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SPACE
THE EXHIBITION

Come to see
S A life-size model of the
15 m-long Mir space station core
S A model of Sputnik-1,
Earths rst artificial satellite

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S A model of the Apollo capsule
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S A shuttle cockpit
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I
T WAS 21 July 1969 shortly before
7 pm. South Africa didnt yet have TV
so we were glued to the radio. I could
feel the tension in the room.
Then Neil Armstrong said, The
Eagle has wings!
An expression of joy and relief washed
over my moms face. They got away!
she said with a broad smile.
Like millions around the world at
that moment, shed been worried the
two Americans, who about 22 hours
earlier had become the first people on
the moon, would be left behind forever
on the unforgiving lunar landscape. Af-
ter all, no human had tried taking off
from the moon before . . .
The magic of that awesome historical
moment (read more on page 30) stayed
with me over the years, so it was such a
privilege to be involved with this publi-
cation in support of the 2016 YOU/
Huisgenoot/DRUM Gateway to Space
exhibition taking place in Sandton from
1 June to 31 July 2016.
COVER PICTURE: GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
CONTENTS
LIFTOFF!
The Amazing Space Race...............................4
How to Use the 3D App & QR Reader.....13
The Worlds Top Rockets ..............................14
Stages of a Rocket Launch..........................18
JOURNEY TO THE MOON
The First Animal in Orbit ............................22
The First Human in Space ...........................23
NASAs Famous Mercury Men ..................24
The First Spacewalk ......................................25
The Soyuz Capsule .........................................26
A Closer Look at the Moon ........................28
Man Lands on the Moon ..............................30
The Apollo Spacecraft and ..............................
Saturn V Rocket ..........................................32
The Moon Buggy ..............................................34
All About Spacesuits .....................................36
NASAs Super Spacesuit .............................38
Major Disasters in Space History ..........56
SAs Role in Space Research .....................59
The Square Kilometre Array Africa ............
and MeerKAT Radio Telescope............60
TO MARS AND BEYOND
The Red Planet ..................................................64
The Big Plan to Colonise Mars..................66
The Mars Rover.................................................68
The Powerful SLS Rocket and........................
the Orion Capsule ....................................... 70
Space Tourism .................................................. 72
OUT OF THIS WORLD
Our Eyes in Space: Roaming .............................
Satellites and Spacecraft........................ 76
Weird, Wonderful Space Facts................. 78
Space Hall of Fame .........................................80
Win Three Hampers of Space Toys........82

Do you dream of becoming an astro- Bibliography .......................................................82

naut? Then see page 44 but first go
to page 53 to read what challenges the LIFE IN SPACE
human body faces in space! The Space Shuttle............................................42 TAKE A TRIP
In about 20 years well probably all So You Want To Be An Astronaut? ........ 44 INTO SPACE!
s in action
be riveted again as we watch the next See 3D model 3D codes
Tour the International ......................................... you sc an th e
when or scan the
wave of space exploration when the Space Station ...............................................46 in the m agaz ine
ke virtual
first people leave for Mars (see page 66). QR codes to ta videos.
We cant wait . . . Life Aboard the Space Station..................48 tours or wa tc h
e the
Trash in Space From Bits of ......................... See how to us and
p
Old Satellites to a Spatula!....................54 Media24 3D ap p
QR Reader ap
on page 13.

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THEAMAZING
SPACERACE
People have been determined to see what
is beyond our world for ages. Lets look at
how the journey into space became a reality
T
HE countdown begins! 10 . . .
9...8...7...6...5...4...3
. . . 2 . . . 1 . . . We have liftoff !
Could a list of numbers sound
more exciting than the se-
quence uttered by a launch controller-
moments before liftoff? Its followed by
a mighty roar as the powerful rocket
shoots up into the sky with smoke and
flames billowing from its tail.
Its no wonder people have been fas-
cinated by rockets and the promise of
space travel since the earliest times.
The first real rockets were built 2 000
years ago by the Chinese, who used
them a little like todays fireworks.
The first rocket propulsion systems
came along in the Middle Ages, also in
Asia, when a mixture of charcoal, sul-
phur and saltpetre was used as rocket
fuel for military purposes.
But its only in the past 70 years that
these machines have become so power-
ful they can soar into outer space. But
SPACE: A HISTORY
Here are some of the most momen-
tous events from the journey into
space. From the pioneers to the
achievements of countries such
as the US and Russia who have
competed to dominate
spaceight since 1955 and
who, among others, have
made huge strides in the
exploration of the uni-
verse. We also look
at some ambitious
future plans to ven-
ture into space.
4 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
as with many of historys great achieve-
ments, the story behind it is a mixture
of tragedy and triumph.
THE FOUNDING FATHERS
OF ROCKETRY
The first breakthrough needed was to
figure out how to reach orbit (see box
above right). Three great scientists in
three different countries began working
on this problem separately at about the
same time. In 1903 the Russian Kon-
stantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) showed
it would be possible for a rocket to fly
into orbit if liquid hydrogen and oxygen
were used as propellants instead of
solid fuel.
In Germany Hermann Oberth (1894-
1989) wrote ground-breaking books and
essays, using mathematics to explain
how a rocket can travel to space.
And in America there was Robert
Goddard (1882-1945), who in 1926 man-
aged to build the first rocket ever to use
1903
Russian professor of physics
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publish-
es Exploration of Outer Space
by Means of Rocket Devices, and
inuences the next generation
of Russian rocket scientists and
engineers.
1926
Robert Goddard
(right) launches
the worlds rst
liquid-fuelled
rocket in the
United States.
ORBIT EXPLAINED
What is the difference between
orbital and suborbital spacecraft?
The dierence is speed. An orbital
spacecraft travels too fast to fall
back to Earth (and is therefore able
to complete an orbit around Earth).
Think of throwing a ball: if you
throw it softly, it will travel a little
distance then fall to the ground. But
the more power you put into the
throw, the straighter its path above
the ground is, until it starts losing
speed.
An orbital spacecraft ies at such
a high speed that it is able to main-
tain its distance from Earth. A sub-
orbital spacecraft cannot go fast
enough to achieve orbit.
Konstantin
Tsiolkovsky
1931
Romanian-born Her-
mann Oberth (right), one
of the most inuential
theorists on rocket
science, achieves a suc-
cessful liquid fuel rocket
launch in Germany.
1944
Using Wernher von Brauns V-2
rocket, the Nazis terrorise Lon-
don and other cities in Europe kill-
ing thousands.The V-2 goes on
to become the rst ballistic mis-
sile to achieve suborbital space-
ight and becomes the blueprint
of all modern rockets.
 LIFTOFF!

liquid fuel. Can you believe that the

media laughed at him for saying a trip
to the moon was possible?
These three men were the inspiration
for the next generation of scientists who
made trips to the moon a reality.

VON BRAUN AND THE V-2

WERNHER VON BRAUN
The German-born
physicist who spearhead-
ed Americas space
exploration programme
from 1945.
It is a tragic fact that modern space
travel was made possible by war and the
unimaginable suffering of thousands
of people. Thats because most space
rockets were originally developed as
weapons of war.
Towards the end of World War 2 Nazi
Germany was becoming desperate as its
enemies (America, Britain, Soviet Union
and other countries, including South Af-
rica) were winning. German chancellor
Adolf Hitler wanted a powerful new
weapon that could turn things around
for them.
Enter Wernher von Braun (1912
1977), a brilliant young physicist in-
spired by the work of Tsiolkovsky and
Oberth, and whose dream since child-
hood had been to build rockets that
could send humans to space. He was so
obsessed by this dream he didnt care
who paid for his rocket development
nor what the rockets would be used for.
Years before Von Braun had joined
Germanys Nazi party and agreed to be-
come a member of the SS, a feared and
vicious semi-military organisation re-
sponsible for killing almost six million
Jewish people during the war. He did
this just so the government would give
(Turn over)

1947 1949 1957 1958 1958

The rst Albert II, a rhesus mon- America tries to The American NASA announces
ANDR KARWATH/ CC BY-SA 2.5 ; NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES

creatures, key is the rst mam- launch a satellite, space programme Project Mercury,
PICTURES: NASA; GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/ MONDADORI PORTFOLIO;

fruit ies, mal in space (he reach- but the Vanguard moves from mili- the rst US-
are sent into es 134 km altitude) , rocket only lifts a tary to civilian- manned space
space aboard but dies during a crash little,
little, topples back controlled and programme.
a V-2 rocket. landing back on Earth. and burns. NASA is founded.

1951 1957 1957

AIR FORCE; IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Dezik and Tsy- The rst Stray dog Laika becomes the rst
gan are the rst Earth satel- living being to orbit the Earth in
dogs to make a lite, Sputnik, Sputnik 2. She dies during the ight
suborbital ight. is launched the technology to return from
Both survive the atop a Semy- orbit had not yet been developed.
trip. orka rocket. She becomes a national hero.
 MITTELWERK TUNNELS
A US Army soldier poses
with a half-assembled
V-2 rocket, one of about
250 such rockets found
at Mittelwerk when the
German facility was
seized at the end of WW2.

him the money he needed to build his
rockets.
In the 1940s he was working on the
most powerful rocket of the time, called
the V-2 effectively the worlds first
space rocket.
The V-2 was constructed in a factory
called Mittelwerk which was built inside
a mountain to be safe from bombings
during the war. Not far from Mittelwerk
was Buchenwald, a notorious concen-
tration camp. The Nazis had set up con-
centration camps all over the country
where mostly Jewish people were im-
prisoned in terrible conditions. Millions
of people were killed in these camps.
V-2 ROCKET
The V-2 rocket was
originally designed for
Nazi Germany by Wer-
nher von Braun for use
as a war missile.
It was decided to use the Buchenwald
prisoners as slaves to build the V-2.
The conditions were shocking and
about 12 000 prisoners died while man-
ufacturing the rocket they were either
worked to death or executed by the SS.
Germany lost the war, but not before
their V-2 rockets shot off to London and
other Northern Europe cities carrying
bombs that killed at least 9 000 people.
SCRAMBLE FOR THE V-2
Both America and the Soviet Union
were impressed by the V-2 its incred-
ibly destructive power, its ability to
reach a height of 80 km and fly from
Germany to London in just six minutes
and the fact that it was more than 25
years ahead of rocketry in the rest of the
world.
So in 1944 as Americans and Soviets
marched into the now defeated Ger-
many, soldiers on both sides had orders

1959 1960 1961 1961 1961

American monkeys NASA unveils its NASA astronaut President John F Enos becomes
Miss Able and Miss plan to develop the Alan Shepard Kennedy commits the rst chimpanzee
Baker become the three-man spacecraft becomes the rst America to landing to orbit Earth. He
rst monkeys to Apollo which will be American to travel a man on the moon survives the trip.
survive spaceight. able to y past the into space. before the end of the
moon. decade.

1959 1959 1960 1961

Luna 1 becomes the
rst spacecraft to
reach the vicinity of the
moon. It overshoots
the moon and falls into
orbit around the sun.
Luna 2 (right) suc- Dogs Belka and Strel- Yuri Gagarin
cessfully crashes ka are sent into orbit (right) becomes
on the moon and on Sputnik 5 and the rst person to
becomes the rst
rst become the rst
rst dogs y into space and
man-made object to return alive from orbit the Earth in
on the moon. an orbital ight. Vostok 1.

6 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFTOFF!

to find Von Braun and his team of engi-
neers.
Von Braun, about to be shot by his
former SS friends to keep any V-2 se-
crets from falling into enemy hands, de-
cided his best chance of both survival
and realising his space travel dream,
would be to surrender to the Ameri-
cans. He and his team fled from the SS
and before long found themselves on
American soil. In their suitcases were
the plans and drawings for the V-2.
The Soviets had lost out, but they did
manage to capture other V-2 engineers
who spent two years redrawing the V-2
plans. The V-2 launched the space age.
PICTURES: SCIENCE MUSEUM (UK)/CROWN COPYRIGHT; AAI/FOTOSTOCK; MAP REDONE IN ILLUSTRATOR FROM WIKIPEDIA;
WORDS TO KNOW
Propellant
A substance that causes an object to
move forward or change direction.
Solid fuel
Solid material used as propellant,
such as the gunpowder in older
rockets. Modern spacecraft use a
variety of sophisticated chemicals
in powder form.
Liquid fuel
Fuel that is not solid. Our cars use
liquid fuel in the form of petrol and
THE RACE BEGINS
Von Braun and his team were put to
work for the US military and in 1947 the
first living creatures travelled into space
aboard a V-2: a collection of fruit flies!
But to Von Brauns frustration, the
Americans main concern at the time
was the Cold War (see box below right)
and they were not willing to listen to his
dreams of space travel.
Back in the USSR, generals were look-
ing for a top rocket scientist who could
take the V-2 further. They found him in
a gulag (a Soviet work prison): Sergei
Korolev, a rocket genius and political
prisoner (at the time the Soviet Union

It was the blueprint for almost every large rockets often use liquid hydro- under its premier Joseph Stalin was a
rocket developed after WW2. gen burned with liquid oxygen. (Turn over)
NASA; VALENTINA GAGARINA, SIMA EIVAZOVA AND YURI GAGARIN IN BULGARIA IN 1966 BY EV/ CC BY-SA 3.0

WHAT WAS THE COLD WAR? Iceland

Norway

The Cold War refers to the tension Most other countries in the world West
that existed between Western dem- sided with either the West or the East- Eastern Bloc Finland
ocratic and Eastern communist ern Bloc. The Cold War never turned
countries from 1947 to 1991. On one into real combat, but both sides were Sweden
side was the Soviet Union and scared the other faction would launch
most Eastern European states a nuclear attack, so they armed them- United Soviet Union
Ireland Kingdom
(called the Eastern Bloc), on the oth- selves heavily with nuclear warheads,
er was the United States of America war rockets and spying satellites. Poland
(USA) and countries in Western Eu- East Germany
rope (called the West). After World West Germany
War 2 Germany and its capital Berlin THE IRON CURTAIN France
were divided into two separate The West and Eastern Romania
Bloc in Europe. The
states, West Germany with Western
imaginary border be-
allegiance and East Germany with tween the two was Spain
Eastern Bloc allegiance. called the Iron Curtain. Italy

1962 1965 1966 1967 1968

John Glenn Ed White Gemini VII ac- Apollo 1 disaster Frank Borman, William
(right) becomes the complishes the occurs after a re Anders and James Lovell
becomes rst American rst docking in the cockpit killing on Apollo 8 are the rst
the rst to conduct a (joining) with astronauts Gus people to leave Earths
American spacewalk. another space Grissom, Ed White orbit, circle the moon
to orbit Earth. vehicle. and Roger Chaee. and return safely.

1961 1962 1963 1965 1966

Gherman Titov, in First simultaneous ight of two Russian Valenti- On 18 March Luna 9 becomes the
the Vostok 2, goes spacecraft: Andriyan Nikolayev na Tereshkova, Alexei Leonov rst spacecraft to
on the rst manned in Vostok 3 and Pavel Popovich in in the Vostok 6, is the rst person achieve a soft landing
space mission to Vostok 4. In their four-day ight the becomes the to conduct a on the moon and take
orbit Earth multiple two spacecraft also have a space rst woman in spacewalk. It the rst close-up pic-
times (17). rendezvous (y past each other). space. lasts 12 minutes. tures of the surface.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE |7

fearsome place where innocent people the first human in space (see page 23), space travel. In a famous speech he
were often imprisoned or killed for po- Gagarin became an international celeb- promised that America would land a
litical crimes they never committed). rity while Korolev stayed in the shad- person on the moon before the decade
Korolev was released and made head ows. was out.
of the Soviet rocket programme. He de- Von Braun, on the other hand, was At last things were moving forward.
veloped the R-7 rocket (evolved from never one for the shadows. A charismat- The Apollo project for a moon landing
the R-1, which was a copy of the V-2) ic man, he was becoming frustrated (Turn over)
which in 1957 became the first inter- with US president Dwight Eisenhowers
continental ballistic missile. The R-7 lack of enthusiasm for a moon pro-
then became the Sputnik rocket, which gramme. So he turned to the media for
sent the first human-made satellite and help. Several magazine articles and a
first living being (Laika the dog) into or- hugely popular Disney TV series fol-
bit in 1957 (read more on page 22). lowed in which he explained that a
Von Braun was furious moon trip would be the ad-
about the Soviet achieve- Von Braun didnt venture of the century and
ments because his team know who his rival that it was not science fic-
had already built a Jupiter tion, but within Americas
rocket capable of launch- on the Soviet reach. He managed to get
ing a satellite, but could Union side was. the public so excited that
not get permission to use
it. But the Americans were
He was known only they also put pressure on
government to pay more
now at least interested. as Chief Designer attention to a moon pro-
The Space Race was now gramme.
underway. While all this was hap-
pening, Korolev managed to land the
OFF TO THE MOON first human-built craft on the moon
Over the next two decades Von (called Luna 2) in 1959. In 1960 the So-
Braun and Korolev would be adver- viet dogs Belka and Strelka became the
saries, each trying to achieve the first dogs to return alive from an orbital
next space breakthrough first. Von flight and in 1961 Gagarin orbited Earth.
Braun didnt know who his rival on Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev even
the other side of the world was sent the new American president, John
the Soviet government was con- F Kennedy, a puppy from Strelkas litter
cerned Korolev would be assassi- called Pushinka! Sergei Korolev
nated by Americans so his identity A new American president meant a designed the
was kept secret and he was known change in attitude towards space. When Soviets rockets
only as the Chief Designer. the charismatic and popular John F but his identity
When some years later Korolevs Kennedy arrived in the White House in was kept a secret.
Vostok 1 rocket made Yuri Gagarin 1960, he soon bought into the idea of

1969 1971 1973

Apollo 11 (left) lands
on the moon. Neil
Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin are the rst
two people to per-
form moonwalks.
The rst American Skylab, Americas rst space
lunar rover (below) station, is launched by NASA
is used on the moon. and is manned by three teams from
1973-74. After that it is not used
and re-enters the atmosphere and
disintegrates in 1979.

1966 1967 1970 1971

Space probe Venera Soyuz 1, the rst manned Luna 17 carries Unmanned space probe Mars 3
crashes into Venus, Soviet spacecraft, is launched the rst suc- lander is launched by a Proton-K
which it was built to into orbit but its astronaut, cessful robotic rocket and is the rst spacecraft
explore the rst Vladimir Komarov, dies as the lunar rover, to achieve a soft landing on Mars.
craft to land on module crashes to the ground Lunokhod 1,
another planet. due to a parachute failure. to the moon.

