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Orbital Insertion
In spaceflight an orbit insertion is an orbital maneuver which adjusts a spacecraft’s trajectory, allowing entry into an orbit around a planet, moon, or other celestial body, becoming an artificial satellite. An orbiter is a spacecraft designed for orbital insertion. An orbit insertion maneuver involves either deceleration from a speed in excess of the respective body's escape velocity, or acceleration to it from a lower speed. When the result is a transfer orbit, e.g. a ''descent orbit insertion,'' the maneuver is an orbit injection. Orbit types Orbits are periodic or quasi-periodic trajectories, usually around a central celestial body like the Earth or the Sun. They may also be trajectories around Lagrange point locations in a multi-body system like the Earth–Moon system. (For example, NASA used a halo orbit for the CAPSTONE mission.) Low orbits Low orbits are trajectories deep within the 'gravitational well' of a central body. Examples include low Earth orbit and low ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaceflight
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflights operate either by telerobotic or autonomous control. The first spaceflights began in the 1950s with the launches of the Soviet Sputnik satellites and American Explorer and Vanguard missions. Human spaceflight programs include the Soyuz, Shenzhou, the past Apollo Moon landing and the Space Shuttle programs. Other current spaceflight are conducted to the International Space Station and to China's Tiangong Space Station. Spaceflights include the launches of Earth observation and telecommunications satellites, interplanetary missions, the rendezvouses and dockings with space stations, and crewed spaceflights on sci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low Lunar Orbit
Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LOWS), Austria Music * Low (band), an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota * Low (English band), an English duo featuring Frankie Goes to Hollywood guitarist Brian Nash Albums * ''Low'' (David Bowie album), 1977 * ''Low'' (Testament album), 1994 * ''Low'' (Low EP), 1994 Songs * "Low" (Cracker song), 1993 * "Low" (Flo Rida song), 2007 * "Low" (Foo Fighters song), 2002 * "Low" (Juicy J song), 2014 * "Low" (Kelly Clarkson song), 2003 * "Low" (Lenny Kravitz song), 2018 * "Low" (Sara Evans song), 2008 * "Low" (SZA song), 2022 * "Low", by Camp Mulla * "Low", by Coldplay from the 2005 album '' X&Y'' * "Low", by I Prevail from the 2019 album '' Trauma'' * "Low", by Inna from her 2015 self-titled album * "Low", by Marianas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus Express
''Venus Express'' (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven scientific instruments, the main objective of the mission was the long term observation of the Venusian atmosphere. The observation over such long periods of time had never been done in previous missions to Venus, and was key to a better understanding of the atmospheric dynamics. ESA concluded the mission in December 2014. History The mission was proposed in 2001 to reuse the design of the ''Mars Express'' mission. However, some mission characteristics led to design changes: primarily in the areas of thermal control, communications and electrical power. For example, since Mars is approximately twice as far from the Sun as Venus, the radiant heating of the spacecraft is four times greater for ''Venus Express'' than '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trace Gas Orbiter
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO or ExoMars Orbiter) is a collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Roscosmos agency that sent an atmospheric research orbiter and the ''Schiaparelli'' demonstration lander to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars programme. A key goal is to gain a better understanding of methane () and other trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological activity. The Trace Gas Orbiter delivered the ''Schiaparelli'' lander on 16 October 2016, which crashed on the surface due to a premature release of the parachute. TGO has been orbiting Mars since October 2016 and performing science observations of the planet since April 2018. The ExoMars programme will continue with the ''Rosalind Franklin'' rover in 2028, which will search for biomolecules and biosignatures; the TGO will operate as the communication link for the lander and rover and provide communication for ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (''MRO'') is a spacecraft designed to search for the existence of water on Mars and provide support for missions to Mars, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on August 12, 2005, at 11:43 UTC and reached Mars on March 10, 2006, at 21:24 UTC. In November 2006, after six months of aerobraking, it entered its final science orbit and began its primary science phase. Mission objectives include observing the climate of Mars, investigating geologic forces, providing reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relaying data from surface missions back to Earth. To support these objectives, the ''MRO'' carries different scientific instruments, including three cameras, two spectrometers and a subsurface radar. As of July 29, 2023, the ''MRO'' has returned over 450 terabits of data, helped choose safe landing sites for NASA's Mars landers, discovered pure water ice in new craters and further evidence that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magellan (spacecraft)
