The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

539 Pages·2004·10.04 MB·English

by  David Darling

The Complete Book
of Spaceflight
From Apollo 1
to Zero Gravity
David Darling
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper. ●∞
Copyright © 2003 by David Darling. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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ISBN 0-471-05649-9
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments v
Introduction 1
How to Use This Book 3
Exponential Notation 3
Orbits 3
Units 3
Spaceflight Entries A to Z 5
Acronyms and Abbreviations 498
References 504
Web Sites 513
Category Index 521
iii
Acknowledgments
Abook of this size and scope isn’t a one-man enter- detail. Any mistakes and inaccuracies that remain are my
prise. Dozens of individuals at space agencies, gov- responsibility alone. As always, my thanks go to my very
ernment laboratories, military bases, aerospace companies, special agent, Patricia van der Leun, for finding the book
and universities generously provided information and a home and providing support along the way. Finally and
illustrations. At John Wiley, I’m particulary grateful to my foremost, my love and gratitude go to my family—my par-
editor, Jeff Golick, and to Marcia Samuels, senior manag- ents, my wife, Jill, and my now-grownup children, Lori-
ing editor, for their excellent suggestions and attention to An and Jeff—for making it all possible.
Introduction
It is astonishing to think that there are people alive light-years. We can extol the virtues of mining the Moon
today from the time when man first flew in an engine- or the asteroid belt, or learning about our origins in
powered, heavier-than-air plane. In the past century, we cometary dust, or the things that can be made or gleaned
have learned not only to fly, but to fly to the Moon, to from a laboratory in zero-g.But these reasons are not at
Mars, and to the very outskirts of the Solar System. Look the core of why we go—why we must go—on a voyage that
up at the right time and place on a clear night and you will ultimately take us to the stars. Our reason for space-
can see the International Space Station glide across the flight is just this: we are human, and to be human is to be
sky and know that not all of us are now confined to inquisitive. At heart, we are explorers with a universe of
Earth: always there are a handful of us on the near edge billions of new worlds before us.
of this new and final frontier of space. This book is intended as a companion to the human
Our first steps beyond our home planet have been hes- journey into space. Of course, it has many facts and fig-
itant and hazardous. There are some who say, “Why ures—and acronyms!—as all books on this subject do. But
bother?” Why expend effort and money, and risk lives, beyond the technical details of rockets and orbits, it tries
when there are so many problems to be resolved back on to capture something of the drama of the quest, the
this world? In the end, the answer is simple. We can point human thread—in a word, the culture of space explo-
to the enormous value of Earth resources satellites in ration. I hope that many readers will use it to wander
monitoring the environment, or to the benefits of space- from reference to reference and so create their own
craft that help us communicate among continents or pre- unique paths through this most unique of adventures.
dict the weather or gaze with clear sight across the Enjoy the ride!
1
How to Use This Book
Entries range from simple definitions to lengthy articles For example, the Japanese Ohzora satellite is listed as
on subjects of central importance or unusual interest, having an orbit of 247 ×331 km ×75°. This means that
and are extensively cross-referenced. Terms that are in the low and high points of the orbit were 247 km and 331
boldtype have their own entries. Numbers that appear as km, respectively, above Earth’s surface, and that the orbit
superscripts in the text are references to books, journal was tilted by 75°with respect to Earth’s equator.
articles, and so on, listed alphabetically by author at the
back of the book. A list of web sites on subjects dealt with
Units
in the text is also provided.
Entries are arranged alphabetically according to the first Distance
word of the entry name. So, for example, “anti-gsuit” pre- 1 kilometer (km) =0.62 mile
cedes “antigravity.” Where names are also known by their
1 meter (m) =3.28 feet (ft) =39.37 inches (in.)
acronyms or abbreviations, as happens frequently in the
language of spaceflight, the definition appears under the 1 centimeter (cm) =0.39 in.
form most commonly used. For example, the headwords 1 km =1,000 m
“NASA” and “TIROS” are preferred to “National Aero- 1 m =100 cm =1,000 millimeters (mm)
nautics and Space Administration” and “Television
1 mm =103microns (µm)=106nanometers (nm)
Infrared Observations System.” On the other hand, “Hub-
ble Space Telescope” and “Goddard Space Flight Center” 1 astronomical unit (AU) =1.50× 108km
are preferred to “HST” and “GSFC.” The alternative form 1 light-year =63,240AU =9.46× 1012km
is always given in parentheses afterward. In addition, the
Acronyms and Abbreviations section in the back of the Area
book lists all of the alternative forms for easy reference. 1 hectare =2.47 acres
Metric units are used throughout, unless it is more
1 square meter (m2)=10.76 square feet (ft2)
appropriate, for historical reasons, to do otherwise. See
the “Units” section below for conversion factors.
