights.
As of 2017, and since 2012, Dragon is the world's only operational cargo spacecraft capable of returning to Earth.
SpaceX began development of the Dragon spacecraft in late 2004.
The Dragon was the first private spacecraft docked at the International Space Station.
According to the contract between NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Resupply Services program, the latter was supposed to carry out 12 regular missions to the ISS, but in March 2015 NASA decided to extend the contract for three more missions in 2017. The amount of the contract with NASA is about 1.6 billion dollars (increased to about 2 billion after the extension).
Dragon V2
Dragon V2 (Figure 36)
Dragon V2 is a new, improved version of SpaceX's Dragon space shuttle, commissioned by NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, designed to take people to the International Space Station and return them to Earth. It will be launched into orbit by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Launch Complex LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The passenger version of the Dragon spacecraft was unveiled on May 30, 2014 by Elon Musk.
Dragon V2 from the inside (Fig. 37)
The Dragon V2 is an advanced manned version of the Dragon reusable vehicle that will allow the crew to reach the ISS and return to Earth with full control of the landing. Up to seven astronauts can be in the Dragon V2 capsule at the same time. Unlike cargo version, it will dock with the ISS on its own, without using the station's manipulator. The cost of the flight per cosmonaut will be $20 million.
Dragon V2 Flight Animation
Initially, in May 2014, it was supposed to be a controlled landing on engines (parachute scheme as a reserve), supports for a soft landing. According to the developers, thanks to the SuperDraco engines, the device is able to land almost anywhere with the accuracy of a helicopter, and the possibility of a controlled landing is maintained if 2 of the 8 engines fail. In the event of engine failure, landing is carried out by parachute. SuperDraco are the first thrusters in the space industry to be 3D printed. Subsequently, it was decided that on the first flights the ship would land into the ocean using parachutes, and landing on the ground with the help of engines would be used on future flights after the completion of the certification process.
The space shuttle Dragon V2 was officially unveiled in the spring of 2014. At the moment, its technical tests and launches are underway, but not in full mode.
Dragon V2 benchmarks
The continuation of the Dragon line may soon be the space shuttle Red Dragon. It will be created directly for the Mars mission. However, the details of this project are still unknown to the general public.
Big Falcon Rocket
Big Falcon Rocket (Figure 38)
Big Falcon Rocket is the name of a universal transport system consisting of a reusable super-heavy rocket and a ship that can accommodate up to a hundred people. According to Musk, such a bundle can be used not only for Martian and lunar missions, but also for delivering cargo to the ISS. And with the help of BFR it will be possible to deliver people from one point the globe to another
will be able to launch up to 150 tons of payload into a low reference orbit.
Big Falcon Rocket in space (Figure 39)
The first stage of the carrier is going to be equipped with 31 Raptor engines. According to the head of SpaceX, in the future BFR can replace all existing rockets produced by the company, as it will become a universal means for transporting cargo and astronauts. Inside the BFR there will be 825 cubic meters of free space, divided into 40 cabins and common areas. The length of the ship will be about 48 meters, and its weight will be almost 85 tons. The first two unmanned BFR flights to Mars are planned to be completed by 2022, and after another two years, SpaceX is going to send people to the Red Planet.
Flight animation Big Falcon Rocket
The structure of the Big Falcon Rocket (Fig. 40)
The BFR rocket is very large and if you just put it in the city, it will be something like this
Sizing of the Big Falcon Rocket (Figure 41)
Being 130 meters high, it is essentially a 40-story skyscraper. At 13 meters in diameter, it will also be three times heavier and more powerful in terms of propulsion than the gigantic Saturn V — the Apollo mission rocket — which remains the largest human-built rocket so far.
This is how it looks next to other rockets:
Order of the Big Falcon Rocket with other rockets (Figure 42)
The difference becomes even more striking when compared to rockets in terms of the mass of payload (carrying capacity of cargo and people) that they can put into orbit.
