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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Which crewed spacecraft provides the gentlest ascent?
The Space Shuttle is considered to be the spacecraft with the gentlest decent and landing. I was surprised to learn that its ascent was quite a rough experience.
So I was wondering: Which orbital ...
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Have any living organisms been intentionally launched into polar orbits?
The Space Shuttle was originally intended to be able to support polar orbits, by launching from Vandenberg AFB, in California. Although a launch complex was built, it was never used for a Shuttle ...
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How did the Apollo guidance computers deal with radiation?
I was wondering how the Apollo guidance computer handled the radiation encountered in space
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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) ...
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of certain radial symmetries in spacecraft construction?
I'm mainly considering the merits and drawbacks of threefold versus fourfold (or higher, like sixfold and eightfold) radial symmetries when it comes to the construction of a fuselage for a spacecraft ...
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Could amateur radio operators or others contact the ISS against NASA's wishes?
In real life, but more often in fiction, there are have been a number of examples of "Don't tell the crew" i.e. Mission control finding out about an issue and deciding that for whatever ...
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Why do we never see astronauts doing breaststroke or the "Man from Atlantis" swimming movements, say, and thus swimming in air in free fall?
Why do we never see astronauts and others swimming in air in free fall?
The swimming strokes that work well under water on earth are the breast stroke and especially that "Man from Atlantis" ...
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What is the maximum allowed occupancy of the ISS?
With the recent Crew-2 docking while Crew-1 was still docked, there were
Four Crew-1 members
Four Crew-2 members
Three Soyuz members
That totals eleven. There have been as many as 13 aboard at once (...
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Using inflatable balloons to collect hydrogen from space as a simple solution for radiation shielding
I've seen this video where around the 4:59 mark it states hydrogen is the "best element" to protect humans from cosmic rays:
Even if it's not completely true,...
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Nighttime reentry of occupied spacecraft?
In looking at details of the tomorrow early morning (Sunday, May 2, 2021) reentry of the crewed SpaceX Dragon capsule, I see that it's reentry plan is for a nighttime splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. ...
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Why do astronauts wear spacesuits during launch?
I have noticed that astronauts in every launch I've found wear a spacesuit during launch, like this example from the shuttle.
I don't understand this. What kind of problem could cause loss of cabin ...
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Why is there currently so little talk about a Venus gravity assist for a crewed Mars mission?
I just came across this video about manned Mars and Venus missions that were planned in the 1960s. They considered a Venus flyby the best way to get humans to Mars. Indeed, there are also modern ...
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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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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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Is CO + O ==> CO2 a possibility for propelling rockets off Mars? [duplicate]
Perseverance, the Mars rover, includes an experiment called MOXIE. This is a technology demonstration to show that Mars' atmospheric carbon dioxide can be broken into carbon monoxide and oxygen. ...
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What is the procedure in case the ISS loses one of the evacuation crafts?
Suppose that a micrometeorite or a sudden failure renders one of the Soyuz inoperable, or that a routine inspection discovers a defect in one of them that makes it unsafe.
What is the protocol to ...
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Why were the SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts backed up by guards with automatic weapons?
The photo in NPR's 4 Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon Successfully Dock With Space Station shows the four astronauts standing in front of a serious-looking military vehicle flanked by at least two ...
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When was the last time that an incandescent light bulb was launched into space?
Certainly the first crewed spacecraft had some incandescent light bulbs for indicators, though for cabin illumination the higher efficiency of fluorescent lights was often exploited. The question ...
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Have any space stations experienced a total solar eclipse?
Have any space stations experienced a total solar eclipse [edit: with the moon blocking out the sun, and seen from the vicinity of the Earth *sigh*]? Otherwise, will any manned satellites pass through ...
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Can carbon dioxide be distilled from a Helium/Oxygen atmosphere by using natural refrigeration?
A simple air compressor compress carbon dioxide/water saturated helium/oxygen air in a tank to liquefy water from the air by pressure. Abstract the water, then refrigerate the carbon dioxide/helium/...
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How does NASA build acclimatisation into mission plans for astronauts?
I was reading an article today where NASA admits some level of culpability contributing to a crew issue on SkyLab in 1973.
Nasa accepts that mission planners had not given the crew the typical period ...
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What is super heavy booster? What will it be used for?
Also called BN1, right?
Please explain me what is booster and what will it be used for?
Also feel free to give me additional insights other than included in my question about BN1.
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Was the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle supposed to be crewed?
NASA studied another space tug design, termed the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV), along with its plans for Space Station Freedom. The OMV's role would have been a reusable space vehicle that would ...
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Could "peak Apollo levels" of support have gotten NASA astronauts to Mars in the 1980's?
In an "alternate universe" where NASA continued to receive a mandate, funding and public support at say peak Apollo levels, could another ten or twenty years have gotten boots on Mars, with astronauts ...
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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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What does the Moon's gravity feel like? If you don't move, could you still tell you're on the Moon?
I am interested in descriptions and discussion from the Apollo astronauts.
Almost all animals and many plants are sensitive to the earth's gravitational field. This is important for large mammals and ...
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What was the reason for an odd number of astronauts in almost every group of the early US space program?
