Reusable Spacecraft

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Reusable spacecraft

 

The first reusable spacecraft, the X-15, was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on July 19, 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, on April 12, 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which have flown in the atmosphere and five of which have flown in space.


The Enterprise was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a Boeing 747 and gliding to deadstick landings at Edwards AFB, California. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was the Columbia, followed by the Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The Endeavour was built to replace the Challenger when it was lost in January 1986. The Columbia broke up during reentry in February 2003.

The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the Buran (Snowstorm), launched by the USSR on November 15, 1988, although it made only one flight. This spaceplane was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the U.S. Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle.

Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran. The Space Shuttle has since been modified to allow for autonomous re-entry via the addition of a control cable running from the control cabin to the mid-deck which would allow for the automated deployment of the landing gear in the event a un-crewed re-entry was required following abandonment due to damage at the ISS.

Per the Vision for Space Exploration, the Space Shuttle is due to be retired in 2010 due mainly to its old age and high cost of program reaching over a billion dollars per flight. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by the partially reusable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) no later than 2014. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is to be replaced by expendable rockets such as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) or a Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle.

Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne was a reusable suborbital spaceplane that carried pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the Ansari X Prize. The Spaceship Company will build its successor SpaceShipTwo. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by Virgin Galactic should begin reusable private spaceflight carrying paying passengers in 2009.

 

Fictional spacecraft

 

 

The term spacecraft is mainly used to refer to spacecraft that are real or conceived using present technology. The terms spaceship and starship are generally applied only to fictional spacecraft, usually those capable of transporting people. The spaceship is one of the prime elements in science fiction. Numerous short stories and novels are built up around various ideas for spacecraft, and spacecraft have often been featured in movies. Some hard science fiction books focus on the technical details of the craft, while others treat the spacecraft as a given and delve little into its actual implementation.

Notable fictional spacecraft

See also: List of fictional spaceships

• USCSS Nostromo and USS Sulaco from the Alien science-fiction universe.
• The Millennium Falcon, Star Destroyer, X-Wing and TIE Fighter from the Star Wars science-fiction universe.
• USS Enterprise and Klingon Bird of Prey from the Star Trek franchise.
• The Liberator and Scorpio from the British science fiction television series Blake's 7.
• The TARDIS from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
• Discovery One from 2001: A Space Odyssey
• The Battlestar Galactica from the original and re-imagined series of the same name.
• Daedalus class battlecruiser from the television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
• USS Saratoga (SCVN-2812) from the television series Space: Above and Beyond.
• Serenity from the television series Firefly
• Starbug, Blue Midget, and Red Dwarf from the BBC comedy science fiction series: Red Dwarf.
• The UNSC In Amber Clad, Forward Unto Dawn and Pillar of Autumn from the Halo video game series.
• The SSV Normandy, from the Mass Effect video game.

Unidentified flying objects

Some people believe that Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) may be alien spacecraft (that is, not of human construction and not originating from Earth), sometimes referred to as flying saucers. But the term UFO used here in this context refers to observed flying objects for which no identification has been made, though other meanings for the word UFO exist. To date, no known, independently verifiable examples of alien spacecraft are known to exist.

Spacecraft in art

 

The Mare Nostrum Spaceship is the central element of the Space art group El Club de los Astronautas. The group has worked out a utopian plan for the spacecraft and they are going to adopt and actualize the plan over time as technologies will develop to turn the plan into reality. Mare Nostrum represents a series of projects in the scientific, social and economic world that are building the foundation to its construction.

Sumber:

1. Wikipedia

2. http://astrophysicsblogs.blogspot.com/2008/09/25.html