Resolution of the Big Falcon Rocket with other rockets in terms of payload mass (Figure 42)
One Raptor engine produces 310 tons of thrust, and the BFR has 42 of them, for a total of 13,033 tons of thrust.
rocket engines
Since SpaceX was founded in 2002, the company has developed several rocket engines:
- Kestrel - for the second stage of the Falcon 1,
- Merlin - for the first stage of the Falcon 1 and both stages of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy,
- Draco - thrusters for the Dragon ship and the second stage of the Falcon 9 v1.0,
- SuperDraco - for the emergency rescue system and controlled landing of the Dragon V2 spacecraft.
- Also under development is the Raptor engine, which will be used for future missions to Mars.
Floating platform technology
The first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle (Figure 47)
To reduce the cost of launches, SpaceX uses a controlled landing of the first stage of the launch vehicle on a floating platform - Autonomous spaceport drone ship.
There is no crew on the platform, it functions completely autonomously, it can also be controlled remotely from a support ship.
According to a company representative, the expected chance of a successful return of the first stage is 75-80% for IEO and GPO 50-60%.
Landing scheme of the first stage on the platform (Fig. 48)
The first successful landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle on a floating platform took place in April 2016 as part of the SpaceX CRS-8 mission, a month later SpaceX managed to repeat this success, landing the stage for the first time after launching the JCSAT-14 communications satellite into geotransfer orbit. The reentry profile of the stage in the last mission was associated with high temperature loads during reentry into the dense layers of the atmosphere, as a result of which the stage received the most damage compared to the two previously returned. The company decided to use this stage for intensive ground testing, as it returned in the most difficult conditions, as a guide for other landing stages. The first stage that landed on the platform was relaunched at the end of March 2017.
Successful landing of the Falcon 9 1st stage on a floating platform
Unsuccessful landing 1 stage Falcon 9 on a floating platform
SpaceX Success Factors
It must be admitted that the current success of SpaceX turned out to be quite unpredictable for the global technical community. Few believed that Elon Musk would be able to achieve the desired result - a technically and commercially successful enterprise for private space exploration.
Among the main factors of success, experts identify the following points:
1. The private nature of SpaceX.
An experience last decade showed that business at almost all levels is a much more efficient owner than government agencies. This also applies to space growth.
The private company SpaceX is much more focused on achieving the final result as quickly and cheaply as possible than the state agency NASA. The latter has been repeatedly criticized for inflated budgets created solely for their development.
2. Low cost of space flights
From the very beginning of its existence, SpaceX planned to use reusable spacecraft. This will reduce the cost of each launch by almost half.
Also, the cost of space flights is strongly influenced by the small number of employees at SpaceX. At the moment, it is estimated at three and a half thousand people. By comparison, NASA has over 18,000 employees.
3. Innovation
SpaceX sees its success in the maximum implementation of innovative technologies. A private firm has the opportunity to attract the best specialists in the world in various fields of activity for cooperation. Working for Elon Musk is a dream for millions of engineers, programmers and administrators. All of them are aimed at success, at the most rapid and limitless development.
4. State support
However, the success of the private company SpaceX would not have been possible without government support. For example, the NASA agency has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the projects of this brainchild of Elon Musk, calling them payment for future launches. This happened even at times when no one could guarantee the success of SpaceX's initiatives.
Conclusion
Looking at the promising developments of aerospace transport in our time, we can say that the future has already arrived! What people have dreamed of for many years is beginning to come true. Already after some 5-10 years, people will begin to colonize Mars, this became possible due to the return stages of the launch vehicles, which will significantly reduce transportation costs and provide a path to colonization, but not only, it will also make it possible to expand space stations, reduce launch costs artificial satellites and making flights available to ordinary people. It's all very inspiring to do something! I was inspired to write this article, which can spark a spark in others and inspire them to do something else. In order to change the world for the better, you just need to start with yourself and then the world around you will change itself. Looking at SpaceX and what Elon Musk does, what grandiose projects he brings to life, you can check that everything is possible!
A British aerospace firm has unveiled a concept aircraft without windows. Instead, they propose to install displays that would show the events taking place overboard and show films. Planes without windows can radically change the appearance civil aviation while significantly reducing fuel consumption.
The design of a private jet was developed by specialists from a French company, they presented the project back in August. Instead of portholes, they suggested using displays showing films for leisure and presentations for work. The technical department says that the absence of windows will help to reduce the weight of the vessel, therefore, it will reduce fuel consumption, maintenance costs, and the freed up space expands the possibilities for interior improvements. Gareth Davies, chief designer at Technicon Design, the company that proposed the project, said some elements, such as flexible displays, could already be made a reality.
