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Questions tagged [capsule]

A space capsule is an often manned spacecraft which has a simple shape for the main section, without any wings or other features to create lift during atmospheric reentry.

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1 answer
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How are parachutes attached to capsule spacecraft?

Spacecraft capsules (Apollo, Orion, Dragon, Starliner, Soyuz, etc) use an arrangement of pilot, drogue, and main parachutes to land. I'm looking for details regarding how and where these parachutes (...
Retsied's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Will there be a flame around the capsule from Stoke Space Technologies during reentery?

Stoke Space Technologies (https://www.stokespace.com/) will send fuel through the heat shield of its capsule to keep it from heating up. They actually mentioned that they are more concerned that the ...
The Rocket fan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
305 views

Does a capsule rotate naturally during atmospheric re-entry?

If during atmospheric re-entry a capsule (with a shifted center of mass to produce lift) does not produce any rcs thrust, will the capsule naturally roll? and why?
Sebastyen Laroche's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
461 views

Mystery balls! Gemini apparently had "thousands of hollow ping-pong-sized balls made of extremely thin aluminum embedded within its walls". What?

This fascinating answer says that "The Gemini capsule floated because it had thousands of hollow balls made of extremely thin aluminum, each composed of two half-spheres welded together, the size ...
Anton Hengst's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
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Deke Slayton's Molded Mercury Capsule Couch?

Recently got a hard question from an observant, sharp-eyed, and curious high school astronomy teacher: Reference this article about some of the training the Mercury Seven astronauts did. Note that the ...
Digger's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
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What space capsule is this part from?

One of my relatives has this metal component sitting in their backyard. It was a souvenir that my grandfather got to keep from his days working in the aerospace industry (primarily for Boeing). My ...
Kevin's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
782 views

Why does the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft appear square in this picture?

In this article, the attached image, captioned "The Shenzhou-12 capsule bears the scorch marks from the heat of re-entry," really caught my eye - it looks like they dropped a shipping ...
bendl's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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What kind of impact tests to large touch screen displays in crew capsules have to pass?

Some of the glass layers in commercial large format displays are between 0.25 and 0.7 mm thick. (e.g. 1, 2) If something comes loose in a capsule during a high acceleration period (launch, reentry) ...
uhoh's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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AS 204 / Apollo 1 fire

I have read that the three astronauts lost their lives in the CM capsule, when fire broke out on the AS 204 / Apollo 1 launch trials, as they could not open the inside opening hatch because of ...
Niranjan's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
197 views

Atmosphere inside a space capsule and need for spacesuits

Was the internal atmosphere of Mercury capsule and CSMs of Apollo missions filled with pure oxygen at low pressure, and was the ambiance controlled to match closely to that on earth (e.g. humidity, ...
Niranjan's user avatar
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8 votes
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Why is the Hayabusa2 capsule collection team in protective gear

Pictures posted on twitter (https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa/status/1335513393122316288/photo/2 and BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55201662) show a couple of team members in what ...
Anandologist's user avatar
21 votes
5 answers
4k views

Which astronauts or cosmonauts were injured by a hard landing?

Sigmund Jähn, the first German in orbit, was injured during a hard landing of the Soyuz 29 capsule on September 3rd, 1978. He got permanent damages of his vertebral column. Are there other astronauts ...
Uwe's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why did the Apollo capsule have seats if the astronauts never were sitting in it?

The Apollo capsule had three lying seats on its bottom, but the astronauts actually never sat in the capsule: during launch, reentry and in the ocean the astronauts were lying down, while in space ...
Giovanni's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
380 views

Could Crew Dragon Make an Emergency Landing on Land?

Could a capsule designed for ocean splashdown still land successfully on land in an emergency? The speed of the capsule is slowed to ~15 MPH, which seemingly wouldn't destroy the capsule.
john doe's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
274 views

In designing the Apollo capsule, was consideration given to lashing it down?

At https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap11fj/cm-107_graffiti.html, there is a picture of CM-107, alias the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, aboard the recovery ship Hornet. So, after splash-down, the ...
Roger Lipscombe's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do we control a Reentering Capsule in the denser part of the atmosphere?

My question is: How do we control a Reentering Capsule in the denser part of the atmosphere? How does the aerodynamics of the Reentry vehicle workout? In other words, how does a reentry module ...
Navoneel Karmakar's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
663 views

Why was ISRO's CARE reentry demonstration at 5300 m/s so slow?

This community wiki answer to What are some details of ISRO's Gaganyaan Mission currently says: Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) was launched on 18 December 2014 at 04:00 UTC. ...
uhoh's user avatar
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1 vote
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Cost of making a capsule boilerplate

I am a space enthusiast, and i wanted to know a rough estimation of the cost of making a capsule boiler plate. I searched in google, but I couldn't find a satisfactory answer. Can anyone help me out?
peaceHoper's user avatar
20 votes
3 answers
5k views

Could one skydive from a space capsule that just had a parachute failure during re-entry?

Say you're in a space capsule. The space capsule has mostly survived re-entry, but the capsule's parachutes fell off. If you had a regular skydiving parachute with you, is there any way you could ...
Fax's user avatar
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5 votes
0 answers
139 views

How do ISS astronauts keep proficient on capsule procedures in long duration missions?

