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Books > Professional & Technical > Other technologies > Space science
This book presents a detailed, independent review of essentially all the technical aspects of "in situ resource utilization" (ISRU), offering the first in-depth discussion of the issues of crew size, ascent from Mars, and ISRU processes. It also provides data on lunar ISRU not previously available to the public. This new edition provides a short synopsis of the Mars mission, and discusses various topics, including solid oxide electrolysis, which promises to be an important part of the ISRU picture. In addition, it explores ancillary needs for Mars ISRU and how to obtain water on Mars. It is the go-to resource for professionals involved in planning space missions or working on ISRU processes, as well as students planning careers in space technology.
This book describes essential concepts of, and the status quo in, the field of ionospheric space weather. It explains why our society on planet Earth and moving outwards into space cannot work safely, function efficiently, or progress steadily without committed and comprehensive research initiatives addressing space weather. These initiatives must provide space environment specifications, warnings, and forecasts, all of which need to be timely, accurate and reliable. Cause and effect models of the Earth's ionosphere are discussed in terms of the spatial and temporal dimensions of background variability, storms, gradients, irregularities, and waves in both current and long-term research activities. Starting from dynamic processes on the Sun, in the interplanetary medium, and in the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere, the text focuses on the dominant features of the plasma medium under normal and extreme conditions over the European zone during the last few Solar Cycles. One of the book's most unique features is a series of fundamental examples that offer profound insights into ionospheric climate and weather. Various approaches for acquiring and disseminating the necessary data and forecasting analyses are discussed, and interesting analogies are observed between terrestrial and space weather - both of which could produce lasting social consequences, with not only academic but also concrete economic implications. The book's primary goal is to foster the development of ionospheric space weather products and services that are capable of satisfying the ever-growing demand for space-based technology, and are ready for the society of the not-so-distant future.
This book presents a comprehensive geopolitical analysis of European space activities. By studying outer space as a physical and socio-economic space as well as a military-diplomatic area, the author helps readers understand outer space as a geopolitical environment. The book also offers insights into the behavior and strategies of different actors, with a special focus on the European space strategy and the nature of the European space program and diplomacy.
This book is the first to provide a comprehensive, readily understandable report on the European Space Agency's Gaia mission that will meet the needs of a general audience. It takes the reader on an exciting journey of discovery, explaining how such a scientific satellite is made, presenting the scientific results available from Gaia to date, and examining how the collected data will be used and their likely scientific consequences. The Gaia mission will provide a complete and high-precision map of the positions, distances, and motions of the stars in our galaxy. It will revolutionize our knowledge on the origin and evolution of the Milky Way, on the effects of mysterious dark matter, and on the birth and evolution of stars and extrasolar planets. The Gaia satellite was launched in December 2013 and has a foreseen operational lifetime of five to six years, culminating in a final stellar catalogue in the early 2020s. This book will appeal to all who have an interest in the mission and the profound impact that it will have on astronomy.
For the past sixty years, countries have conducted military and civilian activities in space, often for competitive purposes. But they have not yet fought in this environment. This book examines the international politics of the space age from 1957 to the present, the reasons why strategic restraint emerged among the major military powers, and how recent trends toward weaponization may challenge prior norms of conflict avoidance. James Clay Moltz analyzes the competing demands of national interests in space against the shared interests of all spacefarers in preserving the safe use of space in the face of emerging threats, such as man-made orbital debris. This new edition offers analysis of the 2011 to 2018 period, including the second term of President Obama and the beginning of the Trump administration. Focusing on great power competition and cooperation, as well as questions related to the sustainability of current and future national space policies, The Politics of Space Security is an authoritative history of the space age.
This book introduces readers to the navigation, guidance and control technologies involved in single-spacecraft, double-spacecraft, and multiple-spacecraft tasks in elliptical orbits. It comprehensively covers the key technologies of guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system design for spacecraft in elliptical orbits, including the orbit design, formation configuration design and maintenance, autonomous navigation technology and relative navigation technology, as well as autonomous rendezvous technology. The methods that this book introduces are very close to actual practical engineering applications and presented in an accessible style. The book can serve as reference teaching material for senior undergraduates and postgraduates with space navigation related majors, while also providing essential information and guidance for research personnel and engineering technical personnel engaged in the development of GNC systems for spacecraft.