The American company Spike Aerospace plans to introduce a similar aircraft as early as 2018. It will be a luxurious Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet capable of flying from New York to London in 4 hours with 12-18 passengers. The Boston company also sees a plane of the future without windows. As a result, passengers do not have to hide from the sun, either raising or lowering the blinds. The monotony in flight will also disappear. Designers believe that, by and large, passengers see little during the flight - a couple of stars, the moon, the endless ocean, clouds. The weight of the aircraft will also decrease, allowing to save fuel. The walls of the aircraft will turn into huge thin displays showing the panoramas surrounding the ship. Alternatively, you can watch a movie, slides, documents.
True, the developers recognize and possible problems. First, for many, a sense of anxiety in a confined space can increase, when you can not see what is happening outside. Secondly, not only passengers need to see, but also rescuers, if necessary, need to see what is happening inside, otherwise they will act blindly. And, thirdly, there may be problems with people suffering from motion sickness. Usually such passengers just periodically look out the window, find a landmark for themselves. Here they will be deprived of such an opportunity, the screens will not be able to help them.
The Center for Process Innovation also offers its aircraft with huge OLED displays, which will be transmitted from the cameras installed outside. It will be possible to connect to the Internet. Reducing the weight of the aircraft is the most important problem that engineers are trying to solve. So they decided to turn to the idea of building by analogy with cargo planes. In the meantime, the project is in the process of being finalized.
Modern technologies and discoveries are taking space exploration to a completely different level, but interstellar travel is still a dream. But is it so unrealistic and unattainable? What can we do now and what can we expect in the near future?
10/11/2011, Tue, 17:27, MskTelescope "Kepler" astronomers have discovered 54 potentially habitable exoplanets. These distant worlds are in the habitable zone, ie. at a certain distance from the central star, which allows maintaining liquid water on the surface of the planet.
However, the answer to the main question, are we alone in the Universe, is difficult to get - because of the huge distance separating the solar system and our nearest neighbors. For example, the "promising" planet Gliese 581g is 20 light-years away - close enough by cosmic standards, but still too far for terrestrial instruments.
The abundance of exoplanets within a radius of 100 or less light-years from Earth and the enormous scientific and even civilizational interest that they represent for mankind make us take a fresh look at the hitherto fantastic idea of interstellar flights.
The closest stars to our solar system
Flying to other stars is, of course, a matter of technology. Moreover, there are several possibilities for achieving such a distant goal, and the choice in favor of one or another method has not yet been made.
Make way for drones
Mankind has already sent interstellar vehicles into space: the Pioneer and Voyager probes. At present, they have left the solar system, but their speed does not allow us to talk about any quick achievement of the goal. So, Voyager 1, moving at a speed of about 17 km / s, even to the star closest to us, Proxima Centauri (4.2 light years), will fly for an incredibly long time - 17 thousand years.
Obviously, with modern rocket engines, we will not get anywhere further than the solar system: to transport 1 kg of cargo, even to the nearby Proxima Centauri, tens of thousands of tons of fuel are needed. At the same time, with an increase in the mass of the ship, the amount of fuel required increases, and additional fuel is needed for its transportation. A vicious circle that puts an end to chemical fuel tanks - the construction of a spacecraft weighing billions of tons seems to be an absolutely incredible undertaking. Simple calculations using Tsiolkovsky's formula show that to accelerate chemical-fueled spacecraft to about 10% the speed of light, more fuel would be needed than is available in the known universe.
A fusion reaction produces energy per unit mass, on average, a million times more than chemical combustion processes. That is why, in the 1970s, NASA drew attention to the possibility of using thermonuclear rocket engines. The project of the unmanned spacecraft Daedalus involved the creation of an engine in which small pellets of thermonuclear fuel would be fed into the combustion chamber and ignited by electron beams. The products of a thermonuclear reaction fly out of the engine nozzle and give the ship acceleration.
