About the pagination of this eBook Due to the unique page numbering scheme of this book, the electronic pagination of the eBook does not match the pagination of the printed version. To navigate the text, please use the electronic Table of Contents that appears alongside the eBook or the Search function. For citation purposes, use the page numbers that appear in the text. SPACESPACE EXPLORATIONEXPLORATION Britannica Illustrated Science Library Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Chicago ■ London ■ New Delhi ■ Paris ■ Seoul ■ Sydney ■ Taipei ■ Tokyo Britannica Illustrated Science Library © 2008 Editorial Sol 90 All rights reserved. Idea and Concept of This Work: Editorial Sol 90 Project Management: Fabián Cassan Photo Credits: Corbis, ESA, Getty Images, Graphic News, NASA, National Geographic, Science Photo Library Illustrators: Guido Arroyo, Pablo Aschei, Gustavo J. Caironi, Hernán Cañellas, Leonardo César, José Luis Corsetti, Vanina Farías, Joana Garrido, Celina Hilbert, Isidro López, Diego Martín, Jorge Martínez, Marco Menco, Ala de Mosca, Diego Mourelos, Eduardo Pérez, Javier Pérez, Ariel Piroyansky, Ariel Roldán, Marcel Socías, Néstor Taylor, Trebol Animation, Juan Venegas, Coralia Vignau, 3DN, 3DOM studio, Jorge Ivanovich, Fernando Ramallo, Constanza Vicco Composition and Pre-press Services: Editorial Sol 90 Translation Services and Index: Publication Services, Inc. Portions © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica, and the thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Britannica Illustrated Science Library Staff Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Editorial Jacob E. Safra, Chairman of the Board Michael Levy, Executive Editor, Core Editorial John Rafferty, Associate Editor, Earth Sciences Jorge Aguilar-Cauz, President William L. Hosch, Associate Editor, Mathematics and Computers Michael Ross, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Kara Rogers, Associate Editor, Life Sciences Rob Curley, Senior Editor, Science and Technology Dale H. Hoiberg, Senior Vice President and Editor David Hayes, Special Projects Editor Marsha Mackenzie, Director of Production Art and Composition Steven N. Kapusta, Director Carol A. Gaines, Composition Supervisor Christine McCabe, Senior Illustrator International Standard Book Number (set): 978-1-59339-797-5 Media Acquisition International Standard Book Number (volume): Kathy Nakamura, Manager 978-1-59339-813-2 Britannica Illustrated Science Library: Copy Department Space Exploration 2008 Sylvia Wallace, Director Julian Ronning, Supervisor Printed in China Information Management and Retrieval Sheila Vasich, Information Architect Production Control Marilyn L. Barton Manufacturing Kim Gerber, Director www.britannica.com Space Exploration PHOTOGRAPH ON PAGE 1: Icecap on the south pole of Contents Mars. The image was captured by the Mars Express space probe in December 2004. The Conquest of Space Page 6 Flying Through Space Page 26 Permanent Exploration Page 46 Visiting Other Worlds Page 62 Applied Astronautics Page 78 THE IMPRINT OF HUMANKIND The footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the Moon. A Voyage into the Future uring the greater part of our history, the Moon was quite unreachable. It D did not seem very big and far away but rather small. For the Greeks, the idea of walking on the Moon was certainly unthinkable, and as recently as the end of the 19th century many people doubted that humans would even be able to fly. Nevertheless, on July 20, 1969, the miracle happened. Since then many historic missions to explore the planets have been planned and executed, with the spacecraft and probes Mariner, Viking, Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo leading the way. Thanks to human intelligence and effort we have succeeded in exploring many corners of our solar system. This book intends to show all this: the history of manned and unmanned voyages and the discoveries that were made. We will try, using simple and accessible language, to answer many questions, such as what rockets are, how they work, what shuttles exist, how astronauts live in space, and which robot probes are visiting other planets looking for signs of life. All this is accompanied by photographs and top- quality illustrations, providing a better picture of the successes by which we have Pluto in 2015, lifted off. This shows that the made giant steps in our understanding of the search has only begun. There is still far to go. composition of the other planets, their are being revealed. Orbiting spacecraft such Perhaps life may be found farther away than origin, and their evolution. Every day as Mars Odyssey and Mars Express have we had imagined. Or maybe, as some dreamers astronomers are more convinced that there confirmed the existence of ice under the imagine, in the next decade we will realize the are other places in the universe that are like surface of Mars. Sending exploratory project of colonizing other planets. For now, Earth. We only have to find them. They also spacecraft to Saturn was another prodigious