Space Exploration Merit BadgeApril 2003

Vincent Needham

Physics Department

Kansas State Universityhttp://jrm.phys.ksu.edu/Scouts/

Summary of Course

• Describe the purpose and operation of a space transportation system, including:

• Main components

• Typical flight profiles

• Payloads and their missions

• Review some history of space exploration• Discuss careers in space exploration• How to learn more...• Launch and recover model rockets

First Controlled Powered FlightOrville & Wilbur Wright

10:35 a.m. 17 December 1903 Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

120 feet in 12 seconds!

Basic Rocketry

Action

Reaction

2001: Anniversary of Goddard’s Launch

"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."

1921 New York Times editorial

"Further investigation and experimentation, haveconfirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th century, and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error."

1969 New York Times retraction

The Space Shuttle (First Launch 12 April 1981)

• Manned spacecraft• Orbiter • LH/LOX Main Engines

(SSME)• Solid Rocket Boosters

(SRB)

Solid Rocket Boosters(SRB)

Space Shuttle Main Engines(SSME)

External Tank(ET)

Orbiter

Russkiu Sistema Russian Systems

• SL-4 Launcher

• Soyuz Spacecraft

• Progress Ferry

• Mir Space Station1986 - 2001

SL-4/Soyuz Launcher

• Old (1963), but…

• Reliable

• Rugged

• Cheap

12 April 1961Yuri Gagarin Launched

on Vostok 1First Man in Space

Soyuz & Progress

• Soyuz• 3 Cosmonauts

• Station Rescue

• Progress• Modified, Unmanned Soyuz

• Supply Ferry for Mir & Station

Shuttle Flight Profile

Shuttle Launch STS-107 Columbia

16 January 2003

ET Foam Strikes Left Wing (about 80 secs after launch)

Inside the Shuttle

Flight Deck

• Flight Controls • Payload Systems

Avionics Upgrade

Mid-Deck• Crew quarters

• Experiments

• Supplies

• Extended by• SpaceHab Module

• SpaceLab

Payloads

• SpaceLab/Space Station • Satellites (Delivered & Repaired!)

Io & Jupiter

• Launched on 24 April 1990

• Shuttle service calls in:

– December 1993

– February 1997

– October 1999

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble’s Greatest Hits

Planetary Exploration

Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)

Two rovers:

Launches: KSC on Delta II 06 June

25 June

Landings: Gusev Crater &

Miridiani January 2004

SpaceLab• US/European cooperative venture

• Similar to Space Station modules

• NeuroLab, in April 1998, was the last SpaceLab mission

SpaceHab Gravity Science(Launched 16 Jan, Lost 01 Feb)

• Kalpana Chawla, PhD-MS2, Aerospace Engineering

• Laurel Blair Clark, MD (Captain, USN)

-MS4, Zoology & Medicine• Ilan Ramon (Colonel, IAF)

-PS1, Elec & Computer Engineering

• Rick D. Husband (Colonel, USAF)-Cdr, Mechanical Engineering

• William C. McCool (Cmdr, USN)-Pilot, Computer Science

• Michael P. Anderson (Lt Col, USAF)-Payload Cmdr, Physics & Astronomy

• David M. Brown, MD (Captain, USN)-MS1, Biology & Medicine

STS-107/Columbia

Science Research

•Biology•Medicine•Earth Science

-FREESTAR-MEIDEX

•Physics-Combustion

•Technology

STS-107 Overview

Seen From the Ground

At Work in Orbit

Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark in the SpaceHab Module

International Space Station

• USA

• Russia

• Europe

• Japan

• Canada

Mir• Core module

launched in 1986• Phase 1 of the

International Space Station

• Last visiting U.S. astronaut was Andy Thomas

• Final Shuttle-Mir mission was by Discovery on 28 May 1998.

• Mir re-entry on 23 March 2001

Station Assembly in 2002 April: STS-110/AtlantisInstalls S0 truss segment; station robot arm first used in spacewalking

June: STS-111/Endeavourdelivers supplies & experiments; 3 spacewalks outfit “railroad”

Station Assembly in 2002

October – STS-112/ Atlantis delivers the S1 Truss and installs it with 3 spacewalks

STS-113/Endeavour delivers the P1 truss and the Expedition 6 crew

Space Station Tour

ISS as of December 2002

At Home on the Station• Astronauts must be safe,

happy & productive

ISS Expedition 6 CrewAboard Nov 2002 – May 2003

• Nikolai Budarin- Cosmonaut - Mechanical Eng.

• Ken Bowersox, Cdr- Captain, USN- Mechanical & Aero Engineering

• Don Pettit, PhD- Chemical Eng.

Expedition 7 Crew• Yuri Malenchenko, Cdr (Colonel, RAF)• Edward Lu, PhD EE & Applied Physics

Launch: Friday April 2510:54 p.m. CDT

Docking: Monday April 28 12:56 a.m. CDT

Zvezda

Zarya

Unity Destiny

Re-entry & Approach

• Thermal tiles absorb extreme heat

• Dead-stick landing• Energy management is

critical

Landing

• KSC is preferred spaceport

• Edwards AFB is backup

• White Sands, NM used once

Pilot’s Eye View

STS-107/Columbia Lost 01 Feb 2003

Amateur astronomers’ video image may show wing trouble

Columbia breaks up over Texas

Columbia Left Wing Leading

Edge

Foam probably damaged “T-seal” between RCC

panels 8 & 9

Things to Come!

• June:

- Launch of two Mars Exploration Rovers - Launch of Europe’s Mars Express & Beagle II

• Summer: Release of CAIB report

• August: Launch of Space IR Telescope Facility

• Fall/Winter:

- Return of Space Shuttle to ISS - Flight of Rutan Scaled Composite’s SpaceShipOne - First Chinese manned space flight?

• December: Wright Brothers centennial celebrations

Mars or Bust!

ESA Mars Express orbiter & Beagle II lander

Two NASA/JPL Mars Exploration Rovers

Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)

Last of four “Great Space

Observatories”

Rutan/Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne goes for the X-Prize

• Privately finances, builds & launches a spaceship, able to carry three people to 100 kilometers (62.5 miles)

• Returns safely to Earth

• Repeats the launch with the same ship within 2 weeks Voyager

First Chinese Manned Spacecraft

Shenzhou spacecraft launched on Long March CZ-2F

Astronaut QualificationsHow can I become an astronaut?

Any adult man or woman in excellent physical condition who meets the basic qualifications can be selected to enter astronaut training.

For mission specialists and pilot astronauts, the minimum requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or mathematics from an accredited institution. Three years of related experience must follow the degree, and an advanced degree is desirable. Pilot astronauts must have at least 1,000 hours of experience in jet aircraft, and they need better vision than mission specialists. Competition is extremely keen, with an average of over 4,000 applicants for about 20 openings every 2 years.

Astronaut recruiting occurs periodically. For more information, write to the Astronaut Selection Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058.

Where to get more information• Your local library

• The World Wide Web– Most of this presentation was prepared from WWW resources!

• http://www.phys.ksu.edu/area/jrm/vince.html

• http://spacelink.nasa.gov/

• http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Space/ (1315 listings!)

Delta II Launch Cam

Space Shuttle Cam!

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous

Roton Test Flight