8 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFTOFF!

WHAT WAS
THE SOVIET
UNION?
The Union of Soviet So-
cialist Republics (USSR)
was a communist state
that existed between
1922 and 1991. After
PICTURES: NASA ; RUSSIAN GOVERNMENTAL ARCHIVE OF SCIENTIFIC-TECHNOLOGICAL DOCUMENTATION; AAI/FOTOSTOCK SA

1991 it was dissolved

into Russia and several
other independent coun-
tries such as Ukraine,
Georgia, Armenia and
Kazakhstan.

BELKA AND STRELKA

These two dogs became
famous when they returned
from space alive! They were
accompanied by a grey rab-
bit, 42 mice, 2 rats, ies and
several plants and fungi.
All the passengers survived.

1975
The rst joint US-Soviet space ight 1981
Soyuz 19 and Apollo 18 (last Apollo Launch of the
ight) leave seven and a half hours apart rst Space
and dock in orbit, open the hatch con- Shuttle,
necting them and exchange gifts, Columbia.
food and souvenirs. Joint and separate
scientic experiments are conducted.
1986
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
(right) 73 seconds after lifto, killing
all seven on board, including Christa
McAulie, who would have been
the rst teacher to give lessons in
space.

1977
Launch of Salyut 6, the next-
generation space station
where astronauts can remain
for longer periods.
1986
Assembly of space station Mir begins in
space. It is the rst continuously inhabited
long-term research station in space and
remains in orbit until 2001, when it re-enters
the atmosphere and burns up.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE |9


MOON LANDING
ABOVE LEFT: The Eagle, as it
was known, on its way to the
moons surface. ABOVE RIGHT:
Neil Armstrong climbs down
to the surface of the moon.
RIGHT: Buzz Aldrins bootprint
in the lunar soil.
1990
The Space Shuttle
Discovery carries
the Hubble Space
Telescope into space.
1988
Spaceplane Buran the So-
viet version of the reusable
Space Shuttle is launched.
The programme is stopped
soon after the Soviet Union
collapses.
10 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
was announced, with Project Mercury
(read more on page 24) and Project
Gemini paving the way. Twenty-three
days after Gagarin, Alan Shepard be-
came the first American to fly to space.
Korolev died in 1966, while he was
working on his own moon rocket called
the N1. His heart, damaged from all
those years in the harsh conditions in
the Siberian gulag, gave in while he was
having surgery after being diagnosed
with cancer. Korolev was given a spec-
tacular funeral and declared a hero of
the Soviet Union. On the other side of
the planet, Von Braun at last learnt the
identity of the Chief Designer, his rival
for so many years.
After Korolevs death, the Russian
moon programme faltered. It was clear
his successor could not overcome the
challenges. The N1 was launched four
times, and each time it blew up.
But America was brimming with
space fever. In 1969 Von Brauns mighty
Saturn V rocket modelled on the V-2
of all those years before shot off into
space followed by one of the most mo-
mentous occasions in the history of hu-
mankind: the landing of astronauts Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the sur-
face of the moon on 20 July (read more
on page 31).
1990 1998 2003
Japan becomes Zarya, the rst China becomes the
the third country module of the third country to
in the world to International successfully send
launch a probe, Space Station The Interna- an astronaut into
Hiten, to orbit is launched into tional Space space, aboard the
the moon. space. Station Shenzhou 5.
1989-91 2003
Collapse of The Space Shuttle Columbia
the Soviet breaks up on re-entry one
Union. of the protective panels cov-
ering the wing is damaged.
All seven crew members
(right) are killed.
 LIFTOFF!
MEET THE
Soon after the Soviets decided there the end of the Space Race and an ANIMANAUTS
was no point in continuing their moon increasingly more relaxed relationship Many animals were sent to space to
programme as the race had been lost. between the US and the USSR. see how it would aect living beings.
Von Braun was already preparing for The two spacecraft launched a few Here are a few we wont forget . . .
his next plan: sending people to Mars. hours apart and docked in orbit. The
But the US government was not inter- commanders shook hands and gifts The US sent 32 monkeys into
ested. They had reached their goal were exchanged. They conducted joint space. Albert II was the rst in
putting a human on the moon and and separate scientific experiments be- 1949, but his craft crashed due
were not willing to continue pumping fore saying goodbye and returning to to parachute failure. The rst
billions of dollars into space exploration. their respective countries. monkeys to return alive were Miss Able and
Defeated and disappointed, Von Miss Baker, who went up together. Baker
Braun resigned from NASA. Once huge- NOW FOR THE SPACE STATIONS lived to a ripe old age, but Able died four
ly popular in the US, his reputation was With the race to the moon over, both days after landing during an operation to
faltering. More and more stories of his the United States and Soviet Russia remove an electrode. Another famous
history with Nazi slave labour were turned their attention to building labo- monkeynaut was the chimpanzee Ham,
coming out and he was almost charged ratories in space similar to todays In- who in 1961 went up in a Mercury capsule
with war crimes. ternational Space Station, but much and returned safely.
In 1977 he contracted cancer, just like smaller.
his old rival 11 years earlier. In 1971 th e Soviet The Soviets sent up 12 dogs.
While dying in hospital, he Unions Salyut 1 became The most famous and tragic
repeatedly asked his
The end of the the first space station. Six one was Laika, a little stray
friends, Was what we did Cold War had more Salyuts were who in 1957 was the rst
worth the suffering it an enormous launched, followed in 1986 living being in orbit but died from heat
caused? by Mir, the first continu- exhaustion. Belka and Strelka were the
impact on space ously inhabited space sta- rst dogs to return alive, while Veterok
THE SPACE RACE ENDS exploration tion. As the Cold War con- and Ugolyok orbited 22 days before
The last Apollo trip to the tinued to relax, Mir started landing safely.
moon was Apollo 17 in 1972. Its com- hosting astronauts from the West as
PICTURES: NASA; NASA /BUZZ ALDRIN; AAI /FOTOSTOCK SA

mand/service module atop a smaller well. NASA assembled its own space
Saturn 1B rocket then made three trips station called Skylab in 1973. In 1963
to the brand-new US space research World politics was changing fast. In the French
facility called Skylab. 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the So- launched a cat
On 15 July 1975 an Apollo spacecraft viet leader and pursued a policy of great- into space.
soared into the sky one last time as part er openness. This gave several Eastern Flicette
Flicette made
of another historical event the first Bloc states the courage to kick out their a safe landing
joint US-Soviet space flight on which an communist dictators. when her capsule
American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz Soon Germany was reunited while the parachuted to
would connect in space. Soviet Union broke up into different Earth.
Their meeting would be a symbol of (Turn over)

2011
The nal (and 135th) Space
Shuttle launch takes place using
the Atlantis, after which the
Space Shuttle programme is
retired. The only way astronauts
can currently travel to the ISS
is on the Russian Soyuz.
2012
The Dragon,, developed by the private
space transport company SpaceX
(founded by South African-born Elon
Musk), becomes the rst
rst commercial The SpaceX
spacecraft to successfully attach
attach to Dragon
the ISS. From October 2012 it delivers capsule
cargo to the ISS regularly.

2006 2011 2013 2016

The Commercial Orbital China launches its Yutu, Chinas China plans
Transportation Services (COTS) rst space station, rst lunar rover, to launch its
programme begins in which the Tiangong-1. arrives on the second space
US relies heavily on the private moon. station,
sector to create space vehicles Tiangong-2.
and service the ISS.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 11

countries, with Russia the largest and
most powerful.
The impact on space exploration was
enormous. As the US and Russia were no
longer enemies, they could now work to-
gether. The International Space Station
(ISS) became the first station in space The Canadarm2 ro-
built by 16 different countries under the botic arm of the ISS
leadership of the two former arch-rivals attached to SpaceXs
(read about the ISS on page 46). Dragon spacecraft.
In the early 1980s the US Apollo pro- Read more about the
ject was replaced by the Space Shuttle ISS on page 46.
programme a new generation of reus-
able spacecraft that were propelled into
space by a massive main rocket and two
solid rocket boosters.
The Shuttles were orbiters that could with Russia to build a joint base on the
circle Earth for anything from hours to moon. Some experts even say a second
weeks, with enough room on board for space race between the US and China is
the crew to work and live (read more on the way . . .
about the Space Shuttle on page 42).
And when the ISS was built, they pro- THE PRIVATISATION
vided transport to the space station. OF SPACE TRAVEL
The Shuttle programme lasted 30 Space has traditionally been the domain building an inflatable private space sta-

PICTURES: NASA; NASA/ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)

years and ended in 2011. Since then all
astronauts have been travelling to the
ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz space-
craft (read more on page 26).
WHATS NEXT?
A NEW SPACE RACE?
China is becoming a space force to be
reckoned with its already sent several
crewed missions into orbit on board its
Shenzhou spacecraft, launched its own
space station, landed a rover on the
moon and is said to be in discussion
of governments, but this is changing
rapidly as more and more private com-
panies enter the industry. NASA wants
to focus more on Mars and less on
getting crew and supplies to the ISS.
Theyve signed contracts with several
private companies to supply the ISS.
These include SpaceX (started by South
African-born Elon Musk) with its Falcon
rocket and Dragon capsule, and Orbital
ATK, with its Cygnus craft atop NASAs
Atlas rocket. Dragon will also take as-
tronauts to the ISS from next year, as
may the Boeing/Bigelow Starliner. The
company Bigelow is also considering
tion. The first prototype of a module
was delivered to the ISS for testing
in April 2016. With more private com-
panies involved, space tourism should
also take off soon the opening up of
space travel for ordinary people who are
not astronauts (more on page 72).
JOURNEY TO MARS
The US has also abandoned its plans to
return to the moon while it focuses on
Mars, where it intends establishing a
human colony (read more on page 66).
All of this is very exciting and we will be
following it with great interest . . .

2017 2021- 2025

Manned spacecraft from
the private sector are ex-
pected to start travelling
to the ISS.
Exploration Mission-2 is expected to be NASAs
Orion capsules rst manned ight launched on
the SLS rocket. Astronauts will work on an asteroid
boulder that has been dragged into lunar orbit by
a robotic probe.

2018 2030s
Exploration Mission-1 will be the deepest ight ever In NASAs vision SLS will blast a crewed
into space, thousands of kilometres beyond the Orion to Mars (right).
(right).The rst
The rst mission
moon. There NASAs Orion capsule, powered by the may not touch down on the Red Planet,
SLS rocket, will orbit the moon and deploy about 13 denitely
but walking on Mars is de nitely in the
small satellites during a three-week mission. agencyss plans.
space agency plans.The
The journey to
Mars is expected to last six months.

12 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 EXPLORE SPACE!
Download the Media24 3D app to view amazing 3D models or use
a QR Reader app to watch videos or take virtual tours in space!

W
ANT to see the International
Space Station up close in
3D? Maybe you would like HOW TO USE THE APPS
to walk on the surface STEP 1 Find the icons in the magazine, either
of Mars with the Curiosity
rover? Or watch a video of
a 3D icon or QR code (see how they
how the future Mars colony look on the right).
will be set up? The Media24 3D app and a QR
Reader app will help make all of this and more STEP 2 Open either the Media24 3D app or the
a reality as you explore space! The 3D app is fast QR Reader.
and displays high-quality animation. Both are free
to download and suitable for iOS and Android with STEP 3 Hold your smartphone or tablet over the
a smartphone or tablet. page (about 30 cm away) and watch the
image come to life, or play a video or take
a virtual tour!

GET THE APPS

Go to the iTunes App or
Google Play stores and
download the Media24 3D
app and a QR Reader (there
are a couple to choose from)
on your smartphone or tablet
then open to start using it.
LETS BLAST OFF!
This is our selection of the coolest carrier
rockets ever sent into space

R
OCKETS are currently the 110 m
MERCURY-
only way for all spacecraft to REDSTONE
go into space. A spacecraft is TITAN II
either perched on top of the USA
Used USA
rocket, as in the case of the 100 m
Soyuz or Apollo, or mounted on the 19601961 Used
side of the rocket, as in the case of the Height 19592005
Space Shuttle. It is sometimes confus- 25,4 m Height (GLV)
ing when discussing Soviet rockets and Mass 33,2 m
spacecraft as they often used the same 90 m 30 000 kg Mass
name for both, for example the Vosk- 154 200 kg
hod and Soyuz are the names of both
spacecraft and rockets. Here we look at
only the rockets. DIAMANT KOSMOS
80 m France USSR
HOW DO ROCKETS WORK? Used Used
To blast into space a rocket has to 19651975
travel nearly 40 times faster than a 19672010
Height Height (3M)
Boeing 747 and needs to reach a speed 23,5 m
70 m 32,4 m
of at least 7,9 kilometres per second Mass
this corresponds to more than 20 times Mass
18 400 kg 109 000 kg
the speed of sound! If it goes any slow-
er gravity will pull it back to Earth
so the rockets need powerful engines. 60 m
The engines burn fuel, turning the fuel
into hot gases. The gases are pushed SHAVIT SPUTNIK
out the back of the rocket, causing the Israel USSR
rocket to be propelled upwards (see Used Used
how it works on page 18). 50 m 1988present 19571958
Height Height
WHAT ELSE ARE ROCKETS 18 m 30 m
USED FOR? Mass Mass
Not only spacecraft are launched by 30 000 kg 267 000 kg
rockets. Rockets also launch space sta- 40 m
tions, space telescopes and satellites
into space. And rockets are also not
only used as launch vehicles. They can
be devastating weapons called missiles 30 m
that can travel thousands of kilometres FAST FACT th
Sou
to strike cities and other targets. U til 1994 d pro-
n
h e lp e
One such missile was the V-2 rocket, Africa st the
designed by the German-born rocket duce and te et as
Sh a v it ro ck
scientist Wernher von Braun, during 20 m missile.
World War 2. In 1944 the V-2 was the a ballistic et was
ck
The SA ro A-3.
first artificial object ever to launch into
space. called RS
PICTURES: ESAD. DUCROS, 2014

Although the V-2 has a terrible his-

tory (read more on page 4), it is in a 10 m
strange way the father of modern rock- Human
ets and Von Braun went on to develop to scale
the Saturn V rocket for America that
sent the first humans to the moon.
0m
Note: Rocket data may vary between sources and models within a rocket family.
14 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
 LIFTOFF!

USSR/Russia* USA Europe Japan China Israel France India

* The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union) was one large nation from 1922 to 1991.
In 1991 it dissolved into several separate countries. Its space programme is now driven by the Russian Federation
(Russia), the largest of these states.

SOYUZ
VOSTOK Russia
FAST FA
USSR Used The rst SoyCT
Used 1967present launched in uz was
19
19601991 Height currently th 67. It is
e only way
Height 50 m fo r astronauts
Mass to the Intern to travel
38,4 m atio
FAST FACT 300 000 kg Space Stati nal
Mass on
In 1961 the (read more
ed on
287 000 kg Vostok launch page 26).
th e r st hu m an
ri
into space, Yu
Gagarin. ARIANE
GSLV
India Europe
Used VOSKHOD Used
ATLAS 2001present 1988present
USSR
Height (III) Height
USA DELTA II Used
43,4 m 50,5 m
Used USA 19631976
Mass Mass
1957present Used Height (11A57)
640 000 kg 780 000 kg
Height (Agena) 19892011 44,4 m
36 m Height Mass
Mass 39 m 298 400 kg
155 000 kg Mass
231 870 kg

(Turn over)
 CURRENT MANNED SPACEFLIGHT LAUNCH SITES

3 1 Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center,

2 Florida
5 2 Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
120 m 1
3 Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia
4 Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana
4 5 Jiuquan, China

110 m

FAST FACT
unched
ENERGIA The Energia la viet
Bu ra n, th e So
the
Space
100 m USSR version of the t was
Used uttle. Th e pr ojec
Sh after
STS 19871988 stopped in 1993 on
the Sovi et U ni
(SHUTTLE) Height
58,8 m was dissolved
USA in 1991.
90 m
Used Mass
ANGARA
19812011 2 400 000 kg
Height Russia
LONG MARCH Used
56,1 m
80 m China 2014present
Mass PROTON Used Height
2 030 000 kg
USSR/Russia 1970present 64 m
H-IIA Height (2F)
Used Mass
Japan 1965present 62 m 790 000 kg
70 m Used FAST FACT s Height Mass
wa
2001present The STS-1 nly 58 m 464 000 kg
e w o rld s o
Height th usa- Mass
tio n a l re
53 m opera craft.
ble spa ce 712 800 kg
60 m Mass a d m o re on
R e
455 000 kg page 42.

50 m

40 m

30 m

20 m

10 m
Human
to scale

0m

16 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFTOFF!
SATURN V SLS
USA USA
N1 Used In development
USSR 19671973 First ight
Used Height planned for 2018
FAST
19691972 110,6 m Height The SLS FACT
Height Mass 110,9 m most po will be the
w
105 m 2 970 000 kg Mass in the w erful rocket
2 567 000 kg astrona orld, taking
u
Mass space th ts further into
an
2 750 000 kg and ev ever before
e
Mars. Rentually to
ad
on page more
70.
FALCON 9
USA (private)
Used
2010present
Height
70 m
Mass
541 000 kg Big Ben Statue of
96 m Liberty
93 m

FAST FACT
The Falcon 9 launches
the Dragon capsule,
the rst private space
capsule to deliver
cargo to the ISS. It
is currently being
tested as a man-
ned spacecraft
launcher.
PICTURES: NASA; L3 BY EBS08/ CC BY-SA 3.0; GRAPHIC NEWS; NASA

Rugby
posts

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 17

 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
Rockets launch spacecraft
in several stages.

FIRST STAGE

LIFTOFF!
Four smaller, very powerful booster
rockets and a central rocket are all
ignited at the same time. They burn
the propellants liquid oxygen and
kerosene in the combustion chambers
at high velocity which forces the rocket
Heres how a rocket launches to launch in the opposite direction
skyward. Once the four booster rockets
a capsule into space . . . have used up all their fuel, they are no
longer necessary. They are discarded
SOYUZ ROCKET and fall back to Earth in an isolated
SOYUZ AT A GLANCE 50 m AND CAPSULE and uninhabited area.
The Soyuz DURATION
SPEED MASS CREW is the hard-
est working 2 minutes
rocket of all- ALTITUDE
305 40 m time with 984 40 km
successful
1 931 km/h tons three launches
in one min to date.