the best candidate for us to land on is Mars. assure us that this is one of the most feat, a demonstration of human capacity to But that is still only a dream, the same kind of interesting moments in the exploration of dream of new worlds. Recently the New dream that was made into reality when the solar system, because so many things Horizons, whose final destination will be humans left their footprints on the Moon. YURY GAGARIN DESTINATION: OTHER WORLDS 8-9 NORTH AMERICAN SPACECRAFT 18-19 The Russian cosmonaut in the The Conquest of Space cabin of the spacecraft Vostok 1. FROM FICTION TO REALITY 10-11 A GIANT LEAP 20-21 NASA YESTERDAY AND TODAY 12-13 THE MOON WITHOUT SECRETS 22-23 OTHER SPACE AGENCIES 14-15 ECHOES OF THE PAST 24-25 RUSSIAN MISSIONS 16-17 he human adventure in space Earth in the spacecraft Vostok 1. The the arrival of astronauts on the Moon. long and costly space project whose began with Yury Gagarin, the cosmonaut had practically no control Neil Armstrong became the first man to objective was to explore Earth's only first Russian astronaut, who in over the apparatus, which was remotely set foot on the Moon, followed by Edwin natural satellite. In the following T 1961 reached an altitude of 196 controlled by Soviet engineers. The next Aldrin. The success of the Apollo 11 decades, the space program has had miles (315 km) and orbited the step was made by the United States with mission marked the culmination of a many significant successes. 8 THE CONQUEST OF SPACE SPACE EXPLORATION 9 The transmission of data to Earth is carried out Destination: Other Worlds when the probe is at the maximum height of its orbit around Mars. At that moment, the high-gain 4 antenna turns away from the Red Planet to aim he space age began in 1957 with the launching of the first artificial satellite. toward the Earth. Mars Express began orbiting T Since that time, astronauts and space probes have left the Earth to investigate Mars in December 2004. space. To date, 12 men have visited the Moon. Advances in astronautics have made it possible to develop automatic navigational HIGH-GAIN ANTENNA For long-distance systems with which a spacecraft can reach and enter orbit around a communication with Earth planet. The Mars Express probe, launched in 2003 to take photographs of Mars, used this system. Mars Express, one of the European Space Agency's most productive missions around the Red Planet, is powered exclusively by solar energy. SOLAR PANEL Provides energy Automatic Navigational System for navigation Spacecraft that are unmanned, such as the artificial satellites that orbit planets, transmit their information to Earth using radio equipment. The area of satellite coverage depends on the type of orbit. There are also probes that touch down on the surface, as was the case with Venus, Mars, and the Moon. The real work begins when the apparatus reaches its target. The instruments are activated to gather data that are sent to Earth for analysis. FUEL TANKS Mars Express begins its voyage 70 gallons toward Mars, which will last almost (270 l) of propellant each seven months. The probe is CONVENTIONAL 3 monitored from Mission Control THRUSTER Center in Darmstadt, Germany. NAVIGATION Used to correct During the encounter, the orbit Communication with the probe is Earth-based optical done by radio. To avoid colliding with navigation is limited by the Mars, the Mars Express corrects its time it takes a radio signal trajectory. to reach the spacecraft. Space Programs The voyages are planned years in advance. the planet they are studying; others (orbiters) spacecraft, however, require designs that include Space probes are automatic vehicles that can follow a route that places them in planetary orbit. air, water, food, seats, and rest areas, as well as use the gravitational field of one planet to reach From there they can send smaller landing probes, navigation-, control-, and information-transmission another. Some only pass at a preset distance from which deploy data-collecting instruments. Manned equipment. Navigational systems based The probe deploys its solar panels on Earth UNMANNED SPACE WALK MANNED The images taken and begins its own life running on require radio are transmitted to To gather more information, the astronauts tracking. solar energy. It sends signals to Earth, and the conduct a space walk outside the spacecraft. navigational 2 Earth to check that its 5 feet 57.4 feet commands are sent instruments are working properly. 12 feet 89 feet (1.5 m) (17.5 m) to the spacecraft. (3.7 m) (27 m) ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE METEOROLOGICAL VOSTOK PROGRAM APOLLO PROGRAM IN POLAR ORBIT SATELLITE Vostok 1 Apollo 11 Nimbus GOES 17 feet 4.3 feet 11.5 feet 56 feet (5.1 m) (1.3 m) (3.4 m) (17 m) LAUNCH LAUNCH FLYBY SPACE PROBE ORBITING GEMINI PROGRAM SPACE SHUTTLE Mariner SPACE PROBE Gemini 8 Columbia Galileo Maneuvers are On June 2, 2003, the Mars calculated on Express probe left Earth on a 11 feet Earth, and the Soyuz rocket launched from (3.3 m) 1 foot 115 feet 49 feet parameters are 1 Kazakhstan.