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FOREWORD
The author woul d like to tha n k many people for the i r con
tributions to tbrs book: fi rst of a l l , Carol ine Greenberg and
Remo Cosenti no at Golden Press for the i r ti reless help,
expertise, and friendship; colleagues Bon ny Lee Michaelson,
Dr. Robert E . Murph-y of NASA, Frederick I. Ordway, I l l , lan
Pryke of ESA; Leo n a rd David, Dr. Glen P . Wilson, a n d
com mercial"a stronaut Charles Wal ker for thei r assistance;
other colleagues on the Boa rd of Di rectors a n d the staff of
the National Space Society; Ron Miller for his a rtistic con
tributions; and the people at the photo l ibraries of NASA
Headquarters, Johnson Space Center, and Jet Propulsion Lab
oratory, as wel l a s others who suppl ied photographs and
assistance.
Finally, I would l i ke to express my i ndebtedness to the late
Dr. Wernher von Braun, whom I never quite had a chance to
meet, but whose i deas and writings, many years ago, rst inter
ested me in space exploration.
M.R.C.

1991 Western Publishin

B Company, Inc . Illustrations 1991 Ron M i ller. All rights

reserved, including rights ot reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including
the making of copies by any photo p rocess, or by any electronic or mechanical device, print
ed or written or oral, or recording for sound or v isual reproduction or for use in any knowl
edge retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is obtained from the copyri g ht
proprietor. Produced in the U .S.A. by Western Publishing Company, Inc . Published by
Golden Press, New York, N . Y. Library of Congress Ca!olog Card Number: 91070363. ISBN
0307-24078-9

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .......................... .. ... ....... ... ....... . . ..........5
.

..

..

HISTORY OF SPACE FLIGHT ........ .. .... .............. ..... .......... ........ .9

.

..

Early rockets; Spaceflight in science fiction; Space Age begins;

Manned spaceflight; Lunar exploration; Apollo program; Space sta
tions; Skylab; Planetary exploration
THE SOLAR SYSTEM ..... ..... .... . .... ........ . . ... ............ ........22
.

..

EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE ........... .... ..................

.

...... ...... .... .24

...

THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT ..... .. . ........... ... .. ............ ........26

.

..

SPACE MEDICINE ........... ... .... .... ................... ............... .. ..31

.

LIVING IN SPACE .................... .... ............ ... ............... ........34

.

SPACESUITS AND EVA ... ........ .... ......... .... . .......... ............37
.

ASTRONAUTS .......... ....

.

. . ..

...

..

... .... . ..... . ... .. ......... .. . .39

...

..

..

..

WHAT KEEPS A SATELLITE UP? .... ................ ................... ....41

.

Kepler's Laws; Orbits; Space navigation; Space tracking

ROCKET PRINCIPLES ......... .... .... ................ ............. , ..........52
..

U.S. ROCKETS ........ ............... ............. . .. .. .... .............. , ...57

.

Early rockets; Scout; Atlas; Delta; Titan; Space shuttle; Aerospace

plane; Agena; Centaur; Payload assist module; Transfer orbit stage
and advanced maneuvering stage; Inertial upper stage; Pegasus
SOVIET ROCKETS . ................. . .. .... ... ... ... .... . . .. ..... ... .77
.

..

..

A and B series; C and D series; F and J series; Energia; Space

shuttle and spaceplane
EUROPEAN ROCKETS... .......... .... . . .... ....... ....... . ... ...... .. 84
.

Ariane; HOTOL; Hermes; Sanger/Horus

JAPANESE ROCKETS

..............................................................

89

Lambda, Mu, and N series; H series

CHINESE ROCKETS

91

INDIAN ROCKETS

93

.................................................................

ISRAELI ROCKET

..................................................................

....................................................................

OUT TO LAUNCH

...................................................................

LAUNCH SITES

.......................................................................

94
95
98

Kennedy Space Center; Vandenberg Air Force Base; Wallops Island;

Plesetsk; Tyuratam; Kapustin Yar; Tanegashima; Kagoshima; Jiuquan;
Xichang; Guiana Space Center; Sriharikota; San Marco; Esrange
SATELLITES

114

..........................................................................

Anatomy of a satellite; Research and applications satellites; Hubble

Space Telescope; Galilee; AXAF; Ulysses; Phobos; CRAF; Commu
nications satellites; Remote sensing satellites; Landsat; Spot; GOES;
NOAA; Navstar; Manufacturing in microgravity
1 40

MIR SPACE STATION

............................................................

U.S. SPACE STATION

1 42

...........................................................

MILITARY USES OF SPACE

144

....................................................

1 49
Lunar bases; Mission to Mars; Asteroid mining; Space settlements;

FUTURE SPACE MISSIONS

..... ...............................................

Solar sails; Starflight

1 55
Space organizations; NASA facilities; Space museums and exhibits;

ORGANIZATIONS AND RESOURCES

.....................................

Books and magazines; Photo credits

INDEX

1 57

.................................................................................

IN TROD UCTION
The space prog ram is one of the most exciting and s i g n i fi
c a n t endeavors i n human h istory. W e have reached o u t i n
p e r s o n t o E a rth o r b i ts a n d the Moo n , w i t h o u r robot
spaceprobes beyond the edge of the solar system, and with
our i n stru ments to the edge of the u n iverse.
Although the Space Age began as a contest between the
Soviet U n ion and the United States of America {and to some
extent sti ll is}, many other nations a re now "space-capable,"
including Britain, France, India, Japan, China, and Israel. Sev
eral more will gain that capabi lity soon. Hundreds of oper
ational satellites and spaceprobes are in orbit right now,
and the number is g rowing . Moreover, not only nations but
private firms are now building and launching both rockets and
satell ites.
Over the past couple of decades, the Soviet Union has typ
ically launched about 1 00 satell ites a year, the U . S . 20 to 25,
and other nations combi ned another half dozen or so. Most
of the Soviet launches are m i l itary in nature, a lthough that
nation makes less of a distinction between m i litary and civi l
i a n spacecraft than d o West
ern nations.
The m a i n foc u s o f th i s
boo k i s t h e c i vi l i a n space
effort around the world. Much
space hardwa re and term i
nology, however, came from
mil i ta ry prog rams, and so a
section on m i l ita ry uses of
space i s a lso i ncluded .

Bootp r i n t i n the l u n a r d u s t
NASA

COSTS OF SPACE EXPLORATION seem h i g h , but there a re

a l so great rewa rds. In the United States, the enti re civi l i a n
space budget cost less than 8/ 1 0 o f 1 percent of t h e federal
budget yea rly d u ring the 1 980s. A major space endeavor,
such as the Ga l i leo spaceprobe to Jup i ter, costs each per
son in the U . S . o n ly about $ 4 . 50, about the price of a
hamburger, fries, and a shake in 1 990.
BENEFITS OF SPACE EXPLORATION are g reat but a re not
easy to quanti fy . Besides the i ntel lectual rewa rds of explor
ing and u ndersta n d i n g our place i n the u n iverse, there a re
real economic benefits. What is the va l u e of a h u m a n l i fe
saved by a sea rch-and-rescue satel l i te? How much money
is it worth to know a h u rricane wi l l h it a certa i n city? What
is it worth to mainta i n a lead i n h igh tech nology? Even
more nebulous, how much is it worth to know a bout the satel
lites of J upiter or the exi stence of black holes?
While it is difficult to come
up with definite numbers, it is
clea r that space prog ra m s
around the world have made
it possible to manage better
the p l a n e t t h a t h a s been
ca l l ed " S pacesh i p E a rth , "
a n d help make it a better,
safer place to l ive.
Ove r t h e n ext d e c a d e
commerc i a l f i r m s , n o t j u st
governments, wi l l beg i n to
use the results of space pro
grams to benefit everyone on
Earth .
Earth photographed from space
NASA

OBSERVING ROCKETS AND

SATELLITES can be exciti n g ,
but y o u h a v e t o be i n te
right place at the right ti me.
Rocket launches take place
from on ly a few locations: I n
the U . S . , the only one easily
ava i lable to the public is the
Ken nedy S p a c e Center i n
Florida. Although the public is
not a l lowed on the grounds
during a l a u n c h , there a re
many nea rby beach a rea s
from which launches can be
seen . Civi l i a n lau nches a re
u s u a l ly a n n o u n ced i n
adva nce; m i l ita ry lau nches
a l m o s t n ev e r a re . N i g h t
l a u n c h e s a re p a rtic u l a r l y
spectacular. Once you have
seen a real rocket launch you
wi l l never forget it.
Satell ites a re visible from
Ea rth when they pass nearly
over you r location . Only a Rocket launch NASA
few are bright enough to be
seen with the una ided eye. The best times a re near" dusk and
dawn, when you are in darkness but the satell ite high a bove
you is still in sunlight. Some local planetariums, observatories,
space- interest g roups, and NASA facil ities offer information
about satellite passages visible from you r a rea . Personal
computer programs are available for trackin g satell ites, par
ticu larly those satellites used by amateur radio operators.

SPACE LAW There is no forma l legal defi n ition of where

a i rspace ends and "outer" space beg i n s . There is, howev
er, an operational defi n ition that is more-or-less accepted :
60 m i les up, the height at which a satell ite can make at least
one orbit before a i r d rag makes it fa l l back to Earth .
Spacecraft are subject to laws very different from those that
apply to the most nearly analogous situations: flying in the air
or sa iling on the h igh seas in international waters . Whereas
there are admiralty laws dealing with flotsam , jetsam , and
abandoned sh ips, no such laws apply in space. And while it
is an accepted part of international law that a nation owns the
earth below and the airspace over its borders, the same is not
true of "outer" space.
The U nited States and most space-faring nations are par
ties to severa l space treaties. These deal with reg isteri ng
space objects, the rescue of astronauts, liability in case a space
craft does damage on Earth, and peacefu l uses of space.
Another treaty, which the United States did not sign, claims
that the Moon and other bodies in space are "the common her
itage of mankind . " Many space entrepreneurs a re afraid
this will be interpreted to mean that no one can mine the Moon,
asteroids, or other planetary bod ies.
Existing space treaties were written at a time when no one
thought private compan ies could afford space activities, so the
treaties do not recogn ize private enterprise. For instance,
there does not exist in space the concept of a "common car
rier." A nation that allows a launch, or whose citizens own the
satellite, is liable for damages in case somethi ng goes wrong.
Th is has had a dampen ing effect on private enterprise. It
will be important to revise current space laws and make new
ones that wi l l carry us into the 2 1 st century.
As space becomes a place to do business, new laws and
regu lations will be needed in such areas as patents, citizen
ship, taxation, and insurance.

The Battle of K'ai-fung-fu

THE FIRST ROC KETS

The principle of the reaction motor was known as far
back as 360 B.C., when Aulus Gellius described a steam-pow
ered model of a pigeon. A Greek named Hero is said to have
i nvented a steam-d riven rotating "aeropi le" about 2,000
years ago.
Most people credit the C h inese with the i nvention of the
rocket itself, powered by burning black powder, a m ixture of
charcoa l , saltpeter, and sulfur. Some h i storians clai m the
Chinese had powder rockets a lmost 1,000 years ago, but it
is certa i n that rocket-powered arrows were used by the Chi
nese m i l ita ry in the 13th century. "Firearrows" drove off the
attacking Mongols at the Battle of K'a i-fu ng-fu in 123 2 . Oth
er a rm ies soon took up the idea, and in 124 1 Mongol tribes
used the same kind of weapons at the Battle of Sejo ( neor pre
sent-day Budapest) .
Also in the 13th century, the English scientist Roger Bacon
and the Arab scientist a I- Hasan ai-Rammah described black
powder and rocketry. Soon th i s technology was i n use by
armies th roughout Europe and Asia.
9

An aeropile

Wan Hoo's rocket-piled chair

A few non - m i l i tary uses were tried, including fi reworks. It

is sa id that around the year 1 500 the Chinese Wan Hoo had
47 black-powder rockets attached to a sedan cha i r and ignit
ed at the same time by 47 servants. He was not seen aga i n .
B y t h e late 1 700s and early 1 800s, rockets carrying
explosive warheads were a standard but small part of the arse
nals of most countries.
Sir William Congreve greay improved rockets for warfare.
His rockets, carrying either incendiary or explosive warheads,
Congreve rockets

cou l d be fi red a couple of m i les and wei g hed up to 60

pounds. They fi rst saw major use i n 1 806 . Congreve rock
ets were later u sed by the British in the Wa r of 1 8 1 2,
notably i n the n ight attack on Fort McHen ry. These were
immortalized in the words of Francis Scott Key when he wrote
of "the rocket' s red glare . "
Later that century, Congreve' s rockets became obsolete
because of advances in arti llery. Si mi lar rockets were adapt
ed for use in throwing lifesaving ropes to stranded ships, and
to some extent th i s is sti l l done today.
Around the beginning of the 20th century advances in tech
nology, and popular fantasies of trips to the Moon and life on
other worlds, led to the work of the three great rocket pioneers
and visionaries: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Russia, Hermann
Oberth i n Germany, and Robert Goddard i n the U n i ted
States.
In the mid-twentieth century, rockets again entered the arse
nals of most nations.
The Bottle of Ft. McHenry

Spaceflight fantasies

SPACEFLIGHT in the imag i nation is thousa nds of years old.

Science fiction, until the 20th centu ry, was much more fic
tion tha n science.
Lucian of Samosata , a Greek of the 2nd century A.D.,
wrote of a trip to the Moon by a sailing ship caught in a whi rl
wind. In 1 0 1 0, the Persian poet Firdusi described a throne
pul led to the Moon by eag les. The astronomer Johan nes
Kepler wrote a fanciful tale of a lunar trip i n 1 634, and was
perhaps the fi rst to realize that the air did not extend all the
way to the Moon. About the same time, Engl ishman Francis
Godwin wrote of men carried to the Moon by geese. Around
1 650 the famous writer Cyrano de Bergerac wrote stories of
trips to the Moon and the Sun. His fi rst plan of travel was to
tie bottles of dew to h is belt and thus rise into space when the
Sun evaporated the dew! Another idea he had was to use fire
works rockets. Around 1 705 Dan iel Defoe, better known for
Robinson Crusoe, wrote a tale of lunar travel .

12

Only in the late 1 9th centu ry did such stories become

more realistic. The father of modern science fiction is Jules
Verne, who wrote From the Earth to the Moon i n 1 865. The
concept of a manned space station and commercial naviga
tion satellite comes from Edward Everett Hale and h i s 1 86 9
story "The B r i c k Moon . "
One o f the earliest spaceAight motion pictures was Georges
Mel ies' short fi l m A Trip to the Moon in 1 902. Most science
Rction films have been little more than fantasies or "space west
erns." Only a few fi lms have approached the subject realis
tica l ly. The first such fi lm was The Woman i n the Moon,
directed by Fritz Lang in 1 929. His technical advisors went on
to establish the early German rocket progra m . This film made
a permanent contribution to the space program when Lang
invented, purely for dramatic purposes, the countdown before
launch . In 1 950, producer George Pal made Destination
Moon, a realistic depiction of what spacefl ight might be l i ke.
T h e spaceship controls in the 1 939 film Buck Rogers

ORDWAY

THE SPACE AGE BEGAN on

October 4, 1 957, when the
Soviet U n ion lau nched the
world's first artificial satellite,
Sputn i k 1 . Though it
weig hed only 1 84 pounds,
was less than 2 feet in diam
eter, and stayed i n its 1 40mile-high orbit on ly 92 days,
its launch provoked shock
waves o f p u b l i c rea c t i o n
arou nd t h e world .
Th i s f i rst s a t e l l i te wa s
Sputnik 1
launched from the Tyurata m
(Ba i konur) Cosmodrome on a Type-A rocket. It carried exper
iments to study the density of the atmosphere at its orbital alti
tude and the transm ission of radio waves through the atmo
sphere. Its i nstruments were powered by batteries, which ran
out three weeks after launch.
Sputnik 2, weighing 1 , 1 20 pounds and carrying a live dog,
was lau nched on November 3, 1 957.
The U . S . did not launch its fi rst satell ite, Explorer 1, until
January 3 1 , 1 958, a fter i n itiating a crash program i n an
attempt to catch up with the
Soviets, and after two attempt
ed Vanguard satellite launch
es had fa iled . The fi rst suc
cessful Vanguard satellite went
into orbit on March 1 7, 1 958.
An Atlas rocket beca me the
fi rst com mun ications satell ite
later that yea r .
..fxplorer 1 model

14

NASA

MANNED SPACEFLIGHT began on April 1 2, 1 96 1 , when

Soviet Lt. Yuri Gaga rin made one orbit lasti ng 1 08 m i nutes,
250 m i les a bove Earth , in h i s Vostok- 1 spacecraft.
The first American in space was Alan B. Shepard, who took
a 1 1 5-mi le- h igh suborbital flight in a Mercury-Redstone cap
sule on May 5, 1 96 1 . He was followed in another similar Right
by Virg i l I. (Gus) Grissom on July 2 1 . On August 6, the Rus
sian cosmonaut Gherman Titov spent 25 hours and 1 7 orbits
in space aboard Vostok 2 .
The fi rst American to orbit the planet was Joh n Glenn . On
February 20, 1 962, he rode a Mercu ry-Atlas rocket that

John Glenn

NASA

Alan Shepard

NASA

made th ree orbits 1 60 m i les up in 5 hours. Scott Carpenter

followed on May 24 i n a s i m i lar mission.
The fi rst woman i n space was Va lenti na Teresh kova ,
aboard Vostok 6 on June 1 6, 1 963. She made 48 orbits i n
7 1 hours. N o other woman went into space until 20 years lat
er, when astronaut Sally Ride was part of the five-member crew
aboard the space shuttle Challenger on June 1 8, 1 983 .
15

Flight model of Surveyor craft

NASA

LUNAR EXPLORATION began when the Soviet Lu n i k 1 flew

with i n 4,600 m i les of the Moon i n J a n u a ry 1 95 9 . That
March the U . S . Pioneer 4 passed the Moon at a d i stance of
37,000 m i les. In September, Lun i k 2 became the fi rst man
made object to h it the Moo n . Lun i k 3 , i n October, was the
fi rst to ta ke photog raphs of the far side of the Moo n .
Beg i n n ing in 1 964, U . S . Ranger craft crash-landed o n the
Moon, photographing areas that might be used for later
manned landings. Lun i k 9 in January 1 966 became the first
craft to soft-land on the Moon, returning television pictures of
the surface.
U . S . Surveyor craft also soft- landed, taking photographs
and digging trenches to analyze surface properties. Lunar
Orbiters provided excellent photographs of most of the sur
face. Severa l orbiti ng Soviet Lun i k craft a l so mapped the
Moon. The Soviets sent severa l unmanned craft to the Moon
to scoop up soil and return it to Earth . Some deployed a small
roving veh icle cal led Lunokhod to sample lunar soi l over a
wide a rea .

16

FIRST VISIT TO ANOTHER WORLD was the goa l of the U . S .

Apollo prog ram . A th ree-man spacecraft, consisti ng o f a
command module attached to a two- section lunar mod u le,
established orbit around the Moon. The l u n a r module car
ried two men to the su rface, and its separable ascent stage
brought them back to lunar orbit to rendezvous with the com
mand module, which then retu rned to Ea rth .
The first manned lunar orbit was achieved by Apollo 8 ,
launched December 2 1 , 1 968, carrying Frank Borman, James
Lovell, and William Anders. Apollo 1 1 , lau nched J u ly 1 6,
1 969, made the fi rst manned lunar landing. Michael Col l i n s
remained i n the command module while N e i l Armstrong a n d
Edwin Aldrin landed o n the Moon's Sea of Tranquillity a t 4: 1 7
P.M EDT on J u ly 20. Neil Armstrong became the first human
to set foot on another world at 1 0:56 P.M.
Five more Apollo missions landed on the Moon. Apollo 1 3
encountered problems and retu rned to Earth after swi nging
around the Moon. The successful missions did experiments and
returned a lmost 850 pounds of lunar rocks for ana lysis.The
last m ission was Apollo 1 7, in December 1 972. No one has
been to the Moon since.
Apollo 1 1 on the Moon

NASA

THE FIRST SPACE STATION was the Soviet Salyut 1 , launched

April 1 9, 1 97 1 . Wei g h i n g over 25 tons, it had a tota l
length of 47 feet and a maximum diameter of 13 feet. A crew
of three were carried up to the station by Soyuz veh icles.
Unfortunately, their Soyuz- 1 1 craft malfunctioned as the
crew returned to Ea rth , and the th ree cosmonauts died. The
Salyut- 1 station was shortly thereafter com manded to reen
ter the atmosphere and burn up after only six months in orbit.
Other Sa lyut stations followed . Salyut 6, lau nched i n
1 977, was a b i g step in Soviet spacefl ight. Over 4 9 feet
long, weighing 4 1 ,000 pounds, and with docking ports for two
Soyuz craft, th is space station was occupied by 33 different
crewmen and docked with 30 different spacecraft during its
3-year-and-8-month lifetime. Unmanned Progress craft repeat
edly carried suppl ies to the crews.
Salyut 7, launched April 1 9, 1 982, was approximately the
same size as its predecessor, but it had many improvements.
Its crews have included the fi rst woman to "wal k" i n space,
Svetlana Savitskaya . It fel l back to Earth in 1 99 1 .

Saylut 1

First U.S. space station

NASA

Inside Skylab

NASA

SKYLAB, in 1 973, was the fi rst and so fa r the only Ameri

can space station . It was constructed inside the upper stage
of a Saturn rocket, with two main rooms for experiments and
l iving quarters. The weight of th is enti re 1 1 8 - foot- long, 2 1 foot-diameter station was a l most 200,000 pou nds. The fi rst
28-day m ission was followed by a nother a month later,
when a th ree-man crew spent 59 days in space. The th i rd
and last crew broke space-endurance records up unti l then
( 1 97 4) by stayi n g 84 days in orbit. The crews performed
many important experiments in solar studies, space medicine,
materia l s processing, and Ea rth studies.
Atm o s p h e r i c d rag s l owly p u l led Skyl a b lower, a n d
Cong ress cut fu nds that would have provided a booster
engine to keep the station i n orbit longer. Finally, on July 1 1 ,
1 979, Skylab fel l to Earth over the I ndian Ocea n . A few
pieces landed in Australia without damage to property. Since
then America has had no space station, and will not have one
until later th is decade.