S
30 m
PACECRAFT are not powerful
enough to travel beyond
Earths atmosphere on their
own, so a rocket blasts them 20 m
into space. Rockets are power-
ful machines that can break free from
Earths gravity to reach outer space.
There are two kinds of spacecraft able Human
to carry humans: capsules and space- 10 m to scale
planes. Capsules are launched on top of a
rocket, while planes can be launched in oth-
er ways. For example, the Space Shuttle
planes were attached to the side of rockets
(see page 42) and SpaceShip Two, a plane 0m
that will soon start taking tourists into
space (read more on page 72) is launched
by a second plane, White Knight.
Right now the only way astronauts can
get to the International Space Station,
(ISS) is with a Russian Soyuz (saw-yooz)
capsule which launches on top of a Soyuz
rocket. It takes about nine minutes to
reach space and six hours to get to the
ISS. Take a look at the Soyuz rocket.
PICTURES: NASA/BILL INGALLS; NASA/MIKE DORFFLER

18 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFTOFF!
GRID FINS
SECOND STAGE Part of the launch escape
system (see box below).
The central rocket contin-
When the system activates ESCAPE
ues to re and sends the TOWER
craft into space. Once it has the grid aps open and help
steer the capsule to safety. Discarded
used up all its fuel, it is also at 40 km
discarded and burns up in
Earths atmosphere. Fins Fins
closed open
DURATION
3 minutes
ALTITUDE
170 km

CAPSULE
At launch the capsule is
covered by protective
fairing (type of shield)
which is cast o in the
second stage.

RETURN TO EARTH
After leaving the 1
space station
the Soyuz cap-
sule takes three
and a half hours
to land back on
THIRD STAGE Earth (capsules
Two seconds before the second- such as Apollo
stage parts are discarded, the used to splash
engines of the third stage of the into the sea). A
rocket are ignited. At 220 km the landing capsule
spacecraft separates from the in water or on
third stage. It deploys antennas the ground
always deploys 2
and solar panels and sets o for
the ISS. parachutes to
help it descend
DURATION more slowly. The
4 minutes Soyuz also res
jets immediately
ALTITUDE before landing
220 km (image 1) to help
reduce the force
of the impact
WHAT HAPPENS IN AN EMERGENCY? (image 2).

An emergency on board may be

The Apollo pro- either a re or an explosion.
gramme launch B If it happens at lifto, the crew can
escape system escape in a small rocket called an
at work escape tower which grabs the crew
section and descends to the ground.
This is called the launch escape
system. It only works up to an altitude
of 40 km. If not used it drops o and
lands in an isolated area.
B If an emergency happens in the
second stage, the spacecraft can
separate from the rocket, deploy
parachutes and land on the ground.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 19

American astronaut Harrison
Schmitt and a rover next to
a lunar boulder during the
Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Apollo missions brought
back 382 kg of lunar
samples that are still
being studied today.

20 |
JOURNEY TO
THE MOON

PICTURE: NASA/EUGENE CERNAN

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 21

POOR LITTLE LAIKA
Meet the mutt who was the So they decided to first send animals
rst animal to travel into orbit into space to test flight safety. SPUTNIK 2
Laika was not the first dog in space,
but she was the first dog to orbit (circle) Meaning
Earth. She was found on the streets of name Satellite
about a week before she was due to lift- Country USSR
off and trained quickly for instance,
she had to learn to eat her gel-like food Length 4m
in space. Diameter 2m
On 3 November 1957 Laika, who
weighed about 6 kg, was transported Period 1957-1958
into space in her own sealed cabin Manned
anned missions 0
attached to the spacecraft Sputnik 2.
She was secured with a harness
which allowed her some movement, Launch rocket
she had access to food and water and a Sputnik rocket
bag was attached to her to collect her
waste. Electrodes were attached to her DOG HOUSE
body which transmitted information The enclosure
about her heart rate, blood pressure in which Laika
and breathing back to Earth. travelled. The
Laika What happened next is not quite sphere on top
Date of birth Unknown clear. Everyone knew Laika would die is the satellite.
during the fl ight it was all arranged
flight
Breed Mongrel so quickly engineers didnt have time
Age during mission About three to design a system that could bring her
back safely. Across the world people
Gender Female were furious with the Soviets for sacri-
Date of launch 3 November 1957 ficing the little dog, who in America had
ficing
been nicknamed Muttnik.
Owner She was a stray
At the time the Soviet Union claimed
Death 3 November 1957 that after four days, just before her oxy-
Panic and overheating gen would run out, Laika was put to
sleep and passed away peacefully. But

S
in 2002 the true story came out: she
HE was just a scruffy little died within hours of launch from panic MASS
mongrel who lived on the and overheating in temperatures of
streets of Moscow, capital about 40 C.
of the then Soviet Union, but In 2008 a monument for Laika was 508
she captured hearts all over erected in Moscow where she stands kg
the world and became so famous that proudly on a rocket.
today she has her own monument.
But she had to pay a very, very high
price for her fame . . . Did you know?
It was 1957 and the Soviet Union was Soviet scientists chose to
ahead in the Space Race (the competi- use Moscow stray dogs as
tion between the Soviet Union and the
United States for supremacy in space- they assumed such animals
flight capability). The Soviet Union had had already learnt to endure
just successfully launched Sputnik 1, conditions of extreme cold
the worlds first satellite (an object that and hunger.
orbits a planet or star). Next they want-
ed to send a person into space but they
had no idea how safe it would be
could a human survive the incredible LEFT: The Laika monu-
force and shuddering launch of a space-
craft? And what would the effect of ment in Moscow was
weightlessness be on the human body? unveiled in 2008.

22 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 JOURNEY TO THE MOON

FIRST MAN IN SPACE

P
Russia picked Yuri Gagarin OYEKHALI! Off we go! With
for the rst spaceight these words Soviet cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin shot into the sky
in his Vostok and became the
first person ever to fly into
space and orbit Earth.
He was very calm, but back on the
ground the Vostok developer Sergei
Korolev was so nervous he had to be
given tranquillisers. It was a highly dan-
gerous mission so dangerous Gagarin
left a letter for his wife Valentina saying
it was unlikely he would return.
Fortunately she never received the
letter because the mission turned out to
be a huge success, turning Gagarin into
an overnight celebrity. After the flight
he toured the world and even had lunch
with Queen Elizabeth.
I see Earth it is so beautiful, Gaga-
rin radioed as he sped over Siberia and
Japan. And 108 minutes later the orbit
Yuri Gagarin was complete, the capsule started to
Date of birth 9 March 1934 descend and seven kilometres above
Earth, Gagarin ejected from the space-
Age during mission 27 craft and parachuted down while the
Height 1,57 m capsule crashed to the ground.
Gagarin, an air force pilot, was
Date of launch 12 April 1961 known to be incredibly focused. This
Occupation Pilot and his quick reactions were two quali-
ties that secured him the opportunity
Death 27 March 1967 to take the first spaceflight. His short
Aircraft crash stature also helped at 1,57 m tall, he
was one of few who could actually fit
into the tiny Vostok capsule.
Yelena Gagarina, one of his two
daughters, described her father as out-
going and a keen sportsman. He was
also modest and a brilliant mathemati-
cian and he had a smile that lit up the
Cold War, said Korolev, who was lead
Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft
designer in the Space Race.
Gagarin began military flight training
in 1955 at age 21 and in 1960 he was se-
lected for the Soviet space programme.
Officially, America congratulated the
Soviet Union on the historic milestone.
Unofficially, they were annoyed that the
Russians were first to put a human in
space. They were also concerned that
the Soviets could now launch nuclear
weapons from space.
Gagarin never made another space-
flight authorities decided he was too
valuable to be exposed to such danger.
Ironically, he died while on a routine
training flight on 27 March 1968 when
his MiG-15 fighter plane crashed in the
Russian town of Kirzhach. He was just
34 years old.
When Americans Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin became the first
people on the moon in 1969, they left
behind a satchel with medals com-
memorating, among others, Gagarin.
(Turn over)

VOSTOK 1 ANTENNA SERVICE MODULE

Used for communication. Contained equipment and
burned up in the atmos-
Meaning of name East phere during descent
Country USSR after detaching from the
descent module.
Length 6,7 m
Diameter 2,3 m Yuri Gagarin
inside the WHIP
Period 1961-1963 Vostok 1 ANTENNAS
Manned missions 6 spacecraft. Used for
communication.

Launch rocket
Vostok rocket
MASS

7,1
PICTURES: COLLECT; AAI/FOTO-

DESCENT MODULE
STOCK; NASA; GRAPHIC NEWS

This round ball

detached from the AIR tons
main spacecraft when Oxygen and nitrogen
it re-entered the tanks used for life RETRO
Earths atmosphere. support. ENGINE
Used to get
out of orbit.
THE MERCURY MEN
The United States rst man-
in-space programme turned
its astronauts into stars
Alan Shepard
Date of birth 18 November 1923
Age during mission 37
Height 1,57 m
Date of launch 5 May 1961
Occupation Naval aviator
Death 21 July 1998
Leukaemia
O
N A fresh spring day in April
1958 seven unknown men
were introduced to the
American public at a media
conference and became
overnight stars.
Theey were known as the Mercury
Seven and they had just been chosen as
the astronauts who would take Ameri-
ca into the age of human space travel.
The media loved them and they quickly
became celebrities.
No wonder Project Mercury was
Americas first man-in-space pro-
gramme and lasted from 1961 to 1963.
The projects aim was to orbit a
manned spacecraft around Earth, to
investigate how humans function in
space and to get both astronaut and
spacecraft back to Earth safely.
ALAN SHEPARD
Of the seven, World War 2 veteran Alan
Shepard eventually became the first
American in space. Like all the Mercury
astronauts he had to follow a specific
24 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
diet for three days before the launch to
minimise his need for the toilet while MERCURY
in space. Attached to his body during
the flight were chest electrodes to re- Country USA
cord his heart rhythm, a cuff to take his Length 3,3 m
blood pressure and a rectal thermome-
ter to record his temperature. He had Diameter 1,9 m
water to drink and food pellets to eat. Period 1958-1963
But the ground crew took so long be-
fore liftoff he had to urinate in his space- Manned missions 6
suit. The crew switched off power to his
suit to prevent the urine short-circuiting
Launch rocket
the sensors. No wonder the Mercury as-
Mercury-Redstone
tronauts reported hygiene as one of the later Mercury-Atlas
main problems they had to deal with!
At last Shepard took off on his histor-
ic 15-minute suborbital (above 100 km)
flight. The date was 5 May 1961 23
days after Russias Yuri Gagarin became
PORTHOLE
the first person in space.
After the trip Shepard was grounded
The only view
the astronauts
for years because of an inner ear disor- had was through
der called Mnires disease that causes this tiny window.
dizziness and nausea. This probably
saved his life as he was hoping to be
commander of the fi rst Apollo flight
first flight in
1967, in which all three astronauts died
in an accident during a test run (see
page 56).). Mercury Seven member Gus
Grissom was not so lucky and died in
the Apollo 1 disaster.
Eventually Shepards ear disorder
was cured by an operation and in 1971
he became the only Mercury astronaut
to ever walk on the moon where he
even managed to hit two golf balls!
JOHN GLENN
Shepard may have been the fi first
rst Ameri-
can in space, but the greatest Mercury
celebrity turned out to be John Glenn,
a military pilot. MASS
He undertook the third Mercury
mission but first
first US orbital flight
flight on 20
February 1962 and circled Earth three 1,4
five hours. But once
times in less than five
again the Americans thunder had been tons
stolen by the Soviets just six months
earlier cosmonaut Gherman Titov
spent a full day in orbit. Last Mercury man
Glenn later swopped astronautics
for politics and served several terms as As of April 2016, 94-year-old
a US senator. In 1998, at the age of 77, John Glenn was the only Mer-
he made another space trip this time cury Seven member still alive.
aboard the Space Shuttle. He persuaded And, at 37 in 1958, he was also
NASA to allow him on board so tests the oldest in the programme.
could be conducted on the effects of Hes still married to his high-
weightlessness on older people. school sweetheart Annie.
 JOURNEY TO THE MOON

TIME FOR A WALK

At last humans could travel to space
now it was time to take a few steps
VOSKHOD
Meaning of name Dawn
Alexei Leonov Country USSR
Date of birth 30 May 1934 Crew 2-3
Age during mission 30 Length 5m
Date of launch 18 March 1965 Diameter 3,4 m
Occupation Fighter pilot Period 1964-1965
Status Retired Manned missions 2

Launch rocket
Voskhod rocket

GEMINI
Country USA
Crew 2
Length 5,61 m
Diameter 3m
Period 1965-1966
Manned missions 10
Alexei Leonov
photographed while
Launch rocket
performing the rst Titan II
spacewalk in history

T
HE Mercury and Vostok But first they had to suffer the humil- While he was completing his 20-
missions proved humans could iation of missing the opportunity to minute EVA (extra-vehicular activity,
go to space. But scientists still do the first spacewalk in history. The as spacewalks are called in astronautic
had a lot to learn before they Soviets had heard the Americans were terms) his spacesuit had expanded be-
could confidently send anyone planning a spacewalk and decided to cause of the pressure of the air inside it,
to the moon. There were so many ques- beat them to it. So when Voskhod 2 and he could not fit back through the
tions still be answered. What would reached orbit on 18 March 1965, cos- capsule hatch! He eventually managed
happen when astronauts spent a few monaut Alexei Leonov opened the to release air from inside his suit and
days in space? How could hatch of the tiny capsule could get back into the Voskhod.
they safely exit the space- Im coming back and floated into emptiness, On 3 June of the same year, it was
craft while up there? How with only an 1,8 m cable Americas turn Gemini 4 astronaut Ed
could two spacecraft in, and its the connecting him to the craft. White walked in space for 21 minutes.
dock (connect)? saddest moment It was so quiet I could He enjoyed it so much he had to be
Both the Soviet Union of my life hear my heart beat, he told ordered back into the spacecraft!
and America developed the UKs Guardian newspa- Sadly White died 18 months later in
programmes to refine Astronaut Ed White as per last year during the 50th the Apollo 1 disaster (see page 56).
these techniques. The he ended his spacewalk anniversary of his walk. The Gemini project also accom-
Soviets used the Voskhod I was surrounded by stars plished other important firsts: spending
spacecraft which had space for two and was floating without much control. 14 days in space, two spacecraft flying
PICTURES: NASA; ADRIAN MANN; (FAI)

to three people, while the Americans
launched Project Gemini, where two
astronauts could travel at a time.
Project Gemini achieved much more
than the Voskhod programme and put
the Americans ahead in the Space Race.
I will never forget the moment. I also
felt an incredible sense of responsibility.
Of course, I did not know that I was
about to experience the most difficult
moments of my life getting back into
the capsule . . .
past each other in space and practising
docking techniques in orbit Gemini 8
linked up with the unmanned Agena
vehicle.
The homework was done. Next stop
the moon!
(Turn over)
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 25
THE SOYUZ CAPSULE
The Soyuz capsule has been ferrying astronauts
and cosmonauts into space for 49 years
SOYUZ
Meaning of name Union
the ISS at all times for use as an escape
spacecraft for the crew in the event of Country USSR/Russia
an emergency. Length 7,2 m
But back in the 1960s the Soyuz had
only one main goal: to eventually land a Diameter 2,2 m
human on the moon. While the famous Period 1966-present
engineer Wernher von Braun was per-
fecting the powerful Saturn V rocket in Manned missions 129
the United States, on the other side of
the world his Soviet counterpart Sergei
Korolev was developing the N1 rocket, Launch rocket
meant to send the Soyuz to the moon. Soyuz rocket
Unfortunately Korolev died in 1966
while the N1 was still in development,
with disastrous results for the pro-
gramme. From 1969 to 1972 the rocket
Mark Shuttleworth was launched four times on test flights DOCKING
Date of birth 18 September 1973 and all four times it blew up. The worst Docking mechanism
Age during mission 29 of these disasters occurred in 1969 used to attach the
during the second test flight when an Soyuz to other space-
Date of launch 25 April 2002 explosion destroyed not only the N1, craft and the space
Occupation Entrepreneur but a few surrounding buildings as well. station.
Development of the Soyuz mooncraft
was also plagued with technical set-

H
backs and not moving very quickly.
AVE you ever been to the In the end, when it became clear the
Cape Town Science Centre Americans had won the race to the
in Observatory? If you have moon, the Soviets abandoned their CREW
you would have seen the moon programme.
replica of a Soyuz capsule
donated by Mark Shuttleworth, our
own afronaut the first South
However it was not a complete fail-
ure another Soviet project called
Luna consisted of a series of unmanned
3
African and African to travel to space. spacecraft missions that, among other Soyuz can carry up to
Shuttleworth a billionaire entre- firsts, accomplished the first unmanned three crew members and
preneur who currently lives on the moon landing in 1959 and a month provide life support for
Isle of Man donated the replica to later took the first pictures of the far about 30 person days
the science centre after side of the moon (the side (10 days for three crew
his historic 2002 trip in a An experience like invisible from Earth). members or 15 days for
Soyuz to the International that changes your After the N1 disasters two members).
Space Station (ISS) where Soviet engineers turned
he spent eight days. perspective on life their attention to develop-
The Soyuz is sometimes and on the world ing a space laboratory If things go wrong
called the workhorse of and in 1971 they launched If we had a really bad day
space because it has un- Mark Shuttleworth Salyut 1, the worlds first
dertaken more than 100 space station. In 1986 up there, wed have had
space voyages over close to 50 years. Salyut 7 was replaced by the space depressurisation and had to
Considered the worlds safest and station Mir. In 1998 Mir was replaced come back home asap. The
most cost-effective human spacecraft, by the International Space Station. suits are designed to keep
it is currently the only way cosmonauts And who ferried the cosmonauts and us alive for about two hours,
and astronauts can travel to the ISS. astronauts to the floating bases in the which would hopefully be
A Soyuz trip to the space station can sky? Youve guessed it our old friend enough to get back into the
take between six hours and two days, Soyuz. Through the decades it has been atmosphere. Theres enough
depending on the mission plan, but it upgraded often and made far more so- oxygen to last a bit longer . . .
takes the craft just three hours to return phisticated, but it remains one of the Mark Shuttleworth 2002
to Earth. At least one Soyuz is docked at most hard-working vehicles in space.

