Spaceships in our time are called devices designed to deliver astronauts to near-Earth orbit and then return them to Earth. It is clear that the technical requirements for a spacecraft are more stringent than for any other spacecraft. Flight conditions (G-forces, temperature conditions, pressure, etc.) must be maintained for them very accurately so that a threat to human life is not created.

Normal human conditions must be created in a ship that becomes a home for a cosmonaut for several hours or even days - the cosmonaut must breathe, drink, eat, sleep, and fulfill his natural needs. It should be able to turn the ship at its own discretion during the flight and change the orbit, that is, the ship should be easily reoriented and controlled during its movement in space.

To return to Earth, the spacecraft must extinguish all that tremendous speed that the launch vehicle told it at the start. If the Earth did not have an atmosphere, it would have to spend as much fuel as it used to rise into space. Fortunately, this is not necessary: ​​if you land on a very gentle trajectory, gradually plunging into the dense layers of the atmosphere, you can slow down the ship on the air with minimal fuel consumption.

Both the Soviet "Vostok" and the American "Mercury" landed in this way, and this explains many of the features of their design. Since a significant part of the energy during braking goes to heat the ship, without good thermal protection it will simply burn out, as most meteorites and satellites ending their existence burn out in the atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the ships with bulky heat-resistant heat-shielding shells. (For example, on the Soviet Vostok, its weight was 800 kg - a third of the total weight of the descent vehicle.)

Wishing to lighten the ship as much as possible, the designers supplied this screen not to the entire ship, but only to the body of the descent vehicle. Thus, from the very beginning, the design of a separable spacecraft was established (it was tested on the Vostoks, and then became classic for all Soviet and many American spacecraft). The ship consists of two independent parts: the instrument compartment and the descent vehicle (the latter serves as the cosmonaut's cabin during the flight).

The first Soviet spacecraft "Vostok" with a total mass of 4.73 tons was launched into orbit using a three-stage launch vehicle of the same name. The total launch weight of the space complex was 287 tons. Structurally, the Vostok consisted of two main compartments: the descent vehicle and the instrument compartment. The descent vehicle with the cosmonaut's cabin was made in the form of a ball with a diameter of 2.3 m and had a mass of 2.4 tons.

The sealed case was made of aluminum alloy. Inside the descent vehicle, the designers tried to place only those systems and instruments of the spacecraft that were needed during the entire flight, or those that were directly used by the astronaut. All the rest were taken to the instrument compartment. The astronaut's ejection seat was located inside the cabin. (In case you had to eject at launch, the chair was equipped with two powder boosters.) There were also a control panel, food and water supplies. The life support system was designed to work for ten days. During the entire flight, the astronaut had to be in an airtight spacesuit, but with an open helmet (this helmet was automatically closed in the event of a sudden depressurization of the cabin).

The internal free volume of the descent vehicle was 1.6 cubic meters. The necessary conditions in the cabin of the spacecraft were supported by two automatic systems: a life support system and a thermal control system. As you know, a person in the process of life consumes oxygen, emits carbon dioxide, heat and moisture. These two systems ensured the absorption of carbon dioxide, the replenishment of oxygen, the removal of excess moisture from the air, and the removal of heat. In the cabin of the Vostok, the state of the atmosphere familiar to Earth was maintained with a pressure of 735-775 mm Hg. Art. and 20-25% oxygen content.

The device of the thermal control system was somewhat reminiscent of an air conditioner. It contained an air-liquid heat exchanger, through the coil of which a cooled liquid (refrigerant) flowed. The fan drove warm and humid cabin air through the heat exchanger, which was cooled on its cold surfaces. The moisture has condensed. The coolant entered the descent vehicle from the instrument compartment. The heat-absorbing liquid was forcibly driven by a pump through a radiator-emitter located on the outer conical shell of the instrument compartment. The temperature of the coolant was automatically maintained in the desired range with the help of special shutters that covered the radiator. The shutters of the blinds could open or close, changing the heat fluxes radiated by the radiator. To maintain the desired air composition, there was a regeneration device in the cabin of the descent vehicle. Cabin air was continuously driven by a fan through special replaceable cartridges containing superoxides. alkali metals. Such substances (for example, K2O4) are capable of efficiently absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in the process.

The work of all automation was controlled by an on-board software device. Various systems and instruments were turned on both by commands from the Earth and by the cosmonaut himself. On the "Vostok" there was a whole range of radio facilities that made it possible to conduct and maintain two-way communication, make various measurements, control the ship from the Earth, and much more. With the help of the "Signal" transmitter, information from sensors located on the cosmonaut's body was constantly received regarding his well-being. Silver-zinc batteries formed the basis of the power supply system: the main battery was located in the instrument compartment, and the additional one, which provided power during the descent, was in the descent vehicle.

The instrument compartment had a mass of 2.27 tons. Near its junction with the descent vehicle there were 16 spherical cylinders with reserves of compressed nitrogen for orientation micromotors and oxygen for the life support system. The orientation and motion control system plays a very important role in any spacecraft. On the "Vostok" it included several subsystems. The first of them, the navigation one, consisted of a number of spacecraft position sensors in space (including the Sun sensor, gyroscopic sensors, the Vzor optical device, and others). The signals from the sensors entered the control system, which could operate automatically or with the participation of the astronaut. The cosmonaut's console had a handle for manually controlling the attitude of the spacecraft. The ship was deployed using a whole set of small jet nozzles arranged in a certain way, into which compressed nitrogen was supplied from cylinders. In total, the instrument compartment had two sets of nozzles (eight in each), which could be connected to three groups of cylinders. The main task, which was solved with the help of these nozzles, was to correctly orient the ship before applying a braking impulse. This had to be done in a certain direction and strictly certain time. No mistake was made here.

A braking propulsion system with a thrust of 15.8 kilonewtons was located in the lower part of the compartment. It consisted of an engine, fuel tanks and a fuel supply system. Its running time was 45 seconds. Before returning to Earth, the braking propulsion system was oriented in such a way as to give a braking impulse of about 100 m/s. This was enough to switch to the descent trajectory. (With a flight altitude of 180-240 km, the orbit was calculated in such a way that even if the brake installation failed, the ship would still enter the dense layers of the atmosphere in ten days. It was for this period that the supply of oxygen, drinking water, food, and battery charge was calculated .) Then the descent vehicle separated from the instrument compartment. Further deceleration of the ship was already due to atmospheric resistance. At the same time, overloads reached 10 g, that is, the astronaut's weight increased tenfold.