19

SPACEPROBES to the planets began i n 1 959, when Lun i k 1

became the fi rst man-made c raft to escape Earth perma
nently. The first close-up pictures of Mercury and Venus came
from the American Mariner-] 0 probe in 1 973. The U .S.S.R.
also has many exploratory fi rsts for Ven u s : fi rst flyby, Ven
era 1 i n 1 96 1 ; fi rst Venusian impact, Venera 3 i n 1 965; first
Venus atmosphere probe, Venera 4 in 1 967; fi rst soil anal
ysis, Venera 8 i n 1 972; fi rst pictu res from the su rface, Ven
era 9 i n 1 975.
The Soviet Un ion also boasts the fi rst Mars flyby, by Mars
1 in 1 962; first Mars crash landing, Mars 2 in 1 97 1 ; and the
first soft landing on Mars, Mars 3 the same year. First pictures
of Mars from space came from the U . S . Ma riner 4 in 1 965,
and the fi rst photographs from the surface were made by the
two U . S . Viking landers in 1 976.
The first close-up pictures of Jupiter and its moons came
from the U . S . Pioneer- 1 0 probe i n 1 972, and of Saturn and
its satellites by Pioneer 1 1 in 1 973 . Voyager-] and Voyager2 probes took more deta iled pictures. Voyager 2 went on to
fly by U ranus in 1 986, and by Neptune in 1 989.
The fi rst mission to a comet was by the U . S . Internationa l
Cometary Explorer (ICE) to Comet Giacobi n i -Zinner i n 1 985.
I n 1 986, the U . S . S . R . , the European Space Agency, and the
Japanese a l l sent missions to rendezvous with Comet Halley.
Th i s decade spaceprobes w i l l encounter asteroids, study
Jupiter' s atmosphere, and study the Sun's poles.
Venera 9

TASS

Venus' surface seen from Venera

TASS

Venus (middle) and Mercury's surface (right) seen by

NASA

Voyager spacecraft (left); Jupiter (middle) and Saturn (right) seen by

Voyager NASA

Above: Viking lander; Mars' surface seen by Viking

Below: Giotto comet probe (left)
Giotto (right) MPAE

NASA

ESA; Comet Halley as seen by

Our solar system

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The solar system is the region i n wh ich a l l our spacecraft, so
fa r, have explored . Wh ile our earth ly and spaceborne tele
scopes have probed to the depths of the u n i verse, our craft
have gone only j u st beyond the edge of the p l a n eta ry
system .
The Sun is the center of the solar system, and has more than
99 percent of a l l its materia l . Orbiting the Sun a re n i ne
major planets, more than five dozen satell ites, hundreds of
thousands of minor planets (asteroids), and perhaps b i llions
of comets. Except for the comets and some of the asteroids,
these all revolve i n paths l i mited to a narrow disk around the
Sun. Comets may have highly inclined orbits. Most are locat
ed many bill ions of mi les from the Sun, only occasional ly
plunging i nto the i n ner solar system where we can see them.
Astronomers measure planetary distances i n terms of the
Earth's d i stance from the Sun, called an astronomical unit
(a . u . ) , equal to about 93 m i l l ion m i les. Pluto on average is
more than 39 times this far from the Sun, but because of Pluto's
22

elliptical orbit, Neptune wi ll actually be the most distant plan

et unti l March of 1 999.
Another way to measure d i stance is the time it ta kes l ight
or radio waves, moving at 1 86,000 miles per second, to trav
el that d i stance. Light takes about 8 m i nutes to go 1 a . u . ; it
takes 5 hours to get from the Sun to Pluto. The nearest sta r to
our solar system is more tha n 4 light-years away, about 25
tri l l ion m i les.
Spaceprobes have robotically explored all the planets
except Pluto, although Pioneer 1 0 has passed the orbit of Plu
to and is now more than 4 . 2 billion mi les away, the most dis
tant man-made object. The limit of manned exploration, so far,
is the Moon, only 240,000 m i les from Earth .
I n pla n n i n g for space missions, a more i m portant factor
tha n time or d i sta nce is the energy needed to get some
where. Each planet has a strong g ravitational p u l l . A space
craft going to another planet must first escape the gravitational
field of Earth, travel to the planet, and then maneuver with
in its g ravitational field. Along the way, the craft is subject to
the g ravity of the Sun.
23

EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE i s composed of about 78 percent

nitrogen , 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent trace gases such
as water vapor, ca rbon d ioxide, and a rgon .
THE TROPOSPHERE, the lowest 1 0 m i les of a i r, i s where a l l
weather occu rs a n d a l l l i fe exi sts. A t the surface the pressure
i s a l most 1 5 pounds per square i n c h . From the su rface
upward the pressure and den sity of the a i r lessen rapidly.
Only a few a i rcraft can fly h i g her than 1 0 m i les up, but the
a i r here is sti l l much too th ick for an u npowered satell ite to
orbit. Yet at th i s a ltitude, the a i r is too th i n for a person to
l ive-except in a pressu re suit or a pressurized cabi n .
THE STRATOSPHERE l ies from 1 0 m i les u p to a bout 30
m i les. A very few a i rcraft can fly th i s h i g h . H igher sti l l is the
mesosphere, extending up to about 50 m iles, and above that
the thermosphere. At 60 m i les above Earth the pressure is
only a bill ionth, and the density is only th ree ten- m i l l ionths,
what it i s at the su rface.
THE EXOSPHERE i s the name sometimes g iven to the outer
most ten uous atmosphere where it gradually blends into the
vacuum of space.
There is no legal or physica l "top of the atmosphere." But
many people consider 60 miles up a practical l i mit, for at this
altitude a small satell ite can make one orbit. Most satellites
orbiting Earth are more than 1 00 m iles up, but even there the
atmosphere exerts a resisting "drag" force which slows them
down so that an orbit eventually "decays" and the satellite falls
back to Earth . Usually it burns up l ike a meteor, but a few
pieces of satellites have landed on Earth . The smaller, denser,
and higher a satellite, the longer it will stay in orbit. Above
a few thousand miles, a satellite experiences almost no atmo
spheric drag.
Structure of the atmosphere

24

THE SPACE EN VIRONMEN T

Space is a harsh environment. Our spacecraft designers m ust
take i n to account these new conditions, wh ich d i ffer g reat
ly from those on Earth .
THE VACUUM OF SPACE causes many otherwise stable
materia ls, such as rubber and many l ubricants, to turn i n to
gas and d isperse. Such materials can only be u sed i n satel
lites i f they a re enclosed . Materials l i ke g lass become more
brittle i n a vac u u m . Humans must either work i nside pres
surized conta i ners or use spacesuits for work outside.
WEIGHTLESSNESS is the condition of a nyth i n g i n space
that i s n ot u nder power; it is also cal led free fal l or " m icro
gravity" or zero g, where the "g" stands for "gravity . " An
Satellite after launch from shuttle

NASA

object sti l l has mass in space, even if it does not have any
weight, so it sti l l ta kes work to sta rt it movi n g and to stop it.
The lack of g ravity creates compl ications i n desig n i n g a
spacecraft and i n l iving i n space.
SUNLIGHT stri kes spacecra ft, producing heat. Above the
absorbing atmosphere the Sun is stronger, and exposed sur
faces may get hotter tha n the temperatu re of boi l i n g water.
The lack of air means there is no convection to carry excess
heat away from the satell ite; the on ly way a satell ite can get
rid of heat is by radiation . On the other hand, when a
satell ite is i n shadow its tem peratu re may fa l l to more tha n
1 00 degrees below zero Fahrenheit i n j u st a few m i n utes .
Si nce tem peratu re extremes can damage spacecraft com
ponents, thermal control is a n i m portant pa rt of sate l l ite
design .
Simulating zero g in a watertonk

NASA

COSMIC RAYS are charged atomic particles, many of them

the n uclei of atoms. These come from the Sun as well as from
the depths of space. They may give the spacecra ft an elec
trica l charge, which can be damaging if it causes spa rks.
They also g radua l ly reduce the efficiency of the solar cel l s
(wh ich convert sunlight i n to electrical energy ) . Very h i g h
energy cosm ic rays may even penetrate the electronic chips
in the satell ite' s control circuitry, causing tem porary or per
manent cha nges i n the com mands g iven to the c raft.
METEOROIDS are sol i d materials flyin g th rough space at
tremendous speeds, usually many m i les per secon d . Most
meteoroids a re smaller than a g ra i n of sand, and are called
micrometeoroids. Over a typical 1 0- to 1 5-year l i feti me, a
satellite wi ll get a few pinpricks a tenth of an i nch in size and
a l i g h t "sa n d i ng" of its exposed su rfaces, i n c l u d i n g the
Grabbing a satellite for repair

NASA

Distribution of space debris

sola r panels. So fa r we know of no large ( mea n i ng g reater

tha n a few tenths of an inch i n diameter} meteoroids having
h it satell ites. But the chances i ncrease with time and with the
size and g reater n u mber of spacecraft we have i n space.
Spacecraft have been hit by man- made space debris, how
ever.
SPACE DEBRIS in Ea rth orbit i s a serious and increasi ng
problem. There a re now wel l over 7,000 trackable objects
in orbit. On ly a few hundred are active satelli tes. There a re
more than 35,000 objects the size of a marble, perhaps mil
lions of smaller pieces. The debris consists of used third stages
of rockets, the rem a i n s of exploded (accidenta l ly or i nten
tionally) spacecraft, chips o f paint knocked off satellites, hard
wa re l i ke bolts and spri ngs released when satel l i tes a re

29

deployed , a n d pa rts knocked off satell ites by col l i sions.

Much of the debris has come from the testi ng of a ntisatell i te
weapon s .
Even very sma l l objects are hazardous because they a re
movi ng at speeds up to 25,000 m i les per hour. One of the
space shuttles was h it on its windshield by a ti ny chip of alu
minum pai nt, causing a small pit i n the glass. Several satel
lites a re strongly suspected of having been destroyed by col
lisions. T h e Soviet space station Salyut 6 h a d some o f its
external parts damaged by collision. The more satellites there
are in space, and the more frequently they coll ide, producing
stil l more fragments, the worse the problem wi l l become.
Not until after the year 2000 wi ll we beg i n to have the tech
nology t o retrieve used-up satel lites a n d bring them back
from high orbits.
Space debris is becoming a problem for astronomers,
too. I ncreasingly, debris shows up in photographs of the sky
made with large telescopes, prompti ng fa l se d i scoveries .
One reported discovery of a pulsar turned out to be sunlight
reflecting off the solar cel ls of a dead satellite!

Debris caused this pit in shuttle window

NASA

SPACE MEDICINE
When a human enters space
there a re physiolog ical and
psychologica l changes. Some
body fu nctions conti n u e to
alter as long as she or he i s
we i g h tless; others reach a
steady level with i n days or
weeks. Upon retu rn to Ea rth
most body functions retu rn
to normal. S i nce the longest
conti nuous period a cosmo
n a u t h a s spent in we i g ht
lessness i s about a yea r, we
sti l l do not know if some of
these changes might become
permanent a fter a very long
stay i n zero g.
S PAC E S I C K N E S S , c a l l e d
" s p a c e a d a p ta t i o n s y n
d rome" by NASA, a ffects
about half of all people who Astronaut Don Williams exercis
g o i n to s p a ce. L i ke oth e r es a b o a r d t h e s p a c e s h u tt l e
forms of motion sickness, i t NASA
arises i n the astronaut' s i nner
ear, the mechanism that senses orientation and acceleration .
The symptoms i nclude cold sweating, nausea, and vom iting.
These could be dangerous to an astronaut i n a spacesu it.
Most people who get spacesick get over i t i n a couple of
days. A few a stronauts have briefly reexperienced it after
thei r retu rn to Earth.

31

C HANGES I N THE BODY i nclude a loss of body flu id s and

sol id materia l . I n space, an astronaut' s bones are no longer
n eeded to support the body and so beg i n to wea ken . The
hea rt pumps faster; it g rows larger but pumps less blood .
Muscles g row wea ker si nce they have less work to do. The
n u m ber of red cel ls i n the blood decreases wh i l e the n u m
ber of white cells i ncreases. After return to Earth it takes from
weeks to months to bring blood cel l s back to pre-fl ight lev
els. Astronauts regularly exercise while in space to try to min
i m ize these problems.
RADIATION i s another problem in space. Wh ile not too seri
ous i n low Ea rth orbits, the h igh-energy particles trapped i n
the V a n Allen belts a round Ea rth a re a danger. O n e belt
extends from about 300 miles to about 750 m iles up, the oth
er from 6,000 m i les to a height dependent on the activity of
the S u n . Some rad iation leaks th rough to lower a l titudes.
Van Allen radiation belts

A m e d i c a l c h e c k u p in s p a c e
NASA

Testing the effects of space on the body

NASA

Astronauts head ing away from Earth must pass quickly

through these radiation zones to minimize exposure. Outside
the Van Allen belts, space travelers are exposed to a contin
u a l dosage o f radiation . Long-duration space m issions must
carry heavy shielding of some sort. Once in a wh ile the Sun
produces a solar flare that could give a lethal dose of rad i
ation to a n unprotected astronaut.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS come from lengthy confi ne
ment, living in an unnatural environment, close quarters, lack
of privacy, and the ever-present hazards of l iving in space.
Using stud ies of s i m i la r situations-for i n sta nce, aboa rd
subma rines-space- mission plan ners try to m i n i m ize poten
tial problems. It will be i mporta nt to provide many forms of
recreation and relaxation for crews on long m i ssions aboard
space stations and man ned m i ssions to other pla nets .
M U C H RESEARCH i s needed to determine h u m a n toler
ances for extended m i ssions either i n low orbits or to the
planets . Th i s wi l l be one of the more i m porta nt goa ls of the
projected U.S . space station later th is decade.

33

LIVING IN SPACE
Weightlessness comp l icates even s i m p l e ta sks in space.
Spacecraft need spec i a l systems to p rov i d e the th i n g s
req u i red for l i fe.
OXYGEN for breath ing is carried i n tanks. Some spacecraft
use a reduced atmospheric pressure enriched in oxygen . Oth
ers have an envi ronment much l i ke natural a i r. Exhaled
carbon d ioxide is a bsorbed by chemical filters a n d the
purified air i s rec i rc u lated . Air m u st be in motion at a l l
times i n a spacecraft: a n un movi ng astronaut cou ld suffo
cate in a bubble of her own exhaled breath because, with
out a i r c i rcu lation, it wou ld not move away from her body.
EATING in space can be messy. Free l iq u i d wou l d float out
of an open g lass and cou ld be a hazard if it escaped . Thus
d ri n ks come i n squeeze bottles. Foods may be sol i d s and
pastes. Sauces a re often used to ma ke the foods stick to
p l a tes. Mea l s a re u s u a l ly
p re p a r e d o n E a r t h a n d
stored for fi n a l preparation
as needed .
WATER for d r i n k i n g , cook
ing, and wash i n g i s carried
in tan ks, may be produced
on boa rd by fuel cel ls, and
may be recycled from body
waste. Excess water is a l so
filtered out of the a i r.

Eati ng in space can be a chal

lenge NASA

The space shuttle's galley area

NASA

Taking a space shower aboard

Skylab NASA

S a l l y R i d e s l e e p s a board the
space shuttle NASA

The toi let of the s pace s h u ttle

NASA

BODY-WASTE ELIMINATION is more com p l i cated . I n early

spacecraft {and sti l l in spacesuits} urine wa s col lected by a
tube and held i n a bag . Sol id waste was el i m i nated into a
plastic bag held to the body with adhesive, and then stored
unt il the end of the mission. The space shuttle, a n d the
futu re space station, have a specially designed zero-g toilet.
Th i s uses a i r to pull the waste materia l into the toi let where
a rotati ng fan sepa rates the solids from the l iq u i d s . The
l i q u id may be either steril ized and recycled or expelled
from the spacec raft. Sol i d waste is dried and stored for
retu rn to Ea rth .
IN WEIGHTLESSNESS, as in a pool of water, the relaxed
body n atura lly assu mes a slig htly curled - u p position, with
arms and legs floati ng freely i n front of the body. An astro
naut cannot l ie on a bed to sleep; instead he zips himself into
something much l i ke a sleeping bag, which may be attached
to a wa l l or cei l i ng or someplace else out of the way.
ORIENTATION can be a problem . The terms "wall" and "ceil
ing" have much less mea n i ng i n zero g . I n the space sh ut
tle the su rface that is the floor when the shuttle is on the
ground is sti l l often thought of as "down" with i n the space
craft. When th i n ki n g about th ings outside a spacecraft i n
orbit a round a planet, it i s most natura l to th i n k o f "down"
as the d i rection toward the planet.
Future space stations and space settlements will probably
i nclude growi ng plants, and possibly a n i mals, as pa rt of the
ecosystem. Some types of algae d igest waste products, and
others produce oxygen . Large space structures may revolve to
provide an "artificial gravity" that will eliminate many of the
problems caused by weightlessness (although it wi ll introduce
some problems of its own } .

36

SPACESUITS AND
EVA
Spacesuits a re designed to
provide the a stronaut with
a self-contained environment
for severa l h o u rs of work
outside the pressurized cab
in. Th is is cal led extravehic
ular activity, or EVA. The
suits supply oxygen , absorb
ex h a led ca r b o n d i ox i d e ,
a n d provide for some body
wa ste e l i m i n a ti o n . S o m e
p rov i d e wate r th rou g h a
tube in the suit's helmet. Sen
sors i nside the hel met g ive
the a stro n a u t i n formation
about the suit' s status, such
as the amount of rema i n i n g
Spacesuit and Manned Maneu
oxygen .
vering Unit
N ewe r s u its a l l ow fu l l
atmospheric pressure, rather than the reduced pressu re used
in older ones. The suits a re in several parts: the lower pa rt,
or legs, attached to the upper part with airtight seals, and the
helmet. The spacesuited astronaut may attach himself to a large
backpack unit containing oxygen, or be tethered to the space
craft by an umbilical hose. Once outside the cabin, astronauts
move a round by p u l l i n g and push ing themselves on the
spacecraft.
NEWER SPACESUITS, lighter and more flexible tha n present
ones, a re bei n g designed to make it easier for astronauts to
work i n space for extended periods of time.

37

MANNED MANEUVERING
UNITS (MMUs) a re jet-pow
ered backpacks for excur
sions away from the craft. A
h a n d contro l ler m u c h l i ke
o n e o n a v i d e o a rc a d e
game i s used to fire the j ets
in a ny com b i nation of s i x
d i rections, a l lowi ng motion
or turn i n g in any d i rection.
A s t ro n a u ts u s i n g M M U s
don't have to b e tethered to
the spacecraft. S h o u l d a n
astronaut get i n to trouble,
the spacecraft can a lways
go after h i m .
One complication o f zero
g is that special tool s must
often be used because if, say,
Astronaut uses a Manned Maneuvering Unit NASA
an astronaut tries to turn a
sc rew, s h e w i l l a l so tu r n ,
obeying Newton's Third Law (see p. 4 1) . She must either brace
herself against the craft, or use so-called "reaction less" tools.
One way to m i n i m ize th is problem is to attach the astro
naut firmly to part of the spacecraft, usually by clamps on the
boots. For EVA on the space shuttle, astronauts are often
attached to the Remote Manipu lator Arm (see p. 67).
WALKING ON THE MOON, and in the futu re o n other
sma l l planets, can present other problems. For i nsta nce,
the Moon's g ravity is only a sixth of Earth's, and the Apol
lo astronauts found that a bouncing, loping kind of gait was
the best way to get a round there.

38

ASTRONAUTS
The U n i ted States and many
other nations call space trav
elers "astrona uts," the Sovi
et U n ion calls theirs "cosmo
nauts," and the French term
is "spationaut."
Most a s t ro n a u t s h a v e
come from the m i l i tary ser
vices and have had tra i n i ng
as test pilots. The fi rst astro
nauts had little control over
their craft. Later, especially
in the space shuttle, the pilots
have actually controlled the
spacecraft much of the ti me.
I n the m i d - 1 960s, the U . S .
began recruiting non-pilot sci
enti sts and e n g i n eers from
un iversities and industry for
space miSSions.
Training for a spaceflight in a
For the space shuttle the simulator NASA
crew consists of two pilots and
up to five Mission Specialists and Payload Specialists. These
latter have responsibility for deploying satellites, conducti ng
experi ments, and other non-piloting tasks. Most of the crew
of the future space station wi l l not be pilots.
All astrona uts go th rough long and rigorous tra i n i n g .
They must understand everything about their spacecraft, its mis
sion, its payload {cargo) , and what to do i n case of emer
gencies. Th is i s i n addition to their particular a reas of exper
tise, such as m ed i c i ne, physics, astronomy, materials pro
cessing, and so o n .
39

A payload specialist at work

NASA

The best preparation for being an astronaut, say the cur

rent astronauts, i s becom ing good in whatever field you l i ke.
Later you can apply that expertise to space.
NASA periodically advertises for astronauts to fi l l vacan
cies. Applicants are given several aptitude, psychological, and
physical exam ination s . Those that are accepted become
astronaut-candidates, and then finally astronauts when they
have completed about a year of trai n i n g . They get their
astronaut wings upon completion of their fi rst spaceflight. (The
U . S . awards astronaut wings to anyone who has been more
than 50 miles up; thus several pilots of the X- 1 5 research plane
are techn ically astronauts although they have not flown in
spacecraft. ) There are usually 50 to 1 00 men and women i n
the U . S . astronaut corps a t any one time.
40

WHAT KEEPS A SATELLITE UP?

The motion of a ny object i n space, whether that object is a
micrometeoroid or the S u n , is controlled by the l aws of
physics.
NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION describe how a n object
moves:
I. A body at rest remains at rest, and a body i n motion
remains i n motion, u nless acted on by a n outside force.
II. The change i n the motion of a body is in the d i rection
of, and proportional to, the strength of the force applied to it.
Ill. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reac
tion .
THE LAW OF GRAVITY descri bes the major force acti ng i n
space:
The g ravitational attraction between two objects p u l l s
them together with a force that is proportional t o the p rod
uct of the i r masses and i nversely proportional to the square
of thei r separation .

The Law of Gravity

An orbit is a balancing of forces

Newton's imaginary cannon

AN ORBIT is the motion of one object a bout another. An

object remains i n orbit because the momentu m of its forward
motion balances the gravitationa l pull between it and the oth
er object. It is similar to the way ou can swing a ball on the
end of a string: the inward pull o the string balances the out
ward momentum of the ba l l . A satellite once placed in orbit
(outside the atmosphere, which causes d ra g on a i rcraft
and low-orbit spacecraft} can conti nue i n that orbit without
having to conti n u a l ly fire its rocket engines.
Newton gave the fol lowing example: suppose there were
no atmosphere a round the Earth to slow th ings down . A
cannon on top of a very h igh mounta i n could fire a bal l that
goes some d i stance. As the bal l travels, it falls toward the
ground, but the curvature of Earth makes the ground "fall
away" under it. I f the cannon fires with sufficient energy, the
bal l can be made to travel at such a speed that the Earth falls
away at the same rate that the bal l falls toward Earth . I n oth
er words, the ball will never touch the ground: it will be in orbit.