26 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 JOURNEY TO THE MOON

ORBITAL MODULE
This module is the crews
living area during their
PACKED IN TIGHT mission and only used
Its pretty cramped inside the descent while in orbit.
module where the crew sit during launch
and the journey back to Earth. The maxi-
mum height and weight of each occupant
is 1,92 m and 94 kg.

DESCENT MODULE
This is the only part that
lands on Earth. Every-
thing else is jettisoned
(abandoned) and burns
PORTHOLE MASS up in the atmosphere.
A small window
allowing the
astronauts and 7,1
cosmonauts a
view of space. tons

PERISCOPE
Used during critical
moments in space
ight such as lining up
the capsule with the
ISS before docking.

KURS ANTENNA
Several of these
antennae are used
SOLAR PANELS to automatically INSTRUMENTATION
These unfold as soon dock with the ISS. AND SERVICE MODULE
as the spacecraft Solar panels are attached
is in orbit. They pro- to this module. It contains
PICTURES: NASA

vide power to all the instruments and engines.

electrical systems
on the Soyuz.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 27
 HELLO, MOON!
THE MOON AT A GLANCE
ORBIT SPEED ORBIT TEMP

E
3 680 27,3 -110 oC SEA OF
km/h days to 130 oC SHOWERS

S
ARISTARCHUS
CIENTISTS believe the moon CRATER
was once part of Earth they
theorise that a large object
collided with Earth about 4 bil-
lion years ago and broke off
large rocks that eventually melted to- OCEAN OF
gether to form the moon. KEPLER
STORMS CRATER
Gravity on the moon is about a fth of COPERNICUS
Earths so astronauts have to wear special CRATER
gear to prevent them oating away into
space. Thats why youll weigh about six
times less on the moon than on Earth! GRIMALDI
Over 100 spacecraft have been to CRATER
the moon, which is Earths only natural
satellite, and brought back rocks which
are still being studied. But we wont be
setting up home on the moon anytime
soon its weak atmosphere and lack of
water cannot support human, animal and SEA OF
plant life. MOISTURE
BYRGIUS SEA OF
CRATER CLOUDS

MOON VS EARTH
Some comparisons:

MOON EARTH

MOST FAMOUS
ONE YEAR ONE DAY MOON CRATER
When the moon is full,
Moon 27,3 days Moon 655,7 hours the mighty Tycho crater
Earth 365 days Earth 24 hours is one of its most eye-
catching features.
The moon Its 85 km wide.
ts neatly
into
Africa!
WEIGHT EXAMPLE HIGHEST POINT
Moon 7,5 kg Moon 10 786 m
Earth 45 kg Earth 8 848 m

28 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 JOURNEY TO THE MOON
SEAS AND CRATERS

PICTURES: NASA, WIKIPEDIA; GREGORY H. REVERA/ CC BY-SA 3.0

From Earth we always see the same LARGEST MOONS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
side of the moon. Notice the dark
GANYMEDE TITAN CALLISTO IO MOON EUROPA TRITON
patches and craters? The patches, Jupiter Saturn Jupiter Jupiter Earth Jupiter Neptune
called seas, are expanses of smooth
ancient lava. The craters were formed
by meteors crashing into the moon,
which has no atmosphere to protect it.

Of the 146 known

natural satellites in our
solar system, the moon
384 472,28 km is the fth largest.

COOL COLOURS
The moons normal colour is
grey (left) but sometimes
it can look quite dierent.
SEA OF
SERENITY BLOOD MOON
When Earth passes between
the moon and the sun, a lunar
eclipse occurs. But Earths
SEA OF atmosphere extends around
TRANQUILITY the planet so some sunlight
still shines through, turning
the moon red.

SEA OF BLUE MOON

CRISES Sometimes dust and smoke
in our air after huge res or
a volcanic eruption can make
ONE GIANT STEP the moon appear blue. And
The spot where if there are four full moons
US astronauts SEA OF instead of the normal three
Neil Armstrong FERTILITY within a period of three months,
and Buzz Aldrin
became the rst the fourth full moon is called
humans to walk on a blue moon it happens on
the moon in 1969. average every 2,7 years.
Their footprints can
remain for thousands
of years because
theres no erosion SEA TIDES
on the moon. CRUST The moons gravity pulls the
Silicate
ocean water up on the side of
rocks
MOON the Earth closest to the moon.
Because its also pulling the
MAKE-UP RIGID MANTLE Earth closer the ocean water
Rocks containing on the opposite side of the
iron and planet is also higher.
magnesium
MOON
NON-RIGID
MANTLE HIGH
NUMBER OF Partially melted TIDE
HUMANS TO
SET FOOT ON OUTER CORE LOW
THE MOON Melted iron TIDE

12
INNER CORE
Iron and nickel

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 29


MAN ON
THE MOON!
The Apollo space programme started off
with an unthinkable tragedy, but ended in
triumph for the whole planet
I
N THE early 1960s the
Americanswerebecom-
ing pretty concerned.
The Cold War had been
raging for more than a
decade, spearheaded by the
two superpowers: the United
States of America in the west
and the Soviet Union in the east.
And in the Space Race the Soviets were in
the lead.
By 1961 they had already put a satellite
into space and sent a dog and a person
into orbit. This meant they could also
launch a military attack from space. They
were also at least two years ahead of the
US in the race to reach the moon . . .
President John F Kennedy promised
30 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
Then John F Kennedy be-
came US president and
gave his support to the
plan to reach the moon.
I believe that this nation
should commit itself to
achieving the goal, before
this decade is out, of landing
a man on the moon and return-
ing him safely to Earth, he told Con-
gress (the American parliament) on
25 May 1961.
Soon the whole country had moon
fever. Cape Canaveral in Florida, where
rocket launches took place, became a
popular tourist destination. Space
became the greatest show on Earth and
the astronauts became overnight
celebrities.
At NASA engineers, pilots and man-
agers worked non-stop to achieve the
goal Kennedy had promised the
American people. They called it Pro-
ject Apollo: the third American hu-
man spaceflight programme and the
one that was destined to take Ameri-
cans to the moon.
Americans the moon in 1961.
APOLLO 1
Then the unthinka-
ble happened . . .
In January 1967
the first three Apollo
astronauts were doing tests in the
Apollo 1 cabin when a fire broke out.
Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed
White all died without leaving Earth
(read the full story on page 56).
An inquiry showed that because
of the tremendous pressure to get to
the moon before 1970, NASA had
become lax about safety features.
And the moon landing schedule was
set back by almost a year as engi-
neers started redesigning Apollo to
make it safer.
APOLLO 7
A few unmanned
Apollo flights fol-
lowed, but it was 21
months before a
manned Apollo eventually left Earth
on 11 October 1968. During the
11-day flight there were arguments
between the crew and ground staff
about the amount of work the astro-
nauts had. All three crew members
also developed head colds which is
difficult to deal with in space as the
lack of gravity prevents fluid from
draining out of the sinuses. Still, the
orbital flight was a technical suc-
cess, proving Apollo was ready for
the next step.
APOLLO 8
Then came news
from Americas spies
that the Soviets
were planning to
orbit the moon before the end of
1968 it was decided the next Apol-
lo mission would head straight to
the moon. Apollo 8 was a triumph.
It flew off propelled by the monster
rocket Saturn V, then the most pow-
erful launch vehicle on Earth.
The three crew members, Frank
Borman, James Lovell and William
PICTURES: NASA; NASA/R. BRUNEAU
Anders, returned safely after becom-
ing the first people to see Earth as a
whole planet, first to see the far side
of the moon (part that cannot be
seen from Earth), and first to wit-
ness an Earthrise (the Earth rising
over the moons horizon).

APOLLO 11
Astronauts were as-
signed to specic mis-
sions months ahead,
so when it was decided Apollo 11 would
land on the moon, the ight crew ear-
marked for the mission could hardly
believe their luck.
Commander Neil Armstrong was
supported by ight crew Buzz Aldrin
and Michael Collins (see box right).
Lifto was set for 16 July 1969 and
more than a million people arrived at
Cape Canaveral to watch; people even
slept in the streets.
All over the world people were glued
to their TV sets. In South Africa there
was no TV yet so those who had them
were glued to their radios. Everyone
wanted to be part of history in the
making.
When NASA public relations ocer
Jack King had nished the countdown
and announced, Lifto! We have a lift-
o! the enormous tower took o into
the sky, with re and smoke billowing
from its base. Such was its power that
the windows of Mission Control at the
Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Center
rattled.
The moment the world had been
waiting for had arrived. First the space-
craft ew one and a half times around
Earth.Then the engine ignited to break
free of Earths gravity and set Apollo
on course for the moon.
On 19 July it was time to re up the
service propulsion system to slow the
spacecraft so it could be captured
by the moons gravity. Thats when
APOLLO 11 CREW
NEIL ARMSTRONG (left) (1930-2012)
LEFT: Apollo 11 lifts off. ABOVE: was a ghter pilot in the Korean War in
A picture of Buzz Aldrin on the the 1950s and later became a test pilot
moon taken by Neil Armstrong.
(a pilot who ies an aircraft to test its
performance). After Apollo 11 he retired
from NASA and became a university
professor and later a businessman.
the journey into the real unknown
began . . . MICHAEL COLLINS (middle) (85), the
Go for undocking, flight director command module pilot, left NASA in
Gene Krantz ordered from Mission Con-
trol in Houston on 20 July. The Eagle, as
1970 and became undersecretary of
the Smithsonian Institute in Washing-
the lunar module was called, separated ton, the worlds largest museum and
from Columbia, the mother ship. Inside research complex. In 1985 he started
were Armstrong and Aldrin. Collins re- an aerospace consulting rm, Michael
mained behind on Columbia. Collins Associates, but is now retired.
Go for landing, Krantz said. Around
him it was dead quiet in Mission Control BUZZ ALDRIN (86), the lunar module
as everyone held their breath. pilot, was the only astronaut with a
Then they heard Armstrongs voice, doctorate (in astronautics). After leav-
The Eagle has landed! ing NASA in 1971 he became command-
In Mission Control the engineers er of the US Air Forces test pilot
could breathe again. Aldrin leaned over school. Since his retirement he has
and gave Armstrong a pat on the back. been working hard to keep America at
People cheered all over the world. the forefront of space exploration.
Armstrong climbed down the Eagles
step ladder and uttered the now fa-
mous words, One small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind. Apollos last ight was in July
Then the two men planted an Ameri- 1975 when an Apollo and a Soyuz
capsule docked (connected) in
can ag on the moon and answered a space. BELOW: Astronaut Deke
phone call from US president Richard Slayton (left) and cosmonaut
Nixon. They took a number of now fa- Alexei Leonov visited each others
mous photographs, including one of the spacecraft. BOTTOM: An artists
rst human footprint on the moon (see impression of the docking.
the boot print picture on page 10).
After spending just under 22 hours
on the moon surface, collecting rocks
and soil and leaving behind a commem-
orative plaque and other mementos,
the two astronauts prepared to leave.
Again the world held its breath . . .
would the Eagle be able to lift o suc-
cessfully? Or would Collins be forced to
return to Earth alone?
But everything went according to
plan, the Eagle took oo,, latched onto
Columbia, and all three crew members
returned home safely on 24 July to
heroes welcomes and places in history
books.
THE MOON
MACHINE
Take a look at the famous Apollo COMMAND MODULE
The only part of the Apollo
spacecraft and its super powerful craft that returned to Earth. It
Saturn rocket was covered with a protective
heat shield material which
helped it withstand the
heat of re-entering Earths
APOLLO AT A GLANCE atmosphere.
HEIGHT CREW MASS

45,2
16,6 m three tons

O
NLY 24 astronauts have
own the 400 000 km to
the moon and of those ENGINE
only 12 walked on its sur- NOZZLE
face. They all travelled in The nozzle for
the Apollo spacecraft, which had the capsules
three parts: the command and ser- main engine,
vice modules (CSM) and the lunar which propelled
module. Once in moon orbit, the lu- it through space.
nar module took two astronauts to
the moon surface while the third SERVICE MODULE
crew member circled the moon in Provided life support systems and
the CSM. The top half of the lunar power for the crew and housed the
module (ascent stage) later re- crafts main engine.
turned the two astronauts to the
CSM. On the way back to Earth the
lunar module and service module FUEL TANKS ASTRONAUTS
were discarded and the command Supplied fuel to the The crew stayed in the com-
module with the three astronauts main engine. mand module for most of their
journey to and from the moon.
splashed down into the sea.

SATURN V ROCKET
The Apollo astronauts were blasted into space inside the nose cone of the largest rocket to
date to ever y into space: Saturn V. Nearly 111 m high, the Saturn V was as tall as a 30-storey
building. This giant launch vehicle consisted of three rockets in one. The rst two stages
(parts) lifted the Apollo craft into space. The third stage set the craft on course for the moon.
PICTURES: JASON HARDING/DORLING KINDERSLEY; NASA

FIRST STAGE INTERSTAGE SECOND THIRD STAGE LUNAR SERVICE COMMAND

Contained a tank of ADAPTOR STAGE Reached MODULE MODULE MODULE
kerosene fuel and a Linked the low-Earth orbit Housed in This module Astronauts
tank of liquid oxygen. rockets rst and then set an aluminium powered the stayed
The ve engines two stages. Apollo on course cone, it was Apollo craft. here during
burned 15 tons of fuel for the moon. used for launch.
per second during the moon
launch. landing.
 JOURNEY TO THE MOON
THERE AND BACK The trip from Earth The Apollo landing
11 to the moon took sites were on the
The six Apollo missions that 10
1 about three days. side of the moon
landed men on the moon 1 5 that faces Earth.
lifto
took the same route: lifto
from Florida in the US, to 12
the moon then splashdown 2 7
in the Pacic Ocean. 9 8
3 4
1 Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo blasts o
and positions the craft in Earths orbit.
6
2 The rockets third stage and the Apollo craft 7 The third crew member continues
leave Earths orbit and head towards the moon. to orbit the moon in the CSM.
3 The combined command and service 8 The lunar module leaves the moon and takes the
module (CSM) throws o the rocket. astronauts back to the CSM. It is then discarded.
4 The CSM separates from the lunar module, 9 The CSM adjusts its course and heads back to Earth.
turns around and then reattaches.
reattaches.
10 The service module is thrown o
o..
5 The Apollo craft adjusts its course to go
into lunar orbit. 11 The command module enters Earths atmosphere.
6 The lunar module carries two astronauts to 12 The command module makes a parachute landing in the sea.
the moon surface.

THRUSTERS ASCENT STAGE LEGS AND PADS

Small thrusters made This part of the lunar Flexible legs with
ne adjustments to module housed the astro- wide pads on the
the Apollo space- nauts while they explored bottom made the
crafts movements. the moon and it took moon landing softer
them back to the CSM. and kept the craft
stable on the surface.

LEG LADDER
Astronauts used
the ladder on a leg
to climb down to
the moon surface.
DESCENT STAGE
The ascent stage (top half)
of the lunar module
launched from this stage
(bottom half) to get back
to the Apollo. The descent
stage remained on the
moon.
DESCENT
ENGINE
This engine was used
to slow down the lunar
modules descent during
landing.
MAN ON
THE MOON
The lunar module was the
only part of the Apollo craft
SENSING PROBE to reach the moons surface.
Probes on the legs Preprogrammed controls
touched the ground manoeuvred it into position
rst during landing above the landing site, then
and sent signals to an astronaut steered the craft
shut down the engine. to touchdown. Scientic
equipment, a TV camera, tools
and storage boxes for rock
FUEL TANK collecting were all stored in
This tank contained the bottom half of the module.
fuel for the lunar
modules descent
engine.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 33

THE MOON
BUGGY
The Lunar Roving Vehicle is one of the
Astronaut
Eugene Cernan
takes the
Apollo 17 lunar
rover for a spin.
many vehicles to have explored the moon In 1972 he was
the last man
on the moon.

THE ROVER AT A GLANCE

SPEED EARTH MOON
WEIGHT WEIGHT

Top speed 210 35

14 km/h kg kg

T
HE moon may be a desolate
place, but it has no shortage of
vehicles . . .
Currently there are three
American moon buggies on the
surface, as well as two Russian ones and
one from China. A Japanese one is expect-
ed to arrive in 2017 and one from India in
2018.
The US Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRVs)
were transported by the last three
manned Apollo moon ights in 1971 and
1972 and were unpacked on the moon
from the Apollo lunar module.The Russian
Lunokhods (translates to Moonwalker)
were transported by the unmanned Luna
craft in 1970 and 1973.
The LRVs, which are no longer opera-
tional, were small electric cars with four
wheels and powered by batteries. They
could carry one or two astronauts, plus
their equipment and any samples they
gathered.They were built for NASA by the
well-known aircraft company Boeing.
Astronauts could visit sites up to 8 km CREW
away and take rock samples in a much

2
wider area so scientists could get a better
understanding of the moons surface.

SIZE COMPARISON
The Apollo lunar
rovers were infor- Isuzu 4x4
mally called moon
buggies because
they resembled
1,1 m

beach buggies in
shape and size.
3,1 m 1,9 m
 JOURNEY TO THE MOON
SIMPLE TO CONTROL
The rover was Reverse button High-gain antenna
controlled by (pictures & data) 16 mm movie
a T-shaped camera
joystick that S-band antenna
astronauts Left Fwd (tracking &
could operate communication)
with one
hand. Brake Right SCOOP
Used to
collect soil
samples
Map
holder

TV CAMERA Commanders
Remotely seat
controlled by
Mission Control
on Earth.

COMMUNICATIONS
The drivers could use
this communications Seatbelts
device to keep in Computers, Seat storage
touch with Mission electronics, radiators bags
Control on Earth. and batteries

TOUGH TYRES
The 23 cm wide
WIRE MESH
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED tyre is made up
of zinc-coated
BUMP STOP
PICTURES: NASA; NASA/DAVE SCOTT; TYROL5 OWN WORK, CC BY-SA 3.0

Below are the distances covered by various woven steel

vehicles that roamed the moon. strands. Titanium Stops the
chevron mesh from
(v-shaped pat- damaging
LUNOKHOD 2, USSR 39 km tern) treads the rim
cover 50 %
APOLLO 17 ROVER, USA 35,7 km of the contact
area, providing
traction. They are
designed to drive ELECTRIC
APOLLO 15 ROVER, USA 27,8 km MOTOR
up to 180 km.

