ASSIGNMENT (HU102)

2nd Semester (B4)

2015-16

Communication Skills
Topic : The Future of Space Technology and
Exploration.

Submitted by
PRIYESH
DTU/2K15/B4/567

CONTENT
1. Acknowledgment....................................................1
2. Introduction.............................................................2
3. Space Technologies.................................................4
3.1. Satellite Technology.....................................
3.2. Space Exploration Technology
3.3. Space Flight Technology
4. Future Space Technology
5. References and Bibliography.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who
provided me the possibility to complete this assignment. In addition, a
thank you to Professor "Parinita Sinha, who introduced us to the
Methodology of work, and whose passion for the underlying
structures had lasting effect
Finally, an honourable mention goes to our families and friends for
their understandings and supports on us in completing this project.
Without helps of the particular that mentioned above, we would face
many difficulties while doing this.

Introduction
In this vast universe, which is full of unprecedented possibilities and unspoken mysteries.
We, human being live on a small life supporting planet called Earth, which is nothing on a
scale compared to the known size of the observable universe, yet seeking out the pearl of
knowledge from the vast possibilities that are dormant in our universe.
"A small step for a man, but a big leap for mankind" as quoted by Neil Armstrong, the first
man to land on moon representing the whole humanity beyond the confinement of mother
earth's womb.
Since then human race has come a long way in terms of space technology and exploration.
Nowadays, we are searching for new home around our solar system for setting up new
colonies, setting up satellites, developing GPS, predicting weather etc.
With advancement in technology human species is growing faster in terms of exploring
terrestrial and extra-terrestrial environment, research is going on to develop methods for
extracting valuable minerals from asteroids and meteoroids through meteor mining, with
rapid growth of population the resources available on earth is getting exhausted at a rapid
rate, work is going on towards developing technology for efficient storage of solar energy
through SBSP or satellite based solar power. From past space advents, we know that in our
solar system there are some planets where there is large abundance of crude oil and
inflammable chemicals like methane is there which if extracted economically can cater future
requirements of energy on our planet. Space exploration is also very important in perspective
of dormant space threats like collisions from space debris, interference of solar wind from
earth's atmosphere, gamma ray bursts etc. Setting up of dedicated satellite network around
earth's orbit for navigation, broadcasting, surveillance, weather prediction, telescoping into
deep space etc. One of the prominent accomplishment in cosmic advents is of looking into
the past using satellite telescopes operating at visible light and radio wave frequencies, giving
us more insight in understanding physics that governs motion in universe as well as of its
creation itself. For example, Hubble's Deep Space telescope uses radio waves to map its
nearby surrounding thus extending its horizons to look deeper into the space both in terms of
distance and time. Future space technology is also dedicated in searching alien life forms on
distant planets and their satellites, testing the extraterrestrial environment for life supporting
elements like oxygen, water (in liquid state) adequate temperature etc. For example scientists
and astronomers have predicted presence of liquid water beneath the frozen icy surface of
Europa (natural satellite of Jupiter) and claims that there could be marine life forms existing
under the surface. Space exploration and technology is in its rapid growth stage that we can
expect in coming few decades non-astronaut citizen flying aboard the space shuttle for
cosmic tour, colonization on other planets, space internet and many more possibilities being
shaped into reality.

Space technology
Technology developed by space science or the aerospace industry for use
in spaceflight, satellites, or space exploration. Space technology includes spacecraft,
satellites, space stations, and support infrastructure, equipment, and procedures. Space is such
a novel environment that attempting to work in it requires new tools and techniques. Many
common everyday services such as weather forecasting, remote
sensing, GPS systems, satellite television, and some long distance communications systems
critically rely on space infrastructure. Of the sciences, astronomy and Earth
science (via remote sensing) benefit from space technology. New technologies originating
with or accelerated by space-related endeavours are often subsequently exploited in other
economic activities.

Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an artificial object which has been intentionally
placed into orbit. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them
from natural satellites such as Earth's Moon.
The world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
Since then, thousands of satellites have been launched into orbit around the Earth. Some
satellites, notably space stations, have been launched in parts and assembled in orbit.
Artificial satellites originate from more than 40 countries and have used the satellite
launching capabilities of ten nations. About a thousand satellites are currently operational,
whereas thousands of unused satellites and satellite fragments orbit the Earth as space debris.
A few space probes have been placed into orbit around other bodies and become artificial
satellites to the Moon,Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Vesta, Eros, Ceres, and the Sun.
Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include military and
civilian Earth observation satellites, communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather
satellites, and research satellites. Space stations and human spacecraft in orbit are also
satellites. Satellite orbits vary greatly, depending on the purpose of the satellite, and are
classified in a number of ways. Well-known (overlapping) classes include low Earth
orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary orbit.
About 6,600 satellites have been launched. The latest estimates are that 3,600 remain in orbit.
[2]
Of those, about 1,000 are operational;[3][4] the rest have lived out their useful lives and are
part of the space debris. Approximately 500 operational satellites are in low-Earth orbit, 50
are in medium-Earth orbit (at 20,000 km), the rest are in geostationary orbit (at 36,000 km).[5]
Satellites are propelled by rockets to their orbits. Usually the launch vehicle itself is a rocket
lifting off from a launch pad on land. In a minority of cases satellites are launched at sea
(from a submarine or a mobile maritime platform) or aboard a plane (see air launch to orbit).
Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. Satellite subsystems
attend many tasks, such as power generation, thermal control, telemetry, attitude control and
orbit control.

Types of satellites

Communications satellite

Direct-broadcast satellite

Earth observation satellite

Geosynchronous satellite

Military satellite

Navigation satellite

Telecommunications satellite

Tracking and data relay satellite

Weather satellite

Reconnaissance satellite

Specific satellites

List of Earth observation satellites

List of satellites in geosynchronous orbit

List of satellites which have provided data on Earth's magnetosphere

Satellite orbit

Artificial satellites in retrograde orbit

Satellite-based services

Satellite navigation

Satellite radio

Satellite television

Artificial satellites are rarely placed in retrograde orbit.[1][2] This is partly due to the extra
velocity (and fuel[3]) required to go against the direction of the rotation of the Earth.
Most commercial Earth observing satellites use retrograde sun-synchronous orbits to ensure
observations are performed at the same local time each pass of any given location,[4] while
almost all communication satellites use pro-grade orbits.[5]
Israel has successfully launched seven Ofeq satellites in retrograde orbit aboard
a Shavit launcher. These reconnaissance satellites complete one Earth orbit every 90 minutes
and initially make a half-dozen or so daylight passes per day over Israel and the surrounding
countries though this optimal sun synchronized orbit degrades after several months. They
were launched in retrograde orbit so that launch debris would land in the Mediterranean Sea,
and not over populated neighboring countries on an eastward flight path.[6][7]
The USA launched two Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) radar satellites into 122 degree
inclined retrograde orbits in 2010 and 2012. The use of a retrograde orbit suggest these
satellites employ SAR techniques.[3]
Earth-observing satellites may also be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit, which is
slightly retrograde.[8] This is typically done in order to keep a constant surface illumination
angle, which is useful for observations in the visible or infrared
spectrums. SEASAT andERS-1 are examples of satellites launched into sun-synchronous
orbits for this reason.

Space exploration technology

Aerobot

An aerobot is an aerial robot, usually used in the context of an unmanned space

probe or unmanned aerial vehicle.

While work has been done since the 1960s on robot "rovers" to explore the Moon and other
worlds in the Solar system, such machines have limitations. They tend to be expensive and
have limited range, and due to the communications time lags over interplanetary distances,
they have to be smart enough to navigate without disabling themselves.
For planets with atmospheres of any substance, however, there is an alternative: an
autonomous flying robot, or "aerobot".[1][2] Most aerobot concepts are based on aerostats,
primarily balloons, but occasionally airships. Flying above obstructions in the winds, a
balloon could explore large regions of a planet in great detail for relatively low cost.
Airplanes for planetary exploration have also been proposed.

Space flight technology

Ablative

Ablative heat shield (after use) on Apollo 12 capsule

The ablative heat shield functions by lifting the hot shock layer gas away from the heat
shield's outer wall (creating a cooler boundary layer). The boundary layer comes
from blowing of gaseous reaction products from the heat shield material and provides
protection against all forms of heat flux. The overall process of reducing the heat flux
experienced by the heat shield's outer wall by way of a boundary layer is called blockage.
Ablation occurs at two levels in an ablative TPS: the outer surface of the TPS material chars,
melts, and sublimes, while the bulk of the TPS material undergoes pyrolysis and expels
product gases. The gas produced by pyrolysis is what drives blowing and causes blockage of
convective and catalytic heat flux. Pyrolysis can be measured in real time
using thermogravimetric analysis, so that the ablative performance can be evaluated.
[17]
Ablation can also provide blockage against radiative heat flux by introducing carbon into
the shock layer thus making it optically opaque. Radiative heat flux blockage was the primary
thermal protection mechanism of the Galileo Probe TPS material (carbon phenolic). Carbon
phenolic was originally developed as a rocket nozzle throat material (used in the Space
Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster) and for re-entry vehicle nose tips.
Early research on ablation technology in the USA was centered at NASA's Ames Research
Center located at Moffett Field, California. Ames Research Center was ideal, since it had
numerous wind tunnels capable of generating varying wind velocities. Initial experiments
typically mounted a mock-up of the ablative material to be analyzed within
a hypersonic wind tunnel.[18] Testing of ablative materials occurs at the Ames Arc Jet

Complex. Many spacecraft thermal protection systems have been tested in this facility,
including the Apollo, space shuttle, and Orion heat shield materials.