Before astronauts and cosmonauts go to the ISS they have months of simulator training on Soyuz spacecraft procedures for launch, rendezvous, docking and re-entry. Yet, once they are on the ISS they ...
GdD's user avatar
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5 votes
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111 views

Are ferrofluidic seals used in spaceflight? Main applications? Human-rated?

Comments below this answer have inspired this quesiton. Wikipedia's Ferrofluidic seal sez: Ferrofluid-sealed feedthroughs routinely operate in environments including ultra-high vacuum (below 10⁻⁸ ...
uhoh's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
331 views

What would be the cost of construction of space capsule (re- entry modules)

I would like what would be the range of costs for building a space capsule , ranging from the Apollo times to the new Boeing Starliner.
Bharath Simha Reddy's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

What was this capsule dropped from a truck?

I've been watching the PBS American Experience documentary, and they showed a brief clip of some accidents at NASA. One involved a capsule being carried on the back of a truck, on some kind of crane. ...
user's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
185 views

What is this long black tube snaking up to the capsule payload of the Antares rocket?

Scott Manley's video The Antares Rocket - NASA's Less Famous Ride To The Space Station includes some file footage of Antares rocket launches. There is a long black tube or cable snaking its way up to ...
uhoh's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
476 views

Is there a practical maximum size for a space capsule returning to Earth?

Assuming I need to get a large cargo or a lot of people safely to Earth's surface in one go in a single-use capsule of the Apollo CM / Soyuz descent type but larger, and assuming that the capsule is ...
MG1981's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
56 views

Where are all the space capsules? [duplicate]

My understanding is that space capsules, at least until recently with the private companies, have been single-use. Including the Soyuz capsules that Russia keeps using. Which means there could ...
Greg's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
208 views

How many capsules have visited the ISS more than once?

How many capsules have visited the ISS more than once? Just that. But if the number is very small, then their IDs or any commemorative markings they might have would be a bonus.
uhoh's user avatar
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13 votes
5 answers
5k views

Have Air-breathing Engines ever been used on a reentry vehicle, could they be?

For the purpose of this question I would like to assume there is no risk of life for the astronauts, or that the design would only be used for delivery of a non-ethically-sensitive payload. Looking at ...
Magic Octopus Urn's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
216 views

Roughly what is the rate of energy loss of survivable capsule re-entries?

In this answer I've estimated the peak rate of energy loss of a particularly unwise re-entry as 3 to 4 gigawatts. Never mind that it's 15-20 gees of acceleration, that's a lot of power injected into ...
uhoh's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
209 views

Which Apollo Command Module is pictured here?

I recently requested help identifying what turned out to be a Sikorsky JRS-1 on Aviation.SE. One of the comments in my post led to this follow up. In the same picture there is what I'm pretty certain ...
bclarkreston's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
665 views

Are crewed capsules equiped to land pretty much anywhere in the world?

Based on this question it sounds like if something goes wrong it's pretty easy for a crewed capsule reentering from space to go way off target. Does that mean that the capsules are equipped to land ...
David says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
215 views

Is the Shenzhou-11 crew's capsule just launched windowless?

It appears that the crew capsule in today's launch of the Shenzhou-11 crew has no windows. Windows present a lot of design tradeoffs, but can come in handy in some situations. Is this capsule ...
uhoh's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
686 views

Decision Factors for using 100% $ O_2 $ cabin atmosphere in early US space program

What are the reasons for deciding to use a 100% $ O_2 $ cabin atmosphere in the early US space programme? Was danger of nitrogen narcossis a factor? Did all missions prior to Apollo 1 use a 100% $ ...
My Other Head's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why does Soyuz use a single large parachute vs 3 on most American capsules?

Apollo, Gemini, (Not Mercury), Dragon, CST-100, the set of American capsules all seem to use three parachutes for landing the capsules. This seems like it makes sense. They are usually designed for ...
geoffc's user avatar
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25 votes
2 answers
10k views

Why did SpaceX choose to use Hydrazine over newer "green" propellants for Dragon 2?

Firstly, I understand the need to use hypergolics over cryogenics as part of Dragon 2's abort and landing sequence - they provide "instant on" thrust and are throttlable with very wide ...
marked-down's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
4k views

How do space capsules float on water?

I understand that there are flotation devices on the space capsule but I don't see them visibly deployed in this image . There are other images where they are deployed and clearly visible above the ...
Poruri Sai Rahul's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

Could Orion capsules be reused?

While watching this video animation of Orion EFT-1, a question occurred to me. Previous capsules (Apollo, Gemini, Mercury) were used once and then relegated to museums (apart from a few test flight ...
Jerard Puckett's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
301 views

Does the hull of a spacecraft acquire a charge during its rapid ascent through Earth's atmosphere?

Known fact: Heat causes a charge to accumulate on the hull of a craft at reentry. Questions: Does the hull acquire a charge during the course of its ascent too? What magnitude is this charge? (My ...
Everyone's user avatar
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21 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is it that during reentry phase a capsule cannot communicate with mission control?

During reentry phase into the Earth's atmosphere the heat produced by air friction does not allow any communication with the surface. Why does the heat interfere with electronic frequencies and ...
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