APOLLO 16 ROVER, USA 27,1 km CROSS-

SECTION TITANIUM
OF WHEEL CHEVRON
10,5 km LUNOKHOD 1, USSR TREADS
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 35
SUIT UP!
A spacesuit is like a tiny spaceship for one
it provides air to breathe, air conditioning,
water to drink and even a built-in loo!
S
PACE is an unfriendly place
with lots of dangers in an en-
vironment vastly different
from ours on Earth. Space-
suits are designed very care-
fully to protect crew members who
have to venture out of a spacecraft on
spacewalks.
WHATWILL HAPPEN TO YOUR BODY
IN SPACE WITHOUT A SPACESUIT?
Lack of oxygen will cause you to pass
out within 15 seconds. Even worse:
HOW THE SPACESUIT PROTECTS
It has an undergarment with
special tubes that circulate water
throughout the suit to help cool
the body and prevent overheating.
The suit has many dierent layers
made from dierent materials to
help regulate temperature and
protect against space dust and
debris and shield the body from
radiation.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO EAT, DRINK
AND SPEAK ON A SPACEWALK?
Yes, it is. A water bag is built into
the front of the suit from which water
can be sipped through a tube. There
is also a pocket for a cereal bar which
the astronaut can pull up into his or her
mouth. The whole bar has to be eaten at
once to prevent crumbs oating inside
the helmet. A microphone and earphones
are attached to a cap under the helmet.
36 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
your blood and other body fluids will
bubble because of lack of air pressure.
Your skin, heart and other internal
organs will expand because of the bub-
bling blood and youll swell to twice
your size!
Temperatures vary vastly from
120 C in the sun to minus 120 C in the
shade. You could also be killed by tiny
flying dust particles that can strike at
a speed of 27 000 km per hour. Then
theres the danger of damaging ultra-
violet and cosmic rays . . .
Enough oxygen for more than
seven hours (as well as half an
hour backup) is contained in a
special life-support backpack.
The visor on the helmet is coated
with thin gold foil that helps to
protect the eyes from radiation
and the suns rays. The white col-
our of the suit also helps to reect
heat from the suns rays.
WHAT IF THE ASTRONAUT
NEEDS TO GO TO THE LOO?
Spacewalks can last up to seven hours,
and if astronauts want to go to the
toilet they cant simply rush back to the
ISS. So the rst garment he or she puts
on when dressing for the spacewalk,
is a Maximum Absorbent Garment
(MAG). That is just a fancy word for a
nappy! The MAG can absorb both urine
and poop and is pulled on like pants.
 JOURNEY
GATEWAY
TO THE
TO MOON
SPACE

TOP SUITS
ESCAPE SUITS EVA SUITS
Worn in the Worn during
spacecraft during spacewalks
lifto and (EVAs)
landing

This suit has been discontinued

since the end of the Space
Shuttle programme.

ACES EMU
(Space Shuttles (American Extra-
Advanced Crew vehicular Mobility
Escape Suit) Unit)

SOKOL-KV-2 ORLAN-MK
Worn inside Soyuz (Russian space-
(Russian) walk suit)

On
es
pa
ce
R su
i
MI 18 t costs ab
LL 0 out
PICTURES: NASA; JOHNSON SPACE CENTER;PIXELSQUID

IO
N
SHENZHOU IVA FEITIAN
Inside Shenzhou (Chinese space-
craft (Chinese) walk suit)

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 37

 Camera

THE SUPER VISOR

Gold-foiled visor
for sun protection

SPACESUIT
Lets take a look at the EMU,
IN-SUIT DRINK BAG (IDB)
A tube leads from the plastic
water-lled pouch inside the HUT
to keep astronauts hydrated.

NASAs clothing system OVER AND OUT

Communication system
designed for spacewalks with microphone

THE EMU SPACESUIT DISPLAY AND

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit CONTROL MODULE
(EMU) has been used since 1981 and The astronaut can Push
is still worn by astronauts on the ISS. control oxygen, cooling, to talk
radio and other systems.
The EMU components include Labels are written in Display
1 Undergarments reverse so they can intensity
2 Hard Upper Torso (HUT) Assembly read them with a mirror control
3 Arm sections placed on their wrist.
Volume
4 Gloves controls
5 Soft Lower Torso Assembly (LTA)
6 Extravehicular Visor Assembly
7 Primary Life Support System
GLOVES
The gloves have
miniature heaters
in every nger.
6

6
1
They are coated to
2 allow for better grip.

3 It contains special
material to keep MASS
4 hands warm.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED 178

Why are the suits white? kg on
5 White helps to reect the suns heat. Earth
7 Temperatures in direct sunlight in
space can be more than 135 C.
Why does the suit have a red stripe?
The EMUS 13 layers of material Some have red stripes, others have
consist of candy cane stripes and some have
B Inner cooling garment with two no stripes at all this helps the other
layers containing water tubes to astronauts and Mission Control on
keep the body cool. Earth to distinguish the spacewalkers
B Pressure garment with two layers from one another.
that keep the suit lled with air. What is the Maximum Absorbency
B Thermal micrometeoroid garment Garment (MAG)?
that contains eight layers to This is the astronauts nappy. Its
protect against space dust and worn during lifto, landing and
other objects. spacewalks.
B One waterproof and re-resistant
outer layer.

38 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 JOURNEY TO THE MOON

PICTURES: SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM; KATHRYN SULLIVAN GLOVES; JPG BY CRAIGBOY/CC BY-SA 3.0
LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM BACKPACK THE Z-2: SUIT OF TOMORROW
NASAs Z-2 spacesuit, currently in
development, has been designed to
Seconday oxygen tank be worn on Mars, the moon, possibly
Contains an emergency other planets and for spacewalks.
half-hour supply
BUBBLE HELMET REAR-ENTRY HATCH
Water tank The visor allows The astronaut slips
For cooling system for better visibility. into the suit as if it
Communications radio were a spacecraft
(see diagram below).
Battery
For electrical power
Primary oxygen tank
Contains oxygen for
seven hours
Suit
pressure
gauge

SUIT LAYERS
The many
various layers
of the EMU suit.
Cooling DRESSIN
control
TIME G
Oxygen It takes
Control 15 minut
to put on es
t
entire su he LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
it. Carbon dioxide (CO2) will be
continuously removed from the
Oxygen breathing air, doing away with
out the current canisters containing
CO2-absorbing compounds.
Oxygen
in
EASY ACCESS
The Z-2s suit port
THE LOWER allows astronauts
TORSO ASSEMBLY to slide directly from
The pants, boots and a pressurised vehicle
lower half of the waist into the spacesuit (see
closure. A waist bearing diagram below). The
helps the astronaut inner hatch cover and
move and turn and a portable life support sys-
metal seal closure tem (right) are removed
connects the lower torso to get into the suit.
to the hard upper torso.

How the
astonaut
will enter
LUNAR BOOTS the suit
The boots have an
insulated toe cap
to retain heat.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 39

Astronauts, wearing Extra
vehicular Mobility Units
(spacewalk suits), during
a spacewalk outside the
International Space Station.
Look at that view of Earth!

40 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

LIFE IN
SPACE

PICTURE: NASA

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 41

REMARKABLE
AND REUSABLE
The Space Shuttle was the king
of space travel for 30 years PAYLOAD BAY
Could carry cargo
up to 16 000 kg
to the ISS.
THE SHUTTLE AT A GLANCE
SPEED COST PER MASS
MISSION

109 CREW
27 358 R22 tons
km/h billion

N
ASAS Apollo project was fol
lowed by its Space Shuttle
programme (19812011)
with the worlds first re
usable spacecraft and the
only one that could carry large satellites
to and from space. Shuttles launched
6-8
straight up like a rocket, but to land
glided onto a runway like a normal aero
plane and could be used again. CREW QUARTERS
FLIGHT DECK Obser
COMPONENTS MID-DECK
vation
window
Each Shuttle had three main components: LOWER DECK
1 The Orbiter, a space plane that housed
the crew and orbited Earth or flew to Pilots
the International Space Station. seat
2 Two solid rocket boosters that provided Avionics
most of the lift in the first two minutes Bay Airlock
of flight. They were then discarded and
Sleeping
dropped to Earth with parachutes.
quarters
3 A large external fuel tank that held
fuel for the three engines. The only
nonreusable part, it was discarded Air and
and burned up in the atmosphere 8,5 water tanks
minutes after takeoff.

FLIGHT DECK
3 The commander sat on
the left in the front of
the flight deck, while
the Shuttle pilot sat
2
56,1 m

on the right. The flight

deck contained con
37,25 m

trols for electrical, life

1 support and propul
sion systems as well as
joysticks for steering.
 LIFE IN SPACE
Scan and take a virtual
tour of the Space Shuttle
Discovery.
Note: flash player SHUTTLE MISSIONS
is required.
JOOK LEUNG PHOTOGRAPHY/360VR IMAGES MISSIONS

39 33 25
2011

Last mission
July 2011

Last mission
April 2011
Last mission
March 2011
DESTROYED
MAIN ENGINES upon re- 2009
Three massive entering the
main engines were atmosphere
used during liftoff Feb 2003 2007
to help propel the
Shuttle into orbit. 2005

A main 2003
engine
to scale
28
2001

1999

1997
EXPLODED

First launch
May 1992
ROBOTIC ARM 73 seconds 1995
A robotic arm moved after liftoff
February 1986
satellites and com- 1993
ponents in and out of
the payload bay. 1991

First launch
April 1983

October 1985
First launch
1989

August 1984
First launch
PAYLOAD DOORS
These were kept 1987
open while in orbit.
The inside of the 10 1985
First launch

doors contained
April 1981

radiators for heat

rejection. 1983

1981

Columbia Challenger Discovery Atlantis Endeavor

CT
FAST FA ew in the
iters fl
Five Orb rogramme (see
le p as also a
Shu tt
t there w THE CREW
right) bu e called Enter-
sixth on ad no engines In the 30 years of the Shuttle programme,
prise. It hld not go into hundreds of astronauts flew in the Orbiter.
TILES and cou was used for
d
space an st flights in
PICTURES: NASA; BEN COOPER/LAUNCHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Special tiles protected parts of

the Shuttle from up to 1 600 oC g lid in g te
70s.
generated heat as it re-entered the late 19
Earths atmosphere.

TILE COATING
The outer portion of the tile MEN WOMEN FATALITIES

TILE INTERIOR
10 % silica fibres and 90 % air
307 48 14
is coated with a substance
called borosilicate glass
which absorbed 95 % of the
heat generated by re-entry.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 43

SO YOU WANT
TO BE AN
ASTRONAUT?
Almost 600 people have been trained as
astronauts over the years heres what
you must know if you want to become one
I
TS not easy to become an astro-
naut. In the 1950s no-one knew
what to expect from space travel so
the first astronauts were selected
for their daring, courage and
bravado.
But today astronauts work in teams
on the International Space Station
(ISS) and in a spacecraft, so they must
be able to get on well with others, be
fair and adaptable and also be asser-
tive when needed.
The first astronauts were all military
test pilots (people who fly aircraft to
test them), but in the 1970s space labo-
ratories such as Skylab, Mir and later
the ISS became the focus of space pro-
grammes and space agencies also
started accepting engineers and scien-
tists as astronauts.
However, being an astronaut does
44 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
Group 22 class).
not mean you get to spend a lot of time
in space! Most astronaut work includes
preparing for missions, speaking at
schools, working at Mission Control
and travelling to other space agencies.
THREE TERMS TO KNOW
ASTRONAUT
An American spacecraft
crew member
COSMONAUT
A Russian spacecraft
crew member
TAIKONAUT
A Chinese spacecraft
crew member
REQUIREMENTS
FOR ASTRONAUTS
Each space agency has its own
requirements. Although the NASA
programme is only available to
people with American citizenship,
most of its requirements apply to
other space agencies as well.
NASA REQUIRES
A degree in engineering, bio
logical science, physics or
mathematics.
Three years professional ex
perience related to the specific
degree, and/or at least 1 000
hours pilotincommand time
in jet aircraft, and/or advanced
degrees such as a doctorate.
Very sharp and clear vision
(called 20/20 vision), either nat
urally or with corrective lenses.
Blood pressure of not more than
140/90 in a sitting position.
A height of between 1,57 m and
1,9 m.
SELECTION OF ASTRONAUTS
Lets look at how the latest team of
NASA astronauts known as Group 21
was chosen. In 2013 there were more
than 6 000 applicants for eight NASA
astronaut positions (more than 18 000
applied this year to be in the 2017
The top 120 were selected for inter-
views and evaluations. Of the 120, 49
candidates were selected. They un-
derwent more tests until finally only
eight were picked to be astronaut
candidates.
Then two years of training and more
evaluations followed before they could
call themselves professional astro-
nauts.
To be selected as an astronaut they
all had to have certain qualifications
(see above) and their health and fitness
had to meet certain standards. They
also had to answer questions during a
series of interview panels.
HOW THEY DO IT IN JAPAN . . .
Japan has an interesting and different
way of selecting their astronauts. The
finalists all sit together in an isolation
chamber for seven days with only each
other for company. They are then ob-
served by a panel of psychiatrists, psy-
chologists and managers who judge

their team work, leadership and
conflict management.
Author Mary Roach writes in
her book, Packing for Mars, that
she got to observe them perform-
ing the task of folding 1 000 ori-
gami cranes (origami is a Japanese
paper-folding art).
This task tests patience and ac-
curacy under pressure. At the end
of the test the paper cranes were
analysed, especially how each can-
didates first 10 compared to the
last 10 and whether their cranes
became sloppy as they became
more stressed as time ran out.
WHERE ASTRONAUTS
ARE TRAINED
AMERICA Johnson Space
Center in Houston, Texas.
RUSSIA Yuri Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Centre
outside Moscow, Russia
EUROPE European Astronaut
Centre, Cologne, Germany
JAPAN Tsukuba Space Centre
in Ibaraki on the island
Honshus east coast
CHINA Astronaut Centre of
China in Beijing
INDIA A training programme
is still in development
CAN SOUTH AFRICANS
BECOME ASTRONAUTS?
If you fulfil the requirements
(see box, top left, on opposite
page) you can apply to be-
come an astronaut, says a
spokesperson at the South
African National Space
Agency (SANSA, sansa.org.
PICTURES: NASA; NNAS.ENERGY.GOV
za). South Africa does not
have an astronaut training
centre but SANSA can help
you to apply to one of the
overseas training centres.
LIFE IN SPACE
ASTRONAUT TRAINING
Training programmes are similar
all over the world so the astronauts
can work well together on the space
station and during joint missions.
At the Johnson Space Center in
Texas there are mockups of capsules,
modules, hatches and everything else
the astronauts will encounter in space
and need to learn how to use.
1 SKILLS TRAINING AND
GETTING TO KNOW THE ISS
In their first year of training candi-
dates learn about space technology
and science, basic medical skills and
how the International Space Station
(ISS) works.
They must complete basic military
FAR LEFT: NASA candidate
water survival training and must swim astronauts in flight suits during a
three lengths of a 25 m-pool without weightlessness training exercise
stopping, three lengths in a flight suit on an aeroplane. ABOVE: Practising
and tennis shoes with no time limit spacewalks under water. BELOW:
and be able to tread water for 10 min
min- This simulator was used in earlier
utes while wearing a flight suit. space programmes to train astro-
The candidates also do scuba diving nauts to combat disorientation.
as they need this for more specialised
training later and in case of an acci-
dent after a landing in the ocean.
After the first year theres a year of
advanced training. They learn in more
detail about the parts of the ISS, the
experiments and the spacecraft, and
the involvement of Ground Control.
WEIGHTLESSNESS
2 TRAINING
ON A PLANE Astronauts travel in a
plane that climbs up to a high altitude
and then dives down so the aircraft
and the astronauts inside it fall to-
wards Earth. When this happens, the
astronauts experience weightlessness
for about 25 seconds at the top of a
65-second cycle. This allows them to
get used to moving, eating and work- where astronauts practise doing main-
ing in weightless conditions, but it tenance work while on a spacewalk.
can also give them their first experi-
ence of space sickness! The aircraft
can complete up to 40 cycles in a typi- 3 LANGUAGE
TRAINING
cal flight. British astronaut Tim Peake said re-
cently for him the most difficult part
IN A WATER TANK If they wear a of the training programme was learn-
special spacesuit in a water tank, they ing Russian! All astronauts are re-
reach neutral buoyancy, where they quired to know English and Russian as
will neither float nor sink the closest they have to communicate with
thing to a weightless environment on Ground Control crews in both Ameri-
Earth. At Johnson Space Center theres ca and Russia and, of course, they trav-
a replica of the ISS in a 12 m deep pool el to the ISS on the Russian Soyuz.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 45
A MOTEL
SPACE BEDS
Because there is no gravity to
keep them sleeping horizon-
tally, astronauts snooze in

IN SPACE
sleeping bags attached to
the wall or ceiling with Velcro
this prevents them from
floating around and bumping
into things in their sleep.

THE ISS AT A GLANCE

SPEED ROTATION MASS

420 SOLAR PANELS

29 000 every tons The panels provide
km/h 90 min about 84 kW of
power to the space

T
station thats
HE International Space enough to power
Station (ISS) is a microgravity about 40 houses.
laboratory stationed in space
where astronauts and scientists
live and work to conduct research
about Earth and space. It orbits Earth 16
times a day (one day-night cycle lasts only
90 minutes!) Since the 1990s 16 countries
have been involved in the construction of
the station with spacecraft transporting
sections, equipment and astronauts to the
ISS. It has been occupied since 2000. About
an acre (4 047 square metres) of solar
panels provide power to the station
this makes it the second bright- CREW
est object in the night sky af-
ter the moon.

You can see the ISS flying past in

the night sky with the naked eye.
See how at spotthestation.nasa.gov.

A GLOBAL
6
1
EFFORT ZVEZDA ZARYA CUPOLA
The USA, Russia,
Japan, Canada and 1 2 3
11 European countries
all built sections of the
ISS. Brazil also made a 2
few small contributions.