Volume
Exponential Notation 1 cubic meter (m3)=35.31 cubic feet (ft3)
In the interest of brevity, exponential notation is used in Speed
this book to represent large and small numbers. For 1 km/s =2,240 mph
example, 300,000,000 is written as 3 ×108, the power of
10 indicating how many places the decimal point has
Acceleration
been moved to the left from the original number (or,
1g(one-gee)=9.81 m/s2=32.19 ft/s2
more simply, the number of zeroes). Small numbers have
negative exponents, indicating how many places the
Mass
point has been shifted to the left. For example, 0.000049
is written as 4.9 ×10−5. 1 kilogram (kg) =2.21 pounds (lb)
1 kg =1,000 grams (g)
Orbits 1 g =103milligrams (mg) =109nanograms (ng)
Orbits of satellites are given in the form: 1 metric ton =1,000 kg =2,205 lb =0.98 long ton
perigee× apogee× inclination Note:In this book, tonsrefers to metric tons.
3
4 How to Use This Book
Energy Force
1 joule (J) =9.48× 10−4British thermal unit (Btu) 1 newton (N) = 0.22 pounds-force (lbf) = 0.102 kilo-
1 electron-volt (eV) =1.60× 10−19J grams-force (kgf)
1 GeV =103MeV =106keV=109eV 1 kilonewton (kN) =1,000 N
Note:Electron-volts are convenient units for measuring
Power
the energies of particles and electromagnetic radiation. In
the case of electromagnetic radiation, it is customary to 1 watt (W) =0.74 ft-lbf/s =0.0013 horsepower (hp)
measure longer-wavelength types in terms of their wave- 1 kilowatt (kW) =1,000 W
length (in units of cm, µm, etc.) and shorter-wavelength
types, especially X-rays and gamma-rays in terms of their
Temperature
energy (in units of keV, MeV, etc.). The wavelength asso-
ciated with electromagnetic waves of energy 1 keV is C=5⁄9(F−32)
0.124 nm. F=9⁄5C+32
A
“A” series of German rockets effectiveness of antiaircraft weapons. In fact, A.T. con-
A family of liquid-propellant rockets built by Nazi Ger- cept vehicles were intended to test the feasibility of
many immediately before and during World War II. With using radio signals to guide a flying bomb to its target.
the “A” (Aggregate) rockets came technology that could Radio guidance equipment was developed and installed
be used either to bomb cities or to begin the exploration on small monoplanes, each powered by a 35-horsepower
of space. Key to this development was Wernher von Granville Bradshaw engine. Two A.T. test flights were
Braunand his team of scientists and engineers. The series made in March 1917 at the Royal Flying Corps training
began with the small A-1, which, in common with all of school field at Upavon. Although both vehicles crashed
the “A” rockets, used alcohol as a fuel and liquid oxygen due to engine failure, they at least showed that radio
as an oxidizer. Built and tested mostly on the ground at guidance was feasible. However, the A.T. program was
Kummersdorf, it enabled various design problems to be scrapped because it was thought to have limited military
identified. A reconfigured version, known as the A-2, potential.
made two successful flights in December 1934 from the
North Sea island of Borkum, reaching a height of about Abbott, Ira Herbert (1906–)
2 km. The development effort then shifted to Pee- A prominent aeronautical engineer in the early years of
nemünde. In 1937, the new A-3 rocket was launched the American space program. After graduating from the
from an island in the Baltic Sea. Measuring 7.6 m in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Abbott joined the
length and weighing 748 kg, it was powered by an engine LangleyAeronautical Laboratory in 1929. The author of
that produced 14,700 newtons (N) of thrust. Three flights many technical reports on aerodynamics, he was instru-
were made, none completely successful because the A-3’s mental in setting up programs in high-speed research. By
gyroscopic control system was too weak to give adequate 1945, he had risen to be assistant chief of research at
steering. Consequently, a new test rocket was developed Langley. Transferring to NACA (National Advisory
with the designation A-5—the name A-4 having been Committee for Aeronautics) headquarters in 1948 as
reserved for a future military rocket of which the A-5 was assistant director of aerodynamics research, he was pro-
a subscale version. The A-5 was built with most of the moted to director of advanced research programs at
components from the A-3 but with a larger diameter air- NASA in 1959 and to director of advanced research and
frame, a tapered boat-tail, and a new steering control sys- technology in 1961. In this last capacity, Abbott super-
tem that was incorporated into larger, redesigned fins. vised the X-15, supersonic transport, nuclear rocket, and
Measuring 7.6 m in length and 0.76 m in diameter, it used advanced reentry programs. He retired in 1962.
