Questions tagged [crewed-spaceflight]
Crewed spaceflight (also referred to as human spaceflight or manned spaceflight) is space travel with a crew aboard the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is crewed, it can be operated directly, as opposed to being remotely operated or autonomous.
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Can I borrow a lunar rover?
According to Wikipedia there are 3 LRVs sitting on the moon, in very well defined locations. Would China, or whomever gets to the moon with a person next, be able to get in and drive around in an LRV ...
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What can the KSP game actually teach about spaceflight and orbital mechanics, and what are its limitations?
I have seen at least several different users mention that they've found Kerbal Space Program helpful to understand issues of spaceflight and orbital mechanics.
According to Wikipedia:
While the game ...
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Launch Accelerations: Values, history
This topic: What G-forces do different launchers cause? indicates that current satellite launchers are limiting peak acceleration to about 4g. I'm pretty sure the STS (Shuttle) did the same. My ...
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How did NASA achieve their live TV broadcast in 1969?
In 1969, NASA not only went to the moon, but broadcast the whole thing live on TV.
How did they achieve the TV broadcast? What technology did they need to use to send a video and audio signal from ...
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How often is duct tape used during crewed space missions?
It seems Apollo missions carried some variety of gray tape, likely Duct Tape or similar. There's the scene in the movie Apollo 13 and the reality behind it discussed in the video below.
Question: How ...
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Is NASA doing research on "mini-magnetospheres" to protect crew from radiation in space?
The Phys.org article NASA proposes a magnetic shield to protect Mars' atmosphere says:
...Dr. Jim Green – the Director of NASA's Planetary Science Division – and a panel of researchers presented an ...
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Will suits worn on Mars lose kilograms of "expendable water" each time they are used?
In this excellent answer to How have space suits dissipated the heat removed from astronauts? I learned that space suits from the Apollo missions and even when used in space walks from the ISS today ...
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How many times has there been 13 people inside the ISS and is it hard on the station?
I just saw this photo in @SF.'s answer it is ISS023-E-023513 STS-131 and Expedition 23. The full caption is below.
Are there really 13 people on the ISS at one time?
Is STS-131 the only shuttle ...
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What materials provide the best protection from cosmic radiation?
For long-distance manned missions, such as a mission to Mars, we are inevitably going to have to shield astronauts from cosmic radiation, especially in the event of a solar flare or SEP. What ...
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Brachistochrone variation for Earth-to-Mars Orbit
Wouldn't a Brachistochrone curve to Mars orbit be a much faster and more efficient way to send personnel and equipment to mars as compared to the Hohmann transfer if we used an Ion engine?
The below ...
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Why can't we use the same radiation shielding in Mars that we used when going to the moon?
Note that this is somewhat related to this question but here I am specifically asking about the suitability of using existing shielding for Mars travel.
This is about this article and video titled "...
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Could a Human reach escape velocity by jumping from the surface of Ceres (a dwarf planet)?
According to this answer the surface gravity of Ceres is estimated to be only $0.27 m/s^2$. With a rotation period of 9 hours. The gravity seems light enough to overcome by leg muscle alone, and if ...
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Could I build my own spaceship?
We all know that for most people access to space is currently pretty limited because space flight services are expensive, as they are in short supply.
Suppose I wanted to bypass an expensive service ...
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Why did Soyuz TMA-18M take two days to reach the ISS?
Typically, a Soyuz crew vehicle takes 4 orbits to reach the ISS, but the Soyuz TMA-18M took 34 orbits or 2 days to reach it. Why is there so much variation from typical missions?
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How was temperature and humidity maintained inside the Apollo mission capsules?
What mechanism was used to control the temperature and humidity inside the Apollo mission capsules? For example, did they employ an electric heater? Did they utilize solar radiation? Was humidity ...
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What is BECO? (Gemini) Same as MECO?
This answer links to this answer which shows the acceleration g-force envelopes experienced by early astronauts, reaching as high as almost 7.5g!