The ''Magellan'' spacecraft was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989. Its mission objectives were to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic-aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field. The ''Magellan'' probe was the first interplanetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle, the first one to use the Inertial Upper Stage booster, and the first spacecraft to test aerobraking as a method for circularizing its orbit. ''Magellan'' was the fifth successful NASA mission to Venus, and it ended an eleven-year gap in U.S. interplanetary probe launches. History Beginning in the late 1970s, scientists advocated for a radar mapping mission to Venus. They first sought to construct a spacecraft named the '' Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar'' (VOIR), but it became clear that the mission would be beyond the budget constraints during the ensuing years. The VOIR mission was canceled in 1982. A simplified radar mission proposal was recommended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerobraking
Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit (apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit (periapsis). The resulting drag slows the spacecraft. Aerobraking is used when a spacecraft requires a low orbit after arriving at a body with an atmosphere, as it requires less fuel than using propulsion to slow down. Method When an interplanetary vehicle arrives at its destination, it must reduce its velocity to achieve orbit or to land. To reach a low, near-circular orbit around a body with substantial gravity (as is required for many scientific studies), the required velocity changes can be on the order of kilometers per second. Using propulsion, the rocket equation dictates that a large fraction of the spacecraft mass must consist of fuel. This reduces the science payload and/or requires a large and expensive rocket. Provided the target body has an atmosphere, aerobraking can be used to reduce fuel re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerocapture
Aerocapture is an Orbital maneuver, orbital transfer maneuver in which a spacecraft uses aerodynamic drag force from a single pass through a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Aerocapture uses a planet's or moon's atmosphere to accomplish a quick, near-propellantless orbit insertion maneuver to place a spacecraft in its science orbit. The aerocapture maneuver starts as the spacecraft enters the atmosphere of the target body from an interplanetary approach trajectory. The aerodynamic drag generated as the vehicle descends into the atmosphere slows the spacecraft. After the spacecraft slows enough to be captured by the planet, it exits the atmosphere and executes a small propulsive burn at the first apoapsis to raise the periapsis outside the atmosphere. Additional small burns may be required to correct apoapsis and inclination targeting errors before the initial science orbit is established. Compared to conventional propulsive orbit insertion, this nea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiten (spacecraft)
The Hiten spacecraft (ひてん, ), given the English name Celestial Maiden and known before launch as MUSES-A ( Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft A), part of the MUSES Program, was built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan and launched on January 24, 1990. It was Japan's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. The spacecraft was named after flying heavenly beings in Buddhism. Hiten was to be placed into a highly elliptical Earth orbit with an apogee of 476,000 km, which would swing past the Moon. However, the injection took place with a delta-v deficit of 50 m/s, resulting in an apogee of only 290,000 km. The deficiency was corrected and the probe continued on its mission. On the first lunar swing-by, Hiten released a small orbiter, Hagoromo (はごろも, named after the feather mantle of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Maneuver
In spaceflight, an orbital maneuver (otherwise known as a burn) is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. For spacecraft far from Earth, an orbital maneuver is called a ''deep-space maneuver (DSM)''. When a spacecraft is not conducting a maneuver, especially in a transfer orbit, it is said to be ''coasting''. General Rocket equation The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, or ideal rocket equation, can be useful for analysis of maneuvers by vehicles using rocket propulsion. A rocket applies acceleration to itself (a thrust) by expelling part of its mass at high speed. The rocket itself moves due to the conservation of momentum. Delta-v The applied change in velocity of each maneuver is referred to as delta-v (\Delta\mathbf\,). The delta-v for all the expected maneuvers are estimated for a mission are summarized in a delta-v budget. With a good approximation of the delta-v budget designers can estimate the propellant required for planned maneuve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Service Module
The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functioned as a mother ship, which carried a crew of three astronauts and the second Apollo spacecraft, the Apollo Lunar Module, to lunar orbit, and brought the astronauts back to Earth. It consisted of two parts: the conical command module, a cabin that housed the crew and carried equipment needed for atmospheric reentry and splashdown; and the cylindrical service module which provided propulsion, electrical power and storage for various consumables required during a mission. An umbilical connection transferred power and consumables between the two modules. Just before reentry of the command module on the return home, the umbilical connection was severed and the service module was cast off and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere. The CSM was developed and built ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Program
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in space. It was conceived in 1960 as a three-person spacecraft during President Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to United States Congress, Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third American human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo. Kennedy's goal was accomplished on the Apollo 11 mission when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module (LM) on July 20, 1969, and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
