The future of space flights: who will replace the Space Shuttle and Soyuz. Spaceships of the future: projects, problems, prospects

After Gagarin's flight, people seriously thought that in just a few decades humanity would conquer space, colonizes the Moon, Mars and possibly more distant planets. However, these forecasts were overly optimistic. But now several states and private companies are seriously working to revive the space race, which has lost its intensity. In our review today, we will tell you about several of the most ambitious such projects of our time.

American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, who once became the first space tourist, created the Inspiration Mars program, the goal of which is to launch a private mission to Mars in 2018. Why in 2018? The fact is that when the spacecraft launches on January 5 this year, a unique opportunity arises to fly along a minimum trajectory. The next time such a chance will arise only in thirteen years.

The American advanced development agency DARPA plans to launch a large-scale space program developed for a hundred years or more. Its main goal is the desire to explore space outside the Solar System for its potential colonization by Humanity. At the same time, DARPA itself plans to spend only $100 million on this, while the main financial burden will fall on the shoulders of private investors. This mode of cooperation in the agency has been compared to the exploratory expeditions of the 16th century, during which their leaders, operating under the flags of different countries, ultimately received the majority of the income from the territories annexed to the Crown and the status of royal viceroy in them.

Famous director James Cameron has founded a foundation that will address the problem of using asteroids for purposes beneficial to Humanity. After all, these space objects are full of rare earth elements. And there may be more platinum in a 500-meter asteroid than has been mined on Earth in its entire history. So why not try to get these resources? Google, The Perot Group, Hillwood and some other companies joined Cameron's initiative.

Japan plans to build the so-called in the very near future. "solar sail" ESAIL, which, thanks to pressure sun rays onto its surface, will move through outer space at a speed of 19 kilometers per second. And this will make it the fastest man-made object in the Solar System.

In April 2015, the Russian Space Agency announced its ambitious plans to create habitable bases on the Moon and Mars by 2050. Moreover, all significant descents within its framework will be carried out not from Baikonur, but from the new Vostochny cosmodrome, which is currently being built in the Far East.

Foreshadowing the further development of private flights into Earth orbit, Russian company Orbital Technologies together with RSC Energia launched a project called Commercial Space Station to create the first hotel for space tourists. It is expected that its first module will be sent into space in 2015-2016.

One of the most promising areas of space exploration is the development of the idea of ​​a space elevator that could lift objects along a cable into Earth's orbit. The Japanese company Obayashi Corporation promises to create the first such transport by 2050. This elevator will be able to move at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour and carry 30 people at a time.

There are a huge number of old, spent satellites in Earth’s orbit that have turned into so-called “space junk.” And this despite the fact that sending just one kilogram of cargo there costs an average of 30 thousand dollars. This is the reason why DARPA decided to start developing space station Phoenix, which will catch old satellites and assemble new, functioning ones from them.

Hollywood once again pushed humanity towards space exploration: after the screening of the film “The Martian,” probably every second gardener wanted to grow his own potatoes on the surface of the Red Planet. And after Interstellar, many schoolchildren and students became eager toengage in the exploration of endless space for the benefit of humanity. Well, such dreams are getting closer to reality!

Space exploration begins with Mars

One can endlessly criticize the governments of countries for the fact that we have not yet fully engaged in space exploration and have not moved to Mars, because if there were no wars and confrontations dividing peoples and scientists, humanity would have gone far ahead, but this is a controversial judgment .

Space exploration began and developed thanks to the rivalry between the USSR and the USA over the years. Now that the Cold War is a thing of the past, the need for projects such as, say, relocation to Mars is being questioned. In seeking funding for their projects, scientists must go through bureaucratic hell, conduct a ton of research and calculations, and most importantly, present the commercial or defense prospects of their project to the sponsor (be it a state, corporation or private individual).

Space exploration is the concern of the commonwealth of countries

However, space exploration does not stand still, but on the contrary attracts new participants to its endless expanses of opportunities and discoveries. In addition to veterans of this field, such as the USSR, USA, China and European Union, today launches are carried out by India, Japan, Spain and the famous private company of Elon Musk - SpaceX.

Future milestones space projects on space exploration

Roscosmos is looking for life on Mars

Let's talk about the plans of the largest participants, the first of which will be Roscosmos. The object of undying interest of researchers is the Red Planet. Despite the failure to land the Schiaparelli lander ( Schiaparelli) October 19, 2016, the ExoMars project continues to function. Its main task remains the search for life on Mars. The second phase of the program is planned to be carried out in 2020. During the six-month journey of the rover, equipped with a unique drilling rig, it is planned to take rock samples at a depth of up to 2 meters.