The Daedalus spaceship compared to the Empire State Building
Daedalus was supposed to take on board 50 thousand tons of fuel pellets with a diameter of 40 and 20 mm. The granules consist of a core with deuterium and tritium and a shell of helium-3. The latter makes up only 10-15% of the mass of the fuel pellet, but, in fact, is the fuel. Helium-3 is abundant on the Moon, and deuterium is widely used in the nuclear industry. The deuterium core serves as a detonator to ignite the fusion reaction and provokes a powerful reaction with the release of a reactive plasma jet, which is controlled by a powerful magnetic field. The main molybdenum combustion chamber of the Daedalus engine was supposed to have a weight of more than 218 tons, the second stage chamber - 25 tons. Magnetic superconducting coils are also a match for a huge reactor: the first weighs 124.7 tons, and the second - 43.6 tons. For comparison: the dry weight of the shuttle is less than 100 tons.
The flight of Daedalus was planned to be two-stage: the first stage engine was supposed to work for more than 2 years and burn 16 billion fuel pellets. After the separation of the first stage, the second stage engine worked for almost two years. Thus, in 3.81 years of continuous acceleration, Daedalus would have reached a maximum speed of 12.2% of the speed of light. The distance to Barnard's Star (5.96 light years) such a ship will cover in 50 years and will be able, flying through a distant star system, to transmit the results of its observations by radio to Earth. Thus, the entire mission will take about 56 years.
Tor Stanford - a colossal structure with entire cities inside the rim
Despite the great difficulties in ensuring the reliability of numerous systems of Daedalus and its huge cost, this project is being implemented at the modern level of technology. Moreover, in 2009 a team of enthusiasts revived work on the project of a thermonuclear ship. Currently, the Icarus project includes 20 scientific topics on the theoretical development of systems and materials for an interstellar spacecraft.
Thus, unmanned interstellar flights up to 10 light-years away are already possible today, which will take about 100 years of flight plus the time for the radio signal to travel back to Earth. The star systems Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Sirius, Epsilon Eridani, UV Ceti, Ross 154 and 248, CN Leo, WISE 1541-2250 fit into this radius. As you can see, there are enough objects near the Earth to study with the help of unmanned missions. But what if robots find something really unusual and unique, like a complex biosphere? Will an expedition involving people be able to go to distant planets?
Flight of a lifetime
If we can start building an unmanned ship today, then with a manned one, the situation is more complicated. First of all, the issue of flight time is acute. Let's take the same Barnard's star. Cosmonauts will have to be prepared for a manned flight from school, because even if the launch from Earth takes place on their 20th birthday, the ship will reach the flight goal by the 70th or even 100th anniversary (given the need for braking, which is not needed in an unmanned flight) . The selection of a crew at a young age is fraught with psychological incompatibility and interpersonal conflicts, and the age of 100 does not give hope for fruitful work on the surface of the planet and for returning home.
However, does it make sense to return? Numerous NASA studies lead to a disappointing conclusion: a long stay in zero gravity will irreversibly destroy the health of astronauts. Thus, the work of biology professor Robert Fitts with ISS astronauts shows that even despite vigorous physical exercise on board the spacecraft, after a three-year mission to Mars, large muscles, such as calves, will become 50% weaker. Similarly, bone mineral density also decreases. As a result, the ability to work and survival in extreme situations decreases significantly, and the period of adaptation to normal gravity will be at least a year. Flying in zero gravity for decades will call into question the very lives of astronauts. Perhaps the human body will be able to recover, for example, in the process of braking with gradually increasing gravity. However, the risk of death is still too high and requires a radical solution.
The problem of radiation remains complex. Even near the Earth (on board the ISS), astronauts spend no more than six months because of the danger of radiation exposure. The interplanetary ship will have to be equipped with heavy protection, but the question of the effect of radiation on the human body remains. In particular, on the risk of oncological diseases, the development of which in weightlessness is practically not studied. Earlier this year, scientist Krasimir Ivanov from the German Aerospace Center in Cologne published the results interesting research behavior of melanoma cells (the most dangerous form of skin cancer) in weightlessness. Compared to cancer cells grown under normal gravity, cells that have spent 6 and 24 hours in weightlessness are less likely to metastasize. It seems to be good news, But only at first glance. The fact is that such a “space” cancer can lie dormant for decades, and unexpectedly spread on a large scale if the immune system is disrupted. In addition, the study makes it clear that we still know little about the reaction of the human body to a long stay in space. Today, astronauts, healthy strong people, spend too little time there to transfer their experience to a long interstellar flight.