The speed of the descent vehicle in the atmosphere was reduced to 150-200 m/s. But in order to ensure a safe landing in contact with the ground, its speed should not exceed 10 m / s. The excess speed was extinguished by parachutes. They opened gradually: first the exhaust, then the brake and. finally, the main one. At an altitude of 7 km, the cosmonaut had to eject and land separately from the descent vehicle at a speed of 5-6 m/s. This was carried out with the help of an ejection seat, which was mounted on special guides and fired from the descent vehicle after the hatch cover was separated. Here, too, the braking parachute of the chair first opened, and at an altitude of 4 km (at a speed of 70-80 m/s), the astronaut unfastened himself from the chair and then descended on his own parachute.

Work on the preparation of a manned flight at the Korolev Design Bureau began in 1958. The first unmanned launch of Vostok was made on May 15, 1960. Due to the incorrect operation of one of the sensors before turning on the brake propulsion system, the ship was incorrectly oriented and, instead of descending, switched to a higher orbit. The second launch (July 23, 1960) was even less successful - an accident occurred at the very beginning of the flight. The descent vehicle separated from the ship and collapsed during the fall. To avoid this danger, an emergency rescue system was introduced on all following ships. But the third launch of Vostok (August 19-20, 1960) was quite successful - on the second day, the descent vehicle, along with all the experimental animals: mice, rats and two dogs, Belka and Strelka, landed safely in a given area. It was the first in

history of astronautics the case of the return of living beings to Earth after a space flight. But the next flight (December 1, 1960) again had an unsuccessful outcome. The ship went into space and completed the entire program. A day later, a command was given to return to the ground. However, due to the failure of the brake propulsion system, the descent vehicle entered the atmosphere with excessive high speed and burned down. The experimental dogs Pchelka and Mushka died with him. During the launch on December 22, 1960, the last stage crashed, but the emergency rescue system worked properly - the descent vehicle landed without damage. Only the sixth (March 9, 1961) and seventh (March 25, 1961) launches of the Vostok were quite successful. Having made one revolution around the Earth, both ships returned safely to Earth along with all the experimental animals. These two flights completely simulated the future flight of a person, so that even in the chair there was a special mannequin. The first manned space flight in history took place on April 12, 1961. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on the ship "Vostok-1" made one revolution around the Earth and on the same day returned safely to Earth (the entire flight lasted 108 minutes). Thus was opened the era of manned flights.

In the United States, preparations for manned flight under the Mercury program also began in 1958. At first, unmanned flights were carried out, then flights along a ballistic trajectory. The first two launches of Mercury along a ballistic trajectory (in May and July 1961) were carried out using the Redstone rocket, and the next ones were launched into orbit using the Atlas-D launch vehicle. On February 20, 1962, American astronaut John Glenn on Mercury 6 made the first orbital flight around the Earth.

The first American spacecraft was much smaller than the Soviet one. Launch vehicle "Atlas-D" starting weight 111.3 tons was capable of putting into orbit a load of no more than 1.35 tons. Therefore, the ship "Mercury" was designed with extremely stringent restrictions on weight and dimensions. The basis of the ship was the capsule returned to Earth. It had the shape of a truncated cone with a spherical bottom and a cylindrical top. On the basis of the cone was placed a brake installation of three solid fuel jet engines 4, 5 kilonewtons each and an operating time of 10 seconds. During the descent, the capsule entered the dense layers of the atmosphere bottom first. Therefore, a heavy heat shield was located only here. In the front cylindrical part there was an antenna and a parachute section. There were three parachutes: brake, main and spare, which were pushed out with the help of an air spring.

Inside the cockpit there was a free volume of 1.1 cubic meters. The astronaut, dressed in a hermetic space suit, was located in a chair. In front of him were a porthole and a control panel. On the farm above the ship was placed the SAS powder engine. The life support system on the Mercury was significantly different from that on the Vostok. Inside the ship, a purely oxygen atmosphere was created with a pressure of 228-289 mm Hg. Art. As oxygen was consumed from the cylinders, it was supplied to the cabin and the astronaut's spacesuit. Lithium hydroxide was used to remove carbon dioxide. The suit was cooled with oxygen, which, before being used for breathing, was supplied to the lower body. The temperature and humidity were maintained using evaporative heat exchangers - moisture was collected using a sponge, which was periodically wrung out (it turned out that this method was not suitable under weightless conditions, so it was used only on the first ships). Power was provided rechargeable batteries. The entire life support system was designed for only 1.5 days. To control the attitude, "Mercury" had 18 controllable engines that ran on one component fuel - hydrogen peroxide. The astronaut splashed down with the ship on the surface of the ocean.

The capsule had unsatisfactory buoyancy, so just in case it had an inflatable raft.

“The first spacecraft starts from the Earth at a speed of 0.68 s ...” This is how the text of the problem begins in a physics textbook for grade 11 students, designed to help consolidate the basic provisions in their minds relativistic mechanics. So: “The first spacecraft starts from the surface of the earth at a speed of 0.68 s. The second vehicle starts moving from the first one in the same direction with the speed V2 = 0.86 s. It is necessary to calculate the speed of the second ship relative to the planet Earth.

Those who want to test their knowledge can practice in solving this problem. You can also take part in solving the test together with schoolchildren: “The first spacecraft starts from the surface of the earth at a speed of 0.7 s. (c is the designation for the speed of light). The second vehicle starts moving from the first one in the same direction. Its speed is 0.8 s. The speed of the second ship relative to the planet Earth should be calculated.

Those who consider themselves knowledgeable in this matter have the opportunity to make a choice - four possible answers are offered: 1) 0; 2) 0.2 s; 3) 0.96 s; 4) 1.54 s.

Important didactic purpose the authors of this lesson propose to familiarize students with the physical and philosophical meaning of Einstein's postulates, the essence and properties of the relativistic concept of time and space, etc. The educational goal of the lesson is to develop in boys and girls a dialectical-materialistic worldview.