Europe conducts space exploration jointly with Russia

The ExoMars program, like the equipment of the rover, is international. As noted by Rene Pichel, head of the European Space Agency in Russia, joint work is a necessary condition successful missions. By 2020, it is planned to deliver the Spektr-RG space observatory into Earth orbit, consisting of 2 telescopes from Russia and German made.

Roscosmos, having ordered relevant research, again revived the idea of ​​landing a man on the Moon by 2030, however, as company representative Igor Burenkov noted, while maintaining such low funding this project will not be implemented. In total, more than 12 launch vehicles are planned to be launched in 2017.

The second major participant in joint space exploration is NASA. Naturally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration could not remain aloof from studying the Red Planet. Just like Roscosmos, NASA plans to launch its Mars rover in 2020. It should be noted right away that the advantage of its programs lies in the competitive selection of instruments for missions, and competition, as we know from economics courses, helps improve quality.

NASA plans to launch its telescope, called TESS, this year, 2017. Its main task will be the discovery of previously unknown exoplanets. A special place in the Directorate’s plans is occupied by the study of Europa, a satellite of Jupiter. Scientists plan to detect signs of life on this ice-covered object.

In the future, flexible robots will fly to planets

The difficulty is in developing a special apparatus capable of deep and long immersion in unfavorable environment. On this moment Long-term plans for the future include a project to develop a special flexible robot, shaped like an eel, which will receive energy for its work from magnetic fields. A plan for using the robot for its intended purpose has not yet been developed, because it still needs to prove its suitability on Earth.

Long March 2F rocket (Chang Zheng 2F) from the Shenzhou-8 manned spacecraft at the launch pad of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Center.DLR / wikimedia.org (CC BY 3.0 DE)

China - the hidden space dragon

China does not intend to stop at such significant successes in the economy; now its goal is space. China's space program, which started back in 1956, cannot boast of significant successes, but it certainly has ambitions. Since 2011, the program for launching into orbit the first Chinese multi-module space station, Tiangong-3, has been systematically carried out.

At the moment, the Tiangong-1 base module and the Tiangong-2 space laboratory have been launched, the main task of which is to conduct tests and prepare the output of the Tiangong-3 modules. Whether the Chinese space project will be able to compare with the Mir station and the ISS (on which China, by the way, is not represented due to US opposition) can be found out in 2022.

Japan will produce solar energy in space

Japan, despite the failure of the mission to clear the Earth's orbit of space debris in December 2016 and the fall of the smallest launch vehicle in January 2017, plans to implement one of the largest and most significant programs - the creation of an orbital satellite by 2030. Thanks to photocells that convert photons into electricity, it will be able to collect and send solar energy to Earth.

According to futurists, he should have big amount solar panels. Naturally, while retaining a significant amount of orbital debris, the implementation of this project will face a number of problems associated with the strength and durability of the structure.

Musk's ships always return

A new, but already declared, participant in space exploration is SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk. The first three launches of the Falcon-1 rocket could have put an end to the company’s history, but already in 2015 it received a contract to supply the necessary supplies for the ISS, for which it developed the Dragon spacecraft capable of returning to Earth.

Floating spaceport

SpaceX also successfully implemented a project to land the first stage of a launch vehicle on a floating platform. This should reduce the costs of space launches. The company is also actively developing space tourism, the money from which goes towards further development. Of particular interest is the development of an interplanetary transport system that will make it possible in the future to transport people and cargo to Mars.

From inflating space ambitions to working together for everyone

At the moment, there are no ambitious programs to create a “Death Star” or “terraform” (form conditions suitable for human life) the surface of nearby planets, but space exploration is moving at its own pace. One cannot help but rejoice at the inclusion of private companies in the process, capable of getting the blood flowing through the veins of the old space guard, and the development of private excursion flights, which can open the way to additional financial flows into the field of research of the endless “Black Sea”.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

In 2011, the United States found itself without space Vehicle, capable of delivering a person into low-Earth orbit. American engineers are now building more new manned spacecraft than ever before, with private companies leading the way, meaning space exploration will become much cheaper. In this article we will talk about seven planned vehicles, and if at least some of these projects come to fruition, a new golden age in manned space flight will begin.

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Space Exploration Technologies / Elon Musk
• Launch date: 2015
• Purpose: flights to orbit (to the ISS)
• Chances of success: very decent

When Elon Musk founded his company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in 2002, skeptics saw no prospects. However, by 2010, his startup became the first private enterprise that managed to replicate what had until then been a state diocese. A Falcon 9 rocket launched an unmanned Dragon capsule into orbit.

