Space In Our LivesSpace In Our LivesBy: Antonio Batiste

Christopher James

Waightstill Avery

Why Space?

• A global perspective --- the ultimate high ground.• A clear view of the heavens --- unobscured by the

atmosphere. (scintillation)• A free-fall environment --- enabling us to develop

advanced materials impossible to make on Earth.• Abundant resources --- such as solar energy and

extraterrestrial materials.• A unique challenge as the final frontier.

Example:

“A "freeway" through the solar system resembling a vast array of virtual winding tunnels and conduits around the Sun and planets, as envisioned by an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., can slash the amount of fuel needed for future space missions.” -NASA

Uses For Space

• Communications

• Remote sensing

• Navigation (GPS)

• Science and Exploration

International Space Station

Remote Sensing-sensors receive electromagnetic missions in various spectral bands that show what objects are visible.

Ex: Clouds, hills, lakes, wind (direction and speed), erosion, fires, and pollution.

The first modern remote-sensing satellite made in Russia, Monitor E, has successfully

sent first pictures.

Hazardous-area.org

Navigation Satellites

• Satellites have revolutionized navigation-determining where you are and where you’re going.

• The Global Positioning System (GPS), developed by the US Department of Defense< and GLONASS system, developed by the Russian Federation, use small armada to assist navigators.

Future Space Missions• What does the future hold?

• The chart shows NASA's plans for  future science missions

Man has a role but for the distant future •

Robotics along the lines of the 2004 Martian landers are important •

A capability in space has enormous importance for astronomy and cosmology

Elements of a Space Mission

• At the heart of the space mission, ARCHITECTURE is the mission.

• The mission objective- why do the mission

• The mission users or customers- who will benefit

• The mission operations concept- how the mission elements will work together

Trajectories and Orbits• The launch is only part of a space mission. Once the launch vehicle

transports the payload into space, it must maneuver from it’s initial parking orbit to it’s final orbit where it will perform it’s designated mission. This requires additional energy to move further away from the Earth’s gravitational field. To manage this, smaller rockets, or stages, give the payload the additional propulsion that is required to expand it’s orbit. The final trajectory of the payload is called the mission orbit.

• When designating an altitude to orbit the Earth, two details are crucial:

• 1) swath width- the area on the face of the Earth that the payload’s instruments can actively monitor

• 2) field-of-view- the cone of visibility for a particular sensor.

• Example-the Hubble telescope is currently in a permanent mission orbit that allows it to view the vastness of our universe.

Escape Velocity• For mission designers who wish to “escape” the Earth’s gravitational

field, they must calculate the required velocity that will project the spacecraft beyond the Earth’s grasp. This minimum velocity is known as the escape velocity.

• Mission architects that launched the Voyager missions needed to calculate not only the necessary escape velocity, but they also had to derive a trajectory that would allow the two satellites to successively pass by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune without any course corrections.

• Currently the Voyager spacecrafts are on a course to explore the outermost reaches of the sun and beyond.

Voyager 1 & 2

• The Voyager spacecraft are due to explore the outer edge of our solar system called the heliopause. Loosely translated, this is the limit of the effects of the sun in the universe. The ability of the mission planners to coordinate the migration of the spacecraft to visit four Jovian planets and the outer solar system is a tribute to their understanding of orbits and trajectories.

heliopause

Escape Velocities for our solar system

Celestial Body Escape Velocity(m/s)Mercury 4,300Venus 10,400Earth 11,200The Moon 2,361Mars 5,000Jupiter 59,500Saturn 35,600Uranus 21,300Neptune 23,300Pluto 1,100

Conclusion• The vastness of space offers untold potential. The universe holds limitless

natural resources and is full of scientific enigmas waiting to be discovered. Numerous future technological and scientific advances will be made as a direct result of space exploration.

• In addition, space travel is progressing into a private industry. In the next decade we will witness the first private citizens venturing into the outer atmosphere for recreation. Further exploration of space will ensure the development of safer more efficient modes of space travel as well as aid in understanding the effects of a “zero gravity” environment on the human body.

• A space mission is very complex by nature. It requires hundreds of specialized personnel, thousands of man-hours, millions of dollars and untold number of refinements and adjustments. The planning for such an undertaking begins years in advance and requires flawless execution. With continued space exploration we as humans will progress in technological and scientific fields and progress our overall quality of life.