The Earth has limited resources while the resources in space are virtually unlimited. Further development of humanity will require going beyond our planet and exploring of extraterrestrial bodies and their resources. This book investigates Outer Solar Systems and their prospective energy and material resources. It presents past missions and future technologies and solutions to old problems that could become reality in our life time. The book therefore is a great resource of condensed information for specialists interested in current and impending Outer Solar Systems related activities and a good starting point for space researchers, inventors, technologists and potential investors.
This Festschrift dedicated to the 60th birth anniversary of Prof. Sandip K. Chakrabarti, a well-known Indian astrophysicist, presents a collection of contributions by about fifty scientists who work on diverse topics in contemporary astrophysics and space science including new and low-cost balloon borne experiments, planetary science, astrochemistry and the origin of life, ionospheric research and earthquake predictions, relativistic astrophysics around black holes, and finally, the observational signatures and radiative properties of compact objects. All the authors are well known scholars in their respective subject and are all PhD students of Prof. Sandip K. Chakrabarti. The book demonstrates a two-dimensional evolution of research areas triggered by Sandip Chakrabarti over the past few decades. The first dimension represents the evolution and diversification of Chakrabarti's own research in which new students were trained. A second dimension arises from the evolution of the research topics pursued by Chakrabarti's fifty odd doctoral students, many of whom have become renowned scientists in their own right, after starting with a certain subject under Chakrabarti and then migrating to completely new subjects with dexterity. The editors have compiled and edited the articles appropriately to some extent to suit the spirit of this Festschrift on the one hand and to keep balance in diverse topics on the other. Thus this volume also provides an overview for whosoever wishes to enter the important subjects of compact objects, astrochemistry, ionospheric science or space exploration in near space. New graduates, PhD scholars, teachers and researchers will benefit from this volume. Moreover it is a record of tremendous success of a school in a range of vast topics.
At the intersection of astronautics, computer science, and social science, this book introduces the challenges and insights associated with computer simulation of human society in outer space, and of the dynamics of terrestrial enthusiasm for space exploration. Never before have so many dynamic representations of space-related social systems existed, some deeply analyzing the logical implications of social-scientific theories, and others open for experience by the general public as computer-generated virtual worlds. Fascinating software ranges from multi-agent artificial intelligence models of civilization, to space-oriented massively multiplayer online games, to educational programs suitable for schools or even for the world's space exploration agencies. At the present time, when actual forays by humans into space are scarce, computer simulations of space societies are an excellent way to prepare for a renaissance of exploration beyond the bounds of Earth.
This complete introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion by one of the pioneering scientists in this expanding field offers both a simple and intuitive discussion of the basic concepts of this subject and an insight into the challenging problems of current research. In a wholly lucid manner the work covers single-particle motions, fluid equations for plasmas, wave motions, diffusion and resistivity, Landau damping, plasma instabilities and nonlinear problems. For students, this outstanding text offers a painless introduction to this important field; for teachers, a large collection of problems; and for researchers, a concise review of the fundamentals as well as original treatments of a number of topics never before explained so clearly. This revised edition contains new material on kinetic effects, including Bernstein waves and the plasma dispersion function, and on nonlinear wave equations and solitons. For the third edition, updates was made throughout each existing chapter, and two new chapters were added; Ch 9 on "Special Plasmas" and Ch 10 on Plasma Applications (including Atmospheric Plasmas).
From Galileo's telescope to the International Space Station - a photo-filled tour through the milestones of space exploration This eclectic pop history of space exploration, by scientist-educator Sten Odenwald at NASA, examines 100 objects - all stunningly photographed - and their effect on what we know and how we think about space. Whimsical and uniquely clarifying, Space Exploration - A History in 100 Objects covers the iconic, from Sputnik to Skylab, as well as the lesser-known but utterly important: The ancient Greek Antikythera mechanism, the first known analog computer, which predicted astronomical movement. Luna 3, the first satellite to glimpse the far side of the moon. The O-ring; the humble, rubber part that doomed the Space Shuttle Challenger. Syncom 2, the first geosynchronous satellite, which made international TV possible. The V-2 rocket, the first artificial object to cross the threshold of space - and many more!
