Proposed Spacecraft

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Proposed Spacecraft

Giotto mission – The craft

The spacecraft was derived from the GEOS research satellite built by British Aerospace, and modified with the addition of a dust shield as proposed by Fred Whipple which comprised a thin (1& mm) aluminium sheet separated by a space and a thicker Kevlar sheet. The later Stardust spacecraft would use a similar Whipple shield. A [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Shuguang spacecraft – Introduction

Shuguang One (Chinese: 曙光一号), meaning “dawn” in Mandarin, also known as Project 714 (Chinese：七一四工程), was the first manned spacecraft proposed by the People’s Republic of China during the late 1960s and early 70s that was never built. The design was for a two-man capsule, similar to the American Gemini spacecraft, that could be launched in [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Military Soyuz – Soyuz 7K-P, 7K-R and 7K-PPK

The Soyuz 7K-P (”Perekhvatchik”, Interceptor) space interceptor and Soyuz R (”Razvedki”, intelligence) command-reconnaissance spacecraft was proposed in December 1962 by Sergei Korolev. In the initial draft project, the Soyuz 7K-P would use the Soyuz-B rocket stage and Soyuz-V tanker spacecraft to conduct a series of dockings and re-fueling operations. The complete complex would then could [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Laser propulsion – History

The concept of laser propelled vehicles was first introduced by Arthur Kantrowitz in 1972. Laser propulsion systems may transfer momentum to a spacecraft in two different ways. The first way is that photon radiation pressure drives the momentum transfer, the principle behind the propulsion of solar sails and laser sails. A second way of driving [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Radiation pressure – Solar sails

Solar sails, a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion, would use radiation pressure from the Sun as a motive force. Private spacecraft Cosmos 1 was to have used this form of propulsion. The idea was proposed as early as 1924 by Soviet scientist Friedrich Zander. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully unfurled a solar [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Gravity assist – Introduction

gravitational slingshot, gravity assist maneuver or swing-by is the use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other celestial body to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft, typically in order to save propellant, time, and expense. Gravity assistance can be used to accelerate, decelerate and/or re-direct the path of a [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Mars Observer – Introduction

Mars Observer was an unmanned American spacecraft designed to study the geoscience and climate of Mars. The first of the proposed Observer series of planetary missions, it was launched by NASA on September 25, 1992. Three days before Mars Observer was scheduled to enter the orbit of Mars, contact with the spacecraft was lost. Attempts [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Advanced Gemini – Other proposals

A number of other applications were considered for the Gemini spacecraft. The Manned Orbital Telescope was a proposal for a manned spacecraft for astronomical or solar observation. It would have used the larger reentry module which was also proposed for the Big Gemini spacecraft, and would had been launched on a Saturn IB. The enlarged [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Surveyor 2 – Failure

The target area proposed was within Sinus Medii. The Atlas-Centaur had placed Surveyor 2 on a path to the moon that was only 130& km from its aim point. During the midcourse correction maneuver, one vernier engine failed to ignite, resulting in an unbalanced thrust that caused the spacecraft to tumble for its remaining 54 [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Don Quijote (space probe) – Introduction

Don Quijote is a proposed space probe under development by the European Space Agency, which would study the effects of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid. The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The orbiter is being designed to last for seven [...]

Proposed Spacecraft

Zarya spacecraft – Sources

Russia mulls rocket power ‘first’ By Anatoly Zak http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8024590.stm Zarya http://www.astronautix.com/craft/zarya.htm Category:Proposed spacecraft Adapted from the Wikipedia article Zarya spacecraft, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

Proposed Spacecraft

Advanced Gemini – Gemini Ferry

Several Gemini Ferry spacecraft were proposed to provide transportation of crews and cargo to NASA and USAF space stations in low Earth orbit. NASA contracted McDonnell to conduct a study into what modifications would be needed to allow the Gemini spacecraft to support this. Three spacecraft were envisioned; a manned spacecraft to transport crew to [...]

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