Chapter 27 Manned Space Explorations
Soviet Manned Space Program
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- China’s Manned Space Program
- Shenzhou Spacecraft
- Tiangong Space Laboratory
Soviet Manned Space ProgramPictured in the foreground is Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union, the first human in space. The Soviet Union’s space flight programs developed along the same lines as the American programs and occurred at approximately the same times. However, the Soviets had several firsts in the space race. Vostok As mentioned earlier, the Soviets launched the first satellite into space. After Sputnik, the Soviets launched nine more Sputniks in about 3 1/2 years. The last two were accomplished in preparation for their first manned space flight. With the initial advantage of having large rockets, the Soviets put the first man in space on April 12, 1961. Major Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1, was the first man to escape from earth’s atmosphere into space. Although he only stayed up for one orbit (108 minutes), he described sights no human eyes had ever seen before. In June 1963, Vostok 6 had the distinction of carrying Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman, into space. She completed 48 orbits and was in space for 3 days before returning safely to earth. This was the last Vostok flight. Voskhod The success of Vostok led to the Voskhod series. The first Voskhod was launched in October of 1964, and was a three-man capsule. On March 18, 1965, aboard the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to “walk in space.” He spent 12 minutes outside of his spacecraft. This space walk occurred about two months before the Americans walked in space. SoyuzSoyuz means “union,” and the spacecraft were designed for docking in space. Soyuz consists of three modules: the Instrumentation/Propulsion Module, Descent Module, and Orbital Module. Soyuz is capable of accommodating three crew members and has carried passengers from many nations including the United States. In fact, until a new vehicle is developed, the Soyuz will be the only means by which American astronauts will be able to travel to the International Space Station. Soyuz was developed as part of the USSR’s Moon landing program. That program got off to a rocky start when in April 1967 Soyuz 1 was launched. The mission had many annoying problems from the 
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start but ended in tragedy when the vehicle crashed on landing (due to a parachute failure), killing the sole crewmember, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. When the Moon program was cancelled, the Soviets decided to refocus their space program and use Soyuz for Earth orbital missions, as well as to transport cosmonauts to the Salyut, Almaz, and later Mir, space stations. Currently, the exclusive mission for the Soyuz is to transport crews to the International Space Station (ISS). 
The Launch of the Soyuz A flight begins with crew members entering the Descent Module (somewhat of a misnomer since members use the module for both ascent and descent portions of the mission). Once in orbit the crew can utilize the volume of the Orbital Module as they navigate to the ISS. Once docked, they transfer from the Orbital Module to begin their duties on the ISS. When their mission is complete, the crew exits the ISS and enters the Orbital Module of the Soyuz. They navigate away from the station, enter the Descent Module, and fire the retro rockets contained in the Instrumentation/ Propulsion Module. The three modules then separate, the Descent Module brings the crew safely back to Earth, while the other modules burn up in the atmosphere. The Descent Module lands on dry ground by parachute aided by small rockets that fire just before contact to help cushion the force of impact. Soyuz has experienced two fatal accidents during its 45-plus year history—the inaugural flight described above, and a second in 1971 in which all three crewmembers died due to an unexpected cabin depressurization during reentry. Also noteworthy was the mission when the Soyuz saved its crew from almost certain death. In 1983, during ascent, a catastrophic launch vehicle explosion occurred and the on-board rocket escape system pulled the crew to safety. It has been over forty years since a Soyuz fatality, and as a result, it has gained a reputation of being a reliable workhorse for human spaceflight and will no doubt continue to launch space explorers from many nations for many years to come. Upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere, the three modules would separate. Only the descent module reentered the earth’s atmosphere intact. Forty Soyuz spacecraft were launched between 1967 and 1981. China’s Manned Space ProgramChina has become only the third nation to build and launch its own manned spacecraft. In the 2000s China joined a very elite group of nations by launching its first astronaut, Yang Liwei, into orbit. At this writing, China had completed four successful manned missions, with a fifth scheduled for 2013. 635 Shenzhou SpacecraftBased on the Russian Soyuz design, the Shenzhou is similar in appearance; however, it has many significant improvements. The interior volume of Shenzhou is greater than Soyuz, and the Orbital Module can dethatch and perform autonomous orbital operations. Like Soyuz, Shenzhou can accommodate a crew of three. It is boosted into orbit using china’s Long March launch vehicle. Tiangong Space LaboratorySimilar in concept to the early Soviet Salyut station, Tiangong is entirely of Chinese design and construction. It can accommodate three crewmembers, but is not intended to be continually manned. It is intended, however, that Tiangong will be the forerunner of a much larger, permanently manned Chinese space station. Directory: resources -> site4458 -> General -> Cadet%20Area -> Aero%20Journey -> word resources -> The Rise of Video Games Section “Word” Matt Spencer resources -> Request for proposal contract form for the transit industry resources -> Request for Proposal [insert date] resources -> The University of York 13th 16th April 2004 resources -> Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program Community Education Initiative resources -> Region III standing regional response team (rrt) meeting williamsburg, Virginia Thursday, January 12, 2012 resources -> Efca eastern District and TouchGlobal, the crisis response ministry of efca word -> Golden Age of Aviation word -> Governmental Organizations word -> List significant aviation events occurring between 1904 and 1911. Describe Download 133.27 Kb. Share with your friends:
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