42

ESCAPE VELOCITY is the min imum velocity needed to escape

permanently from a planet. The speed req u i red depends on
the mass of the planet and the d i stance of the satel l i te from
it. At any d i stance it wi l l a lways be 1 .4 times the speed nec
essa ry for a c i rcu lar orbit.
KEPLER'S LAWS, d iscovered a rou n d 1 6 1 0 by Johannes
Kepler, describe any orbita l moti o n :
I . T h e orbit of each pla net is a n ellipse, with the Sun at
one focus of the ellipse.
I I . There is a u n ique relationship between the distance of
a planet from the Sun and how fast it moves: its speed wil l be
slower when far from the Sun and faster when nearer the Sun.
I l l . The average distance between the Sun and a planet, a,
is related to the time it takes the planet to orbit the Sun once,
t. Expressed mathematically, it is t 2 = a3.
I f you substitute the word "satelli te" for "planet" a n d
"Earth" for "Sun," the laws a re sti l l true.
Kepler' s Laws describe orbits

How to draw an ellipse

Types of open and closed orbits

AN ELLIPSE is a closed cu rve that can be made by sticking

two pins i nto cardboa rd, looping a string a round them ,
and then, keeping the string taut with the tip of a pencil, mov
ing a round the p in s . The penci l w i l l draw an e l l i pse. The
points with the pins are called the foci (singular, focus) of the
ell ipse. The fa rther apart they a re, the more eccentric the
e l l i pse w i l l be. I f the pins are moved together, the ell ipse
becomes a c i rcle.
The Sun wou ld be where one of the pins is; the other
focus is vacant. The long dimension of the ellipse is called the
major axis; half of it is the semi major axis, which is the aver
age distance between the Sun and a planet. Circular and ellip
tical orbits are called "closed" orbits. If a satellite has reached
escape velocity, its orbit will have the shape of a parabola or
hyperbola , which a re examples of "open orbits" since they
don't repeat.
Actual ly, no orbit is perfectly elliptica l because the grav
itationa l pulls of a l l the other objects in the solar system also
affect the motion . These smaller forces are called perturbations,
and can be very compl icated .

44

ORBITAL PARAMETERS describe an orbit i n space. The size

is described by the sem i major axis (half the long axis of the
e l l i pse), which is the average d i stance from the center of
Earth .
ECCENTRICITY descri bes the shape of the orbit. For closed
orbits th is is a nu m ber between 0 ( for a perfectly c i rcu lar
orbit) and 1 (a parabolic escape orbit) . A hyperbolic escape
orbit has eccentricity g reater than 1 .
INCLINATION is the angle the orbit makes with the equator.
An orbit lyi n g over the equator has an i n c l i nation of 0
deg rees; for one flyi ng over the poles the i ncli nation is 90
degrees. A satell ite with inclination between 90 degrees and
1 80 deg rees is going from east to west, and is said to have
a retrograde orbit. Several other nu m bers descri be the ori
entation of the orbit i n space.
PERIOD, the length of time it takes to orbit once, depends on
the altitude of the satell ite . The space shuttle, orbiti ng a
cou ple h u n d red m i les h i g h , has an orbital period of about
90 m i n utes.
Elliptical orbits come in many shapes

Inclination of an orbit to the equator

PERIGEE is the point on the orbit where the sate l l ite is clos
est to the Ea rth ( from "peri -" mea n i n g "close" and "gee"
mea n i n g "Earth" ) . A satel lite moves fastest at perigee.
APOGEE is the point i n an orbit farthest from the Earth . Here
a satell ite moves slowest.
TRAJECTORY is a term someti mes used to describe a path
from one orbit or pla net to a nother. "Tra n sfer orbit" i s
another term for the same th i n g . T o go from o n e orbit to
another one, you must fire a rocket to speed u p the satel
lite (to get to a higher orbit) or slow it down (to get to a low
er one) . Th is will place the satell ite in a transfer orbit. When
it gets to the new orbit, you must aga i n fi re a rocket to g ive
the satel l i te the correct speed for the new orbit.
LOW EARTH ORBITS a re those with i n a few hundred m i les
of the surface of Earth. The lowest practical orbit is about 1 00
m i les u p .
_

46

HIGHER ORBITS are those above about 1 ,000 m i les. The

h igher the orbit, the longer the period (the time it takes to
complete an orbit), and more of the Earth's su rface that can
be seen from the satell ite.
GEOSYNCHRONOUS EARTH ORBIT is a special orbit 22,300
m i les above Earth' s su rface. Here a satell ite has a period of
24 hours, the same time it takes the Earth to rotate once.
GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT is a geosynchronous orbit with zero
incl ination . In th is special case the satell ite w i l l seem to be
stationary in the sky as seen from Earth . An antenna on Earth
pointed at such a satell ite would not have to move at all . The
u sefu lness of such an orbit for com m u n i cations satell ites
(commsats) was pointed out in 1 945 by author-eng ineer
Arthu r C . Clarke. This orbit is often cal led a "Clarke orbit"
in h i s honor.
SUN-SYNCHRONOUS ORBITS cause the satellite to pass over
every place on Earth at the same local ti me of day. Th i s i s
done by choosing the proper inclination for the orbit. A satel
l i te i n low orbit will have a Sun-sync h ronous path i f its
inclination is about 98 deg rees.
Several types of orbits

Relationship of distance and peri

od of orbits

I NTERPLANETARY ORBITS a re those a round the S u n . The

n u m bers that describe these path s a re s i m i l a r to those of
Earth orbits, but d i stance is measu red from the Sun, and the
incli nation is measured compared to the Earth's orbit a round
the S u n . The nea rest and fa rthest poi nts i n orbit a re called
"perihelion" and "aphel ion . "

Geostationary, o r Clarke, orbit

A "slingshot" trajectory

SLINGSHOT ORBITS, which are also called g ravity-assist tra

jectories, a re those in which a spacecraft is sent close to a
pla net i n order to use the gravity of the planet to slow down
or speed up the craft {usually to speed it u p ) , changing its
tra jectory. In th is way we can send spaceprobes on m issions
we could not otherwise accompl ish because of the limited fuel
capacity and power of our space veh icles.

48

SPAC E N AV IGATION
Finding one's way around in space is more complicated than
it is on Earth . Si nce a spacecraft ( l i ke a n a i rplane) can
move i n th ree sets of d i rections ( forwa rd,backwa rd , right
left, a n d up-down } , there a re th ree n u m bers needed to
determine one's position . On a surface such as the Earth, with
no up-down d i mension, you need j u st two, such as latitude
and longitude.
RA D I O N AV I G A T I O N 1 s
com monly u sed for satel l i tes
in orbit a round Ea rth . They
a re trac ked by ra d i o a n d
radar (and sometimes optical
telescopes) , and thus ground
control lers conti n u a l ly know
thei r position .
C E L E S T I A L NAVIGAT I O N
i nvolves observing the rela
tion s h i p of the sate l l i te to
sta rs, planets, and the S u n .
Star trackers, which are actu
a l ly s m a l l e l ectro n i c te le
scopes, keep known sta rs i n
view, a n d the satel lite' s com
puter system ca l c u l ates i ts
position and orientation from
the directions to several stars.

Stee ring by the stars and by radio

INERTIAL NAVIGATION is a system of devices i n the satel

lite that measures all changes i n motion and orientation . It
computes where the satellite is based on where it was at some
other ti me.

49

ATTITUDE is the term used to describe the orientation in space

of a satell ite. Satellites must know their orientation for poi nt
ing a camera to take pictures or for pointing a radio anten
na back to Earth . Li ke a n a i rplane, there a re th ree axes
a round which the craft can tu rn . Motion a rou nd the axis
poi nti n g i n the d i rection of fl ight i s cal led rol l . Up-and
down motion, with respect to the orbit, is cal led pitc h . Side
to-side motion i s cal led yaw.
TRACKING NETWORKS of large antennas a round the world
a re used to detect and communicate with spacecraft. Some
times satel lites may be used to locate other satel l i tes, and to
relay data from widely spaced Ea rth stations to a central
tracking fac i l ity. For NASA, the focus of all tracking activ
ities is at the Godda rd Space Flight Center in Ma rylan d .

Principles o f i nertial navigation

SPACE TRACKING i s an a round-the-g lobe, a ro u n d -the

clock activity. Both the U . S . and the U . S . S . R . m i l i tary have
extensive networks that not only track thei r own spacecraft
but have the additional duty of watching for missile attacks.
To do th i s they must know what i s i n orbit and where, and
they must monitor every lau nch .
Not much is known ( i n the non-classified world) about the
Soviet tracking system. The U . S . system has its focus i n side
Cheyenne Mou nta i n , nea r Colorado Springs, at the joint
headqua rters of the North American Aerospace Defense
Command and the U . S . Space Command . They use a world
w i d e network of optical and radar tracking equipment that
sends in over 45,000 sightings a day for identification and
analysi s.The optica l system is called GEODSS, for Grou nd
based Electro-Optical Deep-space Surveillance, which uses
electronic telescopes located in New Mexico, Hawa i i , Korea,
Portuga l , and Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocea n . It i s
sa id these c a n detect space objects o n l y a few inches across
in low orbits, and only the size of a footba ll in orbits out to
about 25,000 m i les.
A system of 26 radio and radar sites spaced a round the
Earth contributes information on objects in orbit. These include
the U . S . Navy' s Space Surveil lance System . In the future,
space objects will increasingly be mon itored from space by
orbiting surve i llance satell ites.
Private satell ite operators-for instance, of commsats- may
have thei r own tracking and control faci l ities for their satel
lites, and may perform these functions under contract for
other satellite owners as well . Such systems are of course much
less elaborate than the m i l itary systems.
Low-orbit satellites someti mes relay their signals th rough
higher-orbiting satellites. For interplanetary probes, NASA uses
its global Deep-Space Network of very large antennas.

51

ROC KET PROPU L SION

Rockets a re the technology used for spacefl ight. A rocket is
a device that carries its own fuel and oxidizer so it can work
in a vacuum, u n l i ke a jet eng i ne that u ses the oxygen in the
a i r to burn its fuel . A roc ket motor works because of New
ton's Third Law of Motion {p. 4 1 ) . The combustion of the fuel
and oxid izer produces a force in a l l d i rections i nside the
rocket chamber. One end of the chamber-the nozzle-is
open. The burn i ng gases escape out the nozzle, creating an
unbalanced force push ing the rocket forward . A toy bal loon
blown up and released works the same way, with a i r rush
ing out one side and the bal loon going i n the opposite
d i rection . Rockets do not work because their exhaust pu sh
es aga i n st the a i r; i n fact, they work better i n a vacuum
because they do not have air to push out of the way. I n some
very small rockets, such as those used for m i nor maneuver
ing and orientation of a spacecraft, the rocket {often cal led
a thruster) is simply a jet of pressu rized {someti mes heated )
gas escaping th rough a nozzle.
Action a n d reaction make a rocket work

THRUST of a rocket is the amount of push it has, usually mea

su red in tons or pounds of force. For a rocket to be able to
ta ke off, the thrust of the motor must be g reater than the
weig h t of the rocket. The time during which a rocket is
th rusti ng is someti mes cal led a "burn . "
SPECIFIC IMPULSE measures h o w efficient a rocket fuel/oxi
d izer comb i n ation i s . Th is i s the time during which one
pou nd of fuel can produce one pound of th rust. The most
powerfu l combination in use is l i q u id hyd rogen and l iq u i d
oxygen; its spec i fic impulse i s a round 3 5 0 seconds.
SOLID-FUEL ROCKETS use a solid mixtu re of fuel and oxi
dizer. The ea rliest sol i d fuel w a s gunpowder, a m ixtu re o f
sulfu r, charcoa l , and saltpeter. Today' s sol id fuels a re m ix
tu res of rubbery materia l s conta i n i n g powdered a l u m i n u m
and oxidizer chemicals. They are usually m ixed i n l iquid form
and then pou red into the rocket casi ng, where they sol i d i
fy. T h e thrust of a sol id-fuel rocket depends on t h e a m o u n t
burn i ng at one t i m e , w h i c h can b e control led b y design i ng
the inside of the rocket properly. Once a sol id-fuel rocket is
ign ited , it can not be shut off; it burns until a l l fuel is gone.
LIQUID-FUEL ROCKETS use a mixtu re of l i q u i d fuel and a n
oxidizer as propella nts . Some chemicals must be ign ited by
a flame or a spark. Others spontaneously i g n i te when they
come i n contact; these a re cal led hypergol i c propella nts.
Some common liquid fuels are alcohol, purified kerosene, l iq
uid hydrogen , and hyd razi ne. Common oxid i zers i nclude
n i trogen tetroxide and nitric acid, as wel l as l iq u i d oxygen .
A liquid-fuel engine can be controlled in power, shut off, and
restarted at will. Supercold propellants l i ke liquid hydrogen
and oxygen, cal led cryogen ic fuels, are tri c ky to handle,
requiring the h i ghest tech nology, but a re very powerfu l .

53

I on
rocket

Types of rocket engines

ELECTRIC PROPULSION, someti mes cal led an ion rocket, i s

a technique n o t yet perfected . It works b y plac i n g a n elec
trical charge on the molecules of a single fuel, which can be
water, hydrogen, mercury, or many other chemicals. There
is no combustion , so no oxidizer is needed . The charged
molecu les ( ions) a re propelled out of the rocket by a strong
electrical field, producing th rust. The tota l thrust produced
by ion rockets is very low, but they use fuel with g reat effi
ciency and can function for a long time. I n the futu re they
may be used for interplanetary and maybe even interstellar
probes.
MASS RATIO i s the ratio of the weight of the payload {what
you want to get into space) to the total fueled weight of the
rocket. This is often very sma l l , only a few percent. For th i s
reason , rockets a re usua l ly built t o operate i n stages.

54

STAGING is the tec h n ique of building a rocket i n sections,

or stages, each of wh ich provides thrust for a time and
then i s d i scarded . The reason for th is is to save weight, for
the fuel tan ks and rocket engi nes themselves a re very heavy.
Typical rockets (often cal led lau nchers) have two to fou r
stages. The first stage usually burns for only a couple o f m i n
utes, getti ng t h e rocket going a n d l i fting it u p several m i les
through the th ickest layers of the atmosphere. After its fuel
tanks are empty, it d rops away and a second, smal ler stage
ignites, carrying the rocket h igher and faster. Third and fourth
stages may be used to continue the process until the payload
reaches the proper altitude and speed for its m ission . Stages
after the fi rst one a re cal led u pper stages.
EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES ( E LVs) are lau nchers, or
rockets, that a re used once and their pa rts d i scarded . Most
launchers fal l into th is category. Most a re l a u nched from
launch pads; a few small rockets are launched from a i rcraft.
So fa r, the U . S . and Soviet space shuttles a re the only
reuseable spacecraft.
TO ACH I EVE ORBIT the sate l l i te must get both h i g h enough
and fast enough to stay there. For th is reason there is often
a period of coastin g between the burn ing of the rocket' s
stages. To place a com m u n i cations satel lite i n a geosyn
chronous orbit, a rocket will typically use three stages to fi rst
place it in a h i g h ly ell iptica l tran sfer orbit with a perigee of
200 m i les and a n apogee at the geosynchronous altitude of
22,300 m i les. The th i rd stage may be called a perigee kick
motor or a Payload Assist Module ( p . 7 3 ) . After the satel
l i te has been checked out fol lowi ng several of these orbits,
and after it has reached its a pogee, a sol id-fuel rocket fi res
to c i rcula rize the orbit at the proper altitude. Th i s rocket i n
the base o f the sate l l ite i s called a n a pogee k i c k motor.

55

G FORCE is a measure of the acceleration produced by a

rocket. One g, or "gee," is the force of gravity. The space
shuttle crews and ca rgo experience a pea k force of about
3 g' s. An unman ned rocket may reach 1 1 g' s or more.
COST OF LAUNCHING is still very high. In the 1 980s, it cost
rou g h l y $25 to $ 1 50 m i l l ion to place a few-thousand
pou n d expendable- rocket sate l l i te i n to E a rth orbit. This
translates into costs of $ 1 0,000 to $50,000 per pound. And
th i s covers only the costs of building the rocket, the fuel, the
payload preparation, and so o n . It doesn ' t incl ude the cost
of the payload itself, or such developmenta l costs as design
ing the rocket or building the launch pad . One of the major
goals of a l l space progra ms is to reduce the cost-per-pound
to orbit.
Several stages o r e used t o reach orbit

U .S. LAU N C HERS

At the end of World War I I , both the U . S . a n d the U . S . S . R .
captured German rockets, rocket parts, a n d rocket scientists
and engineers. These then became the basis of both nations'
rocket prog rams.
THE V-2 ROCKET, also ca l l ed the A-4, i nvented i n the ea r
ly 1 940s by a team of German engi neers working under Dr.
Wern her von Bra u n , was the world's fi rst rocket to reach
space . It was 46 feet h i g h and 66 i nches i n d i a meter,
weighed 27,000 pounds, and used alcohol and l i q u i d-oxy
gen fuel to generate a thrust
of 56,000 pounds, carryi ng V - 2 rocket ORDWAY
a one-ton payload 200 miles
down ra n g e a n d 60 m i l e s
h i g h . D u r i n g t h e last yea rs
of World War II it was used
to bombard England. Later,
U . S . scienti sts used severa l
to set new altitude records.
JUPITER-C, or Juno I , put the
f i r s t A m e r i c a n s a te l l i t e ,
Explorer 1 , i n to orbit Jan
uary 3 1 , 1 958, and carried
the fi rst two U . S . m a n ned
suborbita l spacefl i ghts . Juno
I wa s 7 1 feet h i g h a n d
almost 6 feet i n d i a meter. It
had a liquid-fueled , 83,000pou nds-of-thrust fi rst stage,
and th ree solid-fueled upper
stages.

VANGUARD was the second

U . S . rocket to orbit a pay
load . It stood 72 feet h i g h ,
3 . 7 feet i n diameter. The first
stage used kerosene and liq
u i d o x y g e n to p r o d u c e
2 8 , 000 p o u n d s o f th rust,
topped by a secon d stage
using fum i n g n itric acid and
d i methyl hyd razine propel
lants and a sol id-fueled th i rd
stage.
S AT U R N R O C K E T S w e r e
developed for the m a n ned
space prog ra m . The Satu rn
lb, with 1 . 3 m i l l ion pounds
of thrust, placed the Apol lo7 c rew i n to Ea rth orbit, and
later lau nched th ree Skyla b
crews.
The th ree-stage Saturn V,
the largest rocket ever made
by the U . S . , was 363 feet
high, 33 feet in diameter, and
produced 6 . 4 m il l ion pounds
of thrust. It was used for the
Apo l l o p ro g ra m o f l u n a r
fl ights, and a converted th i rd
sta g e beca m e the S kyl a b
space station .

A Jupiter-C rocket

NASA

Vanguard launcher

NASA

S a t u r n V, the A p o l l o r o c k e t
NASA

ROC KET LAU NC H E RS

Scout Ariane-4

H-2

on g
March

U.S. shuttle

Titan 4

Energia/Buran

Proton

SCOUT i s the smal lest U . S . satell ite launch veh icle. It is a lso
u sed as a sou n d i n g rocket-those that ta ke sma l l payloads
above the atmosphere a n d back aga i n . I t was the fi rst
America n a l l - so l i d - p ropellant lau ncher. There a re many
versions of the Scout, but a typical confi g u ration has fou r
stages a n d sta n d s 7 5 feet
h i g h , 3 . 7 feet in diameter,
and weighs 47,000 pounds.
The fi rst stage has 1 09,000
pounds of th rust; the second
s ta g e p ro v i d e s 6 4 , 0 0 0
pou n d s of th rust; the th i rd
stage is an 1 8, 700- pou nd
thrust motor; and the fou rth
s ta g e p ro d u c e s 5 , 7 0 0
p o u.)l d s o f t h r u s t . I n th i s
a rrangement, Scout c a n
place a payload o f a bout
425 pounds i n to a n orbit
300 m i les h i g h .
Its fi rst successfu l launch
was of Explorer 9 i n 1 96 1 .
S c o u ts h ave c a r r i ed s u c h
satel lites a s the Small Astron
omy Satell ite , the Meteoroid
Technology Satellite, ond sev
eral amateur radio satell ites.
Scouts have been launched
from a l l U . S . l a u nch s i tes,
most often Wa l lops I sland,
and from many other nations.

Scout launcher

62

NASA

Atlas launcher

NASA

ATLAS was the fi rst opera

tional U . S . ICBM ( I n tercon
t i n e n ta l B a l l i st i c M i s s i l e ) ,
beg i n n i n g i n 1 95 9 . These
missiles were gradually with
drawn from service and con
verted to satel l i te launchers.
Atlas i s cal led a "stage
and-a-half" rocket because it
uses a s i n g l e m a i n eng i n e
together with two booster engines; a l l are powered b y liquid
fuel . The three engines are ignited on l i ft-off, and the boost
ers fal l away halfway through the fi rst-stage burn .
An Atlas-D launched America's first manned orbita l flight
with John Glenn i n 1 962. Others have carried such satellites
as Mari ner, Ranger, Su rveyor, High Energy Astronomical
Observatory, and many m i l itary payloads.
Severa l versions of Atlas carry either the Agena or Cen
taur u pper stage. The Atlas
Centaur configuration is the
cu rrent commerc i a l l a u n c h
veh icle. A n Atlas-Centaur i s
1 3 2 feet h i g h , 1 0 feet i n
d i a m ete r , a n d c a n p l a c e
1 3,000 pounds into low orbit,
4,900 pounds into a transfer
orbit, or send 2,600 pounds
i nto an interplanetary orbit.

