Dream Chaser (“Running for a dream”) - a new manned vehicle from private company Sierra Nevada Corporation (USA). This reusable manned spacecraft will carry cargo and a crew of up to 7 people into low Earth orbit. According to the project, the spacecraft will use wings and use them to land on a regular runway. The design is based on the HL-20 orbital aircraft design
©Sierra Nevada Corporation
While the Americans of the middle of the last century were feverishly figuring out how to keep up with the “evil empire,” it was full of slogans: “Komsomol - on a plane,” “To Starry Space - YES!” Today, the United States can launch spaceships with the ease of kites, while ours can only roam the Bolshoi Theater for now. Understood the details of Naked Science.
Story
During the Cold War, space was one of the arenas for the struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The geopolitical confrontation between superpowers was the main incentive in those years for the development of the space industry. A huge amount of resources have been devoted to space exploration programs. In particular, the US government spent about twenty-five billion dollars on the implementation of the Apollo project, the main goal of which was to land a man on the surface of the Moon. For the 70s of the last century, this amount was simply gigantic. The USSR lunar program, which was never destined to come true, cost the budget of the Soviet Union 2.5 billion rubles. The development of the domestic reusable spacecraft Buran cost sixteen billion rubles. At the same time, fate destined Buran to make only one space flight.
Its American counterpart was much luckier. The Space Shuttle made one hundred and thirty-five launches. But the American shuttle did not last forever. The ship, created under the state program “Space Transport System”, carried out its last space launch on July 8, 2011, which ended in the early morning of July 21 of the same year. During the implementation of the program, the Americans produced six shuttles, one of which was a prototype that never carried out space flights. Two ships were completely catastrophic.
Apollo 11 liftoff
©NASA
From the point of view of economic feasibility, the Space Shuttle program can hardly be called successful. Disposable spacecraft turned out to be much more economical than their seemingly more technologically advanced reusable counterparts. And the safety of flights on the shuttles was questionable. During their operation, as a result of two disasters, fourteen astronauts became victims. But the reason for such ambiguous results of the space travel of the legendary ship lies not in its technical imperfection, but in the complexity of the very concept of reusable spacecraft.
As a result, the Russian Soyuz disposable spacecraft, developed back in the 60s of the last century, became the only type of spacecraft currently carrying out manned flights to the International Space Station (ISS). It should be immediately noted that this does not at all indicate their superiority over the Space Shuttle. The Soyuz spacecraft, as well as the Progress unmanned space trucks created on their basis, have a number of conceptual shortcomings. They are very limited in carrying capacity. And the use of such devices leads to the accumulation of orbital debris remaining after their operation. Space flights on Soyuz-type spacecraft will very soon become part of history. At the same time, today there are no real alternatives. The enormous potential inherent in the concept of reusable ships often remains technically unrealizable even in our time.
The first project of the Soviet reusable orbital aircraft OS-120 Buran, proposed by NPO Energia in 1975 and which was an analogue of the American Space Shuttle
©buran.ru
New US spaceships
In July 2011, American President Barack Obama said: a flight to Mars is a new and, as far as one can assume, the main goal of American astronauts for the coming decades. One of the programs carried out by NASA as part of the exploration of the Moon and the flight to Mars was the large-scale space program “Constellation”.
It is based on the creation of a new manned spacecraft "Orion", launch vehicles "Ares-1" and "Ares-5", as well as the lunar module "Altair". Despite the fact that in 2010 the US government decided to curtail the Constellation program, NASA was able to continue developing Orion. The first unmanned test flight of the ship is planned for 2014. It is expected that during the flight the device will move six thousand kilometers from the Earth. This is about fifteen times further than the ISS. After the test flight, the ship will head towards Earth. The new device will be able to enter the atmosphere at a speed of 32 thousand km/h. According to this indicator, Orion is one and a half thousand kilometers superior to the legendary Apollo. Orion's first unmanned experimental flight is intended to demonstrate its potential capabilities. Testing the ship should be an important step towards its manned launch, which is scheduled for 2021.
According to NASA plans, the Orion launch vehicles will be Delta 4 and Atlas 5. It was decided to abandon the development of Ares. In addition, for the exploration of deep space, the Americans are designing a new super-heavy launch vehicle SLS.