The next step on Musk’s path to space is the development, based on the Dragon reusable capsule, of a device capable of carrying people on board. It will be named DragonRider and is intended for flights to the ISS. Using an innovative approach in both design and operating principles, SpaceX says it will cost only $20 million per seat to transport passengers (a passenger seat on the Russian Soyuz currently costs the US $63 million).

Path to the manned capsule

Upgraded interior

The capsule will be equipped for a crew of seven people. Already inside the unmanned version, earth pressure is maintained, so it will not be difficult to adapt it for human habitation.

Wider windows

Through them, astronauts will be able to observe the process of docking with the ISS. Future modifications of the capsule - with the ability to land on a jet stream - will require an even wider view.

Additional engines developing 54 tons of thrust for emergency ascent into orbit in the event of a launch vehicle accident.

Dream Chaser - Descendant of the Space Shuttle

• Type: rocket-launched spaceplane Maker: Sierra Nevada Space Systems
• Planned launch into orbit: 2017
• Purpose: orbital flights
• Chances of success: good

Of course, space planes have certain advantages. Unlike an ordinary passenger capsule, which, falling through the atmosphere, can only slightly adjust its trajectory, shuttles are capable of performing maneuvers during descent and even changing the destination airfield. In addition, they can be reused after a short service. However, the crashes of two American shuttles showed that space planes are by no means an ideal means for orbital expeditions. Firstly, it is expensive to transport cargo on the same vehicles as the crews, because by using a purely cargo ship, you can save on safety and life support systems.

Secondly, attaching the shuttle to the side of the boosters and fuel tank increases the risk of damage from accidentally falling off elements of these structures, which was the cause of the death of the Columbia shuttle. However, Sierra Nevada Space Systems vows that it will be able to clear up the reputation of the orbital spacecraft. space plane. To do this, she has the Dream Chaser, a winged vehicle for delivering crews to the space station. The company is already fighting for NASA contracts. The Dream Chaser design eliminates the major shortcomings of older space shuttles. Firstly, they now intend to transport cargo and crews separately. And secondly, now the ship will be mounted not on the side, but on top of the Atlas V launch vehicle. At the same time, all the advantages of the shuttles will be preserved.

Suborbital flights of the device are scheduled for 2015, and it will be launched into orbit two years later.

How is it inside?

This device can send seven people into space at once. The ship launches on top of the rocket.

At a given point, it is separated from the carrier and can then dock at the space station's docking port.

Dream Chaser has never flown into space, but it's ready to at least run on the runway. In addition, it was dropped from helicopters, testing the aerodynamic capabilities of the ship.

New Shepard - Amazon's Secret Ship

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Blue Origin / Jeff Bezos
• Launch date: unknown
• Chances of success: good

Jeff Bezos, the 49-year-old founder of Amazon.com and a billionaire with his own vision of the future, has been implementing secret plans for space exploration for more than ten years. Bezos has already invested many millions of his $25 billion capital into a daring venture called Blue Origin. His vehicle will take off from an experimental launch pad, which was built (with FAA approval, of course) in a remote corner of West Texas.

In 2011, the company published footage showing the New Shepard cone-shaped missile system prepared for testing. It takes off vertically to a height of one and a half hundred meters, hovers there for a while, and then smoothly descends to the ground using a jet stream. According to the project, in the future the launch vehicle will be able, having thrown the capsule to a suborbital altitude, to independently return to the cosmodrome using its own engine. This is a much more economical scheme than catching the used stage in the ocean after splashdown.

After Internet entrepreneur Jeff Bezos founded his space company in 2000, he kept its very existence a secret for three years. The company launches its experimental vehicles (like the capsule pictured) from a private spaceport in West Texas.

The system consists of two parts.

A crew capsule that maintains normal Atmosphere pressure, separates from the carrier and flies to an altitude of 100 km. The propulsion engine allows the rocket to make a vertical landing near the launch pad. The capsule itself is then returned to earth using a parachute.

The launch vehicle lifts the vehicle from the launch pad.

SpaceShipTwo - Pioneer in the tourism business

• Type: spacecraft launched in the air from a carrier aircraft Creator: Virgin Galactic /
• Richard Branson
• Launch date: scheduled for 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: very good

The first of the SpaceShipTwo vehicles during a test glide flight. In the future, four more similar devices will be built, which will begin to carry tourists. 600 people have already signed up for the flight, including celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The device, built by the famous designer Burt Rutan in collaboration with tycoon Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, laid the foundation for the future of space tourism. Why not take everyone into space? IN new version This device will be able to accommodate six tourists and two pilots. The journey into space will consist of two parts. First, the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft (its length is 18 m and its wingspan is 42) will lift the SpaceShipTwo apparatus to an altitude of 15 km.