Mars Pathfinder during final assembly showing the aeroshell, cruise ring and solid rocket
motor
The thermal conductivity of a particular TPS material is usually proportional to the material's
density. Carbon phenolic is a very effective ablative material, but also has high density which
is undesirable. If the heat flux experienced by an entry vehicle is insufficient to cause
pyrolysis then the TPS material's conductivity could allow heat flux conduction into the TPS
bondline material thus leading to TPS failure. Consequently, for entry trajectories causing
lower heat flux, carbon phenolic is sometimes inappropriate and lower density TPS materials
such as the following examples can be better design choices:

Aerobraking
Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical
orbit (apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of
the orbit (periapsis). The resulting drag slows thespacecraft. Aerobraking is used when a
spacecraft requires a low orbit after arriving at a body with an atmosphere, and it requires less
fuel than does the direct use of a rocket engine.

Booster (rocketry)
A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a
shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment
the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability. (Boosters used in this way are
frequently designated "zero stages".) Boosters are traditionally necessary to
launch spacecraft into low Earth orbit (absent a single-stage-to-orbit design), and are
certainly necessary for a space vehicle to go beyond Earth orbit. The booster is dropped to
fall back to Earth once its fuel is expended, a point known as booster engine cutoff (BECO). The rest of the launch vehicle continues flight with its core or upper-stage
engines. The booster may be recovered and reused, as in the case of the Space Shuttle.

Strap-on boosters are sometimes used to augment the payload or range capability of jet
aircraft (usually military).

Future space technologies

Asteroid mining technology

Single-stage-to-orbit

Space-based solar power

Non-rocket space launch

Space manufacturing technology

Asteroid mining

Artist's concept of asteroid mining

433 Eros is a stony asteroid in a near-Earth orbit

Asteroid mining is the exploitation of raw materials from asteroids and other minor planets,
including near-Earth objects.[1] Minerals and volatiles could be mined from an asteroid or
spent comet then used in space for in-situ utilization (e.g. construction materials and rocket
propellant) or taken back to Earth. These
include gold, iridium, silver, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and
tungsten for transport back to

Earth; iron, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, aluminium, and titanium for
construction; water and oxygen to sustain astronauts; as well as hydrogen, ammonia, and
oxygen for use as rocket propellant.
Due to the high costs of current space transportation, extraction techniques still being
developed and lingering uncertainties about target selection, terrestrial mining is currently the
only means of raw mineral acquisition today. This situation is likely to change in the future
as resources on Earth are becoming increasingly scarce and the full potentials of asteroid
mining and space exploration are researched in greater detail. However, there is no guarantee
asteroid mining will ever attain the volume needed to fully compensate for dwindling
terrestrial reserves.

Single-stage-to-orbit

The VentureStar was a proposed SSTO spaceplane.

A single-stage-to-orbit (or SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body without
jettisoning hardware, expending only propellants and fluids. The term usually, but not
exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles.[1]No Earth-launched SSTO launch vehicles have ever
been constructed. To date, orbital launches have been performed either by multi-stage fully or
partially expendable rockets, the Space Shuttle having both attributes.
Launch costs for low Earth orbit (LEO) range from $4500 to $8500 per pound
of payload ($10,000$19,000 / kg).[2] Reusable SSTO vehicles offer the promise of reduced
launch expenses by eliminating recurring costs associated with hardware replacement
inherent in expendable launch systems. However, the nonrecurring costs associated with
design, development, research and engineering (DDR&E) of reusable SSTO systems are
much higher than expendable systems due to the substantial technical challenges of SSTO.[3]
It is considered to be marginally possible to launch a single stage to orbit chemicallyfueled spacecraft from Earth. The principal complicating factors for SSTO from Earth are:
high orbital velocity of over 7,400 metres per second (27,000 km/h; 17,000 mph); the need to
overcome Earth's gravity, especially in the early stages of flight; and flight within Earth's

atmosphere, which limits speed in the early stages of flight and influences engine
performance.
Notable single stage to orbit research spacecraft include Skylon, the DC-X, the Lockheed
Martin X-33, and the Roton SSTO. However, despite showing some promise, none of them
has come close to achieving orbit yet due to problems with finding the most efficient
propulsion system.[1]
Single-stage-to-orbit has been achieved from the Moon by both the Apollo program's Lunar
Module and several robotic spacecraft of the Soviet Luna program; the lower lunar gravity
and absence of any significant atmosphere makes this much easier than from Earth.