Orion is a partially reusable spacecraft and is conceptually closer to the Soyuz spacecraft than to the space shuttle. Most promising ones are partially reusable spaceships. This concept assumes that after landing on the Earth's surface, the ship's habitable capsule can be reused for launch into outer space. This makes it possible to combine the functional practicality of reusable spacecraft with the cost-effectiveness of operating Soyuz or Apollo-type spacecraft. This decision is a transitional stage. Probably in the distant future everything spacecraft will become reusable. So the American Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran were, in a sense, ahead of their time.
Orion is a multi-purpose capsule partially reusable US manned spacecraft, developed since the mid-2000s as part of the Constellation program.
©NASA
It seems that the words “practicality” and “foresight” best describe Americans. The US government decided not to put all its space ambitions on the shoulders of one Orion. Currently, several private companies, commissioned by NASA, are developing their own spacecraft designed to replace the devices used today. Boeing is developing the CST-100, a partially reusable crewed spacecraft, as part of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. The device is designed to make short trips to low-Earth orbit. Its main task will be the delivery of crew and cargo to the ISS.
The ship's crew can be up to seven people. At the same time, during the design of the CST-100 Special attention was given to the comfort of the astronauts. The living space of the device is much more extensive than ships of the previous generation. It will likely be launched using Atlas, Delta or Falcon launch vehicles. At the same time, Atlas-5 is the most suitable option. The ship will land using a parachute and airbags. According to Boeing's plans, the CST-100 will undergo a series of test launches in 2015. The first two flights will be unmanned. Their main task is to launch the vehicle into orbit and test safety systems. During the third flight, a manned docking with the ISS is planned. If the tests are successful, the CST-100 will very soon be able to replace the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, which have a monopoly on manned flights to the International Space Station.
CST-100 – manned transport spacecraft
©Boeing
Another private ship that will deliver cargo and crew to the ISS will be a device developed by SpaceX, part of the Sierra Nevada Corporation. The partially reusable monoblock Dragon vehicle was developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. It is planned to build three modifications of it: manned, cargo and autonomous. The crew of the manned spacecraft, as in the case of the CST-100, can be seven people. In the cargo modification, the ship will carry four people and two and a half tons of cargo.
And in the future they want to use the Dragon for flights to the Red Planet. Why will they develop a special version of the ship - “Red Dragon”. According to the plans of the American space leadership, an unmanned flight of the device to Mars will take place in 2018, and the first test manned flight of a US spacecraft is expected to take place in a few years.
One of the features of the “Dragon” is its reusability. After the flight, part of the energy systems and fuel tanks will be lowered to Earth along with the ship's habitable capsule and can be reused for space flights. This design ability sets the new ship apart from most promising designs. In the near future, “Dragon” and CST-100 will complement each other and act as a “safety net”. If one type of ship for some reason cannot perform its assigned tasks, another will take over part of its work.
Dragon SpaceX is a private transport spacecraft (SC) of SpaceX, developed by order of NASA as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation (COTS) program, designed to deliver payload and, in the future, people to the ISS
©SpaceX
The Dragon was launched into orbit for the first time in 2010. The unmanned test flight was completed successfully, and a few years later, namely on May 25, 2012, the device docked with the ISS. At that time, the ship did not have an automatic docking system, and to implement it it was necessary to use the space station’s manipulator.
This flight was considered to be the first ever docking of a private spacecraft to the International Space Station. Let’s make a reservation right away: the Dragon and a number of other spacecraft developed by private companies can hardly be called private in the full sense of the word. For example, NASA allocated $1.5 billion for the development of the Dragon. Other private projects also receive financial support from NASA. That's why we're talking about not so much about the commercialization of space, but about a new strategy for the development of the space industry, based on cooperation between the state and private capital. Once secret space technologies, previously available only to the state, are now the property of a number of private companies involved in the field of astronautics. This circumstance in itself is a powerful incentive for the growth of technological capabilities of private companies. In addition, this approach made it possible to employ a large number of space industry specialists in the private sphere who had previously been dismissed by the state due to the closure of the Space Shuttle program.