Then the jet will separate from the carrier aircraft, start its own engines and blast off into space. At an altitude of 108 km, passengers will have an excellent view of both the curvature of the earth's surface and the serene radiance earth's atmosphere– and all this against the backdrop of the black cosmic depths. A ticket costing a quarter of a million dollars will allow travelers to enjoy weightlessness, but for only four minutes.

Inspiration Mars - Kiss over the Red Planet

• Type: interplanetary transport Creator: Inspiration Mars Foundation / Dennis Tito
• Launch date: 2018
• Purpose: flight to Mars
• Chances of success: doubtful

Honeymoon (lasting a year and a half) on an interplanetary expedition? The Inspiration Mars fund, run by former NASA engineer, investment specialist and first space tourist Dennis Tito, wants to offer this opportunity to the chosen couple. Tito's group hopes to take advantage of the parade of planets that will occur in 2018 (this happens once every 15 years). “Parade” will allow you to fly from Earth to Mars and return along a free return trajectory, that is, without burning additional fuel. Next year, Inspiration Mars will begin accepting applications for a 501-day expedition.

The ship will have to fly at a distance of 150 km from the surface of Mars. To participate in the flight, it is supposed to choose a married couple - possibly newlyweds (the issue of psychological compatibility is important). “The Inspiration Mars fund estimates that it will need to raise $1-2 billion. We are laying the foundation for things that were previously unthinkable, such as going to other planets,” says Marco Caceres, head of space research Teal Group.

• Type: Self-propelled space plane Created by: XCOR Aerospace
• Planned launch date: 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: quite decent

California-based XCOR Aerospace, headquartered in Mojave, believes it holds the key to the cheapest suborbital flights. The company is already selling tickets for its 9-meter Lynx device, designed for just two passengers. Tickets cost $95,000.

Unlike other spaceplanes and passenger capsules, the Lynx does not require a launch vehicle to reach space. Having launched jet engines specially developed for this project (they will burn kerosene with liquid oxygen), Lynx will take off from the runway in a horizontal direction, as a conventional plane does, and only after accelerating will soar steeply along its space trajectory. The first test flight of the device may take place in the coming months.

Takeoff: The space plane accelerates down the runway.

Ascent: Having reached Mach 2.9, it climbs steeply.

Goal: Approximately 3 minutes after takeoff, the engines shut down. The plane follows a parabolic trajectory, rushing through suborbital space.

Return to the dense layers of the atmosphere and landing.

The device gradually slows down, cutting circles in a downward spiral.

Orion - Passenger capsule for a large company

• Type: manned ship of increased volume for interstellar flights
• Creator: NASA / US Congress
• Launch date: 2021–2025

NASA has already, without regret, ceded flights to near-Earth orbit to private companies, but the agency has not yet given up its claims to deep space. The multi-purpose manned spacecraft Orion may fly to planets and asteroids. It will consist of a capsule docked with a module, which, in turn, will contain power plant with a supply of fuel, as well as a living compartment. The first test flight of the capsule will take place in 2014. It will be launched into space by a 70 m long Delta launch vehicle. Then the capsule must return to the atmosphere and land in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

For the long-distance expeditions for which Orion is being prepared, it will apparently also be built new rocket. Work is already underway at NASA's Huntsville, Alabama, facility on the new 98-meter Space Launch System rocket. This super-heavy transport must be ready for the moment when (and if) NASA astronauts decide to fly to the Moon, to some asteroid, or even further. “We're increasingly thinking about Mars,” says Dan Dambacher, director of NASA's Exploration Systems Development Division, “as our primary goal.” True, some critics say that such claims are somewhat excessive. The projected system is so huge that NASA will be able to use it no more than once every two years, since one launch will cost $6 billion.

When will man set foot on an asteroid?

In 2025, NASA plans to send astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to one of the asteroids located near Earth - 1999AO10. The journey should take five months.

Launch: Orion, with a crew of four, will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Flight: After five days of flight, Orion, using the gravity of the Moon, will make a turn around it and set a course for 1999AO10.

Meeting: astronauts will fly to the asteroid two months after launch. They will spend two weeks on its surface, but there is no talk of actual landing. there is talk, since this space rock has too weak gravity. Rather, crew members will simply anchor their ship to the asteroid's surface and collect mineral samples.