the same 14,700-N motor as the A-3 and was test-flown
from the island of Greifswalder Oie off the Baltic coast. Aberdeen Proving Ground
The first flights, conducted in 1938 without gyroscopic The U.S. Army’s oldest active proving ground. It was es-
control, came close to the speed of sound and reached an tablished on October 20, 1917, six months after the United
altitude of around 8 km. The new guidance system was States entered World War I, as a facility where ordnance
installed in 1939, enabling the A-5 to maneuver into a materiel could be designed and tested close to the nation’s
ballistic arc, and by the end of its testing the rocket had industrial and shipping centers. Aberdeen Proving Ground
been launched 25 times, reaching altitudes of nearly 13.5 occupies more than 29,000 hectares in Harford County,
km. The stage was set for the arrival of the remarkable Maryland, and is home to the Ballistic Research Labora-
A-4—better known as the V-2 (see “V” weapons).231 tory, where, during the 1950s and early 1960s, important
work was done on integrating electronic computers, space
A.T. (Aerial Target) studies, and satellite tracking.
Along with the American Kettering Bug, one of the ear-
liest experimental guided missiles. This British project, ablation
begun in 1914 under the direction of Archibald M. Low, The removal of surface material, such as what occurs in
was deliberately misnamed so that enemy spies would thecombustion chamberof a rocket, or on the leading
think the vehicles were simply drones flown to test the surfaces of a spacecraft during atmospheric reentry or
5
6 Able
passage through a dusty medium in space, such as the the maximum acceleration or decelerationthat an astro-
tail of a comet. An expendable surface made of ablative naut can withstand before losing consciousness.
material may be used as a coating in a combustion cham-
ber or on the heat shield of a reentry vehicle. As the acceleration due to gravity (g)
ablative material absorbs heat, it changes chemical or The acceleration that an object experiences when it falls
physical state and sheds mass, thereby carrying the heat freely close to the surface of a body such as a planet. Its
away from the rest of the structure. See reentry thermal value is given by the formula g=GM/R2,whereMis the
protection. mass of the gravitating body, Rits radius, and Gthegrav-
itational constant. On Earth, g is about 9.8 m/s2,
Able although its value varies slightly with latitude.
(1) A modified form of the Aerojet AJ-10 second stage of
theVanguardrocket used as the second stage of the Thor- accelerometer
Able, Thor-Able Star, and Atlas-Able launch vehicles. (2) An instrument that measures accelerationor the gravita-
An early, ill-fated American lunar program approved by tional force capable of imparting acceleration. It usually
President Eisenhower on March 27, 1958, and intended to employs a concentrated mass that resists movement
place a satellite in orbit around the Moon. Project Able because of its inertia; acceleration is measured in terms
became the first lunar shot in history, preceding even of the displacement of this mass relative to its supporting
Luna 1, when a Thor-Able took off at 12:18 GMT on frame or container.
August 17, 1958, before a small group of journalists. Un-
ACCESS (Advanced Cosmic-ray Composition
fortunately, only 77 seconds into the flight, the Thor’s tur-
Experiment on the Space Station)
bopumpseized and the missile blew up. Telemetry from
An experiment to study the origin and makeup of cos-
the probe was received for a further 123 seconds until the
mic rays over a three-year period. ACCESS will be
39-kg spacecraft ended its brief journey by falling into the
attached to the International Space Station and is due to
Atlantic. Although not given an official name, the probe
replace AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) in about
is referred to as Pioneer 0 or Able 1. Before the launch of
2007. Its two instruments, the Hadron Calorimeter and
the second probe, the whole program was transferred to
the Transition Radiation Detector, will measure the ele-
NASA, which renamed it Pioneer. (3) A rhesus monkey
mental makeup of cosmic rays from lightest nuclei to
housed in a biocapsule that was sent on a suborbital flight
heaviest and determine if the flux of high-energy elec-
by a specially configured Jupitermissile on May 28, 1959.
trons in cosmic rays varies with direction, as would be the
Able and its companion Baker, a female squirrel monkey
case if some come from local sources.
placed in a second biocapsule, became the first live ani-
mals to be recovered after traveling outside Earth’s at-
ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer)
mosphere. Able died on June 1, 1959, from the effects of
A NASA satellite designed to measure the elemental and
anesthesia given to allow the removal of electrodes. An
isotopic composition of matter from several different
autopsy revealed that Able had suffered no adverse effects
sources, including the solar corona and the interstellar
from its flight.236
medium. ACE was placed in a halo orbitaround the first
Lagrangian point (L1) of the Earth-Sun system, about
abort
1.4 million km from Earth. It carries six high-resolution
The premature and sudden ending of a mission because of
sensors and three monitoring instruments for sampling
a problem that significantly affects the mission’s chances
low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galac-
of success.