The Biosphere-2 project began with a beautiful, carefully selected and healthy ecosystem…
Unfortunately, it is not so easy to solve the problem of weightlessness on an interstellar spacecraft. The possibility available to us to create artificial gravity by rotating the habitable module has a number of difficulties. To create earth's gravity, even a wheel with a diameter of 200 m will have to be rotated at a speed of 3 revolutions per minute. With such a rapid rotation, the Cariolis force will create loads that are completely unbearable for the human vestibular apparatus, causing nausea and acute attacks of seasickness. The only solution to this problem is the Stanford Tor, developed by scientists at Stanford University in 1975. This is a huge ring with a diameter of 1.8 km, in which 10 thousand cosmonauts could live. Due to its size, it provides a gravity of 0.9-1.0 g and quite comfortable living for people. However, even at rotation speeds lower than one revolution per minute, people will still experience mild but noticeable discomfort. Moreover, if such a gigantic living compartment is built, even small shifts in the weight distribution of the torus will affect the rotation speed and cause vibrations of the entire structure.
... but ended in an environmental disaster
In any case, a ship for 10 thousand people is a dubious undertaking. To create a reliable ecosystem for such a large number of people, you need a huge number of plants, 60 thousand chickens, 30 thousand rabbits and a herd of cattle. Only this can provide a diet at the level of 2400 calories per day. However, all experiments to create such closed ecosystems invariably end in failure. Thus, during the largest experiment "Biosphere-2" by Space Biosphere Ventures, a network of hermetic buildings with a total area of 1.5 hectares with 3 thousand species of plants and animals was built. The whole ecosystem was supposed to become a self-sustaining little "planet" in which 8 people lived. The experiment lasted 2 years, but after a few weeks serious problems began: microorganisms and insects began to multiply uncontrollably, consuming oxygen and plants in too large quantities, it also turned out that without wind, the plants became too fragile. As a result of a local environmental catastrophe, people began to lose weight, the amount of oxygen decreased from 21% to 15%, and the scientists had to violate the conditions of the experiment and supply oxygen and food to the eight “cosmonauts”.
Thus, the creation of complex ecosystems seems to be an erroneous and dangerous way to provide the crew of an interstellar spacecraft with oxygen and nutrition. Solving this problem will require specially engineered organisms with altered genes that can feed on light, waste and simple substances. For example, large modern plants for the production of chlorella food algae can produce up to 40 tons of suspension per day. One completely autonomous bioreactor weighing several tons can produce up to 300 liters of chlorella suspension per day, which is enough to feed a crew of several dozen people. Genetically modified chlorella could not only meet the crew's nutrient needs, but also recycle waste, including carbon dioxide. Today, the process of genetically engineering microalgae has become commonplace, and there are numerous designs developed for wastewater treatment, biofuel generation, and more.
Frozen dream
Almost all of the above problems of manned interstellar flight could be solved by one very promising technology - suspended animation, or as it is also called cryostasis. Anabiosis is a slowdown of human life processes at least several times. If it is possible to immerse a person in such an artificial lethargy, which slows down the metabolism by 10 times, then in a 100-year flight he will grow old in his sleep by only 10 years. This facilitates the solution of problems of nutrition, oxygen supply, mental disorders, destruction of the body as a result of weightlessness. In addition, it is easier to protect a compartment with suspended animation chambers from micrometeorites and radiation than a large habitable zone.
Unfortunately, slowing down the processes of human life is an extremely difficult task. But in nature, there are organisms that can hibernate and increase their life expectancy hundreds of times. For example, a small lizard called the Siberian salamander is able to hibernate in difficult times and stay alive for decades, even when frozen into a block of ice with a temperature of minus 35-40 ° C. There are cases when salamanders hibernated for about 100 years and, as if nothing had happened, thawed and ran away from surprised researchers. At the same time, the usual "continuous" life expectancy of a lizard does not exceed 13 years. The amazing ability of the salamander is explained by the fact that its liver synthesizes a large amount of glycerol, almost 40% of its body weight, which protects cells from low temperatures.
