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1500 questions
22
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2 answers
First call to the moon 1969
During the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, there was a phone call where the POTUS at that time, Richard Nixon, was able to speak to astronauts Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin. How was this possible?
MarO
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What was the purpose of the small red tank attached to the Titan-Centaur launcher?
Watching a documentary on the Viking missions, I noticed the launcher had a small red tank/rocket attached to one of the solid boosters. It struck me as an odd feature/placement, as I thought you'd want your rocket to be balanced as symmetrically as…
HorusKol
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1 answer
Have any astronauts ever abused drugs in space?
I know from a few previous questions that some pretty strong drugs are available aboard different spacecraft and the ISS. Have any officials ever determined, on record, that drugs have been abused?
To clarify, by abused, I mean taken when not…
called2voyage
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3 answers
Cost-effective Space Shuttle: was it feasible?
As far as I understand, NASA's Space Shuttle was initially conceived as a cheap way of launching people and cargo into orbit, with one-week vehicle turnaround time and dozens of missions per year. Then the politicians/USAF intervened, demanding…
Ijon
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2 answers
Are nuclear-powered engines the way to go for space exploration?
I often think about the future of humanity and how to achieve it. Despite criticism, the USA and USSR achieved significant scientific breakthroughs, such as:
putting the first man in space
landing the first man on the moon
But we have to move on.…
Artem Ruchkov
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22
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4 answers
How do launches avoid leap seconds? Why?
A short comment in the BBC Crowd Science audio program Does Time really Exist?'s discussion of the slow divergence between UTC and TAI (IAT) (coordinated time and international atomic time) says that NASA and ESA for example avoid launches around…
uhoh
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4 answers
Oxygen self-supply by plants
Plants produce oxygen, we know.
This might make plants useful in the supply system of possible colonies on other planets or moons. But how efficient they are?
Which is the maximum amount of oxygens can be produced by a single entity and what is it…
Zoltán Schmidt
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22
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2 answers
Does long-term residence on the ISS affect eyesight?
Life on a space station is very confined. For months on end, astronauts are kept in a structure that's about the size of a football field on the outside and much smaller on the inside. The nearest viewable objects beyond 100 yards are on Earth's…
bastik
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How did Soyuz MS-04 reach the ISS in only 6 hours?
The Wikipedia Article on Soyuz MS-04 says:
It is the first of the Soyuz MS series to rendezvous with the Station in approximately 6 hours, instead of the 2 day orbital rendezvous used for the previous launches.
I have several ideas (like optimal…
le_daim
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Is it possible to build a Dyson sphere or its variant in our solar system based on our current technology?
Dyson sphere, a concept coined by the physicist Freeman Dyson, is a solar megastructure built around our Sun to harvests most of the radiated energy from it.
While this sounds impossible for now, some of its variants look promising in the near…
Shuhao Cao
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3 answers
Why did the grid fin of the CRS-8/SES 10 booster burn?
After a successful reentry burn of the stage, around 10 seconds after engine shutdown, one of the fins glows red, then begins to burn. My question is why would this burn after the stage already completed to reentry burn to slow it down. And if this…
Jake Blocker
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22
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3 answers
Can Voyager 1 or 2, theoretically, return to earth if given instructions before their electronic instruments shut down in 2025?
According to the NASA Website, the Voyager probes will begin powering down electrical components soon with all electronic functions ceasing some time around 2025.
With no ability to transmit back to earth and thus of 0 value in the Interstellar…
Venture2099
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22
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2 answers
Where are the upper stages for the Voyager/Pioneer stages?
I was reading this question, and was trying to remember an article I read many years ago. It seemed the article was indicating that there is a chance that one of the boosters from one of these missions could be going faster than the probe it…
PearsonArtPhoto
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6 answers
Do windows in space stations, the space shuttle, other spacecraft have practical usage?
As we know, cars need a front window because drivers need to see the road to control the car, but how about the windows in space shuttles? As far as I know, the orbits of ISS or other space devices are mostly controlled by a computer, not by humans…
Gstestso
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2 answers
Did Sputnik 1 have attitude control?
The (currently only) answer to Why did Sputnik 1 have four antennas? discusses how Sputnik 1 had four antennas in order to ensure that the Earth would never be in the null of any of its antennas.
PearsonArtPhoto's answer specifically states…
user
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