This book is an informal autobiography by John West MD PhD. He obtained his medical degree in Adelaide, Australia and then spent 15 years mainly at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital in London where he, with others, used radioactive oxygen-15 to make the first description of the uneven regional distribution of blood flow in the lung. In 1960-1961, he was a member of the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition led by Sir Edmund Hillary who had made the first ascent of Mt Everest 7 years before. During the expedition about 6 scientists spent up to three months at an altitude of 5800 m studying the effects of this very high altitude on human physiology. Because of his interests in the effects of gravity on the lung, Dr. West spent a year at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California in 1967-1968. While there he submitted a proposal to NASA to measure pulmonary function of astronauts in space, and this was funded. Later, in 1981 he organized the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest during which the first measurements of human physiology on the summit, altitude 8848 m, were obtained. In the 1990's, Dr. West's team made the first comprehensive measurements of pulmonary function of astronauts in space using SpaceLab which was taken up in the Shuttle.
This monograph is a detailed study, and systematic defence, of the Growing Block Theory of time (GBT), first conceived by C.D. Broad. The book offers a coherent, logically perspicuous and ideologically lean formulation of GBT, defends it against the most notorious objections to be found in the extant philosophical literature, and shows how it can be derived from a more general theory, consistent with relativistic spacetime, on the pre-relativistic assumption of an absolute and total temporal order. The authors devise axiomatizations of GBT and its competitors which, against the backdrop of a shared quantified tense logic, significantly improves the prospects of their comparative assessment. Importantly, neither of these axiomatizations involves commitment to properties of presentness, pastness or futurity. The authors proceed to address, and defuse, a number of objections that have been marshaled against GBT, including the so-called epistemic objection according to which the theory invites skepticism about our temporal location. The challenge posed by relativistic physics is met head-on, by replacing claims about temporal variation by claims about variation across spacetime. The book aims to achieve the greatest possible rigor. The background logic is set out in detail, as are the principles governing the notions of precedence and temporal location. The authors likewise devise a novel spacetime logic suited for the articulation, and comparative assessment, of relativistic theories of time. The book comes with three technical appendices which include soundness and completeness proofs for the systems corresponding to GBT and its competitors, in both their pre-relativistic and relativistic forms. The book is primarily directed at researchers and graduate students working on the philosophy of time or temporal logic, but is of interest to metaphysicians and philosophical logicians more generally.
This textbook introduces the theories and practical procedures used in planetary spacecraft navigation. Written by a former member of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) navigation team, it delves into the mathematics behind modern digital navigation programs, as well as the numerous technological resources used by JPL as a key player in the field. In addition, the text offers an analysis of navigation theory application in recent missions, with the goal of showing students the relationship between navigation theory and the real-world orchestration of mission operations.
Have you ever wondered what could happen when we discover another communicating species outside the Earth? This book addresses this question in all its complexity. In addition to the physical barriers for communication, such as the enormous distances where a message can take centuries to reach its recipient, the book also examines the biological problems of communicating between species, the problems of identifying a non-Terrestrial intelligence, and the ethical, religious, legal and other problems of conducting discussions across light years. Most of the book is concerned with issues that could impinge on your life: how do we share experiences with ETI? Can we make shared laws? Could we trade? Would they have religion? The book addresses these and related issues, identifying potential barriers to communication and suggesting ways we can overcome them. The book explores this topic through reference to human experience, through analogy and thought experiment, while relying on what is known to-date about ourselves, our world, and the cosmos we live in.