Both show BECO, which is what I might call MECO or ...
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Which astronaut has experienced the largest relativistic shift in time (relative to Earth's surface)?
Following this answer and then this question (where I've linked to Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev; the World's Most Prolific Time Traveller) I've noticed that currently Krikalev does not hold the precisely ...
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Microscopes in space?
There are a lot of telescopes in space (optical, radio, X-ray and Gamma-ray), but how about microscopes?
Does the ISS have a general-purpose microscope? It could come in handy for failure analysis or ...
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How were the Flight Journals of the Apollo missions originally transcribed/recorded?
I've been reading throught the Apollo 11 Flight Journals and was wondering how they were originally recorded and transcribed. It seems that they were painstakingly accurate down to the last second ...
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Which crewed spacecraft provides the gentlest descent and/or landing?
Landing with a Soyuz capsule is often compared to being in a car accident1, it's pretty violent on touch-down. On the other hand, I imagine the Space Shuttle's touch-down to be a little like a rough ...
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What is the largest hurdle of the mission to Mars?
I was shocked when I recently found out just how long it takes to get to Mars. I've been conducting a very informal survey amongst peers of how just how long people think it takes us to travel to Mars....
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Mass of food per astronaut per year for an extended deep space excursion?
Until food can be grown or synthesized reliably and effectively in space, a manned deep space mission needs to bring all of the food with it, or cache some of it ahead of time.
Roughly what would be ...
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Did Apollo's velocity slow down after TLI due to Earth's gravity?
I assume Apollo's velocity slowed down after it left Earth orbit, for how long was it decelerating. Did it start accelerating as it approached the Moon. What was the rate of deceleration due to ...
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Blimp on Earth, but a glider on Mars?
Could enough surface area be created with a blimp to shed speed using Mars' atmosphere to have a controlled soft landing to minimize the need for retrorockets? Runway would need to be in place. While ...
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How might the experience of a trip to Mars differ in comfort and heath impact from a stint on the ISS?
A comment below the question How will they mitigate the effect microgravity in the BFR on manned trip to mars? suggests that the trip might be as short as 3 months, which is significantly shorter than ...
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Maximum survivable long term g-forces
I assume this hasn't got a precise answer, but I was wondering if anyone had an indication of the maximum survivable long term g-forces, if the persons positioning was optimal?
For example, could you ...
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What were the "pills" that were added to solid waste in Apollo 7?
In the BBC News Worldservice podcast 10, 9, 8, 7: The dramatic missions that made the Moon landing possible told by retired astronaut Nicole Stott (Expeditions 20, 21, STS-128 and STS-133) after ...
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Would Luna 15 have been visible to any of the members of the Apollo 11 crew?
According to Wikipedia, Luna 15 crashed a few hours before Eagle lifted off from the moon, and since it crashed North-east of the landing site, it must have overflown them. Would any of the crew have ...
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What missions could be done with Orion on Falcon Heavy?
Orion is being developed in tandem with the SLS. But Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly earlier, early 2015, and be cheaper. So I wonder what kind of missions Orion could do with FH. Could it for ...
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How were the Space Shuttle missions named?
For example, why was the 19th Shuttle mission named STS-51F instead of something more obvious like STS-19?
Side note: One reason I'm asking is because in the DVD commentary of Apollo 13, Tom Hanks or ...
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What kind of time regiment/schedule do ISS astronauts have?
On Earth people's lives are usually dictated by a 24-hour rhythm (with about 8 hours of sleep each night). As far as I know this rhythm is determined by chemical processes in the human body which are ...
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Sources for make-up breathable oxygen on Mars; of H₂O, CO₂ and ClO₄⁻, which is likely to be used first?
While oxygen recovery and reuse is well developed, the ISS does receive regular shipments of make-up oxygen. See for example this and this and this answer.
For an early, manned presence on Mars, a ...
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What are the most difficult challenges SpaceX will face getting astronauts to Mars by about 2025?