Russia
USA 8 3 Zvezda (Russian for Zarya (Russian for The cupola has sev-
star) houses the main sunrise) was the en windows for the
Europe living quarters of the first ISS component observation of the
4
Japan 7 crew, life support launched into space robotic arm in action
and data processing on a Russian rocket in and spacewalks. It
Canada 5 6 systems, flight control, 1998. It once provided also provides magi-
communication and power and propul- cal views of space,
propulsion systems. sion but is now used Earth, sunrises and
46 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za Visitors also dock here. mainly for storage. sunsets.
 LIFE IN SPACE

SPACE STATION VS A RUGBY FIELD Dimensions of

a rugby eld
eld ISS
109 m 120-140 m long Orbits Earth
70 m wide at altitude
of 400 km
Low Earth orbit
73 m 180-2 000 km

GPS satellites
20 180 km

ROBOTIC ARM
Moves supplies,
equipment and even Medium Earth orbit
astronauts. It also 2 000-35 780 km
captures and docks RADIATOR
unmanned space- Transfers excess
craft. It is 17,6 m long. ZVEZDA heat from the
space stations sys-
ZARYA tems into space.

QUEST
DESTINY
CUPOLA

COLUMBUS
HARMONY KIBO

DESTINY COLUMBUS HARMONY KIBO QUEST

4 5 6 7 8

Destiny is the Columbus is the main This is the utility hub Kibo (Japanese for This is the ISS primary
main US research European Space and central connecting hope) is Japans airlock from where as-
facility on the ISS. Agency research point for several parts primary research tronauts spacewalks
Imagery captured facility. Experiments of ISS. It provides elec- facility on board and are conducted. It has
from the window are done here in tricity for the station focuses on space a cargo section which
allows scientists biology and physics. and has sleeping quar- medicine, biology, houses spacesuits and
PICTURES: NASA

to learn more Biomedical research ters for four astronauts. Earth observations, astronauts can exit the
about Earths is also conducted It was named by US material production station here.
natural systems. here. students in a contest. and biotechnology. (Turn over to read
about life on ISS)
 ZVEZDA Quick info
Length 13,1 m
ISS living quarters SLEEPING
Russian module Diameter 4,3 m
QUARTERS
Solar arrays wingspan 29,7 m
TVIS Launch date July 2000
(TREADMILL)
Used to keep the Capacity 6 crew members
crew fit and their Thrusters 34
bones strong.

SPACE TOILET
One of two toilets
aboard the ISS.
CEVIS
Type of bicycle
to keep astro-
nauts muscles
TORU SYSTEM toned.
Manual docking
system for space-
WINDOW craft such as the
MASS DOCKING Soyuz if automatic
PORT docking fails.
Where space-
24,6 craft such as the
Soyuz can dock.
tons

ALL IN A
DAYS WORK
Walk with us through the International
Space Station and see how the crew lives

I
TS like a normal work day really
off to the bathroom, breakfast,
work, some exercise, more work,
dinner, maybe a movie or a phone
call to a loved one and then a good
nights rest.
Except that this place of work and
home is aboard a microgravity satel-
lite station, orbiting Earth 400 km
away.
Imagine going about your day
getting dressed, brushing your teeth,
making lunch in an environment
where you and everything around
you isnt held down securely by a sim-
ple thing such as gravity . . .
When I take off my PJs they float
around in the crew quarters until
I gather them up and immediately
fasten them down, says NASA astro-
naut and engineer Sandra Magnus.
Its easy to lose things up here!
Crew members are woken up daily
to the sound of music transmitted
by NASA Ground Facilities on Earth.
Each day a song is dedicated to a
particular crew member, chosen by
their spouse or a colleague. Sweet!
As for what they do all day, the
crews tasks are all carefully sched-
uled. A timetable gives them a guide-
line as to the best times to go to sleep,
get up, exercise, eat and do their vari-
ous tasks.
IF WATER FLOATS, HOW DO
THEY GET WASHED?
Crew members dont have the luxury
of hopping into the shower wa-
ter droplets float in space and can

48 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFE IN SPACE

CUPOLA Quick info

Height 1,5 m
ISS viewing dome
European module ROBOTIC STATION Diameter 3m
This workstation con-
trols the robotic arms Launch date February 2010
of the ISS. Capacity 2 crew members

MASS

1,8
tons

WINDOW
WINDOWS COVER
These composite Protects the
windows are 12 cm windows from
thick (see how thick that space dust.
is on the ruler below) and
made of four separate layers.

0 cm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 cm

cause choking if inhaled or it can

THE WEIGHTLESS LIFE short-circuit expensive equipment.
Some astronauts wash with
FAR LEFT: warmed-up wet wipes and use dry
All equipment
has to be at-
shampoo to clean their hair. Many of
tached some- them cut their hair short before going
where secure, to the space station to make things
as Italian astro- easier. Washing took time, says
naut Samantha NASA astronaut Sunita Williams,
Cristoforetti who spent 195 days aboard the ISS.
demonstrates. Id squirt a little water under my
LEFT: NASA hair, pat it down with my hand so it
astronaut Karen
Nyberg washes wasnt splashing everywhere, then
her hair aboard put some shampoo in my hand and
the ISS by squirt- moosh it around. Then Id wet a tow-
ing a little water el and try to soak it up.
at a time. No After brushing their teeth astro-
wonder many nauts spit into a towel and shave with
PICTURES: NASA; ESA/NASA; GALLO IMAGES/REUTERS

astronauts have electric razors that need no water

their hair cut
short before they
and can collect the hair shavings.
leave for the
space station!
HOW DO THEY USE THE TOILET?
Back in the day, circa 1960, astronauts
would wear urine and poop collection
bags which would need careful (and
we imagine, unpleasant) emptying,
(Turn over)

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 49

 COLUMBUS PROTECTION
SYSTEM
ISS science laboratory
Protects against
European module space dust and
other objects in
space.
FOOT
RESTRAINTS
HANDRAIL
For astronauts
MASS to hold on to dur-
ing a spacewalk.
EXTERNAL EXPERIMENTS
10,3 For doing experiments in
tons space, outside the ISS.
but the bags were found to be too
COFFEE, ANYONE? risky as they could leak.
Now there are two toilets aboard
the space station (one in Zvezda on
the Russia side and one in Tranquility
on the Europe side). To make and in-
stall a toilet aboard the ISS can cost in
the region of R285 million. So these
are very special toilets . . .
Astronauts have to go through toilet
training on Earth using an identical
mock toilet before going into space as
its vital that no liquid or solid matter
floats around.
The toilets have a very narrow
opening (just over 10 cm wide) and
astronauts have to practise to ensure
they can position themselves so noth-
ing escapes. When training to poop,
astronauts have to keep their eye on
a screen in front of the toilet that is
ABOVE: The image tweeted connected to a camera inside the toi-
by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly
let this allows them to check that
who was in the process of
turning recycled urine into their alignment is perfect!
drinkable coffee. Eew! To urinate, each crew member has
their own funnel (different shapes
for men and women) which attaches
to a suction hose on the loo.
50 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
Quick info
Length 6,9 m
Diameter 4,5 m
Launch date February 2008
Capacity 3 crew members
Experiment racks 16
BLANKET
A multilayer insula-
tion blanket helps
keep temperatures
between 16 and 27 oC.
INSIDE
A separate suction hose on the
side of the toilet is used to store used
toilet paper.
Stored poop is dried, packed up
and cast off from the space station
with other trash in capsules that
burn up in the atmosphere.
Urine is cleaned and recycled into
drinking water, as its very expensive
to transport water from Earth.
During his year aboard the space
station from 2015 to 2016, astronaut
Scott Kelly once tweeted a photo of
a part of the water recycling system,
saying Good to the last drop! Mak-
ing pee potable and turning it into
coffee.
So are you still sure you want to
become an astronaut one day?
WHAT DO THEY EAT?
As your food and drink might float
off before you get a chance to enjoy
it, having a meal in space is very
different from having one on Earth.
And what they eat in space has also
evolved over the years.

CANADARM2
The Canadian robot arm catches spacecraft, equipment
and astronauts outside ISS
JOINT
One of the seven
joints on the
Canadarm2, giving
it more maneu-
verability than a
human arm
GRIPPER
MASS GRIPPER
The end of the arm
used to attach to
1,8 modules, spaceships
and even astronauts
tons and bring them to
the ISS.
WHAT DO THEY EAT?
LEFT: Astronauts Thomas Stafford (left)
and Deke Slayton hold tubes of Soviet
space food in the Soyuz Orbital Module
during a 1975 project where Apollo and
Soyuz connected in space. The tubes
contained borscht (beetroot soup) over
which vodka labels had been pasted.
This was the crews way of toasting
one another as alcohol is not allowed
in space as it is flammable.
BELOW LEFT: Red romaine lettuce
grown on ISS. BELOW: Food served
on a tray aboard the Space Shuttle.
Magnets, springs and Velcro are used
to secure the cutlery and food packets
to the tray.
PICTURES: ESA/NASA; NASA; TWITTER
LIFE IN SPACE
Quick info
Length 17,6 m
Diameter 35 cm
Joints 7
Launch date
April 2001
Max payload 116 tons
THEN . . .
The first food in space was enjoyed
by astronaut John Glenn in 1962. It
was applesauce packed in a tooth-
paste-like tube. He was closely moni-
tored as scientists didnt know what
swallowing and digestion would be
like in space but he proved that it
was all possible. Astronauts on the
Mercury and Gemini missions in the
1960s continued to eat pured food
squeezed out of tubes directly into
their mouth.
NOW . . .
As missions are longer, there is a
bigger focus on keeping astronauts
happy and healthy aboard the ISS.
Dishes include everything from
macaroni and cheese, steak, curry
and cereal to desserts and cake.
NASAs food laboratory in Houston
has about 200 menu items, Russia
has about 100. A team responsible
for food put a lot of research and
testing into each meal, taking into
account each crew members prefer-
(Turn over)
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 51

WHAT WORK ARE THEY
DOING UP THERE?
The ISS is really just one big research
facility with living quarters.
EXPERIMENTS INCLUDE
B Leaving potential future spacecraft
equipment outside to see how it can
tolerate being in space.
B Observing and photographing natu-
ral and man-made changes on Earth.
B The effects of space radiation on
reproduction in mammals which can
give insight into life beyond Earth.
B One of the biggest experiments is
to discover the long-term effects of
weightlessness on the human body.
This will help for future space missions
such as going to Mars.
All these experiments (more than
1 000) have to be conducted with the
use of Velcro, clips, magnets and duct
tape to hold everything down.
Astronauts also go out on space-
walks which can take up to seven
hours. Maintenance of the ISS also
takes a lot of time the space station
needs some repairing, cleaning and
safety checks most days. Not to forget
doing the dishes after a meal!
TOP: Many experiments have to
do with growing food and owers
in space to make astronauts more
independent while away from Earth.
ABOVE: Astronauts Sunita Williams
(left) and Joan Higginbotham at the
controls of an ISS robotic arm in
the stations Destiny laboratory.
52 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
ences. Tortillas are hugely popular
as they serve as neat packaging in
which to hold a filling.
Each crew member can also take
along two cases of their favourite
treats such as chips and chocolates.
Fresh fruit is rare though. Each
crew member only gets one or
two pieces of fresh fruit every few
months when a carrier vehicle makes
a delivery.
Meals are freeze-dried and vac-
uum-packed to prevent spoilage as
there is no refrigerator on board.
Once warmed in a little oven, a pack-
age is opened and the meal is eaten
directly out of the package with a
spoon or fork. The foods consist-
ency is always moist enough so that
it doesnt crumble or float off before
going into the astronauts mouth.
Utensils are held down by Velcro,
tape or magnets. Salt and pepper is
added to the meals as its not allowed
on board as the grains would simply
float off and could get into equip-
ment. Crew members wash their
dishes with special wet wipes.
But while they get a variety of food,
tasting is a challenge. Microgravity
(weightlessness) causes excess fluid
in an astronauts head. This causes
congestion in the nose and because
smell is impaired, astronauts report
that food tastes dull in space and say
they go through gallons of Tabasco
sauce.
Swallowing is also a challenge.
If you want to know how hard it is
to swallow in space, try eating while
lying on one side, says NASA astro-
naut Piers Sellers.
The ISSpresso machine, sent up in
WHAT DO THEY DO FOR FUN?
2015, provides the crews coffee. Two
bags are attached to the machine
for the coffee to be brewed and it is
drunk from one of the bags through
a straw.
THE FUTURE . . .
Studies are being conducted to test
whether vegetables and crops can be
grown on board or on another plan-
et, making crew members more self-
sufficient and allowing them fresher
options.
In August 2015 astronauts Scott
Kelly, Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui
managed to grow and eat a crop of
red romaine lettuce aboard the ISS,
becoming the first people ever to
eat food grown in space. It was one
small bite for man, one giant leap for
#NASAVEGGIE, Kelly tweeted.
Studies are also being done to look
at the possibility of 3D printing of
food in space.
HOW DO THEY SLEEP IF
THEY CANT LIE DOWN?
With not enough gravity to keep
them sleeping snugly in beds, as-
tronauts have to strap themselves
in so they dont float and bump into
things. Each person has a closet-
like cabin in which they can hook a
sleeping bag to the wall. Some strap
pillows to their heads to make it feel
more like lying down.
The space station spins around
Earth so fast they have 16 sunrises
and sunsets a day and sleep doesnt
come easily so mission controllers
create a bedtime schedule and shut-
ters help keep sleep areas dark.
In 2015 astronaut
Chris Hadeld made
a video of himself
singing the David
Bowie song Space
Oddity while oating
around the ISS. It went
viral on YouTube. As-
tronauts spend their
downtime looking out
of the Cupola win-
dows, reading, watch-
ing movies and com-
municating with family
and friends by email
and phone (connected
via computers).

SPACE AND THE HUMAN BODY
The reason for studying the body
in space is so we can know what to
expect and how to deal with further
travels into space. The information
may also be used to help people
on Earth, from patients who have
to recover from long periods of bed
RISKS INCLUDE
1
2 Astronaut Scott Kelly grew 3,8 cm
3 spine to expand. But this, like many
4 6 WEAKENING
5 BONES AND MUSCLE
6 Hadfield after being on the ISS in
1 COSMIC RADIATION
Earths magnetic field provides a
shield that protects us from damag-
ing cosmic rays. Artificial shielding on
the ISS can help protect astronauts
from space radiation exposure, but it
isnt effective for all radiation types,
so they are more susceptible to can-
cer and other long-term health risks.
2 VISION PROBLEMS
Water in the body moves upwards
in space. The increased pressure can
cause a swollen face, headaches and
impaired eyesight.
3 HEART ISSUES
On Earth veins work against gravity
to get blood back to the heart. With-
out gravity heart and blood vessels
change and less blood is returned to
PICTURES: NASA BILL/WHITE; NASA; NASA/CSA
the heart.
4 KIDNEY STONES
High levels of carbon dioxide in the
ISS air supply (about 10 to 20 times
what we breathe on Earth) may be to
blame for incidents of kidney stones.
rest to those unable to fight infec-
tions. NASA has identified 32 major
risks (or changes) to human health in
space. Many of these changes have
proven to be temporary and, with
time and practice, correct themselves
once back on Earth. Here are a few.
5 GROWTH
during a year in space. Low gravity
allows the discs that cushion the
other effects, reverses on Earth.
In a low-gravity environment the body
doesnt have to work as hard as on
Earth. This causes muscle deteriora-
tion and loss of bone density. Just
holding my head up is a bizarre new
experience, said astronaut Chris
2013. To counteract these problems,
astronauts exercise for up to two
hours a day, using specially designed
machines because lifting 90 kg in
space is much easier than on Earth
due to low gravity. They have a tread-
mill, a bicycle and a weightlifting gym
that uses vacuum tubes rather than
actual weights.
ABOVE: Japanese astronaut Akihiko
Hoshide does resistance training
using the Advanced Resistive Exer-
cise Device (ARED) on the ISS.
LIFE IN SPACE
WHAT HAPPENS TO
DIRTY LAUNDRY?
Washing clothes with water is im-
possible in a weightless environ-
ment and there is not enough room
to store fresh underwear and clothes
for every day.
Astronaut Don Pettit revealed
that he changed his underwear once
every three or four days. Its a good
thing then that clothes dont get
dirty as quickly on the ISS thanks to
the temperature-controlled environ-
ment and non-exertion of the body.
In an interview in February 2013,
Pettit said he was still wearing the
same pair of shorts he had been
wearing since he first arrived on the
space station in November 2012!
Dirty laundry is stored in plastic
bags and disposed of with the trash,
which is placed in capsules that
are sent off and burnt up in Earths
atmosphere.
Interestingly and impressively
(but also a bit gross) Pettit used an
old pair of underwear to sprout some
tomato and basil seeds, since there
is no soil in space. To construct my
planter, a spherical core is needed.
An old pair of underwear worked
well. Thanks to that and some
gauze, the seeds sprouted within
two days but later withered and died.
WHAT IF THERES A MEDICAL
EMERGENCY ON BOARD?
Medical kits are available for use by
two trained crew members for each
mission. They can sew up bad cuts,
give injections, administer intrave-
nous fluids (such as a drip), antibiot-
ics and other medications.
Want ton
chat to uat?
astrona ns are
ia sessio
Social med where you can
scheduled ons to the ISS
ti
pose ques uts. Follow
astrona Twitter
@NASA on uch.
to ge t in to
Scan and take a virtual
tour of the International
Space Station.
ESA/NASA
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 53
 TALKING
WHAT IS SPACE JUNK?
Its a collection of
discarded man-made
objects in space (such as
old satellites, spent rock-

TRASH
et stages and fragments
from disintegrations,
erosion and collisions)
orbiting Earth.

Space is full of dangerous

litter and we havent yet
cleaned up any of it

I
N 1997 Lottie Williams was on a
late-night walk in the American state
of Oklahoma when she saw a streak of
light in the sky, then felt something
drop down on her shoulder. It turned
out to be a small chunk from a Delta rock-
et that had fallen from space.
Luckily Lottie was not hurt and just as
fortunately this remains the only known
case of a person being hit by a piece of
space junk.
In almost 60 years that humans have
been going to space, we have left so much
debris up there that it may be putting us
PICTURES: IRIDIUM SATELLITE/CLIFF/CC BY 2.0; VANGUARD 1 SATELLITE (NASA)/HYDRARGYRUM/CC BY-SA 2.0; SAAO FOR THE SPACE JUNK FOUND NEAR WORCESTER

all in danger.
Space debris not only falls to Earth
it can also collide with a spacewalking
astronaut or a working satellite.The Inter-
national Space Station (ISS) has had to
move position a few times already to get
out of the way of debris.
Scientists are looking at ways of ad-
dressing the problem, such as building
spacecraft that can collect the junk.