But readers of the article who are familiar with the history of domestic space flights will agree that the tasks in which the expression "first spacecraft" is mentioned can play a more significant educational role. If desired, the teacher using these tasks could reveal both cognitive and patriotic aspects of the issue.

The first spacecraft in space, the successes of domestic space science in general - what is known about this?

On the importance of space research

Space research has introduced the most valuable data into science, which made it possible to comprehend the essence of new natural phenomena and put them at the service of people. Using artificial satellites, scientists were able to determine the exact shape of the planet Earth, by studying the orbit it became possible to trace the regions of magnetic anomalies in Siberia. With the use of rockets and satellites, they were able to discover and explore the radiation belts around the Earth. With their help it became possible solution many other complex issues.

First spacecraft to visit the Moon

The Moon is the celestial body with which the most spectacular and impressive successes of space science are associated.

The flight to the Moon for the first time in history was carried out on January 2, 1959 by the automatic station "Luna-1". The first launch of artificial was a significant breakthrough in the field of space exploration. But the main goal of the project was not achieved. It consisted in the implementation of the flight from Earth to the Moon. The launch of the satellite made it possible to obtain valuable scientific and practical information regarding flights to other space bodies. During the flight of Luna-1, a second one was developed (for the first time!) In addition, it became possible to obtain data on the radiation belt the globe obtained other valuable information. The world press appropriated spacecraft"Luna-1" name "Dream".

AMS "Luna-2" repeated its predecessor almost completely. The instruments and equipment used made it possible to monitor interplanetary space, as well as to correct the information received by Luna-1. The launch (September 12, 1959) was also carried out using the 8K72 launch vehicle.

On September 14, Luna-2 reached the surface of the Earth's natural satellite. The first ever flight from our planet to the moon was made. On board the AMS were three symbolic pennants, on which was the inscription: "USSR, September 1959." A metal ball was placed in the middle, which, when hitting a surface, celestial body shattered into dozens of small pennants.

Tasks assigned to the automatic station:

• reaching the surface of the moon;
• development of the second cosmic velocity;
• overcoming the gravity of the planet Earth;
• delivery of "USSR" pennants to the lunar surface.

All of them were fulfilled.

"East"

It was the very first spacecraft in the world of all launched into Earth's orbit. Academician M. K. Tikhonravov, under the guidance of the famous designer S. P. Korolev, carried out development for many years, starting in the spring of 1957. In April 1958, the approximate parameters of the future ship became known, as well as its general indicators. It was assumed that the first spacecraft would have a weight of about 5 tons and that it would need additional thermal protection weighing about 1.5 when entering the atmosphere. In addition, it was provided for the ejection of the pilot.

The creation of the experimental apparatus ended in April 1960. In the summer, his tests began.

The first Vostok spacecraft (photo below) consisted of two elements: an instrument compartment and a descent vehicle connected to each other.

The vessel was equipped with manual and automatic control, orientation to the Sun and the Earth. In addition, there was a landing, thermal control and power supply. The board was designed for the flight of one pilot in a space suit. The ship had two portholes.

The first spacecraft went into space on April 12, 1961. Now this date is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day. On this day Yu.A. Gagarin launched the world's first spacecraft into orbit. They made a revolution around the Earth.

The main task performed by the first spacecraft with a man on board was to study the well-being and performance of an astronaut outside our planet. The successful flight of Gagarin, our compatriot, the first person to see the Earth from space, brought the development of science to a new level.

A real flight to immortality

“The first manned spacecraft was launched into Earth orbit on April 12, 1961. The first pilot-cosmonaut of the Vostok satellite was a citizen of the USSR, pilot, Major Gagarin Yu.A.

The words from the memorable TASS message will forever remain in history, on one of its most significant and brightest pages. After decades, flights into space will turn into an ordinary, everyday occurrence, but the flight made by a man from a small town in Russia - Gzhatsk - has forever remained in the minds of many generations as a great human feat.

space race

Between the Soviet Union and the United States in those years there was an unspoken competition for the right to play a leading role in the conquest of space. The leader of the competition was the Soviet Union. The United States lacked powerful launch vehicles.

The Soviet astronautics already tested their work in January 1960 during tests in the Pacific Ocean. All the major newspapers in the world published information that a man would soon be launched into space in the USSR, which, of course, would leave the United States behind. All the people of the world were waiting for the first human flight with great impatience.

In April 1961, a man first looked at the Earth from space. "Vostok" rushed towards the Sun, the whole planet followed this flight from radio receivers. The world was shocked and excited, everyone was inseparably watching the course of the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.

Moments that shook the world

"Man in space!" This news interrupted the work of radio and telegraph agencies in mid-sentence. “Man has been launched by the Soviets! Yuri Gagarin in space!

It took Vostok just 108 minutes to fly around the planet. And these minutes not only testified to the speed of the flight of the spacecraft. These were the first minutes of the new space age, which is why the world was so shocked by them.

The race between the two superpowers for the title of winner in the struggle for space exploration ended with the victory of the USSR. In May, the United States also launched a man into space on a ballistic trajectory. And yet, the beginning of man's exit beyond the Earth's atmosphere was laid by the Soviet people. The first spacecraft "Vostok" with an astronaut on board was sent precisely by the Land of the Soviets. This fact was the subject of extraordinary pride of the Soviet people. Moreover, the flight lasted longer, went much higher, followed a much more complex trajectory. In addition, Gagarin's first spacecraft (the photo represents him appearance) cannot be compared with the capsule in which the American pilot flew.

Space Age Morning

These 108 minutes changed the life of Yuri Gagarin, our country and the whole world forever. After the ship left with a man on board, the people of the Earth began to consider this event the morning of the space age. There was no person on the planet who would enjoy such great love not only of his fellow citizens, but of the people of the whole world, regardless of nationality, political and religious beliefs. His feat was the personification of all the best created by the human mind.

"Ambassador of Peace"

Having circled the Earth on the ship Vostok, Yuri Gagarin set off on a journey around the world. Everyone wanted to see and hear the world's first astronaut. He was equally cordially received by prime ministers and presidents, grand dukes and kings. And also Gagarin was joyfully greeted by miners and dock workers, military and scientists, students of the great universities of the world and the elders of abandoned villages in Africa. The first cosmonaut was equally simple, friendly and welcoming to everyone. It was a real "ambassador of peace", recognized by the peoples.

