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A spacecraft is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters space then returns to the Earth. For an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters a closed orbit around the planetary body. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers. Spacecraft used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft that leave the vicinity of the planetary body are space probes. Robotic spacecraft that remain in orbit around the planetary body are artificial satellites. Starships, which are built for interstellar travel, are so far a theoretical concept only (aside from a handful of interstellar probes such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager, and New Horizons). Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and space tourism. Spacecraft and space travel are common themes in works of science fiction. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License  nasa.gov 510px x 516px | 36.30kB [source page] S65 63221 This view of the Earth orbiting Gemini 7 spacecraft was taken from the Gemini VI spacecraft during their historic rendezvous mission in space  mgsonline.blogs.com 447px x 640px | 68.80kB [source page] < S5 prodesktop spacecraft cad drawing Permalink From Yahoo Image Search: "Spacecraft"  huffingtonpost.com The Huffington Post News Editors Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:51:02 GM NASA's Cassini . spacecraft. has discovered a new object in Saturn's rings. By capitalizing on the angle of sunlight cast on the rings as the planet nears its August 11 equinox, Cassini captured the 25-mile long shadow cast on Saturn's B ...  insideksc.com News Update Manager ue, 01 Sep 2009 19:14:40 GM NASA's Orion . Spacecraft. Passes Significant Design Milestone Space News Center.  educationgis.com talk Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:25:00 GM GIS Education blog, Remote Sensing News, GIS news updates, Geographic Information System, School University Links. From Google Blog Search: "Spacecraft"  news.google.com The Associated Press That's because with every passing hour, there's more accuracy on the precise location of the spacecraft and debris, mccullough said. ... Astronauts complain of stuffy heads in space msnbc.com Nasa iss on-Orbit Status 2 September 2009 Space Ref (press release) all 693 news articles » news.google.com Banktech What I mean by more is that just in the past five years, US banks performed 2890 vendor-assisted, core conversions as a result of switches to a new core ... news.google.com SatNews Publishers The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 19, 2009. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately ... Saturn's rings still puzzle scientists msnbc.com all 5 news articles » From Google News Search: "Spacecraft" What country was first to launch a spacecraft that landed on the moon? Q. I also would like to know what year it was launched and what the name of the spacecraft is Asked by Saranghae<3 - Wed Sep 12 21:47:24 2007 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments A. The USSR was first in all these: In 1959, the Luna 2 mission successfully impacted upon the lunar surface, becoming the first man-made object to reach the Moon. Luna 3 rounded the Moon later that year, and returned the first photographs of its far side, which can never be seen from Earth. But you asked about a spacecraft that landed on the moon, Luna 9 became the first probe to achieve a soft LANDING on the Moon (February 1966). It returned five black and white stereoscopic circular panoramas, which were the first close-up shots of the Lunar surface. Answered by RationalThinker - Wed Sep 12 22:26:29 2007 How is going back to a capsule (Orion spacecraft) better than the space shuttle? What is NASA thinking? Q. In 2010 NASA is planning to retire the Space Shuttles and replace them with The Orion Spacecraft which looks like a 1960's capsule with solar panels on it. I am wondering why? Asked by kindyoungguy - Sat Jul 14 10:24:54 2007 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. A capsule for crew transportation is more efficient. You don't need an 18-wheeler (space shuttle) to drive to someone's house (space station) when your car will do just fine. Why waste all the energy and effort of launching a big thing when a little one will do? For "big" missions, to the moon or for large projects in Earth orbit, the "cargo" can be sent up separately and be waiting for the crew. This is safer, too. Once the moon ship or other large payload is up and looks to be okay, then the crew can join up with it and proceed. This also makes economic sense, since you only pay for what you need on each mission. The shuttle program flies a big orbiter and sometimes partially empty cargo bay every time. Even for "crew rotation". Not an… [cont.] Answered by George M - Sat Jul 14 11:04:07 2007 How long would it take a spacecraft traveling at the speed of light to safely make a u-turn, g forces on body?
Q. Considering the G-forces on the human body and a spacecraft traveling at the speed of light, it would take a very long time to make a U TURN in outer space without the spacetravelers suffering any ill effects. So...how long would it take (hours?...days?...weeks?. ..years ?) to safely make a U TURN in outer space? Asked by BATMAN - Thu Jan 11 16:50:14 2007 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments A. There are two ways of answering this question... One way would be to merely say that no object with mass can ever obtain a speed equal to or greater than the speed of light since doing so would require an infinite amount of energy (and in the entire universe, there is not an infinite amount of energy). Additionally, your question asks about the "time" it would take to accomplish this maneuver...but time is relative to the observer, especially when it comes to relativistic speeds. So the question is entirely impractical in its current form. Another way to answer this question would be to entertain the idea of light speed travel and assume some type of universal time frame...purely for the novelty purposes of the question with the… [cont.] Answered by mrjeffy321 - Thu Jan 11 17:07:39 2007 From Yahoo Answer Search: "Spacecraft" |