When it comes to the program for the development of spacecraft by private companies, perhaps the most interesting is the project of the SpaceDev company, called “Dream Chaser”. Twelve company partners, three American universities and seven NASA centers also took part in its development.
The concept of the reusable manned spacecraft Dream Chaser, developed by the American company SpaceDev, a division of Sierra Nevada Corporation
©SpaceDev
This ship is very different from all other promising space developments. The reusable Dream Chaser looks like a miniature Space Shuttle and is capable of landing like an ordinary airplane. Still, the main tasks of the ship are similar to those of the Dragon and CST-100. The device will serve to deliver cargo and crew (up to the same seven people) to low Earth orbit, where it will be launched using the Atlas-5 launch vehicle. This year the ship should carry out its first unmanned flight, and by 2015 it is planned to prepare for launch its manned version. Another one important detail. The Dream Chaser project is being created on the basis of an American development of the 1990s - the HL-20 orbital aircraft. The latter’s project became an analogue of the Soviet orbital system “Spiral”. All three devices have similar appearance and intended functionality. This raises a completely logical question. Was it worth it Soviet Union shut down the half-finished Spiral aerospace system?
What do we have?
In 2000, RSC Energia began designing the Clipper multi-purpose space complex. This reusable spacecraft, somewhat reminiscent of a smaller shuttle, was supposed to be used to solve a wide variety of problems: cargo delivery, evacuation of the space station crew, space tourism, flights to other planets. There were certain hopes for the project. As always, good intentions were covered with a copper basin of lack of funding. In 2006, the project was closed. At the same time, the technologies developed within the framework of the Clipper project are expected to be used for the design of the Advanced Manned transport system"(PPTS), also known as the Rus project.
The winged version of the Clipper in orbital flight. Webmaster's drawing based on the Clipper 3D model
©Vadim Lukashevich
It is the PPTS (of course, this is still only the “working” name of the project), as Russian experts believe, that will be destined to become a new-generation domestic space system, capable of replacing the rapidly aging Soyuz and Progress. As in the case of the Clipper, the spacecraft is being developed by RSC Energia. The basic modification of the complex will be the “Next Generation Manned Transport Ship” (PTK NK). Its main task, again, will be the delivery of cargo and crew to the ISS. In the long term - the development of modifications capable of flying to the Moon and carrying out long-term research missions. The ship itself promises to be partially reusable. The living capsule can be reused after landing. Engine compartment - no. A curious feature of the ship is the ability to land without using a parachute. A jet system will be used for braking and soft landing on the Earth's surface.
Unlike the Soyuz spacecraft, which take off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the new spacecraft will be launched from the new Vostochny cosmodrome, which is being built in the Amur region. The crew will be six people. The manned vehicle is also capable of carrying a load of five hundred kilograms. In the unmanned version, the ship will be able to deliver more impressive “goodies” into low-Earth orbit, weighing two tons.
One of the main problems of the PPTS project is the lack of launch vehicles with the necessary characteristics. Today, the main technical aspects of the spacecraft have been worked out, but the lack of a launch vehicle puts its developers in a very difficult position. It is assumed that the new launch vehicle will be technologically close to the Angara, developed back in the 1990s.
Model of PTS at the MAKS-2009 exhibition
©sdelanounas.ru
Oddly enough, another serious problem is the very purpose of designing the PTS (read: Russian reality). Russia will hardly be able to afford the implementation of programs for the exploration of the Moon and Mars, similar in scale to those implemented by the United States. Even if the development of the space complex is successful, most likely its only real task will be the delivery of cargo and crew to the ISS. But the start of flight tests of the PPTS was postponed until 2018. By this time, promising American devices will most likely already be able to take on the functions that they currently perform Russian ships"Union" and "Progress".
Vague prospects
The modern world is deprived of the romance of space flights - this is a fact. Of course, we are not talking about satellite launches and space tourism. There is no need to worry about these areas of astronautics. Flights to the International Space Station are of great importance to the space industry, but the ISS's stay in orbit is limited. The station is planned to be liquidated in 2020. A modern manned spacecraft is, first of all, an integral part of a specific program. There is no point in developing a new ship without having an idea of the tasks of its operation. New US spacecraft are being designed not only to deliver cargo and crews to the ISS, but also for flights to Mars and the Moon. However, these tasks are so far from everyday earthly concerns that in the coming years we can hardly expect any significant breakthroughs in the field of astronautics.
