Abstract Space travel represents a daunting challenge for human beings. Space is seemingly devoid of any life-support elements for Earth-born humans. Remember that one of those life-support elements is gravity. As a consequence, human space travelers must carry all of their life-support systems along with them and find a way to create a sustained artificial gravity vector of yet-to-be-determined minimum or maximum value. For short Earth orbit missions, carried consumables and repair parts can be resupplied from Earth to provide a near-term, acceptable solution. For future long missions, the supply of consumables (oxygen, water, food, and power) must be self-sustainable onboard the spacecraft. Spare parts must be in sufficient supply to assure operation of critical hardware.
Overview
3rd ed. 2018
2017-09-01
17 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English