Return: since asteroid 1999AO10 has been gradually approaching Earth all this time, the return journey will be slightly shorter. Having reached low-Earth orbit, the capsule will separate from the ship and splash down in the ocean.

Nuclear propulsion system for a Russian spacecraft Until now, the problem of manned flights into deep space has been virtually insoluble. Liquid rocket engines used at this stage are completely unsuitable for	Warp engine of an interstellar ship Modern astronautics, unfortunately, cannot offer much more opportunities than half a century ago. This is primarily due to the lack of necessary power plants,
Into deep space using ion engines An ion engine is a type of electric rocket engine. Its working fluid is ionized gas. The principle of operation of the engine is the ionization of gas and its acceleration by electrostatic	Gym in space Flights into outer space have become a common occurrence in our lives. Cosmonauts stay at international orbital stations for several months. However, familiar to humans
Thermonuclear rocket engine - first tests Rocket engines using the energy of fission of the atomic nucleus have long been the object of research by Russian and American scientists. This is not surprising, because in the case	Ship teleportation: fiction and reality Man has always strived for the stars, but they are extremely far from us. If a flight to them one day takes place, then the spacecraft on which it will be
3D printing technology: rocket engine It is no secret that modern space flights are extremely expensive, and a significant part of the cost comes directly from the manufacturing process of launch vehicle components. NASA tested a revolutionary	Russian super-heavy rocket For a number of years now, experts have been seriously discussing the question of what Russia's super-heavy rocket should be like. At this stage the issue has moved to
Artificial gravity station In Russia, it was decided to create a private space station, which will have compartments based on artificial gravity. All stages of its construction are planned to be completed by 2032	Spacesuit for jumping from space Currently, a parachute is perceived as something familiar and taken for granted. Of course, the main idea of ​​a parachute is to save a person in case of an accident.
System “Baikal” The undisputed leader of the space section of the 44th aerospace show in Le Bourget was the technological model of the Russian reusable accelerator (MRU) "Baikal", which is the first stage of the launch vehicle	Russian spacesuit of the 5th generation One of the distinctive features of the MAKS-2013 aerospace salon was the Russian 5th generation Orlan-MKS spacesuit presented there. The development belongs to the Zvezda Research and Production Enterprise, a traditional developer
Russian plasma rocket engine will open the way to Mars In 2016, NPO Energomash and the Kurchatov Institute Research Center announced their intention to implement a project for an electrodeless plasma rocket engine. Considering the intention of the leading space powers	Metal glass robot Metallic glass is a relatively new material that combines the structural features of metal and glass. The essence of the technology is to form an alloy from strictly defined
EmDrive rocket engine: flight without working fluid News agencies disseminated a message about the successful testing of the EmDrive rocket engine by NASA specialists. Detailed description The principle of operation of this engine is not given, but only the	Launch vehicle “Angara” Back in 1995, Russia approved a project to create a new generation of launch vehicles for launching various cargo into space with masses from 1.5
Project MRKS-1 Aerospace industry specialists are unanimous in the opinion that existing launch vehicles as delivery vehicles into orbit have practically exhausted themselves. Fundamentally new approaches are required that	Project “Spiral” In response to work begun by the United States to create a space plane in the 60s of the 20th century, leadership Soviet Union decided to begin similar developments. So
Project “Prometheus” The idea of ​​using the energy of the atomic nucleus for space flights was expressed by Tsiolkovsky. However, during his lifetime no one had yet imagined how to extract	MAKS project In 1982, even before the flight of the Buran-Energia system, the General Designer of NPO Molniya, Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky, analyzed the prospects for creating aerospace systems. He summarized his work experience
Orion ship project Project Orion is an ambitious idea to build a spacecraft driving force of which there would be explosions nuclear bomb. This idea was developed back in	Project “Buran”: a future that has not come The Buran project started in 1976. The United States then closed the program of heavy rockets and orbital stations and hastily created the Space Shuttle. Scared like this
An-325 project Those who understand airplanes will probably want to correct us from the very beginning and say that no An-325 exists and never has existed,	The truth about UFOs An unidentified flying object, often abbreviated as UFO or UFO, is an unusual, obvious anomaly in the sky that is difficult for an observer to identify. UFO is technical
Flight into space - space elevator Space travel is still extremely expensive, dangerous and environmentally destructive. Rockets with chemical engines do not allow us to radically change the situation, but	Flight to Mars in 2021 A group of young specialists from Russia made a sensational statement, announcing that by 2021 they will be able to provide a manned flight to Mars and Venus. In this
Why is Leonov's quantum engine not being implemented? Notes periodically appear in the press about the unknown development of the Bryansk scientist Vladimir Semenovich Leonov. The author of the Superunification Theory essentially proposed a project for an anti-gravity engine called	Plasma engine for interplanetary spacecraft As part of the exploration of the Moon, Mars and other objects of interplanetary space, Russian cosmonautics was tasked with creating spacecraft using qualitatively new energy sources.
Prospects for the Angara rocket The new Russian heavy launch vehicle Angara-A5 launched on December 23 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. It will launch a two-ton cargo spacecraft into geostationary orbit. Program	Prospects for aerospace technology Relatively recently, the interests of specialists in the field of aerospace technology began to concentrate on the concept of using an aerospace aircraft (ASP). Some researchers believe that a certain type is completely