We have all seen many times a wide variety of space stations and space cities in science fiction films. But they are all unrealistic. Brian Versteeg from Spacehabs based on real scientific principles develops concepts space stations, which one day can actually be built. One such settlement station is Kalpana One. More precisely, an improved, modern version of a concept developed in the 1970s. Kalpana One is a cylindrical structure with a radius of 250 meters and a length of 325 meters. Approximate population level: 3,000 citizens.
Let's take a closer look at this city...
“The Kalpana One Space Settlement is the result of research into the very real limits of the structure and form of huge space settlements. Starting from the late 60s and up to the 80s of the last century, humanity absorbed the idea of the shapes and sizes of possible space stations of the future, which were shown all this time in science fiction films and in various pictures. However, many of these forms had some design flaws that, in reality, would result in such structures suffering from insufficient stability during rotation in space. Other forms did not effectively use the ratio of structural and protective mass to create habitable areas,” says Versteeg.
“When searching for a shape that would allow the creation of a living and habitable area under overload conditions and would have the necessary protective mass, it was found that the oblong shape of the station would be the most suitable choice. Due to the sheer size and design of such a station, very little effort or adjustment would be required to avoid its oscillations.”
“With the same radius of 250 meters and a depth of 325 meters, the station will make two full revolutions around itself per minute and create the feeling that a person, being in it, will experience the feeling as if he were in conditions of earthly gravity. And this is very important aspect, since gravity will allow us to live longer in space, because our bones and muscles will develop in the same way as they would on Earth. Since such stations in the future may become permanent habitats for people, it is very important to create conditions on them that are as close as possible to the conditions on our planet. Make it so that people can not only work on it, but also relax. And relax with delights.”
“And although the physics of hitting or throwing, say, a ball in such an environment will be very different from on Earth, the station will definitely offer a wide variety of sports (and other) activities and entertainment.”
Brian Versteeg is a concept designer and is focused on the work of future technology and space exploration. He worked with many private space companies, as well as print publications, to whom he showed concepts of what humanity would use in the future to conquer space. The Kalpana One project is one such concept.
But for example, some more old concepts:
Scientific base on the Moon. 1959 concept
The concept of a cylindrical colony in the minds of Soviet people. 1965
Image: Magazine “Technology for Youth”, 1965/10
Toroidal Colony Concept
Image: Don Davis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Developed by the NASA aerospace agency in the 1970s. As planned, the colony would have been designed to house 10,000 people. The design itself was modular and would allow the connection of new compartments. It would be possible to travel in them on a special vehicle called ANTS.
Image and presentation: Don Davis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Spheres Bernal
Image: Don Davis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Another concept was developed at NASA Ames Research Center in the 1970s. Population: 10,000. The main idea of the Bernal Sphere is spherical living compartments. The populated area is in the center of the sphere, surrounded by areas for agricultural and agricultural production. Sunlight is used as lighting for residential and agricultural areas, which is redirected into them through a solar mirror battery system. Special panels release residual heat into space. Factories and docks for spaceships are located in a special long pipe in the center of the sphere.
Image: Rick Guidys/NASA/Ames Research Center
Image: Rick Guidis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Cylindrical colony concept developed in the 1970s
Image: Rick Guidys/NASA/Ames Research Center
Intended for a population of more than one million people. The idea of the concept belongs to the American physicist Gerard K. Onil.
Image: Don Davis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Image: Don Davis/NASA/Ames Research Center
Image and presentation: Rick Guidys/NASA/Ames Research Center
1975 View from inside the colony, the concept idea of which belongs to Onil. Agricultural sectors with various types vegetables and plants are located on terraces that are installed at each level of the colony. Light for the crop is provided by mirrors that reflect the sun's rays.