Mercury-Atlas

NASA

D E LTA l a u n c h ers come i n

several confi g u rations, d i f
feri ng m a i n ly i n the number
of solid-fuel strap-on booster
rockets, and in what u pper
s ta g e is u s e d . T h e D e l ta
3 9 2 0 u s es n i n e stra p - o n
m o to r s tota l i n g 7 6 6 , 000
pounds of thrust on the liq
u id-fueled fi rst stage, which
i ts e l f p r o d u c e s 2 0 5 , 0 0 0
pou nds of thru st. T h e l iq ui d
fueled second stage provides
9,800 pou nds of thrust. The
th i rd stage produces 1 8,500
pou n d s . The payload itsel f
may contain a Payload Assist
Mod ule ( p . 73 ) .
Overal l , the rocket stands
1 1 6 feet h i g h , i s 8 feet i n
diameter, a n d when fueled
weighs 426,000 pounds. It
can place 2,750 pounds of
payload into geostationary
transfer orbit and more into
low Earth orbit.
An improved Delta model
is n o w in u s e as t h e A i r
Force's Medium Launch Veh i
c l e a n d fo r c o m m e rc i a l
launches.
A De lta commercial launcher
MDSSC

64

TITAN rockets, which began

flying i n 1 959 as ICBMs, are
cu rrently the most powerfu l
u n m a n ned U . S . l a u n chers .
The Tita n Model 3 B has two
ma i n stages and a n upper
stage that depends on the
payloa d . Tita n - 3 C and - 3 D
add tw o solid-fuel boosters to
the fi rst stage. Tita n - 3 E is a
NASA version used to h u rl
the Viking and the Voyager
i nterp l a n eta ry p robes i n to
escape orbits.
The Tita n 4, also known
as the Tita n 34D-7, is 204
feet long, with a payload 40
feet long and 1 6 feet in diam
eter. It i s capable of l i fting
40,000 pounds to low orbit
or 1 0,000 pounds to transfer
orbit. Its two fi rst-stage solid
booste rs h ave 1 .6 m i l l io n
pounds o f th rust each, added
to 546,000 pou nds for the
liquid-fueled eng ine. Second
s ta g e p ro v i d e s 1 0 4 , 0 0 0
pou nds of th rust, and a Cen
taur upper stage adds 33,000
pou nds of thrust. Tita n can
also carry i nstead an I nertial
Upper Stage (p. 75) .
The Titan launcher

NASA

Space sh uHie an its crawler transporter

NASA

SPACE SHUTTLE, officially cal led the Space Transportation

System, is the world's fi rst largely reusable spacecraft. There
are th ree major components .
T H E ORBITER veh icle looks l i ke a n ai rplane a n d i s about the
size of a Boeing 737 jet, with a length of 1 84 feet and a
wingspan of 78 feet. A two-level c rew com partment i n the
nose holds up to seven crew members . Amidsh i p there is a
60-foot- long, 1 5-foot-wide cargo bay (big enough to hold
a bus, or fou r medium-sized commun ications satell ites} that
Cc:.:!n carry up to 65,000 pou nds of payload i n to a low
i n c l i nation orbit or 3 2,000 pou nds i nto a polar orbit. Typ-

66

ical fl ight altitudes a re 200 m i les up, with a maxi m u m of

about 600 m i les. An a i rlock exits into the payload bay so
astrona uts can perform tasks i n space. A Canad i an-b ui lt
Remote Ma n i pu lator A r m is used to pick u p and retrieve
satell ites from the ca rgo bay. The orbiter is powered on
launch by th ree liquid-fueled motors, provid i n g 375,000
pounds of th rust each, as wel l as by smaller rockets for
ma neuveri ng i n space.
SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS (SRBs), each provid i n g 2 . 6 5
m i l l ion pou nds of th rust, a re ignited at l i ft-off along with the
space shuttl e ' s main engi nes on the orbiter. They burn for a
little over two minutes, by which time the shuttle is about 28
m i les up. Then they detach and parachute into the ocean , to
be recovered by ships, towed to shore, refurbished, and used
aga i n . Each booster is 1 50 feet long, holds 1 . 1 m i l l io n
pounds of fuel, and is designed t o b e used about 20 times.
Inside the space shuttle

THE EXTERNAL TANK holds

the liquid hydrogen and oxy
g e n fuel fo r the o r b i ter' s
engines. Both the orbiter and
the solid rocket boosters are
attached to it, and it is the
only major pa rt not reused .
After 8 . 5 m i n utes of flight,
the ta n k i s empty and is jet
tisoned to fa l l back into the
ocea n and s i n k . The ta n k i s
A space shuttle heads into space
made of aluminum; it is 1 55
NASA
feet long, 28 feet i n d iame
ter, and 1 . 65 m i l l ion pounds when fueled .
A shuttle is assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building sev
era l m i les from Launch Pads 39A and 39B at the Ken nedy
Space Center, or at Vandenberg Ai r Force Base. The orbiter
and the external tank are attached to the boosters, which stand
on a Mobile Launch Platform . The whole "stacked" shuttle is
then moved by a giant tractor to the launch pad .
At 6 . 6 seconds before l i ftoff the m a i n engi nes ign ite Space shuttle lands like an air
and b u i l d up to fu l l thrust, plane NASA
which signals the boosters to
ign ite, and the shuttle takes
off. The boosters d rop away
two m i n utes later, a n d the
s h u tt l e c o n t i n u e s to c l i m b
using its main engi nes. The
tank separates at eight min
utes into the fl ight, falling into
the ocean , wh ile the orbiter
conti nues on i nto orbit using
its small Orbital Maneuver-

68

ing System rockets. When its

m ission is complete, the shut
t l e is tu r n e d a ro u n d : t h e
m a n euveri n g e n g i nes a re
fired to slow it down, then the
orbiter flips over to point nose
fi rst.
The sh uttle then reenters
the atmosphere, getting very
hot as it reduces speed using
the d rag of the air. It is com
pletely un powered , but has
the abil ity to fly severa l hun
d red m i les to either side of
its orbita l path . It lands l i ke a
gl ider on a runway.
After landing, unused fuels
a re removed and the orbiter
is refu r b i s h ed fo r a n other
fl ight. I f the shuttle must be
tran sferred some other place
for launch, it i s carried on
the back of a mod ified 7 47
a i rplane.
The d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e
space shuttle Challenger and
death of its c rew on January
28, 1 986, led to a several
yea rs halt i n the shuttle pro
g r a m a n d l eft o n l y th ree
operational orbiters, named
Col u m b i a , D i s covery, a n d
Atlantis. A new one, Endeav
our, has now joi ned them .

A space sh.ottle seen by a nearby

satellite NASA

69

THE NATIONAL AEROSPACE PLANE now under study is

planned as a hypersonic wi nged craft that could take off like
an a i rplane from a runway, accelerate to orbita l velocity,
maneuver in low orbit, and then retu rn to Earth, landing l i ke
a n a i rplane aga i n . Such a veh icle cou ld provide access to
low orbits at a cost per pound of payload much lower tha n
ord i n a ry rockets or the space shuttle. A com mercial ve.rsion
of it may be used as a transoceanic a i rplane, nicknamed the
"Orient Express," able to travel from San Francisco to Tokyo
in about th ree hours.
Req u i ring very h igh-strength, lightweight, heat- resistant
materials, several designs are being stud ied for construction
in the late 1 990s. One calls for using methane as a fuel, with
atmospheric oxygen wh ile in the lower atmosphere, then
switching to l iquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at h igher alti
tudes. Other plans consider the use of ramjets and supersonic
combustion ramjets {called scram jets ) .
Conception for a U . S . aerospace plane

AGENA i s the oldest U . S .

u p p e r sta g e , u s ed s i n c e
1 959 more than 300 times
with g reat su ccess . I t h a s
been used a s the u pper
stage for Atlas, Thor, a n d
Tita n 3 B l a u nchers.
Several m i l itary spy-satel
lite payloads a re based on
Agena . An Agena was the
fi rst space-doc k i n g ta rget,
and other Agenas launched
s u c h p a y l o a d s as t h e
Mariner-Ma rs and Mari ner
Ven us probes.
T h e l a test vers i o n , t h e
Agena-D, c a n b e used with a
wide vari ety of payloa d s ,
a n d its liquid-fueled engines
can be stopped and restarted
in space for versatile maneu
ven ng.
Some Agena stages have
been used for missions lasting
more than six months in orbit.
This stage is 23 feet long, 5
feet in diameter, and weighs
1 5,000 pounds, 9 1 percent
of which is fuel .

Atla s rocket with Agena u pper

stage NASA

71

CENTAU R upper stage has been used with Atlas and Tita n
launchers to orbit such Earth -orbit payloads as large com
m u n i cations satellites and orbiting astronomical observato
ries. It has a l so been used for many i nterplaneta ry mis
s i o n s , i n c l u d i n g P i o n ee r ,
V i k i n g , Mari ner, and Voy
ager.
A typical Centaur stage
is 30 feet long and 1 0 feet in
diameter; it burns 3 1 ,000
pounds of cryogenic fuel in its
two e n g i n e s , p ro d u c i n g
3 3 ,000 pou n d s o f thrust.
These engines can be restart
ed in space for maneuver
ing. Centaur, when used as
the upper stage with an Atlas
booster, is capable of putting
1 3,000-pound payloads into
low orbits, 4,900 pounds into
a geostationary transfer orbit,
and , with the add ition of a
sma l l " k i c k m otor" on the
payload, 2,600 pounds into
an escape tra jectory.
The Centa u r conta i n s a
very capable guidance, nav
igation, and systems-control
computer that governs not
only the Centaur itself, but
also the Atlas booster.
Atlas with a Centaur upper stage
NASA

72

PAYLOAD ASSIST MODULE ( PAM) is designed as a small

sepa rate upper stage attached to satell ite payloads on Delta
and Atlas rockets, and for boosti ng payloads from the low
orbit of the space sh uttle to geostationary tra n sfer orbit.
When used with the shuttle it is someti mes cal led the
Spinn ing Solid Upper Stage because directional stabil ization
is achieved by spinning the PAM and its payload about 50
revolutions per m i n ute.
When used in the shuttle, the spinning is started by elec
tric motors on the structure holding the PAM and its payload .
They a re then ejected from the shuttle' s payload bay by
springs, and then a l lowed to drift many mi les away from the
shuttle (for safety) before the PAM is ignited to carry the
payload h ig her into space.
When used with expend
able rockets, small th ruster
jets a round the PAM cause
the spi n n i n g .
T h e fi rst PAM was used i n
1 980 with a Delta launcher.
PAMs come in d i fferent
versions for use with shuttle
a n d expen d a b l e roc kets .
PAMs fo r s h u ttle u se h ave
slightly shorter rocket nozzles
so they will fit with i n the car
go bay.
The PAM is capable of
taking al most 3,500 pounds
of payload from low orbit to
a Clarke orbit.
Payload Assist Module attached
to a satellite NASA

73

TRANSFER ORBIT STAGE was developed with private fu nds

to provide a n upper stage between the capabil ities of the
PAM, the Centaur, and the I nertial U pper Stage. Weighing
24,000 pounds when fu l ly fueled, it is 1 1 feet long and 1 1
feet i n dia meter, and can ta ke payloads i n the ra nge of
6,000 to 1 3,000 pounds from shuttle orbit to geostationary
tran sfer orbit. Its rocket engine provides 60J50 pou nds of
thrust. It can also be used as the upper stage for a Titan, tak
ing a payload capacity of 9,000 pounds to Cla rke orbit.
APOGEE AND MANEUVERING STAGE is an upper stage 1 0
feet i n dia m eter and 5 . 6 feet i n length , wei g h i n g 9,400
pounds. When used by itself as an upper stage from the shut
tle, it can boost 5,300 pounds from low orbit to geostationary
orbit. It will also be used for ferrying payloads from the shut
tle to the space station . Combi ned with the Tra n sfer Orbit
Stage, the payload capacity to high orbit is increased to
1 8 ,600 pou nds.
Transfer Orbit Stage

OSC

INERTIAL UPPER STAGE was designed by NASA and the Ai r

Force to launch heavy payloads from both the shuttle and the
Titan . It was fi rst u sed with a Titan in 1 98 2 .
I t is a two-stage solid-fueled vehicle, 1 6.5 feet long and 9.6
feet in diameter. Its first stage provides 42,600 pounds of thrust
and is connected to the second stage by a structure called the
interstage. The second stage g ives 1 7,430 pou nds of thrust.
The payload , attached to th is, contains a sop h isticated gu id
ance and control computer. Total weight (without payload)
is 32,000 pounds. It can carry a 5,000-pound payload from
low orbit to C larke orbit.
The Inertial U pper Stage

NASA

Pegasus air-launched racket

OSC

PEGASUS is the newest and smallest of U nited States launch

ers. It is u n ique i n severa l ways. Fi rst, it is the o n ly launch
er developed purely by private industry, a l beit using many
pa rts from previous spacecraft. Second ly, it i s l a u nched
not vertically from a launch pad , but horizonta l ly from
under the wing of an a i rplane. Pegasus is designed to car
ry sma l l payloads-someti mes called sma l l sats, or l ight
sots, or cheapsats-of less tha n about 950 pou nds inex
pen sively i nto low orbits a few hundred m i les u p .
The th ree-stage, solid-fueled, 50-foot- long Pegasus rock
et is attached under the wing of a B-52 bomber and flown to
an altitude of about 40,000 feet over the ocean . Pegasus is
then d ropped from the a i rplane and its fi rst-stage motors
ign ite, provid ing 1 09,000 pounds of thrust. When the first
stage is empty, it d rops away and a second stage provides
27,600 pounds of thrust for severa l m i n utes before it, too,
d rops away. A th i rd stage, with 9,800 pounds of thrust, puts
the satell ite into low Ea rth orbit.

76

SOVIET LAUNC HERS

Like the U . S . , the Soviet rocket program followi ng World War
I I got its sta rt using captu red German scientists and rockets .
U n l i ke the U n i ted States prog ra m , however, the Soviet pro
gram was carried on in great secrecy, some of which still sur
rounds it today. For exa mple, photog ra phs of some Soviet
rockets were not made publ ic until 20 yea rs after they were
used , and, until recently, some launch sites officially did not
exist.
Soviet boosters have tended to be capable of putti ng
heavy payloads into orbit. One reason for this seems to be that
Soviet scientists were not able, in the early days of ICBMs, to
reduce the weight of their bombs and so had to use more pow
erfu l rockets. It also req u i res more powerfu l rockets to place
satellites into low- incli nation orbits from the Soviet high -lati
tude launch sites. A continuing reason may b e that Soviet
microminiatu rization tech nology is less advanced, meaning
thei r satellites are heavier. At the present ti me, they have the
77

world's most powerful boost

er, Energia, as part of their
fleet.
There a re th ree d i fferent
nomenclatures for Soviet rock
ets. The Library of Congress
system u s e s l ette rs of the
alphabet roughly i n order of
appeara nce. Another system,
used by the U . S . Department
of Defense, uses the prefix SL,
meaning "satell ite launcher,"
and a number. Then there is
what the Soviets cal l them .
SOVIET A SERIES launchers,
ori g i n a l ly I C BMs, lau nched
the fi rst th ree Sputn i ks, and
incl ude the A 1 (or SL- 3 , or
Vostok), now being replaced
with more adva nced mod
els. Used for heavy spy satel
l ites, they stand 1 25 feet ta l l
a n d ca n p l a ce s i x ton s i n
orbit usi ng a main-core rock
et and fou r boosters .
A2 (SL-4), cal led Soyuz by
the Soviets, h a s been ex
ten s ively u sed for m a n ned
launches of Soyuz spacecraft
a n d Progress supply veh i The Soviet A 1 rocket, Vostok

78

des. It stands 1 63 feet h igh

and can place 7 . 5 tons into
low orbits.
A2e ( S L - 6 ) a d d s an a d
ditional u pper stage to pro
pel payloads to escape orbit.
It has been u sed for i n ter
planetary probes, but is now
u sed mostly fo r com m sats
and deep-space probes.
THE 81 LAUNCHER, or SL7, i s no longer u sed . It was
used to place sma ll payloads
i n the Kosmos and lnterkos
mos series i n to orbit. These
s a te l l i t e s h a d m a x i m u m
we i g h ts o f a bo u t 1 , 300
pou nds.
THE Cl (SL-8) booster i s the
only one of the many Soviet
l a u n c h e r s k n ow n to b e
launched from a l l th ree Sovi
et launch sites. The fi rst stage
develops 1 7 6 tons of thrust.
Overa l l length is about 1 05
feet. They are primari ly used
now for navsats ( n avigation
s a te l l i t e s ) a n d c o m m s a t s
(comm u n ications satel l i tes } .
Soyuz

TASS

The Soviet D 1 launcher

D SERIES lAUNCHERS have

six fi rst-stage engi nes pro
ducing a m i l l ion pounds of
thrust. D 1 (SL- 1 3 ) adds an
additional u pper stage. Th is
workhorse booster lau nched
the heavy Salyut a n d M i r
space sta t i o n s , a s wel l a s
many heavy Kosmos satel
lites. It can place 20 ton s in
low orbit.
PROTON, a l so cal led D 1 e
and SL- 1 2, is the D 1 with an
added u pper stage to a l low
escape from Ea rth orbit. I t
can ca rry 5 . 7 tons as fa r a s
the Moon, 5 . 3 tons to Ven us,
4.6 tons to Mars, and 2 tons
to C l a rke orbit. The Soviet
U n ion has tried to make th is
launcher ava ilable as a com
mercial veh icle.
There are no Series E, G,
or H Soviet launchers .
F S E R I E S LA U N C H E R S
i nclude the F 1 (SL- 1 1 ), which
w i t h an u p p e r sta g e c a n
p l a c e u p t o a b o u t 9 , 000
pounds i n low orbit. It stands

80

Proton

NOVOSTI

1 49 feet h ig h , is 1 0 feet i n
d ia m ete r, a n d prod uces a
thrust of 494,000 pou nds i n
t h e f i r s t s ta g e , 2 2 0 , 0 0 0
pounds i n t h e second stage.
Th is lau ncher has been used
a l most exc l u s i vely for m i l i
ta ry payloads.
T H E F 2 ( S L- 1 4 ) a d d s sti l l
another upper stage, so that
t h i s l a u n c h e r c a n ta k e
1 2 ,000 pou nds to low Ea rth
orbit. It is a bout the same
size as the F 1 , but with slight
ly i m p roved th rust. Typ ica l
payloads i nclude the Meteor
series weather satell ites and
p roba bly heavy e l ectro n i c
spysats (spy satell ites) .
THE MEDIUM-LIFT VEHICLE,
also known as the J 1 , the SL1 6, and the S L-X, i s a newer
Soviet launcher that fi l l s the
payload-capacity weight-gap
between the capa b i l i ties of
the A2 and the D 1 . Its fi rst
launch was in 1 985. It can
boost 1 5 to 20 tons into low
orbit.

ENERGIA, or SL-W, fi rst lau nched in 1 987, is the world' s

most powerfu l launch veh icle. It is capa ble of putti ng about
220,000 pounds into low Ea rth orbit.
The lau ncher stands 1 98 feet ta l l , weig h s 4.4 m i l l ion
pounds, and has 6.6 million pounds of thrust from its first stage.
This consists of a core tank, much l i ke the external tan k of the
spoce shuttle, with four liquid-hydrogen/liquid-oxygen engines.
Around the core are four boosters using kerosene and liquid
oxygen .
There are versions of the Energia for use with unmanned
payloads and for the Soviet space shuttle and spaceplane. The
payload is carried piggyback on the side of the core veh icle.
With the add ition of upper stages Energia may be used to
build a large Soviet space station i n the 1 990s.
The booster rockets are reuseable. They separate from the
core stage when the launcher reaches about five times the
speed of sound. They parachute to Earth and are refurbished
for use.
THE SOVIET SPACE SHUTTLE (or SL-W Shuttle, si nce it is
launched on the Energia booster) i s very s i m i lar to the U . S .
shuttle. T h e Soviet Un ion made much u s e o f America n tech
nology and experience. The fl ight of the fi rst Soviet shuttle,
named Bura n ( "Bl izzard" ) , was in November 1 98 8 .
There are several differences between the Soviet shuttle and
the America n one. The Soviet shuttle carries its main-stage
engines on the external tank, g iving improved performance
to the orbiter because of reduced weight. The boosters are l iq
uid-fueled . The Soviet shuttle can operate either with a crew
or as an unmanned vehicle. For transport between launch sites
both the orbiter and tank can be carried piggyback on an air
pla ne, s i m i lar to the way the American orbiter is carried on
a Boeing 747.

82

THE SOVIET SPACEPLANE is a smaller veh icle, designed

proba bly fo r a th ree- m a n c rew, a n d capable of ra p i d
launch . It w i l l b e used for replacing Mir space-station crews,
servicing sate l l i tes in low orbit, and for man ned reconnais
sance m ission s . The U.S. Depa rtment of Defense ca l l s it a
"space fighter."
The Soviet Energia o n d Buran space shuttle

EU ROPEAN L AU N CHERS
THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ( ESA) is a consortiu m of
more th a n a dozen nations that pool th e i r money a n d
expertise on space projects . The biggest contributors to
ESA are the U n i ted Ki ngdom, France, Germany, and Ita ly.
Having no launch sites for large rockets in Europe, ESA uses
the French Guiana Space Center.
The Ariane, ESA's launcher, had its fi rst Flight i n 1 979 and
became operational i n 1 98 2 . Si nce then it has captu red
about half of the world's commercial launch market.
ARIANE-3, one of the versions recently used, stands 1 62 feet
high; it uses fou r l iq u id-fueled eng i nes plus two solid-fueled
strap-on boosters. The second stage has a si ngle engine sim
ilar to those i n the fi rst stage, and the th i rd stage uses cryo
gen ic fuels. Tota l launch th rust is 850,000 pounds, and
the veh icle weighs 530,000 pou nds. It can place 5,700
pounds i nto a geostationary transfer orbit, or 3, 800 into an
escape orbit.
ARIANE-4 i s the latest version . The fi rst stage is si mi lar to the
Ariane-3, but it is 23 feet longer in order to hold more fue l .
B y itself it has a th rust from its fou r eng i n es of 60 1 ,000
pou nds. The second and th i rd stages a re strengthened ver
sions of those from the Ariane- 3 .
Aria ne-4 comes i n severa l configurations. Model 42P,
with two sol id-fuel boosters, can place 2 . 6 tons into Cla rke
orbit. Model 44P uses four solid boosters for a payload
capacity of 3 tons. Model 42L uses two new liquid-fueled
boosters for 3 . 2 tons of payload. Modei 44LP uses two sol id
and two liqu id-fueled strap-ons for a 3 . 7-ton capacity. Mod
el 44L, using fou r l iquid-fueled boosters with a lift-off thrust of
1 . 2 m i l l ion pounds, can send 4 . 2 tons to geostationary orbit.

84

Ariane-3 launcher

ESA

Ariane-44LP launcher

ESA

85

HOTOL spaceplane concept

BAe

HOTOL, for HOrizonta l Ta ke-Off and La n d i n g , is a British

proposa l fo r a s i n g l e - stage-to-orbit, 200-ton u n p i l oted
spaceplane that will take off l i ke an a i rplane from a runway
on a rocket-assisted trolley. It wi l l burn l i q u i d hyd rogen
from on-boa rd ta n ks with atmospheric oxygen d u ri n g fl ight
i n the lower atmosphere. When the a i r becomes too th i n at
higher altitudes, it will switch to on-board tanks of liquid oxy
gen . Its ca rgo bay w i l l be about the size of that of the U . S .
space sh uttle, a n d the cargo load around 1 0 ton s . When
used to carry people, a crew compartment will be fitted into
the cargo bay.
After del ivering its payload to low orbit it will reenter the
atmosphere and land l i ke an a i rplane. It could be mod ified
to be a hypersonic commercial airl i ner. HOTOL may be fly
ing by the end of the 1 990s.

86

HERMES is the Europea n Space Agency' s project for a

reusea ble, small space-shuttle veh icle. Present plans ca l l
for a three-person crew. Hermes will carry 3 tons o f payload .
Its overa l l weight will be around 2 1 tons.
ARIANE-5, now i n the planning stages, w i l l become the
launch veh icle for Hermes in the late 1 990s . It will also ca r
ry u n m a n ned satell ite payloads, capable of ca rryi ng 1 5
tons to low Ea rth orbit and 8 tons to geosynchronous orbit.
A single cryogen ic fi rst-stage eng ine will provide 80 ton s
o f thrust. Two sol id-fuel stra p-on boosters wi l l each add
another 500 tons of thrust. At lift-off the launcher wi l l weig h
about 1 45 tons. For small- to medium-sized payloads there
will be a second stage. For m i ssions that requ i re more pow
er, a th i rd stage developed from the Ariane-3 will be used .
For manned m issions, the Hermes space shuttle is to be the
upper stage.
Hermes spaceplane on Ariane-5

ESA

Songer and Horus concept

ESA

SANGER/HORUS is a proposed Germa n two-stage space

plane that is to be fully reuseable. The fi rst-stage Sanger veh i
cle itself will be a hypersonic ai rcraft powered by turbo ram
jets with a n 83-foot wi ngspa n , a length o f 1 65 feet, and a
ta keoff weight of about 350 tons. It w i l l ca rry the Horus
orbita l veh icle piggyback, ta king i t to a n altitude of about
20 m i les and a speed of 7,500 m i les per hour. Sanger will
then sepa rate from the orbital veh icle and fly back to land
at a n a i rport for reuse.
Horus, weighing 50 tons, will then conti nue into space.
Payload capacity to low orbit i s planned to be either 9,000
pounds of cargo or 4,500 pounds of cargo and a crew of ten .
Its mission over, Horus would reenter the atmosphere and land
l i ke an a i rplane.