HOW MUCH JUNK?

21 000
objects larger than
10 cm in diameter.
A cricket ball, by
comparison, is only
7,2 cm.
7,2 cm
GARBAGE
500 000
objects larger than 1 cm but smaller
DUMP
73 % of tracked
junk is in low-
than 10 cm in diameter. On average, Earth orbit
the size of a golf ball. (1802 000 km
above Earth).

100 million
Objects smaller than 1 cm in diameter.

54 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 LIFE IN SPACE

LOST BUT
NOT FOUND . . .
Ever dropped your cellphone? Well,
VANGUARD 1 it seems astronauts are clumsy too.
The oldest piece of
As a result there are several very
space junk in orbit.
interesting pieces of junk floating
This US satellite was
around out there . . .
launched in 1958 and
contact with it was
lost in 1964.

ED WHITES GLOVE
TOP TWO LITTER BUGS . . . Dropped during Americas
first spacewalk in 1965.
Almost a third of space debris has been created
by just two incidents.

FENGYUN 1C A SPATULA
Chinas 2007 anti-sat- While spreading some goo
ellite test, which used a during a heat-shield repair space-
missile to destroy an old walking astronaut Piers Sellers
weather satellite, added accidentally lost the spatula he
more than 3 000 bits had been using.
of debris, increasing
space junk by 25% at
the time.

SATELLITE Scan and watch

COLLISION as Stefanyshyn-
Piper loses the
On 10 February 2009 toolbag on a
spacewalk.
a defunct Russian satel-
lite collided with and
destroyed a functioning TOOLBAG
US satellite. The colli- It was lost by astronaut Heide-
sion added more than marie Stefanyshyn-Piper on a
2 000 pieces of trace- spacewalk outside the ISS. The
able debris to the toolbag was worth R1,5 million.
inventory of space junk.

Parts of the second stage of a Delta II

rocket launched in 1996 was found in
April 2000 in Durbanville, Worcester GENE RODDENBERRYS
and Robertson in the Western Cape in ASHES
South Africa. They were placed on dis- This was obviously not lost but
play at the Cape Town Science Centre. it is up there. A portion of the
ashes of Gene Roddenberry,
creator of the Star Trek series,
was scattered in space in 1992
WEAR A HELMET! by the Space Shuttle Columbia.
You dont want any of
this junk to fall on your
head while youre walk-
ing down the street!
Between 200 and 400
chunks of space debris FROZEN URINE
fall to Earth every year, And until the late 2000s, most
and about 100 of those astronauts urine was simply
make it all the way to dumped in space, now its recycled.
the Earths surface.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 55
DISASTER!
Being an astronaut can be a dangerous job and over
the years there have been many terrible tragedies.
Here are some of the most shocking accidents in
space history and what scientists learnt from them
NEDELIN: EXPLOSION
DATE 24 October 1960
LAUNCH SITE Baikonur, Kazakhstan
DEATH TOLL More than 150 people
SOVIET defence force chief marshal of
artillery, Mitrofan Nedelin, was in
charge of developing an intercontinen-
tal ballistic missile (a war rocket) called
R-16. He wanted to gain favour with
politicians so he sped up the launch
schedule and important safety tests
were not done. A fuel tank exploded,
killing more than 150 engineers and
military staff, Nedelin included. The So-
viet Union covered up the incident un-
til 1989 saying they died in a plane ac-
cident, most likely for propaganda
reasons and to protect their reputation.
WHAT HAPPENED?
There were still many problems on
launch day and engineers were on the
56 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
APOLLO 1: FIRE ON BOARD
DATE 27 January 1967
LAUNCH SITE Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
DEATH TOLL Three (Gus Grissom,
Edward White, Roger Chaffee)
THE first Apollo mission was set for
liftoff on 21 February 1967. On a Fri-
day evening a month earlier, the crew
were doing tests while strapped in
their seats in the spacecraft 70 metres
high on top of a Saturn rocket. At
6.31 pm, one of them was heard say-
ing, Hey! Theres a fire in here!
Back in the launch complex a TV
monitor showed a yellow glow inside
the spacecraft and arms trying to
open the hatch door. Technicians
rushed to the scene, but it took them
half an hour to get there and more
than five minutes to open the hatch.
By then, all three men had suffocated
from inhaling toxic gases.
WHAT HAPPENED?
A spark from damaged wires ignited
the pure oxygen atmosphere that
filled the cabin and the crew could
not open the hatch to escape the fire
and poisonous gases.
LESSONS LEARNT
Pure oxygen in the cabin was replaced
with a mix of oxygen and nitrogen
which would not sustain fire as easily
and the hatch door was redesigned so
it would be easier to open.
launch pad trying to solve them. A
short-circuit ignited the second stage
of the rocket too early which detonated
the fuel tank of the first stage (read
more about rocket stages on page 18).
LESSONS LEARNT
Apart from the fact safety should al-
ways be important, it was also found
too many people were on the launch
pad who should have been in bunkers
away from the site.
ABOVE: One of the few pictures ABOVE (from left): Gus Grissom,
that exist of the explosion. Edward White (the first Ameri-
People nearby were incinerated can to walk in space) and
instantly and others were Roger Chaffee all died aboard
poisoned by toxic fuel vapours. the Apollo 1.

SOYUZ 1: CRASH
DATE 24 April 1967
LAUNCH AND LANDING SITE
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
DEATH TOLL One
(Vladimir Komarov)
THERE were 203 design faults on the
one-man Soyuz spacecraft, accord-
ing to engineers. But politicians
were still determined to launch it. It
launched successfully but the land-
ing the next day went badly the
crafts parachutes were unable to de-
ploy and it crashed to the ground.
WHAT HAPPENED?
While still in space one of the Soy-
uzs solar panels didnt deploy prop-
erly. That started a series of failures
PICTURES: COLLECT, NASA, ROSCOSMOS/HTTP://EN.FEDERALSPACE.RU/, GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/ SOVFOTO, PICTURENET/ AP
which at descent caused the craft to
spin uncontrollably and drop too
fast. The main parachute needed for
a soft landing became tangled and
could not open properly. Komarov
used an emergency parachute but it
became entangled with the main
chute and the craft crashed to the
ground. This was the first in-flight
fatality in the history of spaceflight.
LESSONS LEARNT
Changes were made to the para-
chutes
and their
contain-
ers to pre-
vent a
similar
disaster.
TOP: Soyuz 1 crash site. ABOVE:
Vladimir Komarov (right) and
fellow cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin,
his backup for the flight.
SOYUZ 11:
DEPRESSURISATION
DATE 30 June 1971
LAUNCH AND LANDING SITE
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
DEATH TOLL Three (Georgy
Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov
and Viktor Patsayev)
IT was supposed to be a triumphant
first in space history but it ended as
a tragic first in space disasters. The
crew of Soyuz 11 were the first peo-
ple to board the Soviet Unions pride
and joy: Salyut 1, the first ever space
station in history. They stayed at the
station for three weeks before re-
turning to Earth. On the way back
the cabin lost all pressure and the
crew became the first and, to date,
only people to die while still in space.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Crew areas in space are pressurised
they contain air similar to the air
we breathe on Earth. On the Soyuz
11, a pressure-releasing valve
opened too early and the cabin lost
all its air. Patsayev frantically tried
to close the valve, which was above
his head, but he was strapped to his
seat, making it difficult. All three
cosmonauts died from lack of oxy-
gen and depressurisation.
LESSONS LEARNT
After this disaster astronauts began
wearing pressurised suits during
launch and re-entry to protect them
in case of depressurisation.
ABOVE (from left): Viktor Pat-
sayev, Georgy Dobrovolsky
and Vladislav Volkov who all
died aboard the Soyuz 11.
CHALLENGER: FUEL FIRE
DATE 28 January 1986
LAUNCH AND LANDING SITE Cape Canaveral,
Florida, USA
DEATH TOLL Seven (Dick Scobee, Michael
Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith
Resnik, Greg Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe)
IF the morning had been a little warmer,
this tragedy might not have occurred.
But it was an unusually cold winters day
in Florida, with the temperature just
above 2 degrees Celsius. Video clips of
the day show spectators dressed in thick
jerseys and jackets, the icy wind blowing
through their hair and horrified and
stunned expressions on their faces.
Fifteen kilometres above them, the
spacecraft that shot proudly and pow-
erfully into the sky just 75 seconds ear-
lier, was being consumed by a massive
ball of smoke and fire. Pieces of the
spacecraft shot off in all directions and
debris started raining down into the
ocean below.
Incredibly the crew section was still in
one piece. It continued to shoot up for
about seven kilometres more before
plummeting to Earth. Two minutes lat-
er it hit the ocean at a speed of 320 km/h.
The crew did not stand a chance. One of
them was a civilian and school teacher,
Christa McAuliffe (37), who was going to
broadcast lessons from space.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Because of the cold, seals that were
meant to prevent hot gases from escap-
ing were too stiff to close properly, re-
sulting in two mil-
lion litres of fuel
catching alight.
LESSONS LEARNT
A new crew escape
system was devel-
oped and the seals
were redesigned.
TOP: The Challenger, with its rockets ca-
reening wildly. ABOVE: Teacher Christa
McAuliffe, whose parents were at the
launch and witnessed the tragedy.
(Turn over)
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 57

COLUMBIA:
DISINTEGRATION
DATE 1 February 2003
LAUNCH SITE Cape Canaveral,
Florida, USA
DEATH TOLL Seven (Rick
Husband, William McCool,
Michael Anderson, Kalpana
Chawla, David Brown, Laurel
Clark, Ilan Ramon)
IT was a landing day like any other.
Space Shuttle Columbia was return-
ing from another successful mis-
sion. At Mission Control in Houston,
Texas, everything seemed in order.
Nine minutes after the Shuttle had
entered Earths atmosphere, engi-
neers noticed something was wrong
with the temperature on its left
wing. Suddenly communication
with Columbia stopped astronaut
Rick Husband was cut off mid-sen-
tence. Reports started coming in of
fireballs in the sky above Texas and
Mission Control knew: Columbia
and its crew were lost.
WHAT HAPPENED?
As Columbia launched a piece of
foam fell off its outside fuel tank,
damaging the left wing. NASA didnt
take a closer look at the wing while
the aircraft was in space, saying it
would be impossible for the astro-
nauts to do repairs anyway. When
Columbia re-entered Earths atmos-
phere 16 days later, the surrounding
hot gases penetrated through a hole
on the wing, causing damage and re-
sulting in the aircraft breaking up.
VSS ENTERPRISE:
DISINTEGRATION
DATE 31 October 2014
LAUNCH SITE Mojave Air and
Space Port, California, USA
DEATH TOLL One (Michael
Alsbury)
IT was going to be the realisation of air
travel magnate Richard Bransons
dream: sending tourists into space on
space shuttles produced by his compa-
ny Virgin Galactic.
The first flight would have been in CLOSE CALL!
2015, carrying six passengers into sub- EVER heard the phrase or seen the
orbital space at a cost of more than meme Houston, we have a problem?
R4 million per seat. The waiting list was Its a slight misquote from the first
already at 700, including at least two time the phrase was used on
South Africans. 14 April 1970 when Apollo 13 crew
Disaster struck when the SpaceShip member Jack Swigert informed Mis-
Two VSS Enterprise broke up during a sion Control in Texas, Houston, weve
test flight over the Mojave Desert in had a problem here.
California, USA. The co-pilot, Michael Apollo 13 was on its way to the moon
Alsbury, died while the pilot, Peter Sie- when an oxygen tank exploded two
bold, managed to eject at an altitude of days after liftoff, crippling the com-
15 km, 4 km higher than the cruising mand and service modules.
altitude of a Boeing 747. His parachute The three crew members survived
opened at 6 km above ground but he by huddling together in the lunar mod-
was still seriously injured. ule, which was supposed to have land-
ed on the moon. Four days later they
WHAT HAPPENED? landed safely at Kennedy Space Center
Alsbury unlocked the crafts movable in Florida. Their ordeal became the
tail system too early resulting in insta- blockbuster movie Apollo 13 starring
bility which broke the spacecraft apart. Tom Hanks as commander Jim Lovell.
LESSONS LEARNT
A mechanism was developed to pre-
vent the tail system unlocking too ear-
ly. The updated SpaceShip Two, called
VSS Unity, will be rolled out very
soon, Virgin Galactic announced in
February 2016.

LESSONS LEARNT
The heat protection of Shuttles was
inspected after take-off and a rescue
mission team was on standby to
fetch the crew from space if they en-
PICTURES: PICTURENET/ AP, NASA

countered life-threatening problems. TOP: Apollo 13 takes off. MIDDLE

TOP: Space Shuttle Columbia
landing successfully after
an earlier mission.
ABOVE: Virgin Galactics
SpaceShip Two VSS Enter-
prise comes apart mid-flight.
(from left): Apollo 13 astronauts Fred
Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell.
ABOVE: Mission Control in Houston,
from where the damaged spacecraft
was guided back to Earth.

58 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 MEANWHILE
. . . IN OUR
COUNTRY
South Africa is one of70 countries that
has its own space agency. Here areafew
quickfacts about our role in space research
1 7
South Africas Hartebeesthoek
Radio Astronomy Observatory
in Gauteng has supported sev-
eral space missions, including Apollo
15 in 1972.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT HTTP://SDO.GSFC.NASA.GOV/DATA/DATAACCESS.PHP, THE SUTHERLAND SITE
2
PICTURES: M GAYLARD / HARTRAO, COURTESY OF NASA/SDO AND THE AIA, EVE, AND HMI SCIENCE TEAMS.
South Africa has already launched
three of its own satellites, with a
fourth one set for 2019.
3
OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY BY PSCHELLA/CC BY-SA 3.0
The South African National Space
Agency (SANSA, sansa.org.za),
monitors hundreds of satellites
from Hartebeesthoek as they pass over
Africa. If something goes wrong for in-
stance when a Soyuz rocket recently
launched a satellite into the wrong orbit
they communicate with the satellite
owner so the problem can be sorted out.
4
SA satellites will soon enable us
to anticipate floods even before
they happen!
5
SAs satellite technology makes it
much easier to respond to disas-
ters such as fires, earthquakes and
floods.Forinstance,oureyesintheskycan
showimmediatelywhereafloodhasoc-
curred, in what direction it is spread-
ing, if people and homes are in dan-
gerandtowhatareaspeoplecanbe
safely evacuated.
6
Thanks to satellite infor-
mation it is easier to plan
and develop new roads,
mines and towns.Thats because
the pictures taken from space
show exactly where current roads,
farms, fences and settlements are
located.
The use of Earth observation
satellite data offers a better un-
derstanding of the drought
in South Africa. By comparing satellite
pictures they can see if the dry areas are
expandingordecreasing.Visittinyurl.com/
sansa-drought to see for yourself.
NOW?
DID YOU K space
ly
Africas on al warning
gion
weather re in Hermanus,
ce n tr e is daily
ape. Get a
Western C er forecast at
th
space wea er.sansa.org.za
a th
spa ce w e
n image
(below is a ntre).
from th e ce
8
The single largest telescope in
the southern hemisphere is
near Sutherland in the Northern
Cape. Its called the Southern African
Large Telescope (SALT).
HOW SPACE WEATHER
AFFECTS US
Space weather is extreme and can affect
life on Earth, so it really helps that we
have our own space weather bureau, SAN-
SA Space Weather, in Hermanus. Typical
space weather problems include:
1
SOLAR FLARES A sudden eruption
of energy on the surface of the sun
which can damage satellites and cause
GPS and navigation errors.
2 SOLAR WINDS Charged particles
released from the sun. They create
spectacular light shows in the sky, such
as the beautiful aurora borealis (north-
ern lights) seen in winter in the far north-
ern parts of the planet. The winds can
also affect navigation and communica-
tion systems.
3
GEOMAGNETIC STORMS A tempo-
rary disturbance of Earths magnet-
ic field caused by solar winds. These
storms can generate electric currents
that can affect our electricity sup-
ply and cause power losses over
large areas. It can also cause
dangerous radiation for an
astronaut on a spacewalk.
| 59
GAZING AT
MAIN REFLECTOR
The main reflector
surface is made up of
40 aluminium panels
mounted on a steel

THE SKY
support framework.

Once completed the MeerKAT,

a giant telescope in the Karoo
in South Africa, will help reveal
some of the mysteries of space
SKA AT A GLANCE
TOTAL RECEPTOR RECEPTOR MeerKAT
COST HEIGHT WEIGHT
The South African MeerKAT radio
telescope being built near Carnarvon in
42 the Northern Cape is a precursor to the
R20 bn 19,5 m tons SKA telescope. MeerKAT will be an array
of 64 receptors (a complete antenna

T
structure), 48 of which will be concentrated
HE famous Square Kilometre in the core area of about 1 km in diameter.
Array (SKA) Project is an inter-
national operation to build the
worlds largest telescope worth
more than R20 billion. It will THE CORE LAYOUT
survey the sky better and 10 000 times
FROM THE TOP
faster than any current imaging radio tel-
escope. Phase 1 will start in 2018 by inte-
grating the existing MeerKATin South Af-
rica which is still being completed and
the Australian Square Kilometre Array m
1k
Pathfinder (ASKAP) precursor telescopes.
Phase 2s additional receptors will all
become operational by 2024.

WHERE IS THE
SKA LOCATED?
Organisations from 10 countries are
members of the nonprofit SKA Organi-
sation, which has its headquarters near 13,5 m
Manchester in England.

3,8 m
1 9, 5 m

PEDESTAL
Most of the receptors (the complete The controls for the anten-
antenna structure) will be in South nas movement are found
Africa and Australia, with additional inside the pedestal, which
ones in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, is anchored and bolted to
Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, a concrete foundation.
Namibia and Zambia.
 LIFE IN SPACE

HOW DOES IT WORK?

CLOSE-UP
In much the same way a radio is tuned
One of the SUB-REFLECTOR to listen to a specific music station,
40 aluminium A structure that
panels. astronomers tune telescopes to pick
focuses the beam
up radio waves that come from distant
from the dish to
galaxies. They use computers to make
the receiver.
sense of signals by converting the data
into pictures.

DISTANT SUN

BEAM OF
THE INDEXER
It can accommodate RADIO WAVES
up to four receivers
and allows the SUB-REFLECTOR
receivers to be
moved into focus
position. RECEIVER
The receiver ampli-
fies the received
radio waves, digitises
them and stores
them in a computer.

