Space Flight

Many readers will doubtless be astonished to learn that animals were being fired aloft in U.S. and Soviet research rockets in the late 1940s. In fact most people not only believe that the Russian space dog Laika was the first canine to be launched into space, but also that the high-profile, precursory Mercury flights of chimps Ham and Enos were the only primate flights conducted by the United States. In fact, both countries had sent literally dozens of animals aloft for many years prior to these events and continued to do so for many years after. Other latter-day space nations, such as France and China, would also begin to use animals in their own space research.

TO A NATION enthralled by the heroic exploits of the Mercury astronauts, the launch of Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter on NASA’s second orbital space flight was a renewed cause for pride, jubilation and celebration. Within hours, that excitement had given way to stunned disbelief and anxiety as shaken broadcasters began preparing the American public for the very real possibility that an American astronaut and his spacecraft may have been lost at sea.

The majority of books dealing with prospects for interstellar flight tackle the problem of the propulsion systems that will be needed to send a craft on an interstellar trajectory. The proposed book looks at two other, equally important aspects of such space missions, and each forms half of this two part book.

This book is a rich source of information on design research and solutions for the support and development of space missions. International experiences and researches are presented in order to cast light on the role of space design in improving living and working conditions in outer space and to highlight the particularities of the necessary design skills, taking into account specific requirements and constraints.

This book is a rich source of information on design research and solutions for the support and development of space missions. International experiences and researches are presented in order to cast light on the role of space design in improving living and working conditions in outer space and to highlight the particularities of the necessary design skills, taking into account specific requirements and constraints.

The mechanic sof space ?ightisan old discipline.Its topic originally was the motion of planets, moons and other celestial bodies in gravitational ?elds. Kepler’s (1571 - 1630) observations and measurements have led to probably the ?rst mathematical description of planet’s motion. Newton (1642 - 1727) gave then, with the devel- ment of his principles of mechanics, the physical explanation of these motions. Since then man has started in the second half of the 20th centuryto capture ph- ically the Space in the sense that he did develop arti?cial celestial bodies, which he brought into Earth’s orbits, like satellites or space stations, or which he did send to planets or moons of our planetary system, like probes, or by which p- ple were brought to the moon and back, like capsules. Further he developed an advanced space transportation system, the U.S. Space Shuttle Orbiter, which is the only winged space vehicle ever in operation. In the last two and a half decades there were several activities in the world in order to succeed the U.S. Orbiter, like the HERMES project in Europe, the HOPE project in Japan, the X-33, X-34 and X-37 studies and demonstrators in the United States and the joint U.S. - European project X-38. However, all these projects were cancelled. The motion of these vehicles can be described by Newton’s equation of motion.