The idea of interstellar travel is as old as the world, but humanity began to take practical steps only a few decades ago. One of the stages of cosmonautics is the construction of orbital stations, which can also be used as transshipment bases on the way to the unknown.
History of the issue
The history of orbital stations began, perhaps, in 1929, when the Austrian scientist Hermann Nordung published the book "The Problem of Traveling in World Space", in which he described the arrangement of an orbital station for astronomical observations and study of the earth's surface, as well as its use as a base for interplanetary communications …
In 1949, a project by the British Smith and Ross appeared, a distinctive feature of which was a huge parabolic antenna of a solar power plant. American engineer Brown in 1953 proposed a project for a toroidal station with a diameter of 75 meters with a nuclear power plant having a prefabricated structure. The station, delivered by several rockets, was to be assembled in orbit in the manner of a designer. To facilitate the design, the engineer proposed to create an artificial gravity equal to one third of the Earth's, as well as air pressure half the atmospheric pressure, but with an increased oxygen content and replacing nitrogen in the mixture with helium.
The next step towards modern space stations was made by the Soviet scientist Ari Sternfeld, who proposed assembling heavy artificial satellites not from parts delivered to orbit by rockets, but from parts of rockets themselves - specially designed last stages. The idea was picked up and developed by American designers, in particular, Darrell Romick, an employee of the aerophysics department of Goodyear. In 1956, he presented the concept of an orbital city with a population of 20,000, the assembly of which was to begin with the connection of the two bows of the third stages of the rocket. The cosmonauts arriving on these rockets must use the parts of the plumage as building material, and live in fuel tanks. The number of steps connected in this way was planned to be increased until there were 49 of them. In parallel with this, a round section with a diameter of 25 meters and a length of 330 meters was being installed around the core of the rocket stages, as well as the construction of living quarters - a huge rotating wheel. Two years later, a city with a length of work premises over a kilometer and a “wheel” of living compartments of 500 meters should be ready.
Astro towing ship included
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In 1960, the American firm Martin developed two projects for an orbiting space station. The first one, designed for an annual stay in orbit, was intended for carrying out geophysical, astronomical, and biological-medical research in zero gravity conditions. The second project was distinguished by a semi-rigid design - after the vehicle was put into orbit, two compartments were inflated with air to a spherical shape, which increased their volume.
In the same year, the American firm Lockheed proposed a prefabricated structure of the station, assembled in orbit, from standard elements. The total weight of the long-term aircraft is about 200 tons, the length is about 60 meters, and the width is about 30 meters. The power plant was a nuclear turbine power plant. The station also had an auxiliary aircraft (astro-tug) and a seven-seat rocket vehicle for communication with the Earth (astrotaxi). The object's stay in orbit was planned for four years.
Also in 1960, the American Douglas Aircraft Company proposed an interesting design - a space station, which is also the second stage of the rocket, which puts it into orbit. After entering it, the crew seals the stage, fills it with air, moves out of the capsule and mounts the devices necessary for operation.
Finally, in 1962, the American firm North American Aviation published a draft design of a station that would be put into orbit in a folded state. After assembly, the station takes the form of a hexagonal rim with a hub and three spokes. The station was planned to be supplied with Apollo ships. It was planned that up to seven of them could simultaneously moor to the station. Also, artificial gravity was to be maintained at the station.
Near-earth tricolor
However, as we know, in fact, in the orbit of our planet there was first the Mir orbital complex, and now the International Space Station. Not so long ago, the multilateral management board of the ISS announced that its operation will continue beyond 2015, and the US administration envisages using the station until 2020.
Also, according to the head of the Roskosmos manned programs department from 2004 to July 2015, Alexei Krasnov, the appearance of "free-flying space objects" is not excluded, on which various scientific and technological experiments will be carried out. These facilities will be serviced both from the ISS and by arriving crews. In early 2012, Roskosmos was already negotiating with partners in the ISS program to provide payloads for such objects.
However, the option of the appearance of a national orbital station is not excluded. “Russia has enough technical capabilities to build its own station,” said Igor Lisov, a columnist for the Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine. “We have built two good modules for the ISS and are building more, so in this sense there are no problems.”
Weekend in space
In addition to interstate space station projects, there are also … commercial projects. So, back in 1999, the Hilton International hotel chain announced plans to build a space station-hotel Space Island using empty fuel tanks from American shuttles. The construction cost is estimated at 6-12 billion dollars, the time - at least six years. True, as of 2011, the timing of the project remained unknown.
In addition, the private spacecraft Dragon of the American company SpaceX in the DragonLab variant can serve as a space laboratory capable of returning to Earth. The time spent in orbit can vary from one week to two years.
Finally, the Spanish company Galactic Suite plans to launch an orbital six-seater (four tourists and two astronaut pilots) hotel. The hotel's orbital altitude is 450 kilometers, the price for a three-day stay at the station (including an eight-week training course on a tropical island) is three million euros. The company plans to use Russian rockets launched from a specially built spaceport in the Caribbean to deliver tourists to the hotel. It is also planned to equip the orbital station with a module for the exit of vacationers into outer space.
So, as Xavier Claramunt, CEO of Galactic Suite Ltd, says, "It's absolutely normal to think that your kids might be able to spend a weekend in space in 15 years." Why not actually ?!
Yuri DANILOV