88

JAPAN ESE
L AU NC HERS
J a p a n beca m e the fo u rth
space nation i n 1 970 .
LAMBDA SERIES rockets are
sma l l , unguided sol id-fueled
launch veh icles with a fi rst
s ta g e t h r u s t of 8 1 , 0 0 0
pounds.
M U S E R I E S LAU NC H E R S
i nclude the th ree-stage Mu3S, which has two stra p-on
so l i d -fu el boosters, has a
ta ke-off th rust of 43 1 ,000
pou nds, and can place
1 , 700 pou nds i n low orbit
or 300 pounds i n an escape
orbit. It l a u n c h ed J a pa n ' s
fi rst deep-space m i ssion to
Comet Hal ley.
N-SERIES LAU NCHERS use
a l i censed derivative of the
U . S . Delta rocket as a fi rst
stage. The second stage uses
l i q u i d fuel, the th i rd stage i s
sol id-fueled . T h e N - 2 h a s a
tota l l i ft - o f f p o w e r o f
638 ,000 pou nds. It can l i ft
770 pou nds to Cla rke orbit.
The Japanese Mu launcher

THE H- 1 LAUNCHER, l i ke the

N-series, uses a Thor-derived
fi rst stage with n i n e strap-on
sol id-fuel boosters. Tota l l i ft
off thrust is 640,000 pounds.
The second stage uses an a l l
Japa nese-design cryogen ic
f u e l e d e n g i n e p ro d u c i n g
2 2 , 000 p o u n d s o f th rust.
Th i rd stage i s sol id - fueled,
with 1 7, 600 pou n d s of
thrust. I t stands 1 32 feet h igh,
and can place 7, 1 00 pounds
into low Earth orbit, or 1 ,200
pou n d s i n to geostationary
orbit.
T H E H - 2 LA U N C H E R ,
designed for use after 1 992,
w i l l use a c ryog e n i c f i rst
s ta g e w i t h two s t r a p - o n
boosters for a tota l launch
thrust of about 1 30 ton s. The
s e c o n d s ta g e w i l l be the
same stage as i n the H - 1 . It
w i l l be capable of placing
4,400 pounds i n to C l a rke
orbit, a n d wi l l be J a p a n ' s
most powerful launch veh icle
wel l into the 2 1 st century.

Japanese H-2 launcher

90

C HIN ESE LAUNC HERS

The People's Repu bl ic of C h i n a became the fi fth space
capable nation on April 24, 1 970 . Si nce then C h i n a has
launched two to th ree m i ssions a yea r. Its fi rst com m u n ica
tions sate l l ite i n Cla rke orbit was lau nched Apri l 8 , 1 98 4 .
The C h i nese have spec i a l i zed i n recoverable u n m a n ned
satel l i tes. Some of these have conta i ned experi ments per
formed in weightlessness, and others seem to have been
recon n a i ssance satell ites.
LONG MARCH 1 , known a l so as the CZ- 1 {Chang Zheng1 ) and by the Western nations as CSL- 1 , was the ea rliest
booster. It was derived from a n I RBM { I n termed i ate Range
Bal l i stic Missi le) . It has two l iquid-fueled stages and a sol id
fuel upper stage, together 97 feet tall, capable of putting 660
pounds into low Earth orbit. The CZ- 1 C is a slightly improved
version with a payload capacity of 880 pou nds.
Chinese CZ-2C launcher

Xinhua and New China Pictures

THE FB- 1 ROCKET stands for

" Feng Boo," wh i c h mea n s
"Sto rm Booste r . " O v e r a
dozen sate l l i tes h ave gone
up on th i s series of rockets. It
is a two- stage l i q u id-fueled
rocket that can place 5,500
pounds in a low orbit.
LONG MARCH 2 (CZ-2 ) is a
two- sta g e roc ket, the fi rst
stage developing 6 1 7,000
pou nds of th rust from fou r
l i q u i d - fu e l e n g i n e s . These
can put 6, 600 pou nds i n to
low Earth orbit.
THE LONG MARCH 3 (CZ3), fi rst flown i n 1 984, i s a
th ree- stage rocket with the
same fi rst stage as the CZ-2 .
It i s 1 42 feet h i g h , weighs
202 to n s , and can p l a c e
3, 1 00 pou n d s i n to a geo
stationary tra nsfer orbit.
" W E AV E R G I R L" ( Lo n g
Ma rch 4 ) i s the newest C h i
nese lau ncher, fi rst tested i n
1 98 8 .

"Weaver Girl"-the Chinese Long

March 4 l a u n c her X i n h u a
a n d New C h i n a Pictures

IND IAN LAUNC HERS

India entered the Space Age
in J u ly 1 980. India has used
the launch services of both
the U . S . and U . S . S . R.
SLV-3, India's fi rst successfu l
lau ncher, i s s i m i l a r to the
U . S . Scout rocket. It placed
th ree satellites i nto low Ea rth
orbits in the early 1 980s.
ASLV, or Augmented Satellite
Launch Veh icle, is a 75-foot
high, all-solid-fuel, four-stage
roc ket c a p a b l e of plac i n g
about 3 3 0 pounds into low
orbit. It has a lift-off weight of
3 9 to n s a n d a t h r u s t o f
365,000 pounds.
GSLV, Geostationary Satell ite
La u n c h V e h i c l e , i s i n t h e
pla n n i ng stages for opera
tion i n the m i d - 1 990s . The
c u rrent d es i g n ca l l s fo r a
cryogenic-fueled rocket able
to p l a c e 2 , 8 0 0 to 3 , 700
pou nds i n to a geostationary
tra n sfer orbit.

India ' s SLV

ISRAELI L AU N C HER
I s rael beca m e t h e e i g h th
space-ca pable nation on
September 1 9, 1 988, with
the launch of its fi rst satel lite
aboa rd the Shavit { "Comet" )
launcher.
SHAVIT is thought to be a
derivative of the two-stage
sol i d - fueled Jericho- 2 m i l i
ta ry ba l l istic m i s s i le, wh ich
was in tu rn d e r i ved fro m
French rocket resea rch . As
a m i ssile it has a range of
about 400 m i les. As a sate!lite launcher it placed its fi rst
payload into an elliptical retrograde orbit with a perigee
of 1 55 m i les and an apogee
of 7 1 7 m i les .
The launch was unu sual
in that i t was towa rd the
northwest, over Europe, so
that the rocket wouldn ' t fly
ove r A r a b n a t i o n s . T h e
l a u n c h s i te wa s t h e Pa l
machim Air Force Base.
The 343-pound satellite,
named Offeq- 1 { " Horizon1 "L is 8 feet long and 4 feet
in diameter, and it contains
several scientific experiments.

94

T h e Israeli launcher

IAI

First Israeli satellite

IAI

OUT TO LAUN C H
TH E LAUNCH PAD, o r launch complex, i s the location and
assem blage of components that holds the rocket ready for
launch and suppl ies the necessa ry faci l ities for fuel ing, elec
trical power, payload installation, and other support services.
Most rockets a re attached to the pad by su pport structu res
at the base of the fi rst stage. The U . S . space shuttle rests on
its sol i d rocket boosters.
Some rockets, such as the American space sh uttle, the
European Ariane-4, and many Soviet rockets, a re assembled
in a separate vehicle-assembly building and then moved to the
launch pad severa l m i les away. Most Soviet rockets a re car
ried horizonta l ly on ra i lcars. The American shuttle and the
European Ariane-4 are carried vertically. Some other launch
ers are "stacked" on the pad, and the payload is then installed
i n the top stage.
Launch pads need to withstand the tremendous heat and
vibration of launch . Often huge streams of water are sprayed
over the pad during the l i ft-off. Beneath the pad a re flame
troughs to carry the rocket flames harmlessly away from the
pad .
THE GANTRY is the ma i n structu re of the pad , usually h i g h
er tha n t h e rocket itself. It provides work platforms at many
levels, and these can be moved to encase the rocket for work
on it and to provide protection from the weather. S i m i l a r
moving structures, which d o not surround the rocket but allow
workers a n d crews access to it, a re often cal led "swi ng
a rm s . "
From the gantry come umbilical lines carrying fuel, air, and
electrical power to the rocket and its payload, and carryi ng
back to g round controllers telemetry signals g iving the status
of all the rocket and payload functions.

95

COUNTDOWN is the process of prepa ring the rocket and its

payload for l a u n c h i nto space. Fuel i n g of l i q u i d - fueled
stages is a lways done on the pad, whereas the sol id-fuel
motors a re brought to the pad ready for fl ight. Because the
very cold cryogen ic fuels boi l off, such fuel tan ks need to be
"topped off" conti n u a lly until a few m i n u tes before launch .
Because fuels are explosive, it is often necessary to vent away
a ny escaping gases. The external ta n k of the space sh uttle
has a "bea n i e cap" that fits over its nose during launch
prepa ration and performs th is function .
The launch process is controlled from a launch control cen
ter, often called a blockhouse because it is usually underground
and built with very th ick wa lls to withstand an explod ing
rocket. In side, launch crews mon itor the preparation of the
rocket and the status of the payload. Th is information is car
ried from the pad via wi res before launch, and via radio
telemetry after launch.
The checkout and the launch of a rocket a re usually

c o m p u te r - c o n t ro l l e d , beca u s e there a re te n s of t h o u
sands o f measu rements that must b e made continually. A
typica l countdown may take about a day. In the last few
m i nutes before launch the safety mechan isms, which prevent
the rockets from firing accidenta lly, a re set to a llow for i gni
tion, l iquid-fuel tan ks have their vents closed so pressure that
will force the fuels into the eng ine can bu i ld up, and the
rocket goes on i nternal battery power.
At ign ition , cal led "T-0," the rockets a re ignited and the
cables con necting the rocket with the launch pad a re dis
connected. Often it takes several seconds for liquid-fueled rock
et engi nes to bu i ld up to ful l thrust. Then sol id-fueled boost
ers a re ign ited and the rocket begins to "lift off," taking sev
era l seconds to "clear the tower."
Several seconds later the rocket turns to the desi red d i rec
tion and angle of fl ight and conti nues to climb. As it ascends
th rough the thick lower layers of the atmosphere it i s subject
to a g reat deal of stress, so often the engines a re reduced i n
power for a few seconds to avoid over-stressing the rocket.
During this stage the rocket is accelerating at several times the
force of g ravity.
After a m i n ute or two, booster rockets burn out and fal l
away. When the fuel in the fi rst stage is gone, it drops away,
usual ly fal l i ng into the ocea n . The second stage ignites and
continues to th rust the rocket toward space. Once the rocket
is above the th icker parts of the atmosphere, aerodynam i c
strea m l i n ing is no longer needed, s o to save weight t h e nose
cone of the rocket, called the payload fa i ring, is jettisoned .
When the second stage is empty, it separates, and the rock
et may coast upwa rd for a while before the th i rd stage fi res.
The burn ing of the th i rd stage places the payload into orbit,
and it then separates from the rocket. Often small rockets move
the th i rd stage aside to prevent its bumping into the payload .

97

SPAC EPORTS
Since the most dangerous portion of a launch is the first-stage
burn , there must be unpopulated areas in those direction s
from the launch site toward which rockets are sent. For
low- inclination orbits, this means roughly toward the east and
southeast; for h ig h - incl ination satellites, particularly polar
orbits, the d i rection of lau nch is toward the north or south .
The latitude of the launch site partially determines how much
fayload a rocket can carry to low-inclination orbits. A launch
eastward from a site close to the equator means a given
rocket can carry a greater payload . If two identical rockets
were launched from NASA' s Kennedy Space Center in Flori
da ( latitude 28 degrees) and from the Gu iana Space Center
(5 degrees), the latter could carry about 1 5 percent more pay
load to Clarke orbit.
98

THE WORLD'S MAJOR LAUNCH SITES

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Launch Site
Kennedy Space Center
Wallops Flight Center
Vandenberg Air Force Base
Guiana Space Center
Tyuratam (Baikonur)
Kapustin Yar
Plesetsk
Jiuquan
Xicheng
Tanegashima Space Center
Kagoshima (Uchinoura)
Sriharikota Launching Center
Thumba
San Marco Equatorial Range
Esrange

Latitude
28.5N
37.9N
34.7N
5 . 2N
45.6N
48.4N
62.0N
40.6N
28 . 1 N
30.4N
3 1 .2N
1 3. 8 N
8.5N
2.9S
67.8N

Longitude
8 1 .0W
75 .4W
1 20.6W
52.8E
63.4E
45.8E
40. 1 E
99. 8 E
1 02 . 3 E
1 3 l .OE
131.1E
80.4E
76.9E
40.3E
20.2E

99

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER ( KSC) is NASA's major spaceport,

located on the east coast of Florida on Merritt I s l a n d . Next
to it is the Cape Canavera l Air Force Station, launch site for
the Air Force Eastern Space and Missile Test Range, wh ich
extends southeastward across the Atlantic. KSC itself has only
two launch pads, 39A and 39B. These were used for all but
one of the Apollo lau nches and for all the shuttle lau nches
so fa r. All expendable roc ket lau nches and all pre-Apollo
man ned launches were from the Air Force Statio n , where
most of the pads have now been deactivated . KSC also
has a giant veh icle-assembly bu i l d i ng and related process
ing buildings and firing rooms, as well as a 1 5,000-foot run
way for retu rn ing space shuttles.
The non-operational areas of KSC are a wildlife preserve.
Public tou rs of KSC are ava i lable from the Visitor' s Informa
tion Center located near the entrance on NASA Causeway.
The Center has extensive displays of rockets, satellites, and edu
cational exh i bits.
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (VAFB), also known as the
Western Test Range, is located nea r Lompoc, Californ i a . It
has been the site of many m i l i ta ry missile launches, and of
NASA lau nches of satel l i tes intended to go i n to h i g h incl i
nation or polar orbits. VAFB has a safe launch d i rection for
polar orbits towa rd the south , over water. VAFB cannot
launch satel l i tes towa rd the east beca use fi rst stages wou l d
fa l l i n populated a reas.
Launch and landing faci l ities that enable polar orbits for
the space shuttle were built here but then deactivated follow
ing the Challenger accident in 1 986. They will be reactivat
ed sometime in the 1 990s.
VAFB is also the site of many operationai iCBMs, and of
test launches across the Pacific . Hence, th is is a heavily clas
sified area not open to the public.

1 00

NASA ' s Kennedy Space Center

NASA

1 01

NASA ' s Wallops Island Facility

NASA

WALLOPS FLIGHT CENTER is located on Wa l lops Island off

the Del marva Pen insula on the coast of V i rg i n i a . It was
one of the earl iest U . S . launch sites, dati ng from 1 945.
Ma ny tests of boosters and other rocket systems occu rred
there in the early days of the space prog ra m . It has safe
launch d i rections to the east and southeast. Wh i l e many of
the fl ig hts a re of sou n d i n g rockets, des igned to go up and
right back down aga i n , many small sate l l i tes have been
launched from here using Scout rockets. NASA has launched
severa l non - U . S . sate l l i tes from th i s site .
OTH E R NASA CENTERS, w h i c h cond u c t p rog ra m s a n d
resea rch b u t do n o t have l a u n c h sites, i nclude t h e Goddard
Space F l ight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland; Johnson Space
Center, Houston, Texas; Ames Resea rch Center, Mounta i n
view, Ca l i fornia; Lewis Resea rch Center, Cleveland, Ohio;
Jet Propu lsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Ca l i forn i a ; Langley
Resea rch Center, Hampton , Virg i n ia; and severa l that con
duct mostly aeronautical research . Some have visitor centers
open to the public.

1 02

PLESETSK, known a l so as the Northern Cosmodrome, i s

located 1 00 m i les south o f Archangelsk, U . S . S . R . , nea r the
town of Plesetsk. It is the Soviet equivalent of Vanden berg
Air Force Base and is the major Soviet m i l ita ry launch site;
i t i s heavily defended by m issile emplacements. Plesetsk i s
b y fa r t h e world's busiest spaceport, havi n g lau nched wel l
over 1 ,000 m i ssions, typically 5 0 to 7 0 a yea r. The site i s
at least 60 m i les l o n g , w i t h dozens of launch p a d s as wel l
as research faci l ities. It is idea l ly pos itioned for launch i n g
polar-orbiting satell ites, typically toward t h e northeast, a n d
i t i s from here t h a t Soviet recon n a i ssance sate l l i tes are
launched.
The exi stence of th is cosmodrome was un known until a
group at a British boys' school tracked a lau nch in 1 966 and
calculated that it must have come from th is reg ion, not from
one of the other space centers then known .

TYU RATAM ( a l so c a l led Ba i ko n u r beca use the Sovi ets

clai med for many yea rs it was near that town) i s rea l ly
more tha n 200 m i les southwest i n Kaza khsta n , j ust east of
the Ara l Sea . It i s near the Sar-Darya R iver. A newly bu i lt
city for the base workers, Len i nsk, is nearby.
Th i s huge spaceport has more tha n 80 launch pads, and
was the location from wh ich both Sputn ik 1 and Yuri Gagarin
were launched . Typica l ly, more than a dozen fl i ghts a yea r
are launched from Tyu ratam, which is the second busiest
spaceport in the Soviet Union. All Soviet manned missions, and
a l l i nterplanetary probes, are launched from here. This is
also the site for launches of the Energia booster, and new facil
ities are being developed for launches of the Soviet shuttle and
spaceplane.
KAPUSTIN YAR, also known as the Volgograd Station, is the
oldest of the Soviet launch bases; it is located on the Volga
River not far from the city of Volgograd . It was here the Sovi
et and German engineers launched the V-2s captured at the
end of the war. Th i s was the fi rst- known of the Soviet rock
et bases, ea rly m i ssile lau nches havi ng been tracked by
radar from Tu rkey to the south .
This spaceport is largely used for m i l ita ry m issile tests
(particularly antiballistic missile targets), for small scientific satel
lites in the Cosmos series, and for sounding rockets. Most
orbital launches from here have used the B and C series of
rockets. More recently it has been the launch site of the small
Soviet spaceplane (p. 83). Th is may signal a coming increase
in the usua l ly sma l l launch-rate from Kapusti n Yar, depend
i n g on whether on ly the test fl ights or the operational fl ights
will be made from here.
KALININGRAD is the main control center for Soviet manned
space m issions.

1 04

TANEGASHIMA SPACE CENTER, with its Osaki and Takesaki

launch sites, i s located on Ta negashi ma Island, about 600
m i les southwest of Tokyo, Japa n , and 50 m i les south of the
southern tip of Kyushu, southernmost of the Japanese ma jor
islands .The Takesa ki site is used for small sou n d i n g rockets
on resea rch fl ig hts. The Osaki launch site is used for orbital
lau nches of larger veh icles. It was fi rst used i n 1 97 4 as the
launch site of an N-series launcher, and is the site for the new
H- 2 veh icles.
The island is in the m iddle of one of Japan's richest fish
ing areas, and fa l l i ng fi rst stages of rockets cou ld produce a
hazard to fish ing boats, requiring the down range areas to be
evacuated for each launch . Hence, an agreement between the
Japanese government and the fishi ng i ndustry restricts launch
es to February and August. Typical ly, one or two launches a
year are carried out here, but th is number may rise as the H2 launcher comes into operation .
KAGOSHIMA, also cal led Uchi noura, is on the southern tip
of Kyushu Island . It was inaugurated by a first launch in 1 964
of a Lambda soun d i ng rocket. ( Severa l ea rlier Japa nese
sou n d i ng rockets had been launched from the nea rby Aki
ta Rocket Range. ) Japan's first six satellites were launched from
Kagosh ima, beginning in 1 970. The la rgest rockets launched
from here are the Mu-series. All launches have been of sci
entific payloads, both sounding rockets and several orbital mis
sions. Typically, there is one launch a year from th i s base.
OTHER JAPANESE SPACE FACILITIES a re at the Tsu kuba
Space Center north of Tokyo and near Tanegashima; down
range are tracking stations at Okinawa and Ogasawara on
C h i c h i -J i ma Island, and a mobi le station that can be set up
either on Kwajalein Atoll or Chri stmas Island .
Tanegashima launch site

1 06

JIUQUAN , previously referred to as Shuang Chen -Tse, or

" E ast W i n d Center," is in n o rthwest C h i n a , in Ga n s u
Provi nce, near the border with Mongolia. It was first used i n
t h e late- 1 960s to l a u n c h m i l itary rockets, some possi bly
with nuclear warheads, i nto a test range i n the Gobi Desert.
From here was launched C h i na's fi rst satellite, C h i n a- 1 , i n
1 970. Most lau nches are toward the southeast.
Typical payloads now lau nched from J iuquan a re Earth
resou rces satellites and those with recoverable payloads.
The latter are lau nched into low orbit for days to weeks, and
then reenter under controlled conditions so they may be
found and the speci mens aboard studied .
Because the Chinese d o not have any territories outside their
borders for tracking satel lites down range, they use tracking
sh ips sent out into the Pacific.
XICHANG, ea rlier cal led Chengd u, i s located i n China's
Szechwan province. The site i s more su itable for lau nches to
geosynchronous orbits than J iuquan i s since it has a lower
latitude, and a l l such lau nches a re now made from here.
Although small compared to some of the giant American
and Soviet bases, Xichang is being expanded to serve as the
launch base for Long March 2 and 3 rockets. China now offers
its launch services to other nations and firms need i n g to
place satellites into orbit.
Li ke the Soviet U n ion, China has on ly land- locked launch
sites, which restricts the d i rections i n which they can launch
their rockets. Despite the apparent availability of seacoast sites,
they seem to prefer to keep their launch bases inland for secu
rity reasons .

Xichang launch site

1 08

Xinhua and New China Pictures

GU IANA SPACE C E NTER,

known by its French name
C e n tre S p a ti a l Guya n a i s
(CSG) a n d by the name of
the nea rest town, Kou rou , is
located i n French Guiana,
on the n o rtheast coast of
South America. It was estab
l i shed by France with a fi rst
l a u nch i n 1 96 8 . It is now
used by the European Space
Agency and its commercial
launch orga n i zati o n , Ari
anespace, to launch Ariane
rockets .
ELA- 1 rockets are assem
bled on the launch pad . The
n ewer E LA - 2 , as wel l a s
futu re E LAs under construc
tion for the Ariane-5, use a
vehicle-assembly building, in
which the enti re vehicle is put
together on its launch plat
form and checked out by a
sop h isticated computerized
system . The p l a tfo rm a n d
roc ket a re then carried by
ra i l a b o u t a m i l e to t h e
launch site. There a re also
plans for a landing strip for
use with the Hermes space
plane.
Centre Spatial Guyanais

1 10

ESA

India ' s Shar spaceport

SRIHARIKOTA LAUNCHING CENTER, cal led Shar, is I ndia's

major launch site, located on the east coast north of the city
of Madras on the Bay of Benga l . Shar began with sounding
rocket launches i n 1 97 1 , and si nce then has been the site of
most of I ndia's satell ite launches. Shar is also responsible for
administering several other m i nor launch sites, i ncluding Bal
asore Rocket La u n c h i n g Station, located on I n d i a ' s east
coast, south of the city of Calcutta . Bala sore' s more north
ern latitude makes it less suitable for orbita l lau nches.
THUMBA Equatoria l Rocket La unching Station is located
just north of the city of Trivandrum near India's southern ti p.
Thumba i s now a d m i n i stered i n cooperation with the U n it
ed Nations and is used for atmospheric sou n d i n g - rocket
resea rch by many nations, i n c l u d i n g Fra n ce, Germany,
Japa n , and the U n i ted States.

