Questions tagged [technology]
Questions relating to the use of technology to further space exploration.
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How was Enterprise held/released from the carrier 747 for the Shuttle approach and landing tests?
Related to my other question: What are the benefits of using pyrotechnics on spacecraft?
When the Space Shuttle was first flight tested (Enterprise approach and landing tests) it was released from a ...
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What are the benefits of using pyrotechnics on spacecraft?
NASA always appears to use pyrotechnic devices (NASA standard initiators for explosive bolts, frangible nuts, etc.) to release elements (spent stages, fairings, etc.) where SpaceX appears to be using ...
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Does the US Navy guard SpaceX drone ships and make sure bad actors don't abscond with critical technology on the high seas?
SpaceX loses the center core of its Falcon Heavy rocket due to choppy seas
While I thought my question How vulnerable could space launch vehicles be to a “lone gunman”? was just my tangential ...
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Spacecraft electronics heating
As much as I know of integrated circuits is that military components have lowest temperature working limit - I think -40 deg Celsius. Having in mind that temperatures in open space are less than -200, ...
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Which computer monitors will work on Mars?
In The Martian by Andy Weir, the main character Mark Watney takes a laptop out of the habitation module to take notes. But when he comes out, he discovers that the LCD monitor is broken, because the ...
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Were Nixie tubes used by a space program?
I’ve been receiving this ad from a company selling Nixie tube clock kits online:
The technology that was used in the first space shuttles and submarines can be in your home and moreover in a unique ...
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How do we create a zero gravity environment on Earth?
I have read somewhere that to-be astronauts are trained on Earth to be deft enough when they are in space which has zero gravity. How do we create a zero gravity situation on Earth? On Earth, even if ...
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Are there any initiatives for automated (not remotely-controlled), manned space missions?
I feel like we have reached a time where technology is allowing for a great deal of automation, as well as remotely-controlled machines. Testing and operation of automated motorized vehicles has been ...
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How will the SRBs used by the SLS differ from those used by the Shuttle?
The Space Launch System, which recently secured funding from Congress, uses many features that were developed from the Shuttle program, including the first-stage engines and boosters, and it's overall ...
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What will the live video and audio quality be like when astronauts next set foot on the moon?
What will the live video and audio quality be like when we watch an Artemis crewmember set foot on the moon?
The quality of the original Apollo footage from the 1960's is terrible by today's standards....
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What NIAC investigations were implemented in real spaceflight? (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts)
NIAC as in the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts wasn't founded until 1998, so such futuristic concepts might not have come to fruition much yet. But I'd like to hear of any, or of what the ...
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Could air be collected by a tether system from orbit?
We have all sorts of spacecraft orbiting just above a huge reservoir of nitrogen and oxygen. Isn't there some way one could be designed to reach down and pump that air into canisters, and store them ...
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Starlink vs 5G technology, are they directly competing services?
While the world is preparing for 5G mobile technology (which involves new devices for smartphones and stations), SpaceX is going to roll out its Starlink "constellation".
What I did not know is that ...
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Would a POV camera on Philae lander be possible if the mission was launched today?
I saw the question "Why is there no POV video of the Philae lander landing?", which lead me to this question:
The data transfer rate of Rosetta is only 28kb/s, which is not strange because it is very,...
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Project Starshot acceleration
A recent question about Project Starshot's communication asks about one of the seemingly insurmountable problems with this project.
There is however another problem that has bugged me ever since I ...
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Is high velocity feathered configuration reentry possible?
Feather configuration for reentry used in SpaceshipOne, they say, significantly reduces heat loads on reentry by encountering most drag and significantly reducing a large amount kinetic energy at much ...
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Could a 21 meter space telescope detect the nearest exoplanets?
For reference, Hubble's mirror is 2.4 meters wide, the upcoming James Webb's 6.5 meters, and the proposed ATLAST 8 or 16 meters. Let's assume a mirror nearly ten times Hubble's size, 21 meters, is ...