"One big and beautiful human house"

The diplomatic mission of Gagarin was very important for the country. No one could have been so successful as the first man in space did, to tie knots of friendship between people and nations, to unite thoughts and hearts. He had an unforgettable, charming smile, amazing goodwill, which united people different countries, different beliefs. His passionate, heartfelt speeches calling for world peace were extraordinarily convincing.

“I saw how beautiful the Earth is,” Gagarin said. - State borders are indistinguishable from outer space. Our planet looks from space as one big and beautiful human house. All honest people of the Earth are responsible for order and peace in their homes. They believed him endlessly.

Unprecedented rise of the country

At the dawn of that unforgettable day, he was familiar to a limited circle of people. At noon, the whole planet recognized his name. Millions reached out to him, they fell in love with him for his kindness, youth, beauty. For humanity, he became a harbinger of the future, a scout who returned from a dangerous search, who opened new paths to knowledge.

In the eyes of many, he personified his country, was a representative of the people who at one time made a huge contribution to the victory over the Nazis, and now they were the first to rise into space. The name of Gagarin, who was awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, has become a symbol of the country's unprecedented rise to new heights of social and economic progress.

The initial stage of space exploration

Even before the famous flight, when the first spacecraft with a man on board was launched into space, Gagarin thought about the importance of space exploration for people, for which powerful ships and rockets are needed. Why are telescopes mounted and orbits calculated? Why do satellites take off and radio antennas rise? He understood very well the urgent need and importance of these matters and sought to contribute to the initial stage of human exploration of space.

The first spacecraft "Vostok": tasks

The main scientific tasks that confronted the ship "Vostok" were the following. First, the study of the impact of flight conditions in orbit on the state of the human body and its performance. Secondly, testing the principles of building spacecraft.

History of creation

In 1957 S.P. Korolev, within the framework of the scientific design bureau, organized a special department No. 9. It provided for work on the creation artificial satellites our planet. The department was headed by an associate of Korolev M.K. Tikhonravym. Also, the issues of creating a satellite piloted by a person on board were studied here. The Royal R-7 was considered as a launch vehicle. According to calculations, a rocket with a third degree of protection was able to launch a five-ton payload into low Earth orbit.

Mathematicians of the Academy of Sciences took part in the calculations at an early stage of development. A warning was issued that a tenfold overload could result in a ballistic de-orbit.

The department investigated the conditions for the implementation of this task. I had to abandon the consideration of winged options. As the most acceptable way to return a person, the possibilities of his ejection and further descent by parachute were studied. There was no provision for a separate rescue of the descent vehicle.

In the course of ongoing medical research, it was proved that the most acceptable for the human body is the spherical shape of the descent vehicle, which allows it to withstand significant loads without serious consequences for the astronaut's health. It was the spherical shape that was chosen for the production of the descent module of the manned vessel.

The ship "Vostok-1K" was sent first. It was an automatic flight, which took place in May 1960. Later, a modification of the Vostok-3KA was created and tested, which was completely ready for manned flights.

In addition to one failed flight, which ended in a launch vehicle failure at the very start, the program provided for the launch of six unmanned vehicles and six manned spacecraft.

The program implemented:

• carrying out a human flight into space - the first spacecraft "Vostok 1" (the photo represents an image of the ship);
• flight duration per day: "Vostok-2";
• conducting group flights: "Vostok-3" and "Vostok-4";
• participation in the space flight of the first female cosmonaut: "Vostok-6".

"Vostok": characteristics and device of the ship

Characteristics:

• weight - 4.73 tons;
• length - 4.4 m;
• diameter - 2.43 m.

Device:

• spherical descent vehicle 2.3 m);
• orbital and conical instrument compartments (2.27 t, 2.43 m) - they are mechanically connected to each other using pyrotechnic locks and metal bands.

Equipment

Automatic and manual control, automatic orientation to the Sun and manual orientation to the Earth.

Life support (provided for 10 days to maintain the internal atmosphere, corresponding to the parameters of the Earth's atmosphere).

Command-logic control, power supply, thermal control, landing.

For man's work

In order to ensure the work of man in space, the board was equipped with the following equipment:

• autonomous and radiotelemetric devices necessary for monitoring the astronaut's condition;
• devices for radiotelephone communication with ground stations;
• command radio link;
• program-time devices;
• television system for monitoring the pilot from the ground;
• radio system for monitoring the orbit and direction finding of the ship;
• brake propulsion system and others.

Descent vehicle device

The descent vehicle had two windows. One of them was located on the entrance hatch, slightly above the pilot's head, the other, with a special orientation system, was placed in the floor at his feet. Dressed in was located in an ejection seat. It was envisaged that after braking the descent vehicle at an altitude of 7 km, the cosmonaut should eject and land on a parachute. In addition, it was possible for the pilot to land inside the apparatus itself. The descent vehicle had a parachute, but was not equipped with means for a soft landing. This threatened the person in it with serious bruises upon landing.

If automatic systems failed, the astronaut could use manual control.

The Vostok ships did not have devices for manned flights to the moon. In them, the flight of people without special training was unacceptable.

Who piloted the Vostok ships?

Yu. A. Gagarin: the first spacecraft "Vostok - 1". The photo below is an image of the layout of the ship. G. S. Titov: "Vostok-2", A. G. Nikolaev: "Vostok-3", P.R. Popovich: "Vostok-4", V.F. Bykovsky: "Vostok-5", V.V. Tereshkova: "Vostok-6".

Conclusion

108 minutes, during which the "Vostok" made a revolution around the Earth, the life of the planet was forever changed. Not only historians cherish the memory of these minutes. Living generations and our distant descendants will reread with respect the documents that tell about the birth of a new era. The era that opened the way for people to the vast expanses of the universe.

No matter how far humanity has advanced in its development, it will always remember this. amazing day when man first found himself face to face with the cosmos. People will always remember the immortal name of the glorious pioneer of space, which became an ordinary Russian man - Yuri Gagarin. All today's and tomorrow's achievements in space science can be considered steps in his wake, the result of his first and most important victory.