111

SAN MARCO EQUATORIAL RANGE is operated by Italy and

the U n i ted States. It i s located i n Formosa Bay, th ree m i les
offshore from the coast of Kenya .
The San Marco launch platform is a 3,000-ton, 98- by
382-foot steel structure standing on 20 legs embedded in the
seafloor. Scout rockets are assembled and tested in a hori
zontal position, then ra ised to a vertical position for launch.
About 4,000 feet from San Ma rco and connected to it by
23 electrical cables is the Santa Rita control platform, a tri
angular "Texas Tower" -type platform l i ke those u sed for oil
drilling rigs. It is 1 37 feet on a side. A crew of 80 controls and
tracks launches from here. Both platforms generate thei r own
electricity.
The most famous satel lite lau nched from San Marco, and
the first U.S. satell ite launched by another nation, was Explor
er 42, better known as "Uhuru/' in 1 970. During its very suc
cessfu l m ission it sca nned the sky for X-ray sou rces, and
identified the fi rst suspected black hole.
WHITE SANDS TEST FACILITY is a NASA resea rch labora
tory nea r Las Cruces, New Mexico, next to the U . S . Army's
White Sands Missile Test Range. Here NASA tests rocket
engi nes and power systems, particula rly for the space sh ut
tle. No lau nches are made from the NASA faci l ity, but sub
orbita l launches are made from the Army ra nge. These a re
sounding rockets for both civi l ian and defen se research . The
fi rst captu red V-2 rockets were launched from here .
WHITE SANDS SPACE HARBOR, a l a n d i n g stri p for use by
the retu rn i n g space shuttle, is also located here. It is for u se
if the other shuttle landing sites at the Ken n edy Space Cen
ter and Edward Air Force Base, i n Cali forn i a , have bad
weather.

1 12

Sweden ' s Esrange launch site

ESRANGE is the world's most northerly launch base, locat

ed near K i ru n a i n northern Sweden, above the Arctic C i r
cle. It is operated by the Swed ish Space Corporation and i s
used by Sweden and m a n y Europea n nations to launch
sou n d i ng rockets .There a re six launch pads ava i lable for
use; from these sounding rockets can reach altitudes of at least
300 m i les . Many of these a re designed to study the upper
atmosphere, polar phenomena, and the interaction of the Sun
and the Ea rth's magnetic field. About half of the rockets are
recovered . Associated with the launch pads are tracking and
control facilities, as well as a receiving station for Landsat and
Spot photog raphs. The broadcast satell ite for Scandinavia n
television i s a l so controlled from here.

113

AN ATOM Y OF A SATEL L ITE

Every satell i te and spaceprobe has a m ission to perform . It
wi l l therefore conta i n va rious components that enable it to
perform its mission . These may i nclude cameras, telescopes,
other sensors, rad io receivers and tra n s m i tters , or other
instruments. I n addition , whatever the mission, there will also
be a number of subsystems common to a lmost all spacecraft.
Beca use most satel l i tes can not be repa i red once in space,
many of the systems are red unda nt: they have m u ltiple,
dupl icate components that can be switched i n and out as
needed i n case one fa ils. Spacecraft components, as wel l as
the enti re assembled craft, are subjected to severe tests to
ensure rel i a b i l ity once i n space. Pioneer 1 0, for exa mple,
launched i n 1 972 and now outside the solar system, i s sti l l
sen d i ng back data .
T H E STRUCTURAL SUBSYSTEM i s t h e body of t h e satel l ite .
Other components are attached to it. Once i n space a satel
lite has no weig ht, but it must nonetheless be desig ned to
withstand forces many ti mes the force of gravity during
launch and during orbital maneuvers. Consequently, large,
fl i m sy, extended structures, such as antennas or arms hold
ing solar cells, are often not extended to their fu ll length until
the craft is on-station or all major propulsive events are over.
POWER SYSTEMS provide electrical energy to the other
systems. In almost all satellites the power comes from the Sun,
and i s converted to electricity by sola r cells. These a re
heavy and may be a major pa rt of the tota l weight of a
spacecraft. It takes about a square yard of solar cel ls to pro
duce 1 00 watts of electricity. Solar panels m ust often rotate
to face the Sun, and the bearings that a l low th i s a re critica l
components.

1 14

BATTERIES supply power to the sate l l i te d u ri n g l a u n c h ,

between the time o f launch and when the solar cells become
usefu l, and d u ring a ny periods i n which the Sun i s ecl i psed .
NUCLEAR POWER SUPPLIES have been used i n a few spe
cial spacecraft, such as Soviet m i l ita ry ocea n-observation
satell ites that need very large amou nts of power for the i r
radar systems. Spaceprobes s u c h as Voyager, desig ned to
explore p l a n ets fa r from the S u n , where the s u n l i g h t i s
wea k, u s e radioi sotope thermal generators that convert the
heat of rad ioactive materials into electricity.
Voyager spacecraft

Radio antenna

Functional diagram of a spacecraft

THERMAL-CONTROL SYSTEMS keep a spacecraft at the

proper temperatu re. Every square ya rd of a rea exposed to
the Sun p icks up over 1 , 300 watts of heat, about the same
wattage as a stea m i ron . Spacecraft systems also generate
heat. I n the vacuum of space there is no a i r to ca rry heat
away by convection; a craft can only radiate heat away. The
spacecraft components must be kept with i n fai rly narrow tem
perature ranges, usually between about 40 and 1 00 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Passive therma l-control measures include painting the out
side a highly reflective wh ite; covering parts with m i rrors or
gold-plated foi l , which i s very effective at reflecti ng solar
infrared rays; and pa i nting areas black so they will pick up
heat when facing the Sun and radiate heat away when fac
ing away from the Sun .

1 16

Active thermal control includes havi ng moveable louvers,

white on one side and black on the other, wh ich are turned
to control the heat gained or lost. To keep satellite systems
wa rm during ecl ipses, batteries supply heaters . Some satel
lites spin conti nually, a method cal led "barbecue mode," to
keep one side from getting too hot.
THE NAVIGATION SUBSYSTEM i s responsi ble for deter
m i n i n g the position and attitude of the spacecraft, and for
sending signals to the propulsion system for correctio n . For
Ea rth -orbiting sate l l i tes, position i s often determ i ned by
grou nd-track i n g , but deep- space probes also use stel lar
navigation . Objects sighted to determ ine orientation include
the Sun, Earth , planets, and stars. For satell ites that must keep
antennas pointed toward Earth, such as commsats, an Earth
horizon sensor i s often used . Someti mes d i rectional anten
nas on the satell ite track radio transmitters on Ea rth .
A PROPULSION SUBSYSTEM is requ i red for station keeping,
keepi n g the spacecraft i n its proper location or tra jectory,
and for orientation, keepi ng the craft pointed correctly.
Usual ly these are very sma l l rocket motors that each provide
only a few pou nds of thrust. They a re a rra nged a round the
spacecraft i n such a way that they can be used either to move
the craft i n a pa rticular d i rection or to rotate it a bout some
axis. More powerful systems may be used to change the orbit
or tra jectory of the craft.
FUEL used for station keeping is usually hydrazine. It does not
burn as does the fuel for large rockets, but merely escapes
under pressure from the rocket nozzles. To provide slig htly
more thrust, it may be heated in the nozzle. Hydrogen per
oxide has a l so been used .

1 17

Pitch adjustment

Lateral motion

Roll adjustment

Satellite thrusters

TRACKING, TELEMETRY, AND CONTROL (TI&C) is the sys

tem by which the satell ite's operators know where the satel
l i te i s and what it i s doing, and can com mand it to do
th ings to fu lfi l l its m ission . The telemetry systems monitor the
electrical voltages, currents, temperatures, and switch settings
with i n the satel lite and report these to control stations on
Ea rth by rad i o . They may a l so reco rd data acq u i red by the
satellite for relay to Earth at convenient times. The system uses
a special o m n i d i rectional anten na that ensures that, even if
the satellite goes out of control and starts tumbling, its oper
ators can always stay i n touch with it. When a satell ite is on
station and is properly oriented , telemetry signals may also
use larger anten nas pointed at Ea rth to a l low more data to
be sent faster.
TI&C signals are received by a worldwide network of
tracking stations. Signals from low-orbit satel l i tes can be
received by anten na "dishes" only ten or twenty feet in diam
eter. Very d i stant spaceprobes such as Pioneer 1 0-now
close to 3 bill ion m i les from Earth-requ i re d i shes a hundred

feet in size.

118

RESEARCH SATELLITES have an unobstructed view of Earth ,

the planets, the Sun, and the cosmos. They include such pas
sive satellites as Lageos, designed to reflect laser beams from
Earth in order to determ ine precisely our planet's shape, and
upper-atmosphere research probes that release clouds of gas
es to stream along the lines of force of Earth's magnetic field .
At the other end of the complexity sca le a re the sem iau
tonomous robotic planeta ry probes desig ned to work for
yea rs b i l l ions of m i les from Ea rth .
"Particles and fields" probes study the i nterplanetary elec
trical and magnetic fields, and detect cosmic rays and the solar
wind-the stream of high-energy atomic particles th rown off
by the Sun.
Orbiting observatories study the cosmos in the visible and
invisible wavelengths of the spectru m, most of which never
make it th rough the atmosphere to su rface observatories.
(Different physical processes produce l ight of different wave
lengths, so each new "window" in the spectrum gives impor
tant new information about the un iverse. )
Planetary probes visit our cosmic neighbors, sending back
beautiful photog raphs as well as data a bout the enviro n
ments near them . Solar probes study the sta r upon which o u r
l ives depend .
Earth-orbiti ng satellites

APPLICATIONS SATELLITES make use of the a i rlessness and

wei g htlessness of space for practical pu rposes. Remote
sensing satel lites provide data for better weather forecasts,
crop forecasts, the mon itoring of forest fi res, and other
practical uses. Navigation satel lites a l l ow s h i ps, a i rcraft,
trucks, and trains to determine their positions very accu rately.
Com m u n ications satellites carry ten s of thousands of tele
phone ca l l s and hundreds of television signals a round the
g lobe.
I n the future, appl ied research aboard satell ites and space
stations will a l low the creation of space factories to produce
materials of great economic benefit to Ea rth . Among the
things we may develop are new pharmaceuticals for medicine,
purer c ry stals for electron ics, and new a l loys for building.
The fol lowing pages show a few representative space
craft from a variety of nations.

The Hubble Space Telescope

NASA

THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST) has been called "the

most importa nt scientific i nstru ment ever flown . " It i s named
for astronomer Edwin Hubble, who d iscovered the expa n
sion of the u n iverse.
HST, launched in 1 990 by the space shuttle to an orbit
about 370 m i les up with an i nclination of 2 8 . 5 deg rees, can
peer into the un iverse seven ti mes fa rther tha n any previous
man- made i nstrument. It can detect objects 1 /50 the bright
ness detectable from grou nd-based telescopes. Five sensitive
i nstru ments share the l ight collected by the telescope' s 8foot-diameter main m i rror. Despite some i n itial optical prob
lems, HST is return ing much valuable data .
HST weighs more than 20,000 pounds a n d is 1 5 . 5 feet i n
diameter and 48 feet long . Two large solar panels provide
4,000 watts of electricity. Every few years HST will be visit
ed by the shuttle for refuel ing, refurbish ing, and upgrading.
HST takes electronic pictures and measurements and relays
them to the Space Telescope Science Institute located in Bal
timore. Here astronomers record the observations and d i rect
its activities.

1 21

Atmosphere
probe

Radioisotope
power supply

The Galileo J upiter spaceprobe

'

GALILEO is now on its way to Jupiter. Ga l i lee' s path ta kes

it fi rst into a long elliptical orbit .a bout the Sun, which swings
it back months after launch to pass closely by Ea rth once
again to pick up more energy i n a slingshot tra jectory. It then
heads out to Jupiter.
About 1 00 days before encounteri ng that giant planet in
1 995, it wi l l sepa rate into two parts. One goes into orbit
around Jupiter, approximately following the orbit of the satel
lite Ganymede, with a period of about seven days. During 1 1
orbits it will take close-up photog raphs of Jupiter and many
of its satel l ites.
The second part of Gal i lee is an atmospheric probe. It wi ll
plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere at a speed of 1 00,000
m i les an hour. A heat shield and then parachutes will slow it
down . As it drifts slowly downward , it will radio back a pro
fi le of the atmosphere.

1 22

The Advanced X- Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF)

NASA

AXAF {Adva n ced X- Ray Astrophysics Fac i l i ty) w i l l explore

the depths of the u n iverse by looking for X rays from cosmic
sou rces . {These wavelen g ths never m a ke it th ro u g h the
atmosphere to Earth ' s su rface observatories . ) It will conti n
ue studies beg u n by the ea rlier sate l l i tes U h u ru and the
High Energy Astrophysics Observatories. It will comple
ment the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope .
AXAF will be 1 4 feet in diameter, 43 feet long, and weigh
1 0 tons in orbit 300 miles above the Earth . Its main instrument
wi l l be an X- ray telescope 4 feet in diameter with 1 00 ti mes
more sensitivity to fa int X-ray sou rces than earl ier satellites.
It will be able to pinpoint the position of sources four times more
accu rately in the sky as wel l . Th rough i nternational cooper
ation with NASA, instruments from researchers in the Nether
lands and the U n ited Ki ngdom a re being provided . This
space observatory is designed to last severa l yea rs.

1 23

U LYSSES i s a spaceprobe designed to explore a never

before-vi sited reg ion of our solar s stem, the h uge vol u me
lyin g a bove and below the plane o the Earth ' s orbit (ec l i p
tic) and the polar reg ions of the S u n . All previous inter
planeta ry m i ssions have been confined to the n arrow disk
with i n which a l l the planets orbit.
The 800-pound spacecraft, provided by the European
Space Agency, was launched in 1 990. The U . S provided the
launch services, the 260-watt power supply, some experiments,
and tracking using NASA's large-dish anten nas.
The craft i s head ing toward Jupiter, using a s l i ngshot
orbit over the giant planet's pole to swi ng it into a tra jectory
that wi l l take it over the poles of the Sun in 1 994 and 1 995.
Thi s m i ssion is designed to last about five years and g ive us
important new information about the three-d imensional struc
ture of interplanetary space around the Sun .

Soviet Phobos spacecraft photog raphs that satellite

PHOBOS, launched in 1 988 by the Soviet Un ion, was a pa ir

of 1 0,000-pound spacecraft sent to study Mars and i ts two
satellites, thought to be captu red asteroids. They had been
fi rst photog ra phed by Mariner 9 in 1 97 1 . Cooperative
experiments on board came from researchers in France, Aus
tria , West Germany, and Sweden . Phobos 1 fa iled en route
to Ma rs due to a controller's error.
Phobos 2 entered orbit around Mars early i n 1 989. The
craft was to have studied Ma rs' i n ner satelli te Phobos, a
sma l l world with a very low escape velocity. Lasers from the
probe were planned to vaporize a small portion of the surface
for chemical analysis. Later the craft was to release two lan
ders, one to d rive a probe into the satellite's su rface i n order
to test its properties, another to hop from place to place
across the su rface for a more complete su rvey. Unfortunate
ly, the spacecraft fa i led after send ing back only a few pho
tographs and before it made any close studies of the satellite.

1 25

Comet Rendezvous/ Asteroid Flyby space mission

NASA

C RAF ( Comet Ren dezvous/ Astero i d F lyby ) , a l so ca l l ed

Mariner Tempel-2, wi l l be the fi rst to use a new mu ltipu rpose
spacecraft structu re to wh ich the specific i n stru ments need
ed for the m i ssion are to be attached .
Plans are to launch CRAF aboard a Tita n - Centaur i n
1 993. It will fly b y Venus that Aug ust, then swing b y Earth
aga in on a s l ingshot tra jectory, picking up speed for its trip
outward . I n early 1 995 it will fly by the asteroid Hestia, g iv
ing us our fi rst close look at one of these m i nor planets.
I n 1 996 CRAF wi l l approach to with i n 3,000 m i les of
Comet Tempel-2. It will then close to with in about 600 m i les,
then down to 20 m i les, and fi re a penetrator probe into the
icy n ucleus of the comet to measure its properties. Fol lowing
the comet as it heads inward toward the Sun and heats up,
l i berati ng gases and dust, CRAF will move slowly away from
the comet, traveling down the comet' s ta ils.

1 26

COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES (com msats} are the most

widely used appl ications satellites so fa r, a multi - b i l l ion-dol
la r-a-yea r b u s i ness . Al most all commsats-over 1 00 of
them-a re i n Clarke orbit 2 2 , 300 m i les above the Earth ' s
equator. A t th is distance they orbit the Earth i n 24 hours, the
same time it ta kes Earth to revolve once. As seen from
Earth they appea r to be stationary i n the sky. Thus anten nas
on the g round do not need to fol low them across the sky.
Each satell ite receives rad io signals from a n Ea rth station
antenna, shifts the frequency, amplifies them, and sends them
back to Earth . The circuit aboard the satell ite that does th is is
cal led a transponder or repeater. Transponders have powers
ranging from a few watts to a few hundred watts . Although
only about a thousandth of a billionth of a billionth of the pow
er rad iated by the satellite ma kes it to the antennas on Earth's
su rface, receivers are sensitive enough to al low even small
anten nas to be usefu l .

The larger satel lites, such as those of the I nternational

Teleco m m u n ications Sate l l i te Org a n i zation ( I n tel sat} , a re
intended to relay telephone calls, dig ital data, and television
across the ocea ns. One large satellite can ca rry 100,000
telephone ca lls simu ltaneously, plus severa l televi sion sig
nals. Other D i rect Broadcast Satellites carry television signals
d i rectly to smull antennas on people's homes. Sti l l others
connect ships at sea and ai rcraft with telephone systems any
where in the world .
Commsats may have antennas designed to send their sig
nals to the 42 percent of the globe they can see from their orbit,
or the antennas may be "spot beams" designed to focus on
sma l l areas of the Earth .
Commsats range in cost from a few tens of m i l l ions of dol
lars for the smallest ones to several hundreds of mill ions of dol
lars for the la rgest, most powerful ones. Th is does not i nclude

An l n telsat VII commu nications

satel lite INTE LSAT

Spacenet commsat i n the Clarke

orbit GTE

Molniya satellite over northern regions

the additional tens of millions of dollars needed to launch them,

or to operate them once in orbit.
There are severa l commsats not i n Clarke orbit. Because
it is difficult for a satellite over the equator to communicate with
areas at h i g h latitudes, the Soviet Un ion has a series of
commsats, known as Molniya, in long, looping orbits that take
1 2 hours to go around once. Several of these are spaced
around one orbita l path, and each is used in tu rn when it is
near its apogee poi nt and hence moving slowly. An Earth sta
tion tracks each one for severa l hours unti l it beg ins to move
too fast, at which time commun ications traffic is switched off
to another Moln iya then nearing its apogee. The U . S . military
has a s i m i lar satellite system for commun icati ng with its sub
marines and a i rcraft when they are near the North Pole.

1 29

REMOTE SENSING is the techn ique of studying someth i n g

from a d i stance b y analyzing l ight. Everyth i n g emits and
reflects l ight u n i quely, depending upon its chemical com
position , tem perature, pressure, and other properties.
Remote sensing satellites {sometimes cal led sensats) have
a bird's-eye view of Earth and can examine the entire surface
every few days to weeks, enabl ing us to detect changes.
Sensor i nstruments provide data that allows scientists to deter
mine if a crop is under stress, roughly predict crop yields, find
the boundaries of a forest fire or a Rood, detect minerals, and
study the effects of flooding, pollution, or u rbanizatio n .
Sea-sensing satellites c a n determine temperature, wave
height, wind d i rection, and sea level. By knowing the tem
perature o f water preferred b y certa i n f i s h , satel lites c a n
g u i d e fishing fleets to schools o f fish quickly.
Weather or meteorolog ical satell ites (metsats) provide the
photographs you see on television weather reports. They can
determine the temperature, winds, weather fronts, cloud pat-

Remote sensing satellites detect radiation from Earth

terns, and moisture in the air.

They are especially important
since most of Earth' s surface
is ocean , a n d much of our
weather orig i nates there.
RESOLUTION, the a b i l ity to
detect sma l l objects and tel l
them apart, i s a n i m portant
characteristics of a sensat.
La ndsat 5 has a resol ution
for one of its sensors of 240
feet. Th is means it can detect
a reas an acre in size, and
tel l one acre from another.
The economic benefits of
sensing satel l i tes are hard to
calculate, but certa i n ly large.

Studying Earth from space

Radar " photog raph" of Earth from Seasat

NASA

LANDSAT is the series of U . S . remote land-sensing satellites.

The fi rst one wa s l a u nched in 1 97 2 . In the m i d - 1 980s
Congress decided to transfer the Landsat program to p rivate
i n d u stry. The cu rrent sate l l i te is La ndsat 5, l a u nched i n
1 984.
Landsat is i n a polar orbit at an a ltitude of 438 miles, ori
ented so that it looks down and takes photog raphs of areas
1 1 5 m iles square. The orbit changes orientation slowly and
continually so that it always passes over parts of Earth that have
a local time of about 9 : 30 A.M. Th is is so that the i l lumination
angle of the Sun is a lways the same, which a l lows for com
parisons between photographs taken on d i fferent days. In 1 8
days Landsat scans the entire Ea rth and then beg ins aga i n .
Landsat weighs almost 4,300 pounds, a n d is 1 3 feet long,
6 feet wide, and 1 2 feet h igh including its solar panel and
antenna. The sensors are ( 1 ) a Multispectral Scan ner, wh ich
detects l ight i n fou r d ifferent wavelength bands with a reso
lution of 260 feet, and (2) a Thematic Mapper, sensitive to sev
era l other wavelengths of
light, with a best resolution of
1 00 feet.
Most La n d s a t p h o
tographs a re printed i n false
colors to enhance visibil ity.
Water shows up as black or
blue, u rban a reas are gray,
growing plants a re pink or
red, desert areas are brown.