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What are some common (but non-obvious) materials that are particularly unsuitable for spaceflight?
If a product was to be made for use in space, there may be certain materials or certain combinations of materials that might work well on Earth, but be particularly unsuitable for spaceflight ...
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Which are the main obstacles of launching my own home-made space object?
What's missing for everyday people to be able to launch his own satellite (or any other space objects) into space? I mean, I know that mostly money and technology, but what does it actually mean?
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How do these Apollo mission control displays work?
In a recent question there's this image of a display in the restored Apollo Mission Operations Control Room 2:
I always wondered, how do these displays work (the original ones from the 60s/70s, not ...
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Are there any studies or technology envisioned for Mars entry and landing without a parachute?
Are any space agencies examining the possibility of a Mars landing without a parachute?
It wasn't clear to me if the use of the HIAD (Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator) would eliminate ...
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Will the International Space Station's propulsion system be changed to electric propulsion?
I know the systems being used are very new and being used in very small satellites, but if a system could be scaled up in the near future, that would certainly help keep the station afloat. Thoughts?
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Why NASA hosts many of their reports public, while ESA/JAXA/ Roscomos doesn't?
There are abundant resources available online in NTRS about the hard earned knowledge of rocket science. But NASA makes them available for free for all.
But there does exist some classified ...
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Why are pressure-stabilized rockets not more common?
The Atlas rockets and Centaur upper stages (often used in combination) successfully use(d) pressure-stabilized tanks to minimize dry mass. This technology was not used in any other rocket stages I'm ...
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With our current technology, how large could we make a useable space-based VLBI telescope?
I am trying to find an equation that models the current technical limits that we have on creating an effective space-based VLBI telescope.
Variables that are likely relevant in the model: distance of ...
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What might be a viable avenue of propulsion research in aiming for mission delta-V north of 100 km/s?
This question was inspired by some comments of mine I left on an answer here:
Is it better to develop more powerful rockets instead of seeking and developing new technologies?
and thus in turn both ...
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Is the payload HP3, onboard the InSight a single use instrument?
InSight's HP3 probe is meant to drill deep into Martian soil. And the depth of reach is determined by whether there is a rocky layer underneath or not. If it's loose soil all the way down, merrier it ...
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Do government space agencies capitalise on selling intellectual property/patents etc
This questions is purely about government agencies, not private companies.
Typically the massive reams of data that must be produced to design and qualify a satellite or rocket aren't openly shared ...
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How do scientists detect amino acids in space?
In this section of a wiki article it talks about scientist finding amino acids in outer space, or at least complex molecules and such.
Also this video says how there is alcohol in Sagitarius B2.
How ...
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Why doesn't the USA use structurally stronger rockets for the more important launches?
Russia uses the R-7 ICBM-derived Soyuz launch vehicle for most of its space launches. The advantage of it is that there's no concern on what the weather is like on launch day and Soyuz launches almost ...
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Was the teletype machine on MIR the first printer in space? Is there a photo, and what frequencies were used?
Seeing the video KK5IM 2021 Shack Tour spotted in The Ham Shack lead me to What paper size do they use on the International Space Station? which begins:
We know they have at least one printer on the ...
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How to move in space with just solar panels or without them?
What are the technologies known to humankind, to do propulsion in space, with a spacecraft having solar panels, when:
It is under ample solar flux?
It is interstellar under negligible solar flux?
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What is the closest to a perpetual motion machine that could be made to work in space?
In the movie "Alien" by Ridley Scott, there's a Drinking Bird which, presumably, the crew activated when entering stasis, and which is still going after they emerge. However anyone who has had one of ...
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Challenges to building a human habitat on Titan (Saturn's Moon)?
I have been studying Titan for a while, reading documents from Cassini and Huygens (probes). On Titan there is an atmosphere, layer of clouds, seas of hydrocarbons (fuel and plastic for many centuries)...