Image: NASA/Ames Research Center
Soviet space colony. 1977
Image: Magazine “Technology of Youth”, 1977/4
Huge orbital farms like this one in the picture will produce enough food for space settlers
Image: Delta, 1980/1
Mining colony on an asteroid
Image: Delta, 1980/1
Toroidal colony of the future. 1982
Space base concept. 1984
Image: Les Bosinas/NASA/Glenn Research Center
Moon base concept. 1989
Image: NASA/JSC
Concept of a multifunctional Mars base. 1991
Image: NASA/Glenn Research Center
1995 Moon
Image: Pat Rawlings/NASA
Earth's natural satellite appears to be an excellent place to test equipment and train people for missions to Mars.
The special gravitational conditions of the Moon will be an excellent place for sports competitions.
Image: Pat Rawlings/NASA
1997 Ice mining in the dark lunar craters south pole open up opportunities for human expansion within the solar system. In this unique location, people from a space colony powered by solar energy will produce fuel to send spacecraft from the lunar surface. Water from potential ice sources, or regolith, will flow within the dome cells and prevent exposure to harmful radiation.
Image: Pat Rawlings/NASA
The opening sequence of the series “The Expanse”: a schematic depiction of the spread of humanity across solar system
I prepared a short article for the magazine Popular Mechanics - a forecast for the development of astronautics. The material “5 Scenarios for the Future” (No. 4, 2016) included only a small part of the article - just one paragraph :) I am publishing the full version!
Part one: near future - 2020-2030
At the beginning of the new decade, humans will return to cislunar space as part of NASA's Flexible Path program. The new American super-heavy rocket Space Launch System (SLS), the first launch of which is scheduled for 2018, will help with this. Payload - 70 tons at the first stage, up to 130 tons at subsequent stages. Let me remind you that the Russian Proton has a payload of only 22 tons, the new Angara-A5 has about 24 tons. The state Orion spacecraft is also being built in the USA.
SLS
Source: NASA
American private companies will provide delivery of astronauts and cargo to the ISS. Initially, two ships - Dragon V2 and CST-100, then others will follow (possibly winged ones - for example, Dream Chaser, not only in cargo, but also in passenger version).
The ISS will operate at least until 2024 (possibly longer, especially the Russian segment).
Then NASA will announce a competition for a new near-Earth base, which will probably be won by Bigelow Aerospace with its project for a station with inflatable modules.
It can be predicted that by the end of the 2020s there will be several private manned orbital stations in orbit for various purposes(from tourism to orbital satellite assembly).
Using a heavy rocket (with a payload capacity of slightly more than 50 tons, sometimes classified as super-heavy) Falcon Heavy and Dragon V2, made by Elon Musk, tourist flights into orbit around the Moon are quite possible - not just a flyby, but work in lunar orbit - closer to the mid-2020s.
Also, closer to the mid-to-late 2020s, a competition from NASA for the creation of lunar transport infrastructure (private expeditions and a private lunar base) is likely. According to recently published estimates, private investors will need about $10 billion in government funding to return to the Moon in the foreseeable (less than 10 years) time.
Model of the lunar base of the private company Bigelow Aerospace
Source: Bigelow Aerospace
Thus, the “Flexible Path” leads NASA to Mars (an expedition to Phobos - in the early 30s, to the surface of Mars - only in the 40s, unless there is a powerful accelerating impulse from society), and low Earth orbit and even the Moon will be given up private business.
In addition, new telescopes will be put into operation, which will make it possible to find not only tens of thousands of exoplanets, but also to measure the spectra of the atmospheres of the nearest ones using direct observations. I would venture to assume that before the year 30, evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life will be obtained (oxygen atmosphere, IR signatures of vegetation, etc.), and the question of the Great Filter and the Fermi Paradox will arise again.
There will be new flights of probes to asteroids, gas giants (to Jupiter’s satellite Europa, to Saturn’s satellites Titan and Enceladus, as well as to Uranus or Neptune), the first private interplanetary probes will appear (the Moon, Venus, possibly Mars with asteroids).
Talk about resource extraction on astroids until the year 30 will remain just talk. Unless private traders conduct small technological experiments together with government agencies.
Tourist suborbital systems will begin to fly en masse—hundreds of people will visit the edge of space.