TEAM
EFFORT
The SKA will
draw on more than
100 000 receptors,
dishes and antennae
all powerful
enough to pick up
radio signals that
were emitted from
cosmic sources
more than 13 billion
PICTURES: SHARPPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK/CC BY-SA 4.0, SKA PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

years ago, when

the first stars and
galaxies formed.
AND SWINBURNE ASTRONOMY PRODUCTIONS/CC BY-SA 3.0

ED! round
WIRun derg
170 km of
es will con
WHY IS IT CALLED MeerKAT? fibre optic cabl 64 recep
e
Originally the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT) nect each of th o Array
rs to th e Ka ro
was intended to have 20 receptors. When to
ilding (data
the SA government increased the budget Processor Bu AT). The
rK
to allow 64 receptors to be built, the team centre for Mee a single
of
longest cable
renamed it MeerKAT, a play on the Afrikaans antenna will
word for more and the name of the small be 12 km.
mammal found in the Karoo (right).
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 61
MARS AND
BEYOND

Scan and take a look

at the surface of
Mars through the
eyes of Curiosity.

62 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 PICTURE: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS

A selfie of NASAs Curiosity

Mars rover shows the vehicle
at Namib Dune, where its
activities include digging into
the dune with a wheel and
scooping samples of sand
for analysis. Go to tinyurl.
com/MarsSelfie to see how
Curiosity takes self-portraits.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 63

 THE RED
CAN WE LIVE ON MARS?
Yes. But it wont be easy. Mars
is very cold and has a thin car-
bon dioxide atmosphere with
almost no oxygen. A few people could

PLANET
survive on Mars with some supplies
coming from Earth. In the long term,
maybe over decades, we could find ways
to provide some of those supplies on
Mars, allowing a small colony to become
more and more self-sufficient over time.
In 2008 evidence of small amounts of
liquid water was found and potentially
MARS AT A GLANCE favourable soil so it sounds promising!
Turn to page 66 to read more.
ORBIT SPEED ORBIT AVERAGE TEMP DID YOU
KNOW?
to Mars
If you drove km/h it
at abou t 100
out
would take ab
reach
86 677 687 -63 oC 66 years to net.
km/h days the Red Pla

W
EVE seen images of it, we
know that water has been
found on it and that it has ARCADIA
favourable soil condi- PLANITIA
tions it seems Mars
really could be our future second home!
If all goes according to plan, the first hu-
mans will visit Mars in the 2030s so not
that long to go. The journey from Earth to
Mars will last about six months. Heres
more about the amazing Red Planet,
which the ancient Romans named after ALBA
their god of war because of its red colour. MONS

Gravity differences will cause you to

weigh much less on Mars. Calculate
your Mars weight: tinyurl.com/ AMAZONIS
weight-on-mars PLANITIA

EARTH VS MARS OLYMPUS MONS

Some comparisons: Not only the highest point
25 km on Mars but also the high-
MARS EARTH est known volcano in our
entire solar system. It is
624 km in diameter and
25 km high.

ONE YEAR ONE DAY ASCRAEUS

(called sols on Mars)
MONS
Mars 687 days Mars 24,6 hours
Earth 365 days Earth 24 hours
Africa can PAVONIS
almost fit MONS
inside Mars!

WEIGHT EXAMPLE HIGHEST VOLCANO ARSIA

Mars 17 kg Mars 25 km MONS
Earth 45 kg Earth 10 km

64 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 MARS AND BEYOND

SIZING UP MARS
EARTH VENUS MARS MERCURY MOON VENUS

DEIMOS
MERCURY
Mars is the second smallest of Mars smaller moon
the eight planets in our solar 23 459 km orbit
system (after Mercury). It is
about half the size of the Earth. EARTH

PHOBOS
Mars closest moon
9 376 km orbit MARS
Fourth
planet from
the sun

228 million km
SUN

ACIDALIA OLD RUSTY

PLANITIA
Iron oxide (rust minerals) in the sur-
face soil and the sky (from kicked up
dust) explains its reddish colour and
why Mars is called the Red Planet.

CHRYSE
PLANITIA

FIRST TOUCHDOWN
This is where the US
spacecraft Viking 1 land-
ed in 1976 the first
spacecraft to success-
fully land on Mars and
send back pictures of
the surface. WHAT MARS CRUST
IS MADE OF 50 km 125 km
of mainly basalt

MANTLE
PICTURES: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS; NASA

GRAND CANYON
IN SPACE Soft, rocky region
At more than 3 000 km long,
200 km wide and up to 8 km OUTER CORE
deep, the Valles Marineris rift Iron sulphide
system along the Martian equa-
tor is one of the largest known INNER CORE
canyons in the solar system. Iron and nickel,
1 700 1 850 km

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 65

NEXT STOP:
MARS!
Its no longer just a science fiction
fantasy living and working on
Mars could become a reality as
soon as 2030
I
F NASA has its way, humans will be
living on Mars 25 to 30 years from
now in a colony very much like the il-
lustration above. A fleet of spacecraft
and rovers roaming above and on
Mars have increased our knowledge of
the Red Planet hugely and scientists be-
lieve people can live there without being
dependent on Earth. NASAs plan to colo-
nise Mars consists of three stages.
STAGE 1: EARTH RELIANT
PLANNED FOR Now
LOCATION International Space
Station (ISS)
This stage is already underway. A lot of
research is happening on the ISS to
find ways to work and live in space
without depending on Earth.
This includes creating things with
3D printin g and
growing vegetables
and crops in space.
On Mars people
will also need habi-
t at s ( liv in g an d
working spaces). A
LEFT: This zinnia
is the first flower
grown on the ISS.
company called Bigelow Aerospace
has designed an expandable habitat
that can be inflated to become bigger
in space. The first expandable habitat
arrived at the ISS in 2016 and is now
being tested for future use in deep
space.
Another challenge that must be
solved is keeping humans healthy
for long periods in spite of the health
threats posed by weightlessness and
cosmic radiation.
At the moment astronauts dont of-
ten stay on board the ISS for longer
than six months (NASA started year-
long mission tests in 2015) for fear that
cosmic radiation could give them
cancer. Many crew members need
glasses after returning from space be-
cause microgravity (weightlessness)
can damage their eyes optic nerves.
There are also fears that astronauts
could develop fertility problems or
dementia in space.
Scan and watch an animation of how
the habitat, equipment, and even
tually the crew, will be transported
to Mars and the colony set up.
STEVE HERCHER 360CITIES.NET
STAGE 2: PROVING GROUND
PLANNED FOR 2020
LOCATION Cislunar space
(in the vicinity of the moon)
In the second stage the research facili-
ties will move from the space station to
the space around the moon (cislunar
space) to test the challenges of working
even further away from Earth for long-
er periods.
TEST: LIVING AND
WORKING IN DEEP SPACE
The three illustrations (above right)
show NASAs plan:
1 In 2020 a robotic spacecraft will trav-
el to an asteroid, a two-year journey.
2 The spacecraft will grab a huge boul-
der off the asteroid and fly it into the
orbit of the moon. The trip to the moon
will take two more years.

1 panies such as Elon Musks SpaceX to
2 ble of carrying up to six people (read
3 When the necessary solutions have
3 In 2025 two astronauts will fly to the
boulder and work on it while living in
a special habitat set up in cislunar
space. The idea is to use the boulder to
test new systems and capabilities, in
preparation for a possible life on Mars.
As the boulder will be available for re-
search for about 100 years, many teams
of astronauts can travel up to cislunar
space to work there for long periods.
They wont be able to return to Earth
as quickly as from the ISS (an Earth-
PICTURES: BYRAN VERSTEEG/SPACEHABS.COM; NASA/SCOTT KELLY; NASA; NASA/LANGLEY;
bound journey takes just three hours),
LAVAHIVE TEAM/ VISUALISATION BY RENE WACLAVICEK OF LIQUIFER SYSTEMS, VIENNA
but they will also not be too far away,
with a return journey taking a few days.
Meanwhile, more Mars research can
be done, such as checking the effects of
staying in outer space for long periods
on the body and mind and perfecting
a deep-space habitat that could also
work on Mars.
TEST: PROPULSION
At the moment spacecraft are pro-
pelled by fuel made from chemical ma-
terials, but too much will be needed to
get a heavier craft to Mars. An alterna-
tive is electrical propulsion that gets its
power from the sun. It will allow a craft
to travel for months and even years.
TEST: SAVING EARTH
The asteroid mission will be practice
for getting rid of asteroids that could
possibly collide with Earth in the future
(an asteroid wiped out dinosaur life
millions of years ago). To focus on its
journey to Mars, NASA has started to
contract out ISS work to private com-
ferry supplies and crew to the ISS.
STAGE 3: EARTH
INDEPENDENT
PLANNED FOR 2030s
LOCATION Mars
ABOVE: A Mars farm! A food
production module on Mars
could look like this.
been found for the challenges of landing
and living on Mars, humans will travel
to the Red Planet. First theyll just orbit
but eventually theyll put the first
human boot print on its surface.
Supplies for setting up a colony
(much like the one pictured above) will
be delivered beforehand by unmanned
spacecraft, such as 3D printing equip-
ment to create supplies and habitats.
Unlike the moon, Mars has resources
that can be used to create fuel, water,
oxygen and building materials. There
is also evidence of water on Mars.
Although NASA is not planning to
send people to Mars without the abil-
ity to bring them back, the idea is they
should stay there for a long time. Like
the Apollo programme (to the moon),
we embark on this journey for all hu-
manity, NASA administrator Charles
Bolden says. But unlike Apollo, we will
be going to stay.
MARS AND BEYOND
HOW WILL THE
COLONISTS
GETTO MARS?
NASA is developing and testing the
SLS, the most powerful rocket on
Earth, and the Orion, a spacecraft capa-
more on page 70).The launch facility at
Kennedy Space Center in Florida is be-
ing upgraded into a spaceport that can
support SLS/Orion missions.
150-300 Thats how
many days it
will take a spacecraft to travel to Mars,
depending on the distance the Red
Planet is from Earth at the time of the
journey (the planets orbits mean they
are always moving).
OTHER MARS PROJECTS
China and Russia want to conduct
manned missions after 2040 and there
are also several private Mars to Stay
projects that want to send colonists to
Mars without the option of returning to
Earth. One well-known project is the
Dutch-based Mars One, which wants to
start with the first crew of four in 2027.
There are 100 candidates including
five South Africans. But the project has
many financial and technical difficul-
ties and experts are not optimistic
about its future success.
STARSHOT PROJECT
In April 2016 the Starshot Project was
announced with a plan to send a group
of tiny rockets 40 trillion kilometres
away. Project backers include physicist
Stephen Hawking, Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg and Russian internet
investor Yuri Milner. The tiny rockets
will be sent to Alpha Centauri, the clos-
est star system to our own. It will take
current spaceships 30 000 years to get
there but its hoped the tiny rockets will
get there in just 20 years.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 67
THE MARS
LANDING PROCEDURE
Curiosity was
launched on 1 38 minutes
PAYLOAD
SEPARATION

ROVER
an Atlas V rocket
on 26 November after launch
2011 and landed
in Mars Gale
Crater on 6
August 2012.

CURIOSITY AT A GLANCE ROBOTIC ARM

SPEED COST MASS The manipulator arm can
reach up to 2,2 metres so
scientists can have a
899 closer look at rocks and
soil. The Mars Hand Lens
3,8 cm per R368 billion kg Imager (MAHLI) can take
second images of rocks and soil
and reveal details smaller

T
than the width of a human
HE Curiosity rover is one of hair. The arm is flexible
NASAs mobile robot laborato- due to its three joints at
the shoulder, elbow Manipulator
ries used for exploration on arm
Mars. It studies the planet to and wrist, much
see to what extent it can sup- like a human arm.
port life forms, analysing soil and rock
samples and checking for chemical ele- Scan and watch a
video animation of
ments important for life, such as nitrogen how Curiosity was
and oxygen. It takes about 90 people to landed on Mars.
operate a rover each day (the Opportu-
nity rover is also on Mars). The Curiosity
got its name from Clara Ma, a 6th grader
from Kansas, America, who won a naming
competition. Lets explore the vehicle
that landed on Mars in 2012.

LASER
The ChemCam infrared laser can vaporise a
small portion of rock up to seven metres away.
The light released by the vaporised materials
is examined to analyse the rocks composition.
WHEELS
The six 50 cm diameter
wheels can be steered
independently and can
roll over obstacles up to
64 cm high. The two front
ChemCam can identify rocks, and two rear wheels have
determine soil compositions, individual steering motors
measure the rocks chemical which allows the vehicle to
elements, search for the presence turn a full 360 degrees.
of ice or water molecules and
even give visual assistance
for drilling operations.
PICTURES: NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

SIZE COMPARISON Rover Curiosity

The Curiosity arm reach 2,2 m
rover is a bit Isuzu 4x4
2,2 m

smaller than
a large 4x4.

3 m long 2,75 m wide

 MARS AND BEYOND

2 Fuel
CRUISE STAGE
and
rocket engines
3 Altitude 125 km
ENTERS MARS
ATMOSPHERE 4 Altitude 11 km
PARACHUTE
DEPLOYS 5 Altitude 8 km
HEAT SHIELD
SEPARATION 6 Altitude 1,6 km
BACKSHELL
SEPARATION

discarded Speed 21 240 km/h Speed 1 450 km/h Speed 290 km/h

7 EIGHT ROCKET
ENGINES FIRE

Speed 2,7 km/h

CHEMCAM
Apart from the Laser-Induced Breakdown
Spectroscopy (LIBS) it is also made up of the 8 ROVER
SEPARATION
BEGINS
Remote Micro Imager (RMI) telescope for
capturing high-res images of LIBS targets. Altitude 20 m

REMS PLUTONIUM UHF ANTENNA

The Rover POWER This is the primary
Environment
Monitoring System
SOURCE
A nuclear battery
transmission antenna.
9 ROVER LOWERED
ON CABLES
takes air samples converts heat
and monitors into electricity.
The Curiosity climate.
has mounted
cameras for
taking pictures
and movies Cables are
in 3-D. severed.
Descent stage
(platform that
was above the
rover) crashes
nearby.

NEUTRON
DETECTOR
This device
detects water
in rocks and soil.

SAM
Inside the rover is the
Sample Analysis at
Mars (SAM) instrument
which analyses organics
and gases from atmos- Hecates
pheric and solid samples. Tholus
UTOPIA
PLANITIA Elysium
360 O Mons
Right and
left rotation Albor
Tholus
THE ROVERS SANDBOX: GALE CRATER CURIOSITY lands
The Curiosity moves around in this 144,8 km on the Gale Crater
depression. It was chosen by NASA mainly in August 2012
because of the mountain of layered materials
in the middle a good source of rock and soil
for testing.
| 69
MOST POWERFUL
ROCKET EVER
NASAs SLS rocket and Orion capsule
will fly us all the way to Mars
SLS ROCKET AT A GLANCE COMMAND
MODULE
COST PER HEIGHT MASS The only part
LAUNCH of Orion that
comes back
2 567 down to Earth
intact. SERVICE
R75,4 bn 110,9 m tons MODULE

W
HILE youre reading this ar-
ticle, engineers at NASA STAGE 1 STAGE 2
are hard at work building
the largest, most powerful
rocket in the world at the
Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunts-
ville, Alabama. The mighty SLS which
stands for Space Launch System will be STAGE 1
able to send people and cargo to places
where no human has gone before.
A capsule called Orion, similar to the
Apollo capsule but twice its size, will sit on
top of the SLS. In 2014 Orion was launched
into deep space by a Delta IV rocket and
SLS ROCKET
travelled to a height of 5 794 km above The SLS will be able to handle
Earth (further than any craft has flown in payloads of up to 70 000 kg
more than 40 years) to test its safety sys- (70 tons). In future a larger
tems. Orions next test mission will be version will be designed that
atop the SLS in 2018 when it will fly into a will be able to carry up to
130 000 kg and that will
moon orbit to test the integrated system.
support a variety of
And after that there will be no stopping missions carrying crew,
this impressive vehicle, which is set to fly equipment and ex-
astronauts into the orbit of the moon in periments on long-
2025 to work on a captured asteroid boul- duration trips to
der (see page 66 for more on the 2020 far-flung desti-
plan to capture the boulder), and then a nations such
few years later its off to Mars! as Mars.

LIFTOFF MASS (WITH CREW)

2 567 tons thats the same as
eight fully-loaded Boeing 747s

70 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 MARS AND BEYOND

LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM MASS

Rockets that can separate the
Orion crew capsule from SLS COMMAND
within milliseconds and pull 25,8 MODULE
it out of danger if something tons It has been
goes wrong at liftoff. designed to be
refurbished
ORION after a trip
The crew capsule hidden and reused.
behind its protective
fairing (metal cover).

CREW

SERVICE MODULE
Starts to propel the craft

4-6 as it comes close enough to

CORE STAGE
The main SLS rocket. Its
more than 60 m tall with a
diameter of 8,4 m and will
carry 2,7 million litres of
super-cooled liquid hydro-
gen and liquid oxygen to
fuel the engines.
SOLID ROCKET
BOOSTER
These booster
rockets are based
on those of the
Space Shuttle.
its destination and provides
water, oxygen and heating for
the command module.
SOLAR DOCKING
PANELS PORT
ORION COMMAND MODULE
The Orion capsule is similar to the Apollo,
but double the volume and can carry twice
as many passengers (six instead of three).
It is reusable and has already been built and
sent on one test flight. Eventually it will be
expanded to keep crew comfortable and safe
for the full five to seven months needed to
travel to Mars.
ORION
3,3 m

50%
APOLLO more volume
CARGO than Apollo
The SLS HEAT SHIELD
can carry Orions heat shield can
3,9 m 5m
cargo to resist temperatures high
the equiva- enough to melt a nuclear
lent of 12 reactor. The Space Shuttle
fully-grown had tiles to absorb heat on
elephants re-entering Earths atmos-
into orbit. FROM EARTH phere, while the outer layer
PICTURES: NASA/MSFC; NASA

TO . . . of Orions heat shield burns

70
Uranus
up in the atmosphere.

tons Asteroid belt

Saturn 2 200 oC
The tempe
that Orion rature
RS-25 ENGINE Venus will h
One rocket to withsta ave
n
engine uses Neptune Mercury during re-e d
ntry
5 678 litres of