tic particles with a collecting power 10 to 1,000 times
greater than previous experiments. The spacecraft can
acceleration
give about an hour’s advance warning of geomagnetic
The rate at which the velocityof an object changes. Ac-
storms that might overload power grids, disrupt commu-
celeration can be linear (in a straight line), angular (due to
nications, and pose a hazard to astronauts.
a change in direction), or negative (when it is known as
deceleration). Related terms include: (1) acceleration stress,
Launch
which is the physiological effect of high acceleration or
Date: August 25, 1997
deceleration on the human body; it increases with the
Vehicle: Delta 7920
magnitude and duration of the acceleration. Longitudi-
Site: Cape Canaveral
nal accelerations cannot be tolerated as well as transverse
Orbit: halo
ones, as the former have a stronger influence on the car-
Mass at launch: 785 kg
diovascular system, and (2) acceleration tolerance,which is
adapter skirt 7
evacuate the station and return safely to Earth. This role,
currently filled by the Russian Soyuz TMA spacecraft,
was to have been taken up by the X-38, a small winged
reentry ferry. However, budget cuts in 2001 forced NASA
to shelve further development of the X-38, leaving the
future of the ACRV in doubt. Among the possibilities are
that the present Soyuz could either be retained for the job
or be replaced by a special ACRV Soyuz that has been
under development for more than 30 years. Features that
distinguish the ACRV Soyuz from the standard model are
ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) ACE and its orbit seats that can accommodate larger crew members and an
around the first Lagrangian point. NASA upgraded onboard computer that assures a more accurate
landing.
acquisition active satellite
(1) The process of locating the orbit of a satellite or the A satellite that carries equipment, including onboard
trajectory of a space probe so that tracking or telemetry power supplies, for collecting, transmitting, or relaying
data can be gathered. (2) The process of pointing an data. It contrasts with a passive satellite.
antenna or telescope so that it is properly oriented to
allow gathering of tracking or telemetry data from a satel-
ACTS (Advanced Communications
lite or space probe.
Technology Satellite)
An experimental NASA satellite that played a central role
ACRIMSAT (Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance in the development and flight-testing of technologies
Monitor Satellite) now being used on the latest generation of commercial
Asatelliteequippedtomeasuretheamountofenergy communications satellites. The first all-digital commu-
givenoutbytheSun—thetotalsolarirradiance(TSI)—over nications satellite, ACTS supported standard fiber-optic
afive-yearperiod.ACRIMSATcarriesACRIM-3(Active data rates, operated in the K- and Ka-frequency bands,
CavityRadiometerIrradianceMonitor3),thethirdina pioneered dynamic hopping spot beams, and advanced
seriesoflong-termsolar-monitoringtoolsbuiltbyJPL(Jet onboard traffic switching and processing. (A hopping
PropulsionLaboratory).Thisinstrumentextendsthedata- spot beam is an antenna beam on the spacecraft that
basestartedbyACRIM-1,whichwaslaunchedon SMM points at one location on the ground for a fraction of a
(SolarMaximumMission)in1980andcontinuedby millisecond. It sends/receives voice or data information
ACRIM-2on UARS(UpperAtmosphereResearchSatel- and then electronically “hops” to a second location, then
lite)in1991.ACRIM-1wasthefirstexperimenttoshow a third, and so on. At the beginning of the second mil-
clearlythattheTSIvaries.Thesolarvariabilityissoslight, lisecond, the beam again points at the first location.)
however,thatitsstudycallsforcontinuousstate-of-the- ACTS-type onboard processing and Ka-band communi-
artmonitoring.Theorysuggeststhatasmuchas25%of cations are now used operationally by, among others, the
Earth’sglobalwarmingmaybeofsolarorigin.Italsoseems Iridium and Teledesic systems. ACTS was developed,
thatevensmall(0.5%)changesintheTSIoveracenturyor managed, and operated by the Glenn Research Center. Its
moremayhavesignificantclimaticeffects.ACRIMSATis mission ended in June 2000.110
partofNASA’s EOS(EarthObservingSystem).
Shuttle deployment
Launch Date: September 16, 1993
Date: December 21, 1999 Mission: STS-51
Vehicle: Taurus Orbit: geostationary at 100°W
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base On-orbit mass: 2,767 kg
Orbit: 272 ×683 km ×98.3°
adapter skirt
ACRV (Assured Crew Return Vehicle) A flange, or extension of a space vehicle stage or section,
A space lifeboat attached to the International Space Sta- that enables the attachment of some object, such as
tion(ISS) so that in an emergency, the crew could quickly another stage or section.