SpaceX has been announcing very ambitious goals such as starting to send manned missions to Mars in order to (eventually) create a colony, and recently there has been a substantial release of more ...
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Dried beans, rice and oats, jerky, olive oil, salt, vitamins, electrolytes, water; anything else?
If I don't worry about morale, would daily, average sized meals from the following be sufficient to stay alive for three years in space? I'm assuming only water is recovered from waste.
Assume enough ...
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Have "QR" or other 2D barcodes been used in spaceflight?
Wikipedia:
QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan.
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If the astronauts on Apollo 11 had landed safely on the moon but could not take off, would there have been a rescue mission?
Say they landed on the moon but discovered the ship was damaged during the landing and they could not launch again.
What would have been the plan? Would another crew have been sent to rescue them? ...
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Why do ISS crew members often cross their arms?
I am watching live stream from ISS to follow the return of two ISS crew members, Thomas Pesquet and Oleg Novitskiy.
At several moments, they crossed their arms in a not really natural way:
Why do ...
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What are the most serious injuries that astronauts have suffered while in orbit?
Among astronauts in orbit, what is the worst real injury recorded?
Has anyone hit himself on the thumb with a hammer or something? Squeezed a finger in a closing door? Gotten poisoned by some leaking ...
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Did Apollo carry and use WD40?
It appears from this question that Apollo missions carried Duct Tape and used it for in-flight fixups. Did they carry the other half of the "Universal Repair Kit" - WD40 (or similar)? If so, was it ...
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Was the Apollo 13 CM guidance computer fully shut down?
I was watching the movie Apollo 13, and one thing struck me as quite odd. According to Wikipedia,
[Movie director Ron] Howard went to great lengths to create a technically accurate movie, employing ...
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Is there an independent cost estimate of the Mars One proposal?
Has anyone outside of the Mars One foundation done an independent evaluation that concept in terms of the following heads?
Initial Cost
Ongoing Cost
Technical feasibility?
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Do we still have all the blueprints to go to the Moon? [duplicate]
The answer to Do we still have all the equipment to go back to the moon? is an unambiguous "no". Most of the equipment went to museums or got scrapped. But do we still have all the know-how?
Say, a ...
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Can a single Soyuz return a crew of six back to Earth?
Let's say that the ISS has to be immediately evacuated and that one of the two Soyuz is broken.
Could the crew quickly remove "unnecessary weight" (seats maybe?) and fit six person to return back to ...
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Why are the very reliable rockets Atlas V and Ariane V not rated for human flight?
During the last ten years all 100 or so launches by Atlas V and Ariane V together have been successful. (One Atlas V payload entered too low orbit, but that would hardly have risked the life of a crew)...
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Which astronaut travelled farthest from Earth?
To-date who has flown farthest from the center of the Earth?
Is he alive now?
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What would have happened if only one Space Shuttle SRB ignited?
The ignite command for the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) would not be issued unless all three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) were at least 90% of thrust. The launch would have been aborted if one or ...
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Repurposing a nuclear submarine for space travel
Although a nuclear submarine might not make a great spacecraft, would it be possible to repurpose it for space travel? Benchmark: USS Illinois (SSN-786), Virginia-class submarine (born in Virginia, ...
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If I want to be an astronaut pilot, what career should I start?
What kind of career should I start if I want to be an astronaut pilot?
First astronauts were military aircraft pilots. Since those days, automatic flying was present in the spacecraft so that someone ...
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Has any spacecraft had a way for the crew to escape during reentry?
All manned spacecraft to date have come back to Earth eventually, and when they do it's through a flaming ball of plasma.
It seems too probable that this plasma would have a way of breaking things ...
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Have SRBs or SSMEs ever launched without a space shuttle?
It seems to me that the April 12, 1981 launch of Columbia (STS-1) was the manned spaceflight with the most untested hardware of any manned space launch. Even the Vostok and Mercury launch systems had ...
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