Space-based solar power

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in space (using an
"SPS", that is, a "solar-power satellite" or a "satellite power system") for use on Earth. It has
been in research since the early 1970s.
SBSP would differ from current solar collection methods in that the means used to
collect energy would reside on an orbiting satellite instead of on Earth's surface. Some
projected benefits of such a system are a higher collection rate and a longer collection period
due to the lack of a diffusing atmosphere and night time in space.
Part of the solar energy (5560%) is lost on its way through the atmosphere by the effects
of reflection and absorption. Space-based solar power systems convert sunlight to
microwaves outside the atmosphere, avoiding these losses, and the downtime (and cosine
losses, for fixed flat-plate collectors) due to the Earth's rotation.
Besides the cost of implementing such a system, SBSP also introduces several new hurdles,
primarily the problem of transmitting energy from orbit to Earth's surface for use. Since wires
extending from Earth's surface to an orbiting satellite are neither practical nor feasible with
current technology, SBSP designs generally include the use of some manner of wireless

power transmission. The collecting satellite would convert solar energy into electrical energy
on board, powering a microwave transmitter or laser emitter, and focus its beam toward a
collector (rectenna) on Earth's surface. Radiation and micrometeoroid damage could also
become concerns for SBSP.

Non-rocket space launch

It refers to concepts for launch into space where some or all of the needed speed and altitude
are provided by something other than expendable rockets. A number of alternatives to
expendable rockets have been proposed. In some systems such as skyhook, rocket sled
launch, rockoon and air launch, a rocket is used to reach orbit, but it is only "part" of the
system.
Present-day launch costs are very high $10,000 to $25,000 per kilogram from Earth to low
Earth orbit (LEO). As a result, launch costs are a large percentage of the cost of all space
endeavors. If launch costs can be made cheaper the total cost of space missions will be
reduced. Fortunately, due to the exponential nature of the rocket equation, providing even a
small amount of the velocity to LEO by other means has the potential of greatly reducing the
cost of getting to orbit.
Getting launch costs down into the hundreds of dollars per kilogram range would make many
of the proposed large-scale space projects such as space colonization, space-based solar
power and terraforming Mars possible.

Space Manufacturing

Growth of protein crystals from liquid in outer space: the top part shows a syringe with
extruded protein droplet.

Crystals grown by American scientists on the Russian Space Station Mir in 1995: (a)
rhombohedral canavalin, (b) creatine kinase, (c)lysozyme, (d) beef catalase, (e) porcine alpha
centauri, (f) fungal catalase, (g) myglobin, (h) concanavalin B, (i)thaumatin, (j) apoferritin,
(k) satellite tobacco mosaic virus and (l) hexagonal canavalin.

Comparison of insulin crystals growth in outer space (left) and on Earth (right).

Space manufacturing
It is the production of manufactured goods in an environment outside a planetary atmosphere.
Typically this includes conditions of microgravity and hard vacuum. Manufacturing in space
has several potential advantages over Earth-based industry.
1. The unique environment can allow for industrial processes that cannot be readily
reproduced on Earth.

2. Raw materials could be lifted to orbit from other bodies within the solar system and
processed at a low expense compared to the cost of lifting materials into orbit from
Earth.
3. Potentially hazardous processes can be performed in space with minimal risk to the
environment of the Earth or other planets.
4. Items too large to launch on a rocket can be assembled in orbit for use in orbit.

The space environment is expected to be beneficial for production of a variety of products.

Once the heavy capitalization costs of assembling the mining and manufacturing facilities is
paid, the production will need to be economically profitable in order to become selfsustaining and beneficial to society. The most significant cost is overcoming the energy
hurdle for boosting materials into orbit. Once this barrier is significantly reduced in cost per
kilogram, the entry price for space manufacturing can make it much more attractive to
entrepreneurs.

Bibliography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_space_technology
Lindsey, Clark (2013-04-29). "SpaceX moving quickly towards fly-back first
stage". NewSpace Watch. Retrieved 2013-03-29.

Race2Space.org - Advancing the Privatization of Space Travel 2006, Race2Space, in

partnership with the X Prize foundation, is seeking sponsorship in order to support the
privatization of space travel, research, and exploration for the upcoming Lunar
Landing Challenge Contestants October 2006."

Space Shuttle - News and features about NASA research, aimed at the general public.
Includes sections on astronomy, space science, beyond rocketry, living in space

A Step Guide on Space Technology - Talent Leopard