We are familiar with the first groups of NASA astronauts, like the Mercury Seven and the New Nine. Something about that struck me as (literary) odd; All the first twelve astronaut groups had an odd ...
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What do the double- or triple-checkers do when a launch is not scheduled?
Leading up to every manned launch, there is personnel dedicated to making sure their colleagues do everything correctly in accordance to checklists they usually have on hand.
See for example the ...
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How are astronauts in the ISS protected from electric shock?
On Earth, most of the electrical appliances having exposed metal parts, such as electric iron, are grounded, to protect the user from electric shock when an uninsulated-wire accidentally comes into ...
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What is the cheapest possible way to land a crew of 2 on the moon?
During the Apollo moon missions, a single very large rocket sent both the Apollo CSM and the LM to the moon in a single shot and it took only around 3 days to get there.
However, after the Apollo ...
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Soyuz TMA Neptune IDS Button Lights Behavior On Click
I made a simple virtual Soyuz TMA Neptune IDS using simple coding (a work in process). The purpose of it is solely for the buttons location familiarization of the control panels. The buttons react on ...
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What are the Grid fins on the Soyuz escape system used for?
Why does the crewed version of the Soyuz rocket use grid fins on its launch escape system? It seems like extra weight to carry along during a portion of the flight.
Here's a rendering of the upper ...
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Have people in orbit ever been bothered by the difference between their orbit and the station's?
When floating inside a large space station, while away from its center of mass and without touching the structure of the station, the person floating and the station will have slightly different ...
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Why does Falcon 9 launch with Crew Dragon solar panels facing down?
I noticed in video of the first crewed mission in August that Falcon 9 pitches down with the Dragon solar panels facing down.
I'd been expecting the solar panels to be facing up, because sun.
Does ...
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Are there active proposals for the next large space station (post-ISS) to use artificial gravity?
The ISS has supported a crewed presence in space for twenty years now and while parts have been added over time, key original components are 20+ years old.
Crewed presence is usually limited to a half-...
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Why is it so hard to build crewed rockets/spacecraft able to reach escape velocity?
Why are we still not going farther than to Low Earth Orbit? Orbital velocity is about 4.8 mi/s (7.7 km/s) and escape velocity is about 7 mi/s (11.2 km/s), about 45% faster. Why is it so hard to reach ...
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Why did Armstrong pilot the LM, when Aldrin was tasked as Lunar Module Pilot?
Buzz Aldrin is credited (or was tasked) with being the Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot. However in fact it was Neil Armstrong who piloted the craft down when the LM guidance computer overflowed, with ...
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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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Avoiding Martian contamination with Earth microbes
Unmanned probes can be sterilized, but when humans begin occupying Mars in large quantities, how can contamination of possible Martian microbes with Earth microbes be avoided?
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How was Skylab's orbit inclination chosen?
As referenced in this question, there were a number of early spaceflight missions at higher inclination than may be expected (given limited payload capability, higher inclination further limits ...
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Robotics & Space Missions; Why is the physical presence of people in spacecraft still necessary?
Robotics is now well developed. Many programming languages allow you to work in real-time. Also, a new era of space missions and research is in full swing.
So here's the question: Why is the physical ...
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Is it really possible to catch the Super heavy booster by using the launch tower ? How Challenging will it be?
Reports say that SpaceX now aims to recover the Super heavy booster by catching it with the help of the launch tower. What are the engineering challenges for this and how will it benefit ?
News ...
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NASA design handbooks and specifications
Does anybody know the designations, publication names, etc. for the design standards which NASA uses for space flight hardware? I’d like to add these resources into my engineering library.
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How close a crewed spacecraft could orbit Jupiter?
How close could a crewed spacecraft orbit Jupiter?
I read that Juno was as close as 5,000 km from Jupiter's top clouds, but I'm wondering about a spacecraft with humans inside (provided it's protected ...
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Is there a publicly available inventory of things sent to the ISS?
I spent some time looking through NASA datasets and news articles, and couldn't find anything, so I'm hoping that someone in the community will know better than I do:
I'm trying to understand what the ...
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What timezone would be used for interstellar travel?
The ISS crew celebrated Thanksgiving today.
Apparently the ISS uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time.
What timezone would people use for interstellar travel?...
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What would happen if the crew launched to dock with the ISS were incapacitated?
Suppose a spacecraft lifted off from the space center and within few minutes after reaching the 200 kilometers altitude on its way to the ISS, and for some reason the crew were incapacitated. Will ...
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Kerbal Gone Wild - Could a DIY team create a Mercury-scale orbital capsule?
Given how much engineering has advanced since the days of the Mercury program, could a similarly scaled single-person orbital vehicle capable of repeatedly sustaining 48 hours in orbit realistically ...
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What was the furthest distance from Earth that Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins reached in Apollo 11?
An estimate is fine. But if possible, I am looking for a reference that I can cite.
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Does the SpaceX Crew-1 commander have any command duties while docked at the station?
The SpaceX Crew-1 mission itself has a commander who is in charge, I suppose, during transit and landing. The ISS also has a commander. Does the commander of crew 1 have any command duties while ...
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