Space Exploration Stack Exchange
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Size of Apollo era astronauts

I had read that the early astronauts were all 'short guys'. This made a lot of sense. A short man can have as much stamina and endurance as a large man, yet eat less, consume less oxygen & (mainly) is less grams to haul to 7+ Kilometers per…
Andrew Thompson
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Why do they believe that the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module has "taken a hit"?

In NPR's news item After A Year In Space, The Air Hasn't Gone Out Of NASA's Inflated Module there is a quote that's interesting: "We do believe we've taken at least one hit," says Crusan. "Very small in nature, and actually we can't even visually…
uhoh
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Use of carbon monoxide as propellant on Mars

Is it possible to use carbon monoxide as propellant for a rocket? For example, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of Mars could be transformed to carbon monoxide and oxygen via photochemical reduction using a photocatalytic process, and unlike the…
Antonio Cipolla
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What is the "ISS's Keep Out Sphere" and what is its radius?

The comment: In a similar vein, it would be interesting to know if going around the moon rather than to the ISS removes any legal hurdles. Do we have any questions covering the legal ramifications (if any) of breaching the ISS's Keep Out Sphere for…
uhoh
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Potential high temperature power sources for a Venus lander

What power sources are viable on a 'long term' Venus lander? An RTG relies on a temperature differential, and is not likely to be doable with a 457C 'cold side'. Based on this answer there is not enough light for a solar panel to work. As far as I…
OrangePeel52
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How is the space station's interior cleaned?

The ISS is a pretty messy place, as in the image here. I have a cable mess under my desk that quickly traps dust and takes some effort to be cleaned. The ISS is much worse. And it has been crewed constantly since November 2000, by almost 100 persons…
LocalFluff
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More efficient SpaceX landings?

Although the exact trajectory of a rocket is not known before launch, could SpaceX position its landing barge even further down range of the launch pad and eliminate the need for a boostback burn during barge landings. This could allow heavy…
Jake Blocker
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Is there an ISS replacement planned?

Are there plans for another space station when the ISS is deorbited or de-manned? What are the details of these plans, if any? Bonus: How would a space station be built without the Space Shuttle?
user55
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Has DSS-43 ever been used in high power mode (>>20 kW) for an emergency situation?

This answer notes that while most Deep Space Network transmitters are 20 kW of power or less, one dish (DSS-43 in Canberra) is equipped with a transmitter capable of 400 kW. As described in 101, 70-m Subnet Telecommunications Interfaces: An…
uhoh
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What's falling off the Shenzhou/Long March stack?

Watching the launch of the Shenzhou-11 mission on a Long March 2F, I noticed a number of items falling off the exterior of the rocket. I'm used to seeing chunks of ice sheet coming off of cryogenic launchers, but Long March uses non-cryogenic…
Russell Borogove
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Why is the F9-029 Amos 6 case more complex than the F9-020 CRS-7 explosion?

In the F9-029 Amos 6 mission failure at the launch pad, a "fast fire" happened near the 2nd stage of Falcon 9 FT. In F9-020 CRS-7 mission, an explosion happened in flight (again in the 2nd stage) a few moments before 1st stage cutoff. Failure of a…
Mark777
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Did any of the Apollo lunar modules land significantly off level?

I'm pretty sure I recall some images of a lunar module sitting on a slope, although perhaps it just looked that way due to a tilt of the camera. Anyway, my question is: whether any of the lunar modules had landed sufficiently off level to raise…
Anthony X
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Does the orbit of the ISS decay?

Does the orbit of the ISS decay? I don't know much about the ISS, but I heard some rumors. The rumor I heard was that there is a very, very tiny atmosphere at the ISS orbit.
joppiesaus
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At what approximate distance will the New Horizons spacecraft resolve Pluto better than the Hubble Space Telescope?

As of July 2013, the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) can resolve Pluto and Charon as separate objects. From what I've read, it will still be some time until the spacecraft is close enough to provide higher resolution imagery…
Anthony Neace
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How will Curiosity manage its power when its nuclear power starts to run low?

As we've already determined, Curiosity should last about 14 years on its nuclear power. What happens near that timeframe? Will NASA start to manage the rover's use of power by shutting down unused tools?
user12
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