China will build its own multi-module orbital station in the early 20s, and by the middle to the end of the decade it will carry out a manned flight around the Moon. It will also launch many interplanetary probes (for example, the Chinese Mars rover), but it will not take first place in astronautics. Although it will be in third or fourth place - right behind the United States and large private traders.
At best, Russia will preserve “pragmatic space”—communications, navigation, remote sensing of the Earth, as well as the Soviet legacy of manned space exploration. Cosmonauts will fly to the Russian segment of the ISS on Soyuz, and after the US withdraws from the project, the Russian segment will probably form a separate station - much smaller than the Soviet Mir and even smaller than the Chinese station. But this will be enough to save the industry. Even in terms of launch vehicles, Russia will fall back to 3-4th place. But this will be enough to fulfill tasks of national economic importance. In the worst case scenario, after the completion of the operation of the ISS, the manned direction in cosmonautics in Russia will be completely closed, and in the most optimistic scenario, a lunar program will be announced with real (and not in the mid-2030s) deadlines and clear control, which will allow already in the mid-2020s x to carry out landings on the Moon. But such a scenario, alas, is unlikely.
New countries will join the club of space powers, including several countries with manned programs - India, Iran, even North Korea. And this is not to mention private companies: by the end of the decade there will be a lot of manned orbital private vehicles - but hardly more than a dozen.
Many small companies will create their own ultra-light and lightweight rockets. Moreover, some of them will gradually increase payload- and enter the middle and even heavy classes.
Fundamentally new launch vehicles will not appear; people will fly on rockets, but reusability of the first stages or salvage of engines will become the norm. It is likely that experiments will be conducted with aerospace reusable systems, new fuels, and structures. Perhaps by the end of the 20s a single-stage reusable launch vehicle will be built and begin to fly.
Part two: the transformation of humanity into a space civilization - from 2030 to the end of the 21st century
There are many bases on the Moon, both public and private. The natural satellite of the Earth is used as a resource base (energy, ice, various components of regolith), an experimental and scientific testing ground where space technologies for long-distance flights are tested, infrared telescopes are located in shaded craters, and back side- radio telescopes.
The moon is included in the earth's economy - the energy of lunar power plants (fields solar panels and solar concentrators built from local resources) is transmitted both to space tugs in near-Earth space and to Earth. The problem of delivering matter from the surface of the Moon to low Earth orbit (braking in the atmosphere and capture) has been solved. Lunar hydrogen and oxygen are used in cislunar and near-Earth refueling stations. Of course, these are all just the first experiments, but private companies are already making fortunes from them. Helium-3 is so far mined only in small quantities for experiments related to thermonuclear rocket engines.
There is a scientific colony station on Mars. A joint project of “private investors” (mainly Elon Musk) and states (mainly the USA). People have the opportunity to return to Earth, but many fly away new world forever. The first experiments on the possible terraforming of the planet. On Phobos there is a transshipment base for heavy interplanetary ships.
Mars base
Source: Bryan Versteeg
There are many probes throughout the solar system, the purpose of which is to prepare for exploration and search for resources. Flights of high-speed vehicles with nuclear power propulsion systems into the Kuiper belt to the recently discovered gas giant - the ninth planet. Rovers on Mercury, balloons, floating, flying probes on Venus, studying the satellites of the giant planets (for example, submarines in the seas of Titan).
Distributed networks of space telescopes make it possible to detect exoplanets by direct observation and even make (very low-resolution) maps of planets around nearby stars. Large automatic observatories have been sent to the focus of the Sun's gravitational lens.
Single-stage reusable launch vehicles have been deployed and are in operation; non-rocket methods of delivering cargo - mechanical and electromagnetic catapults - are actively used on the Moon.
There are many tourist space stations flying around. There are several stations - scientific institutes with artificial gravity (torus station).
Heavy manned interplanetary spacecraft have not only reached Mars and ensured the deployment of a colony base on the Red Planet, but are also actively exploring the asteroid belt. Many expeditions have been sent to near-Earth asteroids, and an expedition to the orbit of Venus has been carried out. Preparations have begun for the deployment of research bases near the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Perhaps the giant planets will become the target of the first test flight of an interplanetary spacecraft with a thermonuclear engine with magnetic plasma confinement.