Bioreactor for growing genetically modified microalgae and other microorganisms can solve the problem of nutrition and waste recycling
The main obstacle to immersing a person in cryostasis is water, which makes up 70% of our body. When it freezes, it turns into ice crystals, increasing in volume by 10%, due to which the cell membrane breaks. In addition, as it freezes, substances dissolved inside the cell migrate into the remaining water, disrupting intracellular ion exchange processes, as well as the organization of proteins and other intercellular structures. In general, the destruction of cells during freezing makes it impossible for a person to return to life.
However, there is a promising way to solve this problem - clathrate hydrates. They were discovered back in 1810, when the British scientist Sir Humphry Davy injected chlorine under high pressure into the water and witnessed the formation of solid structures. These were clathrate hydrates - one of the forms of water ice, in which foreign gas is included. Unlike ice crystals, clathrate lattices are less solid, do not have sharp edges, but have cavities in which intracellular substances can “hide”. The technology of clathrate suspended animation would be simple: an inert gas, such as xenon or argon, a temperature just below zero, and cellular metabolism begins to gradually slow down until a person falls into cryostasis. Unfortunately, the formation of clathrate hydrates requires high pressure (about 8 atmospheres) and a very high concentration of gas dissolved in water. How to create such conditions in a living organism is still unknown, although there are some successes in this area. Thus, clathrates are able to protect heart muscle tissue from destruction of mitochondria even at cryogenic temperatures (below 100 degrees Celsius), as well as prevent damage to cell membranes. Experiments on clathrate anabiosis in humans are not yet discussed, since the commercial demand for cryostasis technology is small and research on this topic is carried out mainly by small companies offering services for freezing the bodies of the dead.
Flight on hydrogen
In 1960, physicist Robert Bassard proposed the original concept of a ramjet fusion engine that solves many of the problems of interstellar travel. The bottom line is to use the hydrogen and interstellar dust present in outer space. A spacecraft with such an engine first accelerates on its own fuel, and then unfolds a huge funnel of a magnetic field, thousands of kilometers in diameter, which captures hydrogen from outer space. This hydrogen is used as an inexhaustible source of fuel for a fusion rocket engine.
The use of the Bussard engine promises enormous advantages. First of all, due to the "gratuitous" fuel, it is possible to move with a constant acceleration of 1 g, which means that all the problems associated with weightlessness disappear. In addition, the engine allows you to accelerate to tremendous speed - 50% of the speed of light and even more. Theoretically, moving with an acceleration of 1 g, a ship with a Bussard engine can cover a distance of 10 light years in about 12 Earth years, and for the crew, due to relativistic effects, only 5 years of ship time would have passed.
Unfortunately, there are a number of serious problems on the way to creating a ship with a Bussard engine that cannot be solved at the current level of technology. First of all, it is necessary to create a gigantic and reliable hydrogen trap that generates gigantic magnetic fields. At the same time, it should ensure minimal losses and efficient transport of hydrogen to a thermonuclear reactor. The very process of a thermonuclear reaction of the transformation of four hydrogen atoms into a helium atom, proposed by Bussard, raises many questions. The fact is that this simplest reaction is difficult to implement in a once-through reactor, since it proceeds too slowly and, in principle, is possible only inside stars.
However, progress in the study of thermonuclear fusion allows us to hope that the problem can be solved, for example, by using "exotic" isotopes and antimatter as a reaction catalyst.
Siberian salamander can fall into suspended animation for decades
So far, research on the Bussard engine lies exclusively in the theoretical plane. Calculations based on real technologies are needed. First of all, it is necessary to develop an engine capable of generating enough energy to power a magnetic trap and maintain a thermonuclear reaction, produce antimatter and overcome the resistance of the interstellar medium, which will slow down the huge electromagnetic "sail".
Antimatter to the rescue
Perhaps it sounds strange, but today humanity is closer to creating an engine that runs on antimatter than to the intuitive and simple at first glance Bussard's ramjet engine.