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What is the maximum practical deltaV obtainable from a chemical rocket launched from earths surface?
What is the maximum practical deltaV obtainable from a chemical rocket launched from earths surface?
Not an exact number as there are too many variables but an approximate maximum assuming a 10,000kg,...
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Alternative tests for A-SAT missiles
Keeping the strategic consequences of blowing up an actual satellite as technology demonstration aside, I want to assess it from a purely scientific/technological standpoint.
To demonstrate the ...
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Lessons Learned - What can space power system design teach Antarctic remote sensing systems
I know that a lot of brilliant engineering has gone into developing the space technology that we have. So, what engineering lessons about dealing with extreme cold and portable power sources do you ...
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How could a transmission be relayed wirelessly from the bottom of Europa ocean to Earth?
Answers to Do you need a “wire” on a Europa submarine to phone home? are generally yes, but a wire is cumbersome and dramatically limits range,
If a rover was sent to the bottom of Europa's Ocean ...
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Did the StarFury die on the drawing board?
Years ago, J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 reported that NASA had shown keen interest in using the show's Starfury design as a forklift for work in zero-g. I think he told them it was a great idea ...
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What technologies are being developed to ease the supply chain burden for space travel? [closed]
Gathering and delivering resources from Earth is ultimately too expensive and unsustainable for space exploration in the long term.
Emphasis has been made on extracting resources while in space, ...
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Could the Lunar Lagrange Points work for space telescopes?
Every orbit in space has its pros and cons. Low Earth Orbit has accessibility but frequent eclipses whereas a Solar Lagrange Point is clear and stable but distant. In the case of the Lunar Lagrange ...
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Is space habitation a technology problem or is it really just a mass (cost) problem?
There are a lot of challenges with space habitation. Gravity, radiation, fuel for reactions to maneuver, water, atmosphere, food, etc. etc.
NASA and many others are working on all kinds of solutions ...
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ESA: Does the ESA initiate the development of necessary new technologies if it is necessary? Does the ESA create new space missions?
I tried to do some research but I couldn’t find any definitive answer to this: Does the ESA initiate the development of necessary new technologies if it is necessary? And does the ESA create new space ...
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Has Demonstrator-1 2021-006BX demonstrated a hydrogen-oxygen combustion engine fueled by electrolysis yet?
NASA's NASA CubeSat to Demonstrate Water-Fueled Moves in Space says:
A NASA CubeSat will launch into low-Earth orbit to demonstrate a new type of propulsion system. Carrying a pint of liquid water as ...
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How would cryogenics work to keep a pilot alive during long term travel?
How would a cryofreeze work in order to keep the pilot alive long enough to survive an automated travel to some destination?
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Getting to Titan and beyond - technology knowledge management to get... anywhere
The article which made me to post this question is actually about (not yet) getting to Titan, but these words provoke thought for any space exploration target, please note it's a NASA engineer telling ...
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How is a space suit climate controlled? [duplicate]
I understand how one could be heated, but how does the space suit cool the water that is noodled throughout it exchanging heat with the body?
Why is this method used over traditional methods like a ...
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Could we get free O₂ on Mars?
I think that the new Mars rover in 2020 will make oxygen, from thin Martian atmosphere. I think Mars' atmosphere is 90% $CO_2$. Carbon dioxide is made of $C$ and $O_2$. $O_2$ is oxygen, so can't we ...
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What barriers are there to creating a reusable rocket sled lanchpad? [duplicate]
The ideal rocket sled launch is building a track that accelerates a rocket (via linear motors or something like that) up the side of a tall mountain. Not only could this save huge amounts of fuel, but ...
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What material can a maser sail design use?
A quick recap for photon sails:
Photon sails are conceptual spacecraft propulsion systems that would generate thrust from radiation pressure. Types of photon sails include solar sails, laser sails and ...