Let's say you want to be a science fiction writer, write fanfiction, or make a space game. In any case, you will have to invent your own spaceship, figure out how it will fly, what capabilities and characteristics it will have, and try not to make mistakes in this not a simple matter. After all, you want to make your ship realistic and believable, but at the same time capable of not only flying to the moon. After all, all space captains sleep and see how they colonize Alpha Centauri, fight aliens and save the world.

So, to start Let's deal with the most egregious misconceptions about spaceships and space. And the very first misconception will be as follows:

Space is not an ocean!

I tried my best to displace this misconception from the first place, so as not to look like Atomic Rockets, but it just doesn’t climb into any gate at all. All these endless Galaxies, Enterprises and other Yamatos.
Space is not close to the ocean, there is no friction in it, there is no up and down, the enemy can approach from anywhere, and the ships, after picking up speed, can fly even sideways, even back to front. The battle will take place at such distances that the enemy can only be seen through a telescope. use design sea ​​ships in space - idiocy. For example, in battle, the ship's bridge protruding from the hull will be shot first.

The "bottom" of the spacecraft is where the engine is.

Remember once and for all - the bottom of the spacecraft is where the exhaust of the working engines is directed, and the top is in the direction in which it is accelerating! Have you ever felt the pressure in the seat of a car when accelerating? Pushes always in the opposite direction to the movement. Only on Earth, planetary gravity additionally acts, and in space, the acceleration of your ship will become an analogue of the force of gravity. Longships will look more like skyscrapers with lots of floors.

Fighter in space

Do you like watching fighter jets fly in Battlestar Galactica or in Star Wars? So this is all as stupid and unrealistic as it can be. What should I start with?

• there will be no aircraft maneuvers in space, turning off the engines you can fly as you like, and in order to break away from the pursuer, it is enough to turn the ship with its nose back and shoot the enemy. The faster your speed, the harder it is to change course - no dead loops, the closest analogy is a loaded truck on ice.
• A fighter jet like that needs a pilot in much the same way that a spaceship needs wings. The pilot is the extra weight of the pilot himself and the life support system, the extra costs for the pilot’s salary and insurance in case of death, the limitation of maneuverability due to the fact that people do not tolerate overloads very well, the decrease in combat capability - the computer sees 360 degrees immediately, has an instant reaction, never gets tired and never panics.
• Air intakes are also not needed. The requirements for atmospheric and space fighters are so different that either space or atmosphere, but not both.
• Fighters in space are useless. How is that?!! Don't even try to object. I live in 2016 and even now air defense systems destroy absolutely any aircraft without exception. Small fighters cannot be equipped with adequate armor or good weapons, and a large enemy ship can easily fit a cool radar and a laser system for a couple of hundred megawatts with an effective range of a million kilometers. The enemy will vaporize all your brave pilots along with their fighters before they even know what happened. To some extent, this can already be observed now, when the range of anti-ship missiles has become greater than the range of carrier-based aircraft. Sadly, all aircraft carriers are now just a pile of useless metal.

After reading the last paragraph, you can be very indignant and remind me of the invisible ones.

There is no stealth in space!

No, that is, it does not happen at all, period. The point here is not in stealth radio and stylish black color, but in the second law of thermodynamics, as discussed below. For example, the usual temperature of space is 3 Kelvin, the freezing point of water is 273 Kelvin. The spaceship glows with warmth like a Christmas tree and nothing can be done about it, nothing at all. For example, the Shuttle's thrusters are visible from a distance of approximately 2 astronomical units, or 299 million kilometers. There is no way to hide the exhaust of your engines, and if the enemy's sensors saw it, then you are in big trouble. From the exhaust of your ship, you can determine:

1. Your course
2. Weight of the ship
3. engine thrust
4. engine's type
5. Engine power
6. Ship acceleration
7. jet mass flow
8. Expiration rate

It's not like Star Trek, is it?

Spaceships need portholes just like submarines.

Portholes weaken the rigidity of the hull, transmit radiation, and are vulnerable to damage. Human eyes in space can't see much, visible light constitutes a tiny part of the entire spectrum electromagnetic radiation, with which space is filled, and battles will take place at colossal distances and the enemy’s window can only be seen through a telescope.



. But it is quite possible to go blind from the hit of an enemy laser. Modern screens are quite suitable for simulating windows of absolutely any size, and if necessary, a computer can show something that the human eye cannot see, for example, some kind of nebula or galaxy.

There is no sound in space.

First, what is sound? Sound is elastic waves of mechanical vibrations in a liquid solid or gaseous medium. And since there is nothing in a vacuum, and there is no sound? Well, partly true, in space you will not hear ordinary sounds, but outer space is not empty. For example, at a distance of 400 thousand kilometers from the earth (lunar orbit), an average of seven million particles per cubic meter.

The vacuum is empty.

Oh forget about it. In our universe with its laws, this cannot be. First of all, what is meant by vacuum? There is a technical vacuum, physical, false, Einsteinian vacuum. For example, if you create a container from an absolutely impenetrable substance, remove absolutely all matter from it and create a vacuum there, then the container will still be filled with radiation like electromagnetic and other fundamental interactions.

Okay, but if you shield the container, what then? Of course, it’s not entirely clear to me how gravity can be screened, but let’s say. Even then the container will not be empty, virtual quantum particles and fluctuations will constantly appear and disappear in it throughout the volume. Yes, just like that, they appear from nowhere and disappear into nowhere - quantum physics absolutely spit on your logic and common sense. These particles and fluctuations are irremovable. Do these particles exist physically or is it just mathematical model is an open question, but these particles create quite real effects.

What the hell is the temperature in a vacuum?

Interplanetary space has a temperature of about 3 degrees Kelvin due to CMB, of course, the temperature rises near the stars. This mysterious radiation is an echo of the Big Bang, its echo. It has spread throughout the universe and its temperature is measured using a "black body" and black scientific magic. It is interesting that the coldest point of our Universe is located in the earth's laboratory, its temperature is 0.000 000 000 1 To or zero point one billionth of a degree Kelvin. Why not zero? Absolute zero is unreachable in our universe.