A deuterium-tritium fusion reactor can generate 6 x 1011 joules per gram of hydrogen—impressive, especially when you consider that it is 10 million times more efficient than chemical rockets. The reaction of matter and antimatter produces about two orders of magnitude more energy. When it comes to annihilation, the calculations of the scientist Mark Millis and the fruit of his 27 years of work do not look so depressing: Millis calculated the energy costs for launching a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri and found that they would be 10 18 J, i.e. almost the annual consumption of electricity by all mankind. But that's just one kilogram of antimatter.
The probe developed by Hbar Technologies will have a thin carbon fiber sail coated with uranium 238. Crashing into the sail, antihydrogen will annihilate and create jet thrust
As a result of the annihilation of hydrogen and antihydrogen, a powerful photon flux is formed, the exhaust velocity of which reaches a maximum for a rocket engine, i.e. the speed of light. This is an ideal indicator that allows you to achieve very high near-light speeds of a spacecraft with a photon engine. Unfortunately, using antimatter as a rocket fuel is very difficult, because during annihilation, flashes of the most powerful gamma radiation occur, which will kill astronauts. Also, there are no storage technologies yet a large number antimatter, and the very fact of the accumulation of tons of antimatter, even in space far from the Earth, is a serious threat, since the annihilation of even one kilogram of antimatter is equivalent to a nuclear explosion with a capacity of 43 megatons (an explosion of such a force can turn a third of the United States into a desert). The cost of antimatter is another factor complicating photon-powered interstellar flight. Modern technologies for the production of antimatter make it possible to produce one gram of antihydrogen at a cost of tens of trillions of dollars.
However, large antimatter research projects are bearing fruit. At present, special storage facilities for positrons have been created, “magnetic bottles”, which are containers cooled by liquid helium with walls made of magnetic fields. In June of this year, CERN scientists managed to preserve antihydrogen atoms for 2,000 seconds. The world's largest antimatter repository is being built at the University of California (USA), which will be able to accumulate more than a trillion positrons. One of the goals of scientists at the University of California is to create portable containers for antimatter that can be used for scientific purposes away from large accelerators. This project is backed by the Pentagon, which is interested in antimatter military applications, so the world's largest array of magnetic bottles is unlikely to be underfunded.
Modern accelerators will be able to produce one gram of antihydrogen in a few hundred years. This is a very long time, so the only way out is to develop a new technology for the production of antimatter or combine the efforts of all the countries of our planet. But even in this case, with modern technology, one cannot even dream of producing tens of tons of antimatter for interstellar manned flight.
However, everything is not so sad. NASA specialists have developed several designs for spacecraft that could go into deep space with just one microgram of antimatter. NASA believes that improved equipment will make it possible to produce antiprotons at a cost of about $5 billion per gram.
The American company Hbar Technologies, with the support of NASA, is developing the concept of unmanned probes driven by an antihydrogen engine. The first goal of this project is to create an unmanned spacecraft that could fly to the Kuiper belt at the edge of the solar system in less than 10 years. Today, it is impossible to fly to such remote points in 5-7 years, in particular, the NASA New Horizons probe will fly through the Kuiper belt 15 years after launch.
A probe that travels a distance of 250 AU in 10 years, it will be very small, with a payload of only 10 mg, but it will also need a little antihydrogen - 30 mg. The Tevatron will produce this amount in a few decades, and scientists could test the concept of a new engine during a real space mission.
Preliminary calculations also show that a small probe can be sent to Alpha Centauri in a similar way. On one gram of antihydrogen, it will fly to a distant star in 40 years.
It may seem that all of the above is fiction and has nothing to do with the near future. Fortunately, this is not the case. While public attention is riveted to global crises, pop star failures and other current events, epoch-making initiatives remain in the shadows. The NASA space agency launched the grandiose 100 Year Starship project, which involves the gradual and multi-year creation of a scientific and technological foundation for interplanetary and interstellar flights. This program is unique in the history of mankind and should attract scientists, engineers and enthusiasts of other professions from all over the world. From September 30 to October 2, 2011, a symposium will be held in Orlando, Florida, where various space flight technologies will be discussed. Based on the results of such events, NASA specialists will develop a business plan to assist certain industries and companies that are developing technologies that are not yet available, but necessary for future interstellar flight. If NASA's ambitious program is successful, within 100 years humanity will be able to build an interstellar spacecraft, and we will move around the solar system with the same ease as we fly from mainland to mainland today.
Mikhail Levkevich
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