Weather balloon launch on Titan
Juno. The Juno spacecraft was launched in 2011 and is scheduled to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2016. It will make a long loop around the gas giant, collecting data on atmospheric composition and magnetic field, as well as mapping winds. Juno is NASA's first spacecraft not to use a plutonium core but to be equipped with solar panels.
Mars 2020. The next rover sent to the red planet will in many ways be a copy of the well-proven Curiosity. But his task will be different - namely, to search for any traces of life on Mars. The program starts at the end of 2020.
NASA plans to launch a space atomic clock for deep space navigation into orbit in 2016. This device, in theory, should work as a GPS for future spaceships. The space clock promises to be 50 times more accurate than any of its counterparts on Earth.
InSight. One of the important questions related to Mars is whether there is geological activity on it or not? The InSight mission, planned for 2016, would answer this with a rover carrying a drill and a seismometer.
Uranus orbiter. Humanity has visited Uranus and Neptune only once, during the Voyager 2 mission in 1980, but this is expected to be corrected in the next decade. The Uranus orbiter program is conceived as an analogue of Cassini's flight to Jupiter. The problems are funding and a lack of plutonium for fuel. However, the launch is planned for 2020 with the vehicle arriving at Uranus in 2030.
Europa Clipper. Thanks to the Voyager mission in 1979, we learned that beneath the ice of one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, there is a huge ocean. And where there is so much liquid water, life is possible. Europa Clipper will fly in 2025, equipped with a powerful radar capable of peering deep under Europa's ice.
OSIRIS-REx. Asteroid (101955) Bennu is not the most famous space object. But according to astronomers from the University of Arizona, it has a very real chance of crashing into the Earth around 2200. OSIRIS-REx will travel to Benn in 2019 to collect soil samples and return in 2023. Studying the data obtained could help prevent a disaster in the future.
LISA is a joint experiment between NASA and the European Space Agency to study gravitational waves, emitted by black holes and pulsars. The measurements will be carried out by three devices located at the vertices of a triangle 5 million km long. LISA Pathfinder, the first of three satellites, will be sent into orbit in November 2015, with a full launch of the program planned for 2034.
BepiColombo. This program was named after the 20th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Colombo, who developed the theory of gravitational maneuver. BepiColombo is a project of the space agencies of Europe and Japan, starting in 2017 with the estimated arrival of the device in Mercury orbit in 2024.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched into orbit in 2018 as a replacement for the famous Hubble. The size of a tennis court and the size of a four-story house, costing nearly $9 billion, the telescope is considered the best hope for modern astronomy.
Basically, missions are planned in three directions - a flight to Mars in 2020, a flight to Jupiter’s moon Europa and, possibly, to the orbit of Uranus. But the list is not limited to them. Let's take a look at ten space programs near future.
Russian orbital station, which will replace the ISS, will be eternal, according to the annual report. talks about the largest near-Earth laboratory currently operating, the prospects of the Russian station and the space plans of other countries, primarily the USA and China.
The ISS is planned to operate until at least 2024. After this, the work of the laboratory will be completed or extended for another four years. The ISS partners, primarily the US, Russia, and Japan, have not yet made a decision. Meanwhile, the future of the ISS is directly related to the development of new space technologies.
Deadline
After the separation of the Russian segment from the ISS, the Russian orbital laboratory will consist of three modules: a multi-purpose laboratory with improved operational characteristics “Nauka”, a hub “Prichal” and a scientific and energy module. Later, the national station is planned to be equipped with three more modules - transformable, gateway and energy.
the main objective laboratory - to become a platform for testing technologies for deep space exploration. As reported in the annual report of the RSC, “continuous operation of the station is expected by replacing modules that have exhausted their service life.” Although the first three modules should be part of the ISS, none of them have yet been launched to the station. The reasons are still the same. Consider, for example, the situation with the Science module.
The Deputy Prime Minister agreed with him. “The issue of the future of manned programs must be discussed, and not go with the flow, being responsible only for the process, but not for the result. The opinion of this expert is worth listening to, and not habitually brushing aside. We expect an objective analysis of the situation and specific proposals from Roscosmos. Otherwise, we will lag behind not only the United States, but also other space powers. All that will remain is nostalgia for the old days,”