Radiators in space

I was very surprised that some do not understand how radiators work in space and "Why are they needed, it's cold in space." It is really cold in space, but vacuum is an ideal heat insulator and one of the main problems of a spaceship is how not to melt itself. Radiators lose energy due to radiation - they glow with thermal radiation and cool, like any object in our universe with a temperature above absolute zero. I remind especially smart people that heat cannot be converted into electricity, heat cannot be converted into anything at all. According to the second law of thermodynamics, heat cannot be destroyed, transformed or absorbed without a trace, only taken to another place. Thermoelectric generator converts into electricity temperature difference, and since its efficiency is far from 100%, then you will have even more heat than it was originally.

On the ISS, anti-gravity / no gravity / microgravity?

There is no anti-gravity, no microgravity, no lack of gravity on the ISS - all these are delusions. The force of attraction at the station is approximately 93% of the force of gravity on the Earth's surface. How do they fly there? If the cable breaks off at the elevator, then everyone inside will experience the same thing. How many people, after watching enough films, think: “If I were on the moon, I could lift multi-ton cobblestones with one hand.” So forget about it. Let's take some five kilogram gaming laptop. The weight of this laptop is the force with which it presses on a support, on the skinny knees of a bespectacled nerd for example. Mass is how much substance is in this laptop and it is always and everywhere constant, except that it does not move, relative to you, at a speed close to light.

On Earth, a laptop weighs 5 kg, 830 grams on the Moon, 1.89 kg on Mars and zero aboard the ISS, but the mass will be five kilograms everywhere. Also, mass determines the amount of energy required to change the position in space of an object that has this same mass. To budge a 10 ton stone, you need to spend a colossal, by human standards, amount of energy, it's like pushing a huge Boeing on the runway. And if you, annoyed, kick this ill-fated stone out of anger, then, as an object of a much smaller mass, you will fly far, far away. The force of action is equal to the reaction, remember?

Without a spacesuit in space

Despite the name “explosive decompression”, there will be no explosion, and without a spacesuit, you can stay in space for about ten seconds and not even get permanent damage. In case of depressurization, saliva from the mouth will instantly evaporate in a person, all the air will fly out of the lungs, stomach and intestines - yes, the fart will bomb very notably. Most likely, the astronaut will die from asphyxiation before from radiation, or decompression. In total, you can live for about a minute.

You need fuel to fly in space.

The presence of fuel on the ship is a necessary but not sufficient condition. People often confuse fuel and reaction mass. How many times do I see in movies and games: “Low fuel”, “Captain, running out of fuel”, the fuel indicator is at zero” - No! Spaceships these are not cars, where you can fly does not depend on the amount of fuel.

The force of action is equal to the reaction, and in order to fly forward, you need to throw something back with force. What the rocket throws out of the nozzle is called the reaction mass, and the source of energy for all this action is the fuel. For example, in an ion engine, the fuel will be electricity, the reaction mass will be argon gas, in a nuclear engine, uranium will be the fuel, and hydrogen will be the reaction mass. All the confusion is due to chemical rockets, where fuel and reaction mass are the same, but no one in their right mind would think of flying on chemical fuel beyond lunar orbit due to very low efficiency.

There is no maximum flight distance

There is no friction in space, and the maximum speed of a ship is only limited by the speed of light. While the engines are running, the spacecraft picks up speed, when they turn off - it will maintain the gained speed until you start to accelerate in the other direction. Therefore, it makes no sense to talk about the flight range, having accelerated, you will fly until the Universe dies, well, or until you crash into a planet or worse.

You can fly to Alpha Centauri even now, in a couple of million years we will fly. By the way, you can slow down in space only by turning the ship with the engine forward, giving gas, braking in space is called acceleration in the opposite direction. But be careful - in order to slow down from, say, 10 km/s to zero, you need to spend the same amount of time and energy as accelerating to these same 10 km/s. In other words - accelerated, but in the tanks of fuel / reaction mass is not enough for braking? Then you are doomed and will fly through the galaxy until the end of time.

Aliens have nothing to mine on our planet!

There are no elements on earth that could not be dug up in the nearest asteroid belt. Yes, our planet does not even come close to having anything at least somewhat unique. For example, water is the most common substance in the universe. Life? Jupiter's moons Europa and Enceladus may well support life. No one will be dragged across the floor of the galaxy for the sake of pathetic humanity. What for? If it is enough to build a mining station on the nearest uninhabited planet or asteroid, and you don’t have to go to distant lands.

Well, everything seems to have been sorted out with delusions, and if I missed something, I will explain it next time.

Image copyright Thinkstock

The current speed record in space has been held for 46 years. The correspondent wondered when he would be beaten.

We humans are obsessed with speed. So, only in the last few months it became known that students in Germany set a speed record for an electric car, and the US Air Force plans to improve hypersonic aircraft in such a way that they develop speeds five times the speed of sound, i.e. over 6100 km/h.

Such planes will not have a crew, but not because people cannot move at such a high speed. In fact, people have already moved at speeds that are several times faster than the speed of sound.

However, is there a limit beyond which our rapidly rushing bodies will no longer be able to withstand overloads?

The current speed record is equally held by three astronauts who participated in the Apollo 10 space mission - Tom Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan.

In 1969, when the astronauts flew around the moon and returned back, the capsule they were in reached a speed that on Earth would be equal to 39.897 km / h.

"I think that a hundred years ago we could hardly have imagined that a person could travel in space at a speed of almost 40 thousand kilometers per hour," says Jim Bray of the aerospace concern Lockheed Martin.

Bray is the director of the habitable module project for the promising Orion spacecraft, which is being developed by the US Space Agency NASA.

As conceived by the developers, the Orion spacecraft - multi-purpose and partially reusable - should take astronauts into low Earth orbit. It may well be that with its help it will be possible to break the speed record set for a person 46 years ago.

New super-heavy rocket included in the System space launches(Space Launch System), should, according to the plan, make its first manned flight in 2021. This will be a flyby of an asteroid in lunar orbit.

The average person can handle about five G's before passing out.

Then months-long expeditions to Mars should follow. Now, according to the designers, the usual maximum speed of the Orion should be approximately 32,000 km/h. However, the speed that Apollo 10 has developed can be surpassed even if the basic configuration of the Orion spacecraft is maintained.

"The Orion is designed to fly to a variety of targets throughout its lifetime," says Bray. "It could be much faster than what we currently plan."