Fjords of Norway

Haunted Castles

Search for life on Mars

Teotihuacan

Antarctica is a harsh continent

Shoe disinfection device

Disinfection of shoes is one of the basic rules of personal hygiene in case of nail fungus. Conducting this procedure regularly you can protect...

Secrets of Egypt

The pyramids were intended to bury the remains of the rulers of Egypt. In total, there are more than a hundred pyramids of different sizes in Egypt, but the Greatest...

The nature of ball lightning

The nature of ball lightning baffles absolutely everyone. For some reason only known to her, she loves to break into houses. Maybe...

When were the Egyptian pyramids built?

Nobody knows the exact age of the pyramids. A thousand years before the birth of Christ they were already ancient and mysterious. Construction of the Great Pyramid in...

Strikes in Muay Thai - technique and skill

If we consider strikes in Muay Thai, first of all it is worth noting that their technique differs significantly from that of Muay Thai, ...

Salt mines

12 kilometers from the Sovata resort, in Pride, there is a salt mine formed during the extraction of salt. This salt mine is open...

Does a plesiosaur exist?

Seeing this huge, simply gigantic lizard in pictures, many people confuse it with the Lox Ness monster. There are several subspecies of plesiosaurs - ...

How to make bog oak at home

Bog oak is wonderful construction material. Its unusual color is very...

Tail in humans

It's funny, but a person has a tail. Until a certain period. It is known...

Humanity has long been making plans for the future of deep space flights. But what will these flights be like? What kind of ships will we use to navigate the expanses of the Universe?

Will these ships be so large that there is enough space inside them to build settlements or even entire cities, as we have seen more than once in many science fiction films? Or will they be more realistic and represent large orbital space stations? The main question of this article is how close to reality the concepts of space colonies proposed in science fiction are.

Giant space stations the size of the Moon. Huge ring-shaped stations circling in the orbit of alien worlds. Massive cities drifting in the atmosphere of alien planets. Today we will consider all these concepts and find out how feasible they are.

Cindy Doo will comment on this or that idea, Researcher and an MIT doctoral student, a man who frankly believes that the Mars One project is doomed to fail from the start, and a scientist who has written a serious scientific work, which addresses issues related to our possible future life in space.

According to Du, there are three things to consider when considering any possibility of human habitation in space. We need to consider the habitat, what we want from that habitat and how big it will be. It is these three criteria that can indicate the possibility or impossibility of the whole undertaking. Therefore, let’s look at several options for space housing that science fiction offers us, and find out how realistic and rational their use is.

Mobile space station like the Death Star

Almost every science fiction movie fan knows what the Death Star is. This is such a large gray and round space station from the Star Wars movie epic, which looks very much like the Moon. This is an intergalactic planet destroyer, which is essentially itself an artificial planet made of steel and inhabited by stormtroopers.

Can we really build such an artificial planet and roam the expanses of the galaxy on it? In theory - yes. This alone will require an incredible amount of human and financial resources.

“A station the size of the Death Star would require a huge supply of materials to build,” says Du.

The issue of building the Death Star - no joke - was even raised by the American White House, after the society sent a corresponding petition for consideration. The official response from the authorities was that $852,000,000,000,000,000 would be required for construction steel alone.

Let's assume that money is not an issue and the Death Star was actually built. What's next? And then good old physics comes into play. And this will turn out to be a real problem.

“To be able to propel the Death Star through space would require an unprecedented amount of energy,” Du continues.

“The mass of the station will be equivalent to the mass of Deimos, one of the satellites of Mars. Humanity simply does not have the capabilities and necessary technologies to build an engine capable of moving such giants."