This book provides an introduction to the physics of interstellar gas in the Galaxy. It deals with the diffuse interstellar medium which supplies a complex environment for exploring the neutral gas content of a galaxy like the Milky Way and the techniques necessary for studying this non-stellar component. After an initial exposition of the phases of the interstellar medium and the role of gas in a spiral galaxy, the authors discuss the transition from atomic to molecular gas. They then consider basic radiative transfer and molecular spectroscopy with particular emphasis on the molecules useful for studying low-density molecular gas. Observational techniques for investigating the gas and the dust component of the diffuse interstellar medium throughout the electromagnetic spectrum are explored emphasizing results from the recent Herschel and Planck missions. A brief exposition on dust in the diffuse interstellar medium is followed by a discussion of molecular clouds in general and high-latitude molecular clouds in particular. Ways of calibrating CO observations with the molecular hydrogen content of a cloud are examined along with the dark molecular gas controversy. High-latitude molecular clouds are considered in detail as vehicles for applying the techniques developed in the book. Given the transient nature of diffuse and translucent molecular clouds, the role of turbulence in the origin and dynamics of these objects is examined in some detail. The book is targeted at graduate students or postdocs who are entering the field of interstellar medium studies.
This unique book presents a historical and philatelic survey of Earth exploration from space. It covers all areas of research in which artificial satellites have contributed in designing a new image of our planet and its environment: the atmosphere and ionosphere, the magnetic field, radiation belts and the magnetosphere, weather, remote sensing, mapping of the surface, observation of the oceans and marine environments, geodesy, and the study of life and ecological systems. Stamping the Earth from Space presents the results obtained with the thousands of satellites launched by the two former superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, and also those of the many missions carried out by the ESA, individual European countries, Japan, China, India, and the many emerging space nations. Beautifully illustrated, it contains almost 1100 color reproductions of philatelic items. In addition to topical stamps and thematic postal documents, the book provides an extensive review of astrophilatelic items. The most important space missions are documented through event covers and cards canceled at launch sites, tracking stations, research laboratories, and mission control facilities.
The proceedings published in this book document and foster the goals of the 11th International Space Conference on "Protection of Materials and Structures from Space Environment" ICPMSE-11 to facilitate exchanges between members of the various engineering and science disciplines involved in the development of space materials. Contributions cover aspects of interaction with space environment of LEO, GEO, Deep Space, Planetary environments, ground-based qualification and in-flight experiments, as well as lessons learned from operational vehicles that are closely interrelated to disciplines of atmospheric sciences, solar-terrestrial interactions and space life sciences.
Picturing Apollo 11 is an unprecedented photographic history of the space mission that defined an era. Through a wealth of unpublicized and recently discovered images, this book presents new and rarely-seen views of the people, places, and events involved in the pioneering first moon landing of July 20, 1969. No other book has showcased as many never-before-seen photos connected with Apollo 11, or as many photos covering the activities from months before to years after the mission. Starting with the extensive preparations, these photographs show astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin training for the flight, as well as the stages of the massive Saturn V rocket arriving at the Kennedy Space Center for assembly. They capture the media frenzy over the unfolding story and the "moon fever" that gripped the nation. Also featured here are shots of incredible moments from the mission. In these images, spectators flock to Cape Canaveral. The rocket launches in a cloud of fire and thunder. Armstrong and Aldrin step out of the lunar module Eagle onto the surface of the moon. The command module Columbia splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, and the extraordinary voyage is celebrated around the world and in the following decades. Most of the photographs were selected from NASA archives and the collection of J. L. Pickering, the world's largest private collection of U.S. human space flight images. The accompanying text details the scenes, revealing the astonishing scale and scope of activities that went into planning and executing the first moon landing. This book commemorates the historic mission and evokes the electric atmosphere of the time.
"Space Pharmacology" is a review of the current knowledge regarding the use of pharmaceuticals during spaceflights. It is a comprehensive review of the literature, addressing each area of pharmacokinetics and each major physiological system in turn. Every section begins with a topic overview, and is followed by a discussion of published data from spaceflight, and from ground experiments meant to model the spaceflight situation. Includes a discussion looking forward to the new medical challenges we are likely to face on longer duration exploration missions. This book is a snapshot of our current knowledge that also highlights areas of unknown.