But even "Orion" will not represent the peak of human speed potential. "Basically, there is no other limit to the speed at which we can travel other than the speed of light," says Bray.

The speed of light is one billion km/h. Is there any hope that we will be able to bridge the gap between 40,000 km/h and these values?

Surprisingly, speed as a vector quantity denoting the speed of movement and the direction of movement is not a problem for people in physical sense as long as it is relatively constant and directed in one direction.

Therefore, people - theoretically - can move in space only slightly slower than the "velocity limit of the universe", i.e. the speed of light.

But even assuming we overcome the significant technological hurdles associated with building fast spacecraft, our fragile, mostly water bodies will face new dangers from the effects of high speed.

There could be, for now, only imaginary dangers if humans could travel faster than the speed of light through exploiting loopholes in modern physics or through discoveries that break the pattern.

How to withstand overload

However, if we intend to travel at speeds in excess of 40,000 km/h, we will have to reach it and then slow down, slowly and with patience.

Rapid acceleration and equally rapid deceleration are fraught with mortal danger to the human body. This is evidenced by the severity of bodily injuries resulting from car accidents, in which the speed drops from several tens of kilometers per hour to zero.

What is the reason for this? In that property of the Universe, which is called inertia or ability physical body, which has mass, to resist a change in its state of rest or movement in the absence or compensation of external influences.

This idea is formulated in Newton's first law, which states: "Every body continues to be held in its state of rest or uniform and rectilinear motion, until and insofar as it is forced by applied forces to change this state."

We humans are able to endure huge G-forces without serious injury, however, only for a few moments.

"The state of rest and movement at a constant speed is normal for the human body, - explains Bray. - We should rather worry about the state of the person at the time of acceleration."

About a century ago, the development of durable aircraft that could maneuver at speed led pilots to report strange symptoms caused by changes in speed and direction of flight. These symptoms included temporary loss of vision and a feeling of either heaviness or weightlessness.

The reason is the g-forces, measured in units of G, which is the ratio of linear acceleration to acceleration free fall on the Earth's surface under the influence of attraction or gravity. These units reflect the effect of free fall acceleration on the mass of, for example, the human body.

An overload of 1 G is equal to the weight of a body that is in the Earth's gravity field and is attracted to the center of the planet at a speed of 9.8 m/sec (at sea level).

G-forces that a person experiences vertically from head to toe or vice versa are truly bad news for pilots and passengers.

With negative overloads, i.e. slowing down, blood rushes from the toes to the head, there is a feeling of oversaturation, as in a handstand.

"Red veil" (the feeling that a person experiences when blood rushes to the head) occurs when the blood-swollen, translucent lower eyelids rise and close the pupils of the eyes.

Conversely, during acceleration or positive g-forces, blood drains from the head to the legs, the eyes and brain begin to experience a lack of oxygen, as blood accumulates in the lower extremities.

At first, vision becomes cloudy, i.e. there is a loss of color vision and rolls, as they say, a "gray veil", then a complete loss of vision or a "black veil" occurs, but the person remains conscious.

Excessive overloads lead to complete loss of consciousness. This condition is called congestion-induced syncope. Many pilots died due to the fact that a "black veil" fell over their eyes - and they crashed.

The average person can handle about five G's before passing out.

Pilots, dressed in special anti-G overalls and trained in a special way to tense and relax the muscles of the torso so that the blood does not drain from the head, are able to control the aircraft with overloads of about nine Gs.

Upon reaching a steady cruising speed of 26,000 km/h in orbit, astronauts experience no more speed than commercial airline passengers.

"For short periods of time human body can withstand much higher g-forces than nine Gs, says Jeff Sventek, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia. “But very few people can withstand high G-forces for a long period of time.”

We humans are able to endure enormous G-forces without serious injury, but only for a few moments.

The short-term endurance record was set by US Air Force Captain Eli Bieding Jr. at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. In 1958, when braking on a special rocket-powered sled, after accelerating to 55 km / h in 0.1 second, he experienced an overload of 82.3 G.

This result was recorded by an accelerometer attached to his chest. Beeding's eyes were also covered with a "black veil", but he escaped with only bruises during this outstanding demonstration of the endurance of the human body. True, after the arrival, he spent three days in the hospital.

And now to space

Astronauts, depending on the vehicle, also experienced fairly high g-forces - from three to five Gs - during takeoffs and during re-entry into the atmosphere, respectively.

These g-forces are relatively easy to bear, thanks to the clever idea of ​​strapping space travelers into seats in a prone position facing the direction of flight.

Once they reach a steady cruising speed of 26,000 km/h in orbit, astronauts experience no more speed than passengers on commercial flights.

If overloads will not be a problem for long-term expeditions on the Orion spacecraft, then with small space rocks - micrometeorites - everything is more difficult.

These particles the size of a grain of rice can reach impressive yet destructive speeds of up to 300,000 km/h. To ensure the integrity of the ship and the safety of its crew, Orion is equipped with an external protective layer, the thickness of which varies from 18 to 30 cm.

In addition, additional shielding shields are provided, as well as ingenious placement of equipment inside the ship.

"In order not to lose the flight systems that are vital to the entire spacecraft, we must accurately calculate the angles of approach of micrometeorites," says Jim Bray.

Rest assured, micrometeorites are not the only hindrance to space missions, during which high human flight speeds in vacuum will play an increasingly important role.

During the expedition to Mars, other practical tasks will also have to be solved, for example, to supply the crew with food and counteract the increased risk of cancer due to the effects of cosmic radiation on the human body.

Reducing travel time will lessen the severity of such problems, so that speed of travel will become increasingly desirable.

Next generation spaceflight

This need for speed will put new obstacles in the way of space travelers.

New NASA spacecraft that threaten to break Apollo 10's speed record will still rely on time-tested chemistry systems rocket engines used since the first space flights. But these systems have severe speed limits due to the release of small amounts of energy per unit of fuel.

The most preferred, albeit elusive, source of energy for a fast spacecraft is antimatter, a twin and antipode of ordinary matter.

Therefore, in order to significantly increase the speed of flight for people going to Mars and beyond, scientists recognize that completely new approaches are needed.

"The systems that we have today are quite capable of getting us there," says Bray, "but we all would like to witness a revolution in engines."