Orbital station "Deep Space 9"

So, we found out that the Death Star is too big (at least in today's opinion) for travel in space. Perhaps some smaller space station, such as Deep Space 9, where the events of the Star Trek series (1993-1999) take place, will help us. In this series, the station is located in orbit of the fictional planet Bajor and is an excellent habitat and a real galactic trading center.

“Again, it would take a lot of resources to build a station like this,” Du says.

“The main question is: whether to deliver the necessary material to the planet in whose orbit the future station will be located, or to extract necessary resources right on the spot, say, on some asteroid or satellite of one of the local planets?”

Du says it now costs about $20,000 to deliver each kilogram of payload into space into low Earth orbit. Given this, it would most likely make more sense to send some kind of robotic spacecraft to mine one of the local asteroids than to deliver the necessary material from Earth to the site.

Another issue that will require a mandatory solution will, of course, be the issue of life support. In the same Star Trek, the Deep Space 9 station was not completely autonomous. It was a galactic trading center, with new supplies brought in by various merchants as well as shipments from the planet Bajor. According to Du, the construction of such space stations for habitation will in any case require missions from time to time to supply new food.

“A station of this size would likely function by creating and combining the use of biological media (such as growing algae for food) and life support systems based on chemical engineering processes, such as the ISS,” explains Du.

“These systems will not be completely autonomous. They will require periodic maintenance, replenishment of water, oxygen, supply of new spare parts, and so on.”

Mars station like in the movie "Mission to Mars"

There is a lot of real fantasy nonsense in this film. Tornado on Mars? Mystical alien obelisks? But what is most confusing is the fact described in the film that on Mars it is very easy to arrange a home for yourself and provide yourself with supplies of water and oxygen. Left alone on Mars, actor Don Cheadle's character explains that he was able to survive on the Red Planet by creating a small vegetable garden.

"It works. I give them light and carbon dioxide, they give me oxygen and food.”

If it's so easy, then what are we still doing here on Earth?

“In theory, it is indeed possible to create a Martian greenhouse. However, growing plants has a number of features. And if we compare the labor costs of growing plants on Mars and the cost of delivering ready-made products from Earth to the Red Planet, then it will be easier and cheaper to deliver ready-made and packaged products, supplementing supplies with only a portion of grown crops that have a very high degree of productivity. Moreover, you will need to choose plants with a minimum ripening cycle. For example, various salad crops.”

Despite Cheadle's belief that there are close connections between plants and humans (this may be true on Earth), in the harsh climatic conditions On Mars, plants and people will be in a completely unnatural environment for them. We should also not forget about such an aspect as differences in the intensity of photosynthesis of agricultural crops. Growing plants will require complex closed systems to control the environment. And this is a very serious task, since in this case people and plants will have to share a single atmosphere. Solving this problem in practice will require the use of insulated greenhouses for growth, but this will in turn increase the overall cost.

Growing plants may be a good idea, but it's better to stock up on extra provisions to take with you before your one-way flight.

Cloud City. A city floating in the planet's atmosphere

Lando Calrissian's famous "city in the clouds" from Star Wars seems like a pretty interesting idea for science fiction. However, could planets with a very dense atmosphere but a harsh surface be a suitable platform for the survival and even prosperity of humanity? Experts from NASA believe that this is indeed possible. And the most suitable candidate for the role of such a planet in our solar system is Venus.

The Langley Research Center studied this idea at one time and is still working on spacecraft concepts that could send humans to the upper atmosphere of Venus. We have already written that construction giant station the size of a city will be a very difficult task, almost impossible, but finding an answer to the question of how to keep a spacecraft in the upper atmosphere may be even more difficult.

“Reentry is one of the most difficult tests during space flight" says Du.

“You can’t even imagine what “7 minutes of horror” Curiosity had to endure when landing on Mars. And keeping a giant residential station in the upper atmosphere will be much more difficult. When you enter the atmosphere at a speed of several thousand kilometers per second, you will need to activate the braking and stabilization systems of the vehicle in the atmosphere in a matter of minutes. Otherwise you will just crash.”

Again, one of the benefits of Calrissian's flying city is constant access to clean and fresh air, which can be completely forgotten if we are talking about real conditions and in particular the conditions of Venus. In addition, special spacesuits will have to be developed, wearing which people will be able to go down and replenish supplies of materials on the hellish surface of this planet. Du has a few ideas about this:

“For atmospheric habitation, depending on the chosen location, you can, for example, clean the atmosphere around the station (on Venus you can recycle CO2 into O2, for example), or you can send robotic miners to the surface using a cable, for example, for extraction of minerals and their subsequent delivery back to the station. In the conditions of Venus, this will again be an extremely difficult task.”