Given the fact that there are perhaps 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, and perhaps 400 billion galaxies in the Universe, it stands to reason that somewhere out there, in the 14-billion-year-old cosmos, there is or once was a civilization at least as advanced as our own. The sheer enormity of the numbers almost demands that we accept the truth of this hypothesis. Why, then, have we encountered no evidence, no messages, no artifacts of these extraterrestrials? In this second, significantly revised and expanded edition of his widely popular book, Webb discusses in detail the (for now!) 75 most cogent and intriguing solutions to Fermi's famous paradox: If the numbers strongly point to the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, why have we found no evidence of them? Reviews from the first edition: "Amidst the plethora of books that treat the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, this one by Webb ... is outstanding. ... Each solution is presented in a very logical, interesting, thorough manner with accompanying explanations and notes that the intelligent layperson can understand. Webb digs into the issues ... by considering a very broad set of in-depth solutions that he addresses through an interesting and challenging mode of presentation that stretches the mind. ... An excellent book for anyone who has ever asked 'Are we alone?'." (W. E. Howard III, Choice, March, 2003) "Fifty ideas are presented ... that reveal a clearly reasoned examination of what is known as 'The Fermi Paradox'. ... For anyone who enjoys a good detective story, or using their thinking faculties and stretching the imagination to the limits ... 'Where is everybody' will be enormously informative and entertaining. ... Read this book, and whatever your views are about life elsewhere in the Universe, your appreciation for how special life is here on Earth will be enhanced! A worthy addition to any personal library." (Philip Bridle, BBC Radio, March, 2003) Since gaining a BSc in physics from the University of Bristol and a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester, Stephen Webb has worked in a variety of universities in the UK. He is a regular contributor to the Yearbook of Astronomy series and has published an undergraduate textbook on distance determination in astronomy and cosmology as well as several popular science books. His interest in the Fermi paradox combines lifelong interests in both science and science fiction.
This volume is a compilation of the research presented at the International Asteroid Day workshop which was celebrated at Barcelona on June 30th, 2015. The proceedings discuss the beginning of a new era in the study and exploration of the solar system's minor bodies. International Asteroid Day commemorates the Tunguska event of June 30th, 1908. The workshop's goal was to promote the importance of dealing proactively with impact hazards from space. Multidisciplinary experts contributed to this discussion by describing the nature of comets and asteroids along with their offspring, meteoroids. New missions to return material samples of asteroids back to Earth such as Osiris-REx and Hayabusa 2, as well as projects like AIM and DART which will test impact deflection techniques for Potentially Hazardous Asteroids encounters were also covered. The proceedings include both an outreach level to popularize impact hazards and a scientific character which covers the latest knowledge on these topics, as well as offering proposals of promising new techniques that will help gain new insights of the properties of these challenging bodies by studying meteoroids and meteorites. Asteroids, comets, meteoroids and meteorites are introduced with descriptions of their nature, origin, and solar system pathways.
This book develops a general approach that can be systematically refined to investigate the statics and dynamics of deformable solid bodies. These methods are then employed to small bodies in the Solar System. With several space missions underway and more being planned, interest in our immediate neighbourhood is growing. In this spirit, this book investigates various phenomena encountered in planetary science, including disruptions during planetary fly-bys, equilibrium shapes and stability of small rubble bodies, and spin-driven shape changes. The flexible procedure proposed here will help readers gain valuable insights into the mechanics of solar system bodies, while at the same time complementing numerical investigations. The technique itself is built upon the virial method successfully employed by Chandrasekhar (1969) to study the equilibrium shapes of spinning fluid objects. However, here Chandrasekhar's approach is modified in order to study more complex dynamical situations and include objects of different rheologies, e.g., granular aggregates, or "rubble piles". The book is largely self-contained, though some basic familiarity with continuum mechanics will be beneficial.
This book introduces readers to the application of orbital data on space objects in the contexts of conjunction assessment and space situation analysis, including theories and methodologies. It addresses the main topics involved in space object conjunction assessment, such as: orbital error analysis of space objects; close approach analysis; the calculation, analysis and application of collision probability; and the comprehensive assessment of collision risk. In addition, selected topics on space situation analysis are also presented, including orbital anomaly and space event analysis, and so on. The book offers a valuable guide for researchers and engineers in the fields of astrodynamics, space telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C), space surveillance, space situational awareness, and space debris, as well as for graduates majoring in flight vehicle design and related fields. |
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