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Unit 16 Aim C Distinction Level Marked
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Unit 16 Aim CSpace Travel
History of Space Flight
Space flight began during the cold war between the USA and the former Soviet Union. This war
brought about what was known as the space race. Throughout this time, the Soviets sent the first
human into space on April 12th of 1961. As a response to this, John F. Kennedy (the president of the
USA at the time) challenged his nation to land a man on the Moon and return them to Earth safely
before the end of the decade. After three NASA programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo) the USA
managed to get to the Moon in a span of 8 years.
Project Mercury was the first space program in the USA to send humans to space. This project made
25 flights withing that, 6 carried astronauts between 1961 and 1963. The main objectives of Project
Mercury were to orbit a human spacecraft around Earth to further understand a person’s ability to
function in space. The result of this project showed that humans could function for up to 34 hours
during weightless flights.
The Gemini Project was a set up to test equipment and mission procedure and trained astronauts for
future missions. The main objective of this program was to test an astronaut’s ability to fly for longer
durations, analyse how a spacecraft could rendezvous and dock with another vehicle in Earth’s orbit,
perfect their landing methods and to understand the effects that longer space travel has on the
astronauts.
The Apollo Program was where the Americans landed the first people on the Moon and returned
them back safely. This program also helped to develop new technologies, conducted scientific
exploration of the Moon and further developed the capability for humans to work in a lunar
environment.
(NASA, n.d.)
Apollo 7
Apollo 7 was the first crewed Apollo space mission. Its main objectives were to demonstrate (with
crew performance) the Command and Service Module, to demonstrate the support facilities’
performance during a manned mission and to demonstrate Apollo rendezvous capability.
The mission took place on October 11th, 1968, at Cape Canaveral. After its perfect launch, the space
craft (The Saturn IB) took ten minutes to reach an elliptical orbit of 140 by -183 miles above Earth.
Before separating from the CSM the S-IVB carried out one and a half orbits. The CSM’s small rockets
were fired to pull around 50 feet ahead of the spacecraft in order to show of its rendezvous and
docking capabilities. These features are necessary to extract a Lunar Module for Moon landings in
the future.
, Around 15 hours into the flight, the crew member Schirra developed a cold, and his crew members
quickly did the same. Due to the weightlessness, the cold was a lot worse than on Earth. Mucus
would accumulate and not drain from the head. The crew did not have any other choice than to
endure the symptoms they had with help from medications like aspirin.
Despite this, the ship performed well throughout the mission. There were a few issues during the
flight such as fuel cells overheating, AC buses dropping out of the spacecraft’s electrical system and
windows becoming fogged due to an improperly cured sealant compound. (NASA, 2018)
Overall, the cost of Apollo 7 was around $145 million at the time of the mission. These costs were
split between three sections. These sections are the Command & Service Module, the Saturn IB
Launch Vehicle and Operations. (The Planetary Society, n.d.)
To reach escape velocity, the spacecraft will have needed to travel at 11km/s or faster in order to
break orbit and escape Earth’s gravitational pull. To reach escape velocity, the spacecraft will have
had to use around 2,020kg of solid propellant. This propellant is composed of ammonium
perchlorate and aluminium and produces around 66,000 Newtons of thrust. If a spacecraft does not
reach escape velocity, it will be pulled by Earth’s gravity and enter an orbit around the Earth itself.
Terran 1 failed on its maiden flight as it did not reach escape velocity due to an ignition anomaly with
its second stage. As the engine’s thrust failed and it shut down, the ship came crashing back down to
Earth, landing in the ocean but breaking up and burning up as it fell. (Wilson, 2023)
The materials used in the construction of the spacecraft include aluminium alloys and graphite-epoxy
composite materials. These materials are used due to many factors such as, ductility, fracture
toughness, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, corrosion resistance, volatility, fabrication ease,
and procurement ease. (Science Direct, n.d.)
To prevent issues such as bone loss or kidney stones, astronauts engage in physical exercise for two
and a half hours every day, six days a week during their time in orbit. Furthermore, while in
microgravity, the blood and other bodily fluids are pushed upwards from the legs. This shift caused
blood flow to decrease in the heart and blood vessels and caused head and face swelling. This is only
corrected once they re-enter Earth’s gravity which pulls the blood back to its normal places. (NASA,
2020)
Products Developed by Space Flight
Firstly, artificial limbs were originally designed for space vehicles. These were then altered and
further developed into things such as artificial muscle system and diamond-joint coatings making
artificial human limbs more functional, durable, comfortable and more real looking. This very
beneficial to the public as it allows those who has lost limbs or who were born without them to have
a replacement that looks real and is comfortable to wear.
Scratch-resistant lenses were developed originally for astronaut helmets. After this, the agency gave
a license to the Foster-Grant Corporation who continued to experiment with scratch resistant plastics
which are now used in most sunglasses and prescription glasses. This is another development that is
beneficial for the public as the glasses they can buy are not as easily damaged meaning they would
need to be replaced a lot less frequently.
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