Overall, the Cloud City idea doesn't look right at all from many angles.

The giant spaceship "Axiom" from the cartoon "WALL-E"

The stunning and moving sci-fi animated film WALL-E offers a relatively realistic version of humanity's exodus from Earth. While robots are trying to clean the surface of the Earth from the debris accumulated on it, people fly away from the system into deep space on a giant spaceship. Sounds quite realistic, right? We've already learned how to make spaceships, so let's just make them bigger?

In fact, this idea is, according to Du, almost the most unrealistic of the list proposed in this article.

“The cartoon shows that the Axiom ship is in very deep space. Therefore, most likely, he most likely does not have access to any external resources that may be required to maintain life on the ship. For example, since the ship will be far from our Sun or any other source solar energy, then most likely it will work on the basis nuclear reactor. The population of the ship is several thousand people. They all need to eat, drink, and breathe air. All these resources need to be taken from somewhere, and also not to forget about recycling the waste that will certainly accumulate with the use of these resources.”

“Even if you use some kind of ultra-high-tech biological life support system, being in a space environment that is not capable of replenishing the spacecraft with the necessary amounts of energy will mean that all these life support systems will not be able to support the biological processes on board. In short, the option with a giant spaceship looks the most fantastic.”

Ring world. Elysium

Ring worlds, such as those depicted in the sci-fi action movie Elysium or the video game Halo, are perhaps some of the most interesting ideas for future space stations. In Elysium, the station is close to Earth and, if you ignore its size, has a certain degree of realism. However, the most a big problem here lies in its “openness”, which in appearance alone is pure fantasy.

"Perhaps the most controversial issue about Elysium is its openness to the space environment," Du explains.

“The film shows a spaceship just landing on a lawn after arriving from outer space. There are no docking gates or anything like that. But such a station should be completely isolated from external environment. Otherwise, the atmosphere here won't last long. Perhaps the open areas of the station could be protected by some kind of invisible field that would allow sunlight penetrate inside and support life in the plants and trees planted here. But for now this is just fantasy. There are no such technologies."

The very idea of ​​a station in the shape of rings is wonderful, but so far unrealizable.

Underground cities like in "The Matrix"

The Matrix trilogy actually takes place on Earth. However, the surface of the planet is inhabited by killer robots, and therefore our home looks like an alien and very inhospitable world. To survive, people had to go underground, closer to the core of the planet, where everything is still warm and safer. The main problem in such real-life circumstances, besides, of course, the difficulty of transporting the equipment that will be required to create an underground colony, will be maintaining contact with the rest of humanity. Du explains this complexity using the example of Mars:

“Underground colonies may encounter problems communicating with each other. Communication between underground colonies on Mars and Earth will require the creation of separate powerful communication lines and orbital satellites that will serve as a bridge for transmitting messages between the two planets. If a permanent communication line is required, then in this case it will be necessary to use at least one additional satellite, which will be located in the orbit of the Sun. It will receive the signal and send it to Earth when our planet and Mars are on opposite sides of the star.”

Terraformed asteroid like in the novel "2312"

In the novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, people terraformed an asteroid and built a kind of terrarium on it, in which artificial gravity is created due to centripetal force.

NASA expert Al Globus says that the most important thing will be to resolve the issue of the asteroid's airtightness, given that most of them appear to be essentially large pieces of various space "junk". In addition, the expert says that asteroids are very difficult to rotate, and changing the center of its gravity will require some effort in adjusting its course.

“However, building a space station on an asteroid is indeed possible. It will only be necessary to find the largest and most suitable flying piece of rock,” says Du.

"What's interesting is that NASA is planning something similar with its Asteroid Redirect Mission."

“One of the tasks is to select the most suitable asteroid with the desired structure, shape and orbit. There were concepts according to which the issue of placing an asteroid in periodic orbits between Earth and Mars was considered. The behavior of the asteroids in this case changed in such a way that they would act as transporters between the two planets. The additional mass around the asteroid, in turn, provided protection from the effects of cosmic radiation."

“The main task associated with this concept would be to move an asteroid potentially suitable for habitation into a certain orbit (this would require technologies that we do not currently possess), as well as the extraction and processing of minerals on this asteroid. We don’t have any experience in this yet either.”

“The size and density of such an object are more suitable for sending a team of 4-6 people there, rather than building something at the level of a colony. And NASA is now preparing for this.”