A Landsat remote sensing space

craft NASA

A Landsat photograph

NASA

SPOT, sta n d i n g for System

Probatoire d'Observation de
I a Terre, i s a n E a rth
re s o u rces s a te l l i te of t h e
E u ropea n Space Agency . l t
w a s first l a unched i n 1 986
by a n Ariane rocket, the first
polar launch for that rocket.
Spot is roughly cubical in
s h a pe , a b o u t 6 . 5 feet o n
e a c h side. Extend i n g from
this main body are solar pan
els about 50 feet long that
provide 1 , 800 watts of pow
er to the satell ite. It weighs
4,000 pounds.
Spot i s i n a n orbit 522
m i l e s up, and repeats i ts
ground track every 26 days.
Each image covers a n area
about 38 m i les on a side,
with a resolution of 33 feet for
black-and-white pictures and
6 6 feet for color pi ctures,
much better tha n La ndsat.
Thi s a llows finer deta i l to be
seen on Earth .
Newer, more capable ver
sions of Spot, with higher res
o l ution a n d more deta i l ed
light analyzers, a re planned
for the 1990s.

1 34

The Spot remote sensing satellite

1 990 CNES. Provided by SPOT
Image Corporation
A photograph of part of Earth
from Spot 1 990 CNES. Pro
vided by SPOT Image Corporation

GOES is a series of Geostationary Operational Environmenta l

Sate l l i tes. Severa l G O E S a re i n orb i t 2 2 , 3 00 m i les u p ,
spaced t o g ive ful l coverage of the Earth ' s weather. These
sate l l i tes a l so mon i to r rad i o reports from thousa n d s of
u n m a n ned weather-observ i n g stations and h i g h - a l titude
meteorological bal loons, relaying the data to weather cen
ters on Earth .
The older GOES spacecraft are shaped l i ke hat boxes,
about 7 feet in diameter and 1 1 feet high including their anten
nos. On orbit they have a weight of 86 1 pounds. They a re
spin-stabilized, mainta i ning their orientation i n space l i ke a
gyroscope. Their sensors scanned across the Earth's surface
as they turned .
The newer GOES satellites are a very different design. They
are three-axis stabilized, so they do not spin and their instru
ments a re continually pointed down at Ea rth . They weigh
almost 2, 900 pounds. The i nstruments include new sensors to
examine a wider portion of the spectrum; they are more sen
sitive than those on earlier satellites.

A newer GOES weather satellite

NOAA
GOES photog raph of E a rth ' s
weather NOAA

A NOAA weather satellite

NOAA

NOAA is a series of low-orbit weather satel l i tes na med

after the U . S . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency,
wh ich manages a l l metsats . They complement the GOES
satellites by providing closer, more detailed photographs and
mea s u rements of the atmosphere. NOAA sate l l ites a re
about 500 m i les up i n polar orbits that take them over a l l of
the Earth . They weigh about 2,000 pounds and a re about
1 3 feet long, not including the sola r pa nels, wh ich supply
1 ,500 watts .
Thei r i nstru ments i ncl ude h ig h - resol ution cameras and
devices to determ ine atmospheric temperatu re. They also
relay reports from weather bal loons and buoys, and from
remote stations.
Aboard the later NOAA satellites a re receivers for the
Sea rch and Rescue system.
These detect d istress signals
from ai rcraft that may have
c r a s h e d i n rem ote a re a s
beyond the range o f the usu
al d istress receivers on Earth .
NOAA image of Earth

NOAA

Navstar/GPS navigation satellite

NAVSTAR, or GPS, the Global Position i n g System, i s a

g roup of navigation satellites designed for use by the U . S .
m i l ita ry but a l so usable by civi l ia n veh icles. There a re 1 8
operational Navstar satellites, six spaced around i n each of
th ree 1 2,500- m i le- h i g h orbits with d i fferent i n c l i nations,
each with a period of 1 2 hours.
User equipment ranges from small hand-held receivers to
larger receivers carried aboa rd ships and a i rcraft. These
receivers automatically pick up signals from the several near
est Navsta rs to calculate the receiver's position to with i n 50
feet in three d i mensions, and velocity to with i n a fraction of
a mile per hour.
The current Navstars are about 1 ,700 pounds i n weight,
use 700 watts of power from solar cel ls, and a re "hard
ened" aga inst radiation from nuclear blasts. They also have
nuclear detection devices aboard, and can detect if someone
has tried to tamper with them either by hitting them or by shin
i ng a laser at them .

1 37

MANUFACTURING IN MICROGRAVITY is stil l i n its i n fancy.

The advantages of space are that it is a n a l most weightless
envi ronment and a better vacuum tha n we can produce on
Ea rth .
More experimenti ng than actual commercial manufactur
ing has gone on so far. The National Institute of Standards and
Technology does sell tiny, perfectly spherical plastic beads {for
cal ibrating instruments} that are made in space. Pharmaceu
tical compan ies have used a techn ique called electrophore
sis to purify drugs. {Much of the cost of a d rug comes in the
purification process, which can sometimes be done more
efficiently i n space because gravity doesn't i nterfere . }
Semiconductors for the electronics industry must b e excep
tiona l ly pure to function . Many i mpu rities come from the
conta iner i n which ingredients are processed . In the zero-g

Experimental drug processing in space

"1

NASA

-' -----=

environment of space, mate

rials can be processed with
out conta iners, levitating them
with magnetic fields or sound
waves to a l low p u rer pro
cessing.
It may be possible to pro
duce a l loys in space from
materials that won't m ix on
Earth because one floats on
another, or to make l ight but
strong foa med meta l s that
h ave t i n y b u b b l e s eve n l y
d i spersed th ro u g h o u t t h e
materia l .
Manned spacecraft in free
fall are not totally weightless,
as the crew moves a rou n d
a n d s m a l l th rusters keep the
craft in the proper orienta
tion . Someti mes, too, waste
prod u c ts a re v e n ted i n to
space. Therefore some mate
rials processing wil l probably
be done in separate, free-fly
i ng platforms that a re visited
by astro n a u ts i n order to
renew supplies and remove
fin ished materials.
I t is p ro b a b l e that the
greatest benefits from mate
r i a l s p roces s i n g in m i c ro
g ravity will come from th i ngs
we can't even imagine yet.

Perfect spheres made in zero g

NASA

I .
L

Astronaut Guion Bluford prepares

an expe r i m e n t on the s h u ttle
NASA

1 39

MIR i s the world's on ly operationa l space statio n . It fol lows

the Soviet Salyut series first placed in space in 1 97 1 . The first
20-ton component of Mir, wh ich means both "peace" and
"world" i n Russ i a n , wa s lau nched February 20, 1 986,
aboard a Proton rocket from the Tyuratam spaceport. Its orbit
is i n c l i ned about 52 deg rees at an altitude of a round 200
m i les. Becau se of its size it is very bright and can easily be
seen from Ea rth .
The station has been increased i n size several times since
launch . The ori g i nal 43-foot- long, 1 4-foot-d iameter, 2 1 -ton
station has had a 20-foot- long, 1 0. 6-ton Kvant ( "Quantum"}
astrophysics research module added on to it. The station has
five docking ports, which allow both manned and unmanned
resupply vessels to attach to the station . Three large solar pan
els supply electricity. Mir can accommodate a crew of up to
six cosmonauts, but usually there are only two or three aboard
except during crew changes. Several cosmonauts have spent
over 200 days each in space aboard Mir. Robotic Progress
tan ker craft are launched and automatically rendezvous and
dock with Mir to bri ng water, food, and suppl ies, and to
retrieve materials from the experi ments bei ng conducted
aboard . More add itions are l i kely.
Among the activities ca rried out in Mir are astronomy
observations, materials processing { i ncluding purification of
drugs similar to the electrophoresis equipment carried aboard
the space shuttle}, manufacturing experimenta l a l loys, Ea rth
observations, studying the biomed ical effects of zero g, and
m i l itary researc h .
T h e large size a n d low orbit o f Mir mean that it i s subject
to much atmospheric drag. Rocket engines aboard the Progress
tan kers are used to re-boost the station to h igher altitudes.

Mir, the Soviet space station

1 40

THE U.S. SPACE STATION, na med "Freedom , " w i l l p rovide

a permanently manned space research facility by the end of
the 1 990s . The basic design has one or more long beam s
with large solar panels and heat radiators to provide elec
tri c i ty. Severa l cy l i nd r ica l mod u l es-i n c l u d i n g o n e from
Europe and one from Japan-wi l l serve as a dorm itory for
crew, l aboratories, and detachable log istics modu les for
sto r i n g foo d , fue l , a n d suppl ies. Canada wi l l su pply a
mob i l e robot a rm for use i n construction a round the sta
tion .The design cou ld change.
By 2000 the station should be complete and capable of per
manent manned occupancy. After that, a second phase of con
struction will add more large beams, solar-dynamic power sup
plies to increase the available electrical power, and more mod
ules. A service bay will enable astronauts to construct space
craft or to perform maintenance on spacecraft.
FREE-FLYING PLATFORMS near the m a i n station wi l l a l l ow
microgravity experi ments. Possibly separate astronomy plat
forms w i l l be bui lt.
Later, a co-orbiting small station may be built by the Euro
pean Space Agency and launched by the space shuttle for
more m icrogravity work. Scientists will commute from the
station to the platforms. A separate polar-orbitin g platform is
planned for Earth-observation missions; it will be smaller than
the main station .
SPACETUGS, or space ferries, a re bei n g developed to car
ry payloads from one orbit to another, or from one space
craft to another. Spacetugs may be automated or piloted. Fur
ther i n the future we may have lunar shuttles to ferry crews
and supplies between Earth orbit and a lunar base.

One concept of a U.S. space station

1 42

NASA

MILITARY U SES OF SPACE

Most of the technology now used in civi l i a n space pro
g rams came out of m i l ita ry resea rch , j ust as did most avi
ation tech n ology before it. Most rockets were ori g i n a l ly
des ig ned to ca rry wa rheads. Many of the i n stru ments used
in astronomy and in Earth-observing satellites were designed
for spy satell ites (spysats} . To national leaders concerned with
thei r nations' defense, space is the "high grou nd" that must
be used and occupied.
Other tha n anti satell ite weapons and the rockets that car
ry conventional and n uclear warheads, much of the m i l itary
use of space promotes world stabi l i ty. The abil ity to see from
space m i l ita ry movements and factories m a k i n g m i l i ta ry
equ ipment, or even to eavesdrop on a potential enemy's
communications, ma kes su rpri ses and uni nformed reactions
less l i kely.
Some details are known about U . S . m i l itary satel lites from
unclassified sou rces. Most Soviet satellites a re h idden under
the catchall phrase "Kosmos," and much less is known about
them by the public.
MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES a l low world
wide coverage. Most U.S. long-dista nce m i l i ta ry com m u n i
cation u ses satell ites. Si nce geostationary satel l i tes are not
useful from latitudes greater than 77 degrees (they would be
too close to the horizon to get a good signal th rough the
atmosphere}, both ma or powers have non-geostationa ry
commsats i n orbits i nc ined about 63 deg rees . The Soviet
satell ite system is cal led Moln iya; the U . S . has the Satellite
Data Syste m . Such satel l i tes allow nations to stay i n touch
with thei r nava l and air forces i n polar reg ions, and to
relay data from spysats .

1 44

METEOROLOGY SATELLITES (metsats) provide mil itary forces

with important information on weather conditions worldwide.
They can g ive data on clouds, icebergs, and prec i pitation,
and they can track large, dangerous storms. Th i s i s i m por
ta nt to troops and vessels, and it also helps target spy
satellites to areas with l ittle cloud cover. The U.S. m i litary met
sat system is cal led the Defense Meteorological Satel l i te
Prog ra m .
NAVIGATION SATELLITES ( n avsats) provide m i l i ta ry users
such as ground troops, ships, aircraft, and m i ssi les with very
accu rate position determ i nation. The cu rrent U . S . system i s
called Navsta r or Globa l Position ing System (see p . 1 37 ) .
OCEAN SURVEILLANCE satellites track ships, a n d c a n even
detect some submerged submarines. The U . S . cu rrently has
no such satell ites. The Soviet Union has for many yea rs
used a series of Radar Ocea n Reconnaissa nce Satell ites.
MILITARY RESEARCH SATELLITES carry i nto space scientific
experiments of interest to the defense forces, including work
on new sensors, propu lsion, and even sop h i sticated manu
facturing tec h n iques. Space shuttles a re used both for m i l
itary and civi l ia n resea rch m i ssions; the space station may
be as wel l .
EARLY WARNING SATELLITES provide national command
forces with i n formation on possible m issile attacks and ene
my m i l i ta ry satell ites . The cu rrent U . S . system is called the
Defense Support Program , a series of th ree geostationary
satell ites stationed over the Atlantic, I n d i a n , a n d Pacific
ocea n s watc h i n g for ba l l i stic missile lau nches from land
bases or from submarines.

1 45

N U C LEAR
DETECTION
SATELLITES watch from orbit
fo r the i n te n se f l a s h e s of
n uclear bombs as a way of
enforcing test bans. The ear
l i est U . S . detection satel l i tes
were ca l led Vela . Now that
function is a l so performed
by the I n teg rated Opera
tional Nuclear Detection Sys
tem carried piggyback on
Navsta r sate l l i tes.
ELECTRONIC INTELLIGENCE
SATELLITES a re some of the
most secret satel lites used by
defense organizations. Often
called ferret satell ites, they
a re u sed to eavesd rop on
rad i o a n d rad a r tra n s m i s
s i o n s a n d c a n repo rted ly
even pick up, from low orbit,
telephone c a l l s carried on
terrestrial m icrowave l i n ks.
Others a re i n geostationary
orbits.
The fi rst U.S. series was
c a l l e d R h y o l i te . M o re
advanced satellites reported
ly h ave c o d e n a m e s l i ke
Aquacade, Magnum, Chalet,
and Jumpseat.

1 46

' /

. lfj
: \,/
.

'.

t.

. . "/2.
-. .
M i l i ta ry n a v i g a t i o n s a te l l i te
NASA

Soviet Radar Ocean Surveillance

Satellite

SPY SATELLITES (spysats) a re a lso h i g h ly secret. They a re

placed i n low orbits, and have maneuveri n g eng i n es that
a l low them to swoop even lower for closer photog raphs, to
return to higher orbits, and to change orbits i n order to scan
d i fferent target a rea s .
Fol lowing t h e ea rly U . S . Discoverer series, t h e "Big B i rd"
satell ites, a l so known as KH("Keyhole" )-9, were launched
between 1 97 1 and 1 984. These huge spysats were 50 feet
long, 1 0 feet in diameter, and weighed 25,000 pounds. They
conta i ned long-focal - length cameras. (They also someti mes
contained some electron ic eavesdropping capabil ities . ) Pho
tographs were developed in the spacecraft automatical ly.
Some were scan n ed electro n ical ly and the pictures sent
back to receiving stations on Ea rth by rad i o . For the high
est-resol ution pictures, the fi l m was transferred to one of six
pods that were then jettisoned and retu rned to Ea rth by
parachute, being caught in m i da i r by a i rplanes.
Unofficial sou rces claim Big Birds could recognize objects
as smal l as a foot across from 1 00 m iles up. A standing joke
is that the CIA has n ickna mes for every Russian truck d riv
er. Big B i rds were exploded in orbit or commanded to reen
ter and burn u p at the end of their operational l ives to pre
vent them from fa l l i n g into foreign hands.
The Tita n - 3 launcher was specifical ly developed to launch
the Big B i rds. Current spysats are launched by newer Tita n
models or b y t h e space shuttle. Big B i rd u sed t h e Agena
upper stage, wh ich remained attached to it to enable it to
maneuver over different geographical areas of interest.
The newer U . S . spysats, beg i n n i ng in the m i d - 1 980s,
a re the KH- 1 1 and KH- 1 2, supposedly with ever- better res
olution and longer operational l i feti mes in orbit. Tech nolo
gy has i mproved, so fi l m retu rn is no longer necessa ry.

1 47

Artist's conception a Big Bird spysat

LACROSSE is the name of a new radar spysat fi rst lau nched

aboard a space shuttle in 1 988. It is the first U . S . active radar
satell ite, capable of making i mages of what it "sees" with
rad io waves. The rad a r i s capable of peer i n g th rough
clouds and of being used at n ight as wel l .
Lacrosse satellites are about 1 50 feet across, and a re
placed in orbits about 400 miles up. Unclassified sources claim
they can resolve objects as small as about 3 feet across.
Their connection with the new KH- 1 2 spysats is not known out
side the m i l i tary.

1 48

FUTU RE SPAC E MISSIONS

So fa r our space m issions have been confi ned to the solar
system, and even that we have explored o n ly spottily. Only
the Moon has been visited by humans i n perso n .
We a re techn ically limited in o u r explorations by the pow
er of our rockets, by our abil ity to carry food and fuel, and
by one appa rently insuperable physical l i m itation : the speed
of l i g ht. No object or signal we now know of can travel
faster than 1 86,000 m i les per second .
Further exploration and exploitation of space will depend
upon more powerfu l and efficient rocket engines. Among
the possibilities are ion engines, wh ich, although they produce
only a small th rust, can provide power for a long time and
make very efficient use of fuel.
Other low-thrust techniques such as solar sails may be used.
Tech nolog ies such as fusion ra mjets a re fa r in the futu re.
Such fanciful ideas as anti-gravity, "wa rp drive," and so on
a re l i kely to rema i n i n the rea lm of science fiction, a lthough
we should never underesti mate the potential for resea rch
breakth roughs.
Much will be done robotical ly, sending "smart" machi nes
into distant and dangerous environments. Robots will become
i ncreasingly autonomous. This is especially i m porta nt the
farther from Earth our probes go, and thus the longer it takes
to communicate with them via radio.
The next few pages outl ine several possible futu re space
activities, some almost certa i n to occur with i n the next couple
of decades, some that will perhaps never occur.
Whether any particular project happens i s not so i m por
tant as the fact that, just as the 20th centu ry saw terrestrials
take the fi rst tentative steps off our planet after 5 bill ion years
of evolution, the 2 1 st century will see the permanent expan
s ion of human beings into the solar system and t h e u n iverse
beyond .

1 49

A future base on Mars might look like this

LUNAR BASES will be among the next manned space activ

ities. The Moon cou ld be m i ned for materials to be used i n
b u i l d i n g space settlements and spacecraft, and for fue l .
The Moon i s a good site for astronomical rad io a n d optical
observatories. Lunar orbit may be a good place to a ssem
ble huge spacecraft for planetary m issions.
A MAN NED MISSION TO MARS i s among the progra m s
being considered b y the U .S. a n d the Soviet U n i o n , perhaps
as an i nternationa l venture that includes Europe and Japa n .
Because the Moon a n d Ma rs have no or l ittle protective
atmosphere or magnetic field, bases there would have to be
dug several feet below the surface to avoid cosm ic rays and
meteoroids. Humans would need to wear pressure suits for
work on the surface. With i n a couple of decades there may
even be tourist visits to the Moon.
The first true extraterrestrial human i s l i kely to be born in
a lunar base with i n the next couple of decades.

1 50

ASTEROI D M I N E S may become practic a l i n the futu re.

Although the asteroid belt between Mars a n d Jupiter seems
very d istant, it ta kes only a bout the same amount of ener
gy to bring a pou nd of asteroidal material from there to a
near- Earth orbit as it does to bring a pound of materia l from
Earth' s su rface to orbit up th rough the Earth ' s strong g rav
itational fiel d .
A small n ickel-iron asteroid, one mile in diameter, contains
about a decade's worth of the total output of a l l i ron smelters
in the entire world, and it is a l ready refined to a bout 95 per
cent purity! The silicon, oxygen, and other elements in the rocky
asteroids would be valuable on the Moon, on Mars, or in space
settlements.
It would take several years to ferry asteroidal material eco
nomically back to near-Earth, perhaps usin g solar sails or ion
rockets uti l izing the asteroid itself as fuel . A few asteroids pass
close to Earth, and we may be able to rendezvous with them .

Mining an asteroid

Concept for a space colony

Inside a space colony

SPAC E SETTLEME NTS, or space colon i es, w i l l be huge

"cities" built i n space using mostly extraterrestrial materials.
The most l i kely location would be i n the Moon's orbit, 60
deg rees a head of or beh ind it, at the location s cal led by
space scienti sts L4 and L5 .
These settlements wou ld be spheres or cyl i n ders m i les
across i n size, with ful ly self-contained, self-susta i ning ecosys
tems, including houses, animals, plants, lakes, agriculture, and
everyth ing else needed to support thousands of people i ndef
i n itely. Day and night cycles would be provided by rotati ng
the settlement and by open ing and closing shutters. Rotation
would a lso provide a kind of "artificial gravity."
The space settlers may be employed i n research, manu
factu re of spacecraft, refin i ng lunar materials, and many
other activities. Some may come to reti re i n the reduced
"gravity" of the settlement. Others may come to vacation.
While such settlements are at least several decades away, there
are now many people who wou ld l i ke to l ive in one.

1 52

SOLAR SAILS, or l ight sails, use the power of sunlight to move

a spacecraft. Only Earth-bound experimental models have
been built so fa r, but one day they may be u sed to transport
cargo across vast distances. Although their thrust is extreme
ly low, they need carry no fuel and no eng i nes .
Sunlight exerts a slight pressure, the same force that makes
a comet's gaseous ta i l stream away from the su n . A large
lightweight sail, miles across, made of aluminized plastic, could
use th is light pressure to provide a few pounds of force. They
would be control led much as a sa i l boat on a lake is, by
altering the position of the sa i l to slow down or speed up as
needed . At d i stances that a re much fa rther from the Sun
than the asteroid belt, there would be too l ittle sunlight to work
wel l .
Such a technique could b e used to ferry materials from
asteroids to near- Earth . Although the journey wou ld take
many years, it would be inexpensive. There are plans for a
solar-sa i l trial race in the 1 990s.

A fusion ramjet storship

INTERSTELLAR FUGHT is a dream out of reach for some time.

Even at the speed of l ight it wou ld ta ke 4 . 3 years to reach
the nearest star system. I t now seems impossible to travel
faster than l ight.
The Hubble Space Telescope may tel l us if any of our
neighboring stars have planets around them. Robotic probes
could journey there, taking decades and sending findings back
by radio or laser beams. Manned starAight is much further i n
the future, and fl ights would probably take so l o n g they
would be one-way voyages.
One technology imagined for such a futuristic mission is the
fusion ramjet, which generates a miles-wide funnel-shaped
magnetic field in front of it. Its motion th rough the th i n inter
stellar gas would capture hydrogen atoms, which would then
be compressed and expel led out the rear. As yet no one
knows how to make such a craft. Still, it is exciting to consider
that someday h uman s may jou rney among the stars.

1 54

ORGANIZATIONS AND RESOURCES

SPACE ORGANIZATIONS con give you information on what is happening in

the space program. They usually publish informative magazines and hold meet
ings, and they may actively promote space activities. The major ones a re :
Notional Space Society
922 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003

British I nterplanetary Society

27/29 South Lambeth Rood
London SW8 1 SZ, England

Planetary Society
65 North Catalina Avenue
Pasadena, CA 9 1 1 06
NASA FACILITIES often hove public visitor centers, and some offer special

resources lor teachers. If you live or visit near one of these, contact them ahead
of time for more information .
Visitor Information Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 2077 1

Public Affai rs Office

Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, OH 44 1 35

Public Affai rs Office

Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX 77058

Public Affai rs Office

Ames Research Center
Mou ntoi nview, CA 94035

Visitor Information Center

Kennedy Space Center
Merritt Island, FL 32899

Public Affai rs Office

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, CA 9 1 1 03

MAJOR SPACE MUSEUMS AND EXHI BITS:

Notional Air and Space Museum

Alabama Space and Rocket Center

6th and I ndependence Ave. , SW

1 T ronquility Bose

Washington, DC 20560

Huntsville, AL 35807

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

Following o re recommended books about a variety of space activities:

Blonstein, Lorry. Communications Satellites. John Wiley, New York, 1 987.

Chochron, Curtis D. , Dennis M. Gorman, and Joseph D. Dumoulin, eds. Space
Handbook. Ai r Un iversity Press Publ ication AU- 1 8, U . S . Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1 985.

1 55

Gotland, Kenneth . The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Space Technology. Harmo

ny Books, New York, 1 98 1 .
Goldman, Nathan C. Space Commerce. Boll inger Publishing Company, Com
b ridge, MA, 1 985.
Hobbs, David. An Illustrated Guide to Space Warfare. Salamander Books, New
York, 1 986.
Sheffield, Charles. Eorthwotch: A Survey of the World from Space. Macmillan
Publishing Co. , Inc., New York, 1 98 1 .
Turn i l l , Reginald, ed . Jane's Spaceflight Directory for 1 987. Jane's Publishing
Inc., 1 1 5 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1 987.
Von Bro u n , Wern her, Frederick I . Ordway, David Dool ing, and Fred C .
Durant. Space Trove/: A History. Harper & Row, New York, 1 985.
Space events happen faster than books can keep up with them. Magazines
are indispensable for keeping up-to-dote. These ore the major ones:

Ad Astra

Spaceflight

National Space Society

922 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washi ngton, DC 20003

British I nterplanetary Society

27/29 South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1 SZ, England

Aviation Week & Space

Technology

P. 0. Box 1 505
Neptune, NJ 07753

PHOTO CREDITS: We are i ndebted to the fol lowing institutions and individ

uals for the photographs used in th is book. British Aerospace ( BAe) : 86; Euro
pean Space Agency ( ESA) : 2 1 bottom left, 85, 87, 88, 1 1 0; GTE Spocenet
Corporation (GTE) : 1 28 right; Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI): 94; I nternational
Telecommunications Satell ite Organization ( I NTELSAT): 1 28 left; McDonnell
Douglas Space Systems Company (MDSSC ) : 64; Mox-Pia nck- l n stitut fur
Aeronomie (MPAE), Lindau/Harz, FRG, 1 986. Photo by Hol ley Multicolour
Camero on ESA'S Giotto spacecraft. Courtesy Dr. H. U. Keller: 21 bottom right;
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): 5, 6, 7, 1 4, 1 5, 1 6,
1 7, 1 9, 2 1 fi rst three rows, 26, 27, 28, 30, 3 1 , 3 2 , 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40,
58, 59, 62, 63 , 65, 66, 68, 6 7 1 , 72, 73, 75, 96, 1 0 1 , 1 0 1 2 1 , 1 2
1 26 , 1 3 1 , 1 3 2, 1 33 , 1 38 , 1 39, 1 43 , 1 46 top; Notional Oceanic and
Atmospheric Adm i n i stration (NOAA) : 1 35 , 1 36 ; Novosti Press Agency
(NOVOSTI): 8 1 ; Ordway Collection, Space and Rocket Center, from the col
lection of Frederick I. Ordway Ill (ORDWAY): 1 3 , 57; Orbital Sciences Cor
poration (OSC ) : 74, 76-77; SPOT Image Corporation: 1 34; TASS: 20, 79,
1 03 , 1 05; Xinhua News Agency and New China Pictures: 9 1 , 92, 1 09

1 56

IN DEX
Advanced X -Roy Astrophysics Facility, 1 23
Aeropile, 9, 1 0
Aerospace plane, 70
Ageno upper stage, 63, 7 1 ,
1 47
Aldri n, Edwin, 1 7
AI-Hoson oi-Rammoh, 9
Ames Research Center, 1 02
Anders, William, 1 7
Antiballistic missi les, 1 04
Anti-gravity, 1 49
Antisotellite weapons, 30
Aphel ion, 48
Apogee, 46
Apogee and Maneuvering
Stage, 74
Apogee kick motor, 55
Apollo program, 1 7, 59
Applications satellites, 1 20
Arione rockets, 60, 84, 85,
87, 95, l l 0, 1 34
Arionespoce, l l 0
Armstrong, Neil, 1 7
A-series rockets, 1 4, 78, 79
ASLV, 93
Asteroids, 20, 22, 1 5 1 , 1 53
Astronauts, 3 1 , 32 , 33, 37,
39-40
Astronomical un it, 22
Atlantis, 69
Atlas rockets, 1 4, 60, 63,
7 1 , 72, 73
Atmosphere, Earth's, 24,
97, 1 36
Augmented Satellite launch
Vehicle, 93
AXAF, 1 23
Bacon, Roger, 9
Boikonur, 1 4, 99, 1 04
Bolosore Rocket launching
Station, 1 1 1
Batteries, 1 1 5
Big Birds, 1 47, 1 48
Bluford, Guion, 1 39
Booster rockets, 63, 65, 67
Borman, Fronk, 1 7
B-series rockets, 79, l 04
Buran, 6 1 , 82, 83
Cope Canaveral, 96, 1 00

Carpenter, ScoH, 1 5
Celestial navigation, 49
Centaur upper stage, 63,
72, 74, 1 26
Challenger, 1 5, 69
Chong Zheng- 1 rocket, 91
Cheapsots, 76
Chino, 5, 9 l , 1 08
Chi nese rockets, 9 1 -92
Clarke, Arthur C., 47
Clarke orbit, 47, 48, 1 27
Collins, Michael, 1 7
Colonies, space, 1 52
Columbia, 69
Comet Giacobini-Zinner, 20
Comet Holley, 20, 2 1 , 89
Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby, 1 26
"Comet" rocket, 94
Comet Tempel-2, 1 26
Commsats. See Communications satellites
Communications satellites,
47, 55, 66, 1 20, 1 271 29, 1 44
Cosmic rays, 28
Cosmodrome, l 03
Cosmonauts, 39, 1 05
Countdown, 96
CRAF, 1 26
Cryogenic fuels, 87, 90, 96
(-series rockets, 79, 1 04
CSL- 1 rocket, 9 1
CZ-series rockets, 9 1 , 92
Debris, space, 29-30
Deep-Space Network, 51
Delta rockets, 60, 64, 73,
89
Discoverer satellites, 1 47
Di scovery, 69
Drag, atmospheric, 1 9, 24
D-series rockets, 80, 8 1
Earl y warning satellites, 1 45
Earth, 5, 42, 1 1 8, 1 1 9,
1 23, 1 34
Earth sensing satellites, 1 1 9
Eating in space, 34
Eccentricity, 45
Edwards Air Force Base,
1 12

Electric propulsion, 54
Electronic intelligence satellites, 1 46
Ellipse, 43, 44
ELY, 55, 56
Endeavour, 69
Energia, 6 1 , 78, 82
Energia/Buran, 6 1 , 82, 83
ESA. See European Space
Agency
Escape velocity, 43
Esronge, 99, 1 1 3
European Space Agency,
20, 84, 87, 1 24, 1 34
EVA, 37
Exosphere, 24
Expendable launch Vehicles
(ELY). 55, 56
Explorer satellites, 1 4, 62
Extravehicular activity
( EVA). 37
FB- 1 rocket, 92
Feng Boo rocket, 92
Ferret satellites, 1 46
France, 5, 84, 1 1 0, 1 1 1
Freedom spocestotion, 1 42
Free fall. See Weightlessness
Free-flying p latforms, 1 42
F-series rockets, 80, 8 1
Fuel, rocket, 52, 53, 96
Fusion rockets, 1 49, 1 54
G, 56
Gogorin, Yuri, 1 5, 1 04
Gali lee spocecroh, 1 22
Gantry, 95
Ganymede, 1 22
Gee, 56
Gelli us, Aulus 9
Geodesy satellites, 1 1 9
GEODSS, 5 1
Geostationa ry Operational
Environmental Satel
lites, 1 35
Geostationary Orbit, 47,
48, 90
Geostationary Satellite
launch Vehicle, 93
Geostationary transfer orbit,
84, 93

1 57

Geosynchronous Earth
orbit, 47
Germany, 57, 84, 88, 1 1 1 ,
1 25
GioHo comet probe, 2 1
Glen n , John, 1 5, 63
Global Positioning System.
See Navstor
Goddard, Robert, 1 1
Goddard Space Flight Center, 50, 1 02
GOES satellite, 1 35
GPS. See Navstar
Gravitational fields, 23
Gravity, 23, 26, 27
"artificial," 36, 1 52
force of, 42, 97
law of, 4 1
Gravity-assist trajectories,
48
Great Britain, 5
Grissom, Virgil I. !Gus). 1 5
Ground-bosed Electro-Optical Deep Space
Surveillance, 5 1
GSLV, 9 3
Guiana Space Center, 84,
98, 99, 1 1 0
H - 1 rocket, 90
H-2 rocket, 60, 90, 1 06
Hale, Edward Everen, 1 3
Hermes, 87, 1 1 0
Hestia, 1 26
High Energy Astronomical
Observatory, 63
High Energy Astrophysics
Observatory, 1 23
Horizon- ] satellite, 94
Horizontal Take-off and
landing IHOTOL). 86
Horus. See Si:inger/Horus
HOTOL, 86
HST, 1 2 1
Hubble, Edwin, 1 2 1
Hubble Space Telescope
I HST). 1 2 1 , 1 23 , 1 54
Hyperbolic orbits, 45
Hypergolic propellants, 53
ICBM. See Intercontinental
Ballistic Missi les
ICE, 20
Inclination of orbit, 46

1 58

India, 5, 93, 1 1 1
Indian rockets, 93
Inertial navigation, 49
Inertial Upper Stage, 65, 75
lntelsat, 1 28
Intercontinental ballistic mis
siles !ICBM). 63, 65,
77, 78, 1 00
lnterkasmos satellites, 79
International Cometary
Explorer liCE). 20
International Telecommuni
cations Satellite Orga
nization, 1 28
Interplanetary orbits, 48
Interstellar probes, 54, 1 54
ion rockets, 54, 1 49
IRBM, 9 1
Israel, 5 , 94
Israeli rocket, 94
Italy, 84, 1 1 2
J l rocket, 8 1
Japan, 5, 20, 89, 90, 1 06,
1 1 1 , 1 42
Japanese rockets, 89-90
Jericho-2 rocket, 94
Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
1 02
Ji uquan, 99, 1 08
Johnson Space Center, 1 02
Juno I, 57
Jupiter, 20, 2 1 , 23, 1 22,
1 24, 1 5 1
Jupiter-( rocket, 57, 58
Kagosh ima, 99, 1 06
Kaliningrad space control
center, 1 03 , 1 04
Kapustin Yor, 99, 1 04
Kennedy Space Center
I KSC). 68, 98, 99,
1 00, 1 1 2
Kepler, Johannes, 1 2
Kepler's laws, 43
Keyhole satellites, 1 47
KH-9, - 1 1 , - 1 2 satellites,
1 47, 1 48
Kick motor, 72
Kosmos satellites, 79, 80,
1 44
Kourou launch site, 1 1 0
KSC. See Kennedy Space
Center

l4, L5 paints, 1 52
lacrosse satellite, 1 48
lageos satellite, 1 1 9
lambda rockets, 8 9
landsat, 1 1 3, 1 3 1 , 1 32,
1 34
land sensing satellites, 1 321 33
Longley Research Center,
1 02
launchers. See Rockets
launching, costs, 56
launch pad, 95, 96
launch sites, 9 8-1 1 3
lewis Research Center, 1 02
light, speed of, 23
lightsats, 76
liquid-fuel rockets, 53
living i n space, 34-36
long March rockets, 60, 9 1 ,
92, 1 08
lovell, James, 1 7
lunar boses, 1 50
lunar module, 1 7
lunar Orbiter, 1 6
lunik spacecrah, 1 6
lunokhod, 1 6
Manned Maneuvering Unit
IMMU). 37, 3 8
Manufacturing i n space,
1 38
Mariner program, 20, 2 1 ,
63, 71 ' 72, 1 25
Mariner Tempel- 2,
spaceprobe, 1 26
Mars, 20, 2 1 , 22, 1 25,
1 50, 1 5 1
Mass ratio, 54
Medium launch Vehicle, 64
Medium-lih vehicle, 8 1
Mercury, 20, 2 1 , 22
Mercury-Arlas, 1 5
Mercury-Redstone, 1 5
Mesosphere, 24
Meteoroids, 28-29
Meteoroid Technology
Satellite, 62
Meteorological satellites,
1 30, 1 45
Meteor satellites, 8 1
Metsats, 1 30, 1 45. See
Weather satellites
Microgravity, 26, 1 38, 1 39

Mil itary uses of space, 1 40,

1 44 - 1 48
Mir, 83, 1 40- 1 4 1
Mission Specialists, 39
MMU. See Manned Maneu
vering Unit
Mobile launch Platform, 68
Malniya satellites, 1 29, l M
Momentum, 42
Moon, 5, l l , 38, 1 49, 1 5 1
exploration, 1 6
rocks, 1 7
Museries rockets, 89, l 06
NASA (National Aeronau
tics and Space Admin
istration). 7, 40, 50,
75, 98, l 00, l 02,
1 1 2, 1 23, 1 24
National Aerospace Plane,
70
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Adminis
tration (NOAA). 1 36
Navigation, 49
inertial, 49, 50
Navigation satellites, 1 20,
1 45
Navstar, 1 37, 1 45, 1 46
Neptune, 20, 23
Newton's Laws of Motion,
38, 4 1 , 52
NOAA satellites, 1 36
North American Aerospace
Defense Command,
51
N-series rockets, 89, l 06
Nuclear detection satellites,
1 46
Nuclear power supplies,
1 15
oberth, Hermann, l l
Observatory satellites, 1 1 9
Ocean surveillance satellites, 1 45, 1 46
Offeq- 1 satellite, 94
Orbital Maneuvering Sys
tem, 67, 68-69
Orbits, 42-48
period, 45, 47
reaching, 55
transfer, 46
Orientation, 50, 1 1 7

Osaki launch site, l 06

Oxidizer, 52, 53
Oxygen, 34
Palmachim, 94
PAM. See Payload Assist
Module
Particles and fields satellites,
1 19
Payload, 39, 56, 95
Payload Assist Module
(PAM). 55, 64, 73, 74
Payload Specialists, 39, 40
Pegasus rocket, 76
Perigee, 46
Perigee kick motor, 55
Perihelion, 48
Period of orbit, 45
Phobos spaceprobes, 1 25
Pioneer program, 1 6, 20,
23, 72, 1 1 4, 1 1 8
Pitch, 50
Planetary m ission, manned,
33
Planets, 22, 1 1 9
Plesetsk, 99, l 03
Pluto, 22, 23
Progress rocket, 78
Propellants. See Fuel, rocket
Propulsion, rocket, 52, 54
Proton, 6 1 , 80, 8 1 , 1 40
Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites, 1 45
Radar satellites, 1 3 1 , 1 48
Radiation, 3 2
Radio navigation, 4 9
Ramjets, 70, 88, 1 54
Ranger spacecrak, 1 6, 63
Reconnaissance satellites,
91
Remote Manipulator Ann,
38, 67
Remote sensing satellites,
1 30- 1 36
Resolution, l 3 1
Rhyolite satellite, 1 46
Ride, Sally, 1 5, 35
Robots, 1 40, 1 49
Rockets, 52, 60-6 1 . See
also rocket names and
individual countries.
early, 9
observing, 7

Rockets (continued):
propulsion, 52, 54
sounding, 62, l l l , 1 1 2
stages, 55
Roll, 50
Salyut space stations, 1 8,
30, 1 40
Sanger/Horus, 8 8
S a n Marco Equatorial
Range, 99, 1 1 2
Satellite Data System, l M
Satellites, 24, 42, 46, 1 1 4
a mateur radio, 7, 62
anatomy of, l 1 4- 1 1 8
applications, l 20
first, 1 4
fuel, 1 1 7
natural, 22
navigation subsystem,
1 17
observing, 7
power, 1 1 4
propulsion subsystem,
1 17
research, l 1 9
thermal control, 27, 1 1 6
tracking, l 1 8
Saturn, 20, 2 1 , 22
Saturn rockets, 1 9, 59, 60
Savitskaya, Svetlana, 1 8
Scout rockets, 60, 62, l 02,
112
Scramjets, 70
Search and Rescue System,
1 36
Seasat satellite, 1 3 1
Sea-sensing satellites, 1 30
Sem imojor axis, 45
Sensats. See Remote sensing
satellites
Settlements, space, 36, 1 52
Shar. See Sriharikota
Shavit rocket, 94
Shepard, Alan B . , 1 5
Shuttle. See Space shuttle
Single-stage-to-orbit, 86
Skylab, 1 9, 35, 59
Slingshot orbits, 48, 1 26
Sl-series rockets, 78- 8 1
SLV-3 rocket, 9 3
Sl-W rocket, 8 2
Sl-X rocket, 8 1
Smallsats, 76

1 59

Solar cells, 2 8, 1 1 4
Solar probes, 1 1 9
Solar sails, 1 49, 1 54
Solar system, 22, 1 1 4
Solid-fuel rockets, 53, 97
Solid Rocket Boosters, 67
Sounding rockets, 62, 1 02,
1 1 1 , 1 1 2, 1 1 3
Soviet Union, 5, 1 4, 1 6, 1 8,
9 3 , 1 03 - 1 04, 1 08,
1 25, 1 29
first manned flight, 1 5
first woman in space, 1 5
first woman spacewalker,
18
rockets, 1 4, 57, 77-83,
95, 1 40
spoceplane, 83, 1 04
space shunle. See Energia/Buran
space stations, 1 8, 30,
82, 1 40- 1 4 1
tracking, 5 1
Soyuz rockets, 1 8, 78, 79
Space adaptation syndrome, 3 1
Space Age, 5, 1 4
Space fighter, 83
Spoceplanes, 70, 83, 86,
87, 1 1 0
Spaceport. See Launch sites
Spoceprobes, 20, 23, 1 20
Space shunle (Soviet). See
Energia/Buran
Space shunle (U. S.), 1 5,
35, 38, 39, 45, 55,
6 1 ' 66-69, 73, 75,
95, 1 2 1 , 1 45
external tank, 68
orbit, 25
orbiter, 66, 68
payload bay, 67
Space sickness, 3 1
Space stations (Soviet), 1 8,
82, 1 40- 1 4 1
Space stations (U.S. I, 1 9,
1 42 - 1 43, 1 45
Spacesuits, 3 1 , 37
Space Surveillance System,
51
Space Transportation Sys
tern, 66
Spocetugs, 1 42
Spotionauts, 39

1 60

Specific i mpulse, 53
Spectrum, 1 1 9, 1 35
Spinning Solid Upper Stage,
73
Spot satellite, 1 1 3, 1 34
Sputn ik, 1 4, 78, 1 04
Spy satellites, 71 , 8 1 , 1 44,
1 47, 1 48
Sriharikota, 99, 1 1 1
Stages, 5 5 , 9 7
Stars, 23, 1 1 9, 1 54
Storm Booster rocket, 92
Stratosphere, 24
Sun, 20, 22, 44, 1 1 4, 1 1 5,
1 1 9, 1 22, 1 24
Sunl ight, 27
Sun-synchronous orbit, 47
Su rveyor crak, 1 6, 63
Sweden, 1 1 3, 1 25
Swing arms, 95
Takesaki launch site, 1 06
Tanegashima Space Center,
99, 1 06
T ereshkova, Valentina, 1 5
Thermos here, 24
Thor roc et, 7 1
Thrust, 53
Thrusters, 52
Thumba , 99, 1 1 1
Titan rockets, 6 1 , 65, 7 1 ,
72, 74, 1 26, 1 47
Titov, Gherman, 1 5
"T-0," 97
Toilet, zero-g, 36
Tracking, 7, 50, 5 1 , 1 1 8
Tracking, Telemetry, and
Control, 1 1 8
Training, astronaut, 39
Trajectory, 46, 48
Transfer orbit, 46
Transfer Orbit Stage, 74
Transponders, 1 27
T reoties, space, 8
Troposphere, 24
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, 1 1
T sukuba Space Center, 1 06
n&c, 1 1 8
Tyuratam, 1 4, 99, 1 04,
1 40

Uchi noura, 99, 1 06

Uhuru satelite, 1 1 2, 1 23
Ulysses spoceprobe, 1 24

Umbil ical l ines, 95

United Kingdom, 84, 1 23
United Nations, 1 1 1
United States, 5, 6, 7, 1 4,
1 6, 1 7, 1 9, 1 32
first manned mission, 1 5
rockets, 1 4, 1 5, 57-76,
95
Space Command, 5 1
space shunle. See Space
shunle ( U . S . )
space stations, 1 9, 1 42 1 43 , 1 45
tracking, 50, 5 1 , 1 1 8
United States Air Force, 64,
75
Uranus, 20, 23
U.S.S.R. See Soviet Union
V-2 rocket, 57, 1 04, 1 1 2
Vacuum of space, 24, 26
Van Allen belts, 32, 33
Vandenberg Air Force Base,
68 , 99, 1 00
Vanguard, 1 4, 59
Veh icle Assembly Building,
68
Vela satellites, 1 46
Venera spaceprobes, 20
Venus, 20, 2 1 , 22, 1 26
Viking, 20, 2 1 , 72
Volgograd Station, 1 04
Von Braun, Wernher, 2 , 57
Vostok rockets, 1 5, 78
Voyager spoceprobes, 20,
2 1 , 72, 1 1 5
Wallops Flight Center, 99,
1 02
Waste elimination, 36
Weather satellites, 8 1 , 1 30,
1 35, 1 36
'Weaver Girl" rocket, 92
Weightlessness, 26, 3 1 , 34,
36, 38, 1 38 - 1 39
Western Test Range, l 00
White Sands, 1 1 2
X- 1 5 rocket plane, 40
Xi chang, 99, 1 08
Yaw, 50
Zero g. See Weightlessness

BCDEF

EXPLORING SPACE
A GOLDEN GUIDE
MARK R. CHARTRAND, Ph . D. , is an astronomer
and a science writer and lecturer. He wrote the
Golden Field Guide Skyguide, and revised and
updated the Golden Guide Stars . He was for many
years Chairman of New York City's Hayden Plane
tarium, and has been Executive Director of the
National Space Society. In addition to teaching at
several universities, he has been widely published
in popular science magazines, and appears fre
quently on radio and television .
RON MILLER graduated from the Columbus Col
lege of Art and Design and has spent 15 of the 20
years since then specializing in scientific and astro
nomical subjects . His work has appeared in numer
ous publications worldwide, in motion pictures,
and in a series of best-selling books he has co
authored . His original space art has been exhibited
internationally and hangs in many private and pub
lic collections . He is considered one of the most
prolific and influential space artists now living. He
lives with his wife, daughter, and six cats in Fred
ericksburg, Virginia .
GOLDEN PRESS NEW YORK

24078

A GOLDEN GUIDE 1\