Eric Davis, lead research physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Austin, Texas, and member of NASA's Motion Physics Breakthrough Program, six-year-old research project, which ended in 2002, identified the three most promising means, from the point of view of traditional physics, that can help humanity achieve speeds that are reasonably sufficient for interplanetary travel.

In short, we are talking about the phenomena of energy release during the splitting of matter, thermonuclear fusion and annihilation of antimatter.

The first method is atomic fission and is used in commercial nuclear reactors.

The second, thermonuclear fusion, is the creation of heavier atoms from simpler atoms, the kind of reactions that power the sun. This is a technology that fascinates, but is not given to the hands; until it is "always 50 years away" - and always will be, as the old motto of this industry says.

"These are very advanced technologies," says Davis, "but they are based on traditional physics and have been firmly established since the dawn of the Atomic Age." According to optimistic estimates, propulsion systems based on the concepts of atomic fission and thermonuclear fusion, in theory, are capable of accelerating a ship to 10% of the speed of light, i.e. up to a very worthy 100 million km / h.

The most preferred, albeit elusive, source of energy for a fast spacecraft is antimatter, the twin and antipode of ordinary matter.

When two kinds of matter come into contact, they annihilate each other, resulting in the release of pure energy.

The technologies to produce and store - so far extremely small - amounts of antimatter already exist today.

At the same time, the production of antimatter in useful quantities will require new next-generation special capacities, and engineering will have to enter into a competitive race to create an appropriate spacecraft.

But, Davies says, a lot of great ideas are already on the drawing boards.

Spaceships propelled by antimatter energy will be able to accelerate for months and even years and reach greater percentages of the speed of light.

At the same time, overloads on board will remain acceptable for the inhabitants of the ships.

At the same time, such fantastic new speeds will be fraught with other dangers for the human body.

energy hail

At speeds of several hundred million kilometers per hour, any speck of dust in space, from dispersed hydrogen atoms to micrometeorites, inevitably becomes a high-energy bullet capable of piercing through a ship's hull.

"When you are moving at a very high speed, it means that the particles flying towards you are moving at the same speeds," says Arthur Edelstein.

Together with his late father, William Edelstein, professor of radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he worked on scientific work, which considered the consequences of the impact of cosmic hydrogen atoms (on people and equipment) during ultrafast space travel in space.

The hydrogen will begin to decompose into subatomic particles that will seep into the interior of the ship and expose both crew and equipment to radiation.

The Alcubierre engine will carry you like a surfer on a wave crest Eric Davies, research physicist

At 95% the speed of light, exposure to such radiation would mean almost instantaneous death.

The starship will heat up to melting temperatures that no conceivable material can resist, and the water contained in the crew members' bodies will immediately boil.

"These are all extremely nasty problems," remarks Edelstein with grim humor.

He and his father estimated that in order to create some hypothetical magnetic shielding system capable of protecting the ship and its people from a deadly hydrogen rain, a starship could travel at a speed not exceeding half the speed of light. Then the people on board have a chance to survive.

Mark Millis, problem physicist forward movement, and former leader NASA's Breakthrough Motion Physics Program warns that this potential speed limit for spaceflight remains a problem for the distant future.

"Based physical knowledge accumulated to date, we can say that it will be extremely difficult to develop a speed above 10% of the speed of light, says Millis. “We are not in danger yet. A simple analogy: why worry that we might drown if we haven't even entered the water yet."

Faster than light?

If we assume that we, so to speak, have learned to swim, can we then master the gliding through space time - if we develop this analogy further - and fly at superluminal speed?

The hypothesis of an innate ability to survive in a superluminal environment, although doubtful, is not without certain glimpses of educated enlightenment in pitch darkness.

One of these intriguing modes of travel is based on technologies similar to those used in the "warp drive" or "warp drive" from Star Trek.

Known as the "Alcubierre Engine"* (named after the Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre), this propulsion system works by allowing the ship to compress the normal space-time described by Albert Einstein in front of it and expand it behind myself.

In essence, the ship moves in a certain volume of space-time, a kind of "curvature bubble", which moves faster than the speed of light.

Thus, the ship remains stationary in normal space-time in this "bubble" without being deformed and avoiding violations of the universal speed limit of light.

"Instead of floating through the waters of normal space-time," says Davis, "the Alcubierre engine will carry you like a surfer on a board on the crest of a wave."

There is also a certain trick here. To implement this idea, an exotic form of matter is needed, which has a negative mass in order to compress and expand space-time.

"Physics does not contain any contraindications regarding negative mass," says Davis, "but there are no examples of it, and we have never seen it in nature."

There is another trick. In a paper published in 2012, researchers at the University of Sydney speculated that the "warp bubble" would accumulate high-energy cosmic particles as it inevitably began to interact with the contents of the universe.

Some of the particles will get inside the bubble itself and pump the ship with radiation.

Stuck at sub-light speeds?

Are we really doomed to get stuck at the stage of sub-light speeds because of our delicate biology?!

It's not so much about setting a new world (galactic?) speed record for a person, but about the prospect of turning humanity into an interstellar society.

At half the speed of light - which is the limit Edelstein's research suggests our bodies can withstand - a round-trip journey to the nearest star would take more than 16 years.

(The effects of time dilation, under which the crew of a starship in its coordinate system will pass less time than for people remaining on Earth in their coordinate system, will not lead to dramatic consequences at half the speed of light).

Mark Millis is full of hope. Considering that humanity has developed anti-g suits and protection against micrometeorites, allowing people to safely travel in the great blue distance and the star-studded blackness of space, he is confident that we can find ways to survive, no matter how fast we reach in the future.

"The same technologies that can help us achieve incredible new speeds of travel," Millis muses, "will provide us with new, as yet unknown, capabilities to protect crews."

Translator's notes:

*Miguel Alcubierre came up with the idea of ​​his "bubble" in 1994. And in 1995, Russian theoretical physicist Sergei Krasnikov proposed the concept of a device for space travel faster than the speed of light. The idea was called "Krasnikov's pipes".

This is an artificial curvature of space-time according to the principle of the so-called wormhole. Hypothetically, the ship will move in a straight line from the Earth to a given star through curved space-time, passing through other dimensions.

According to Krasnikov's theory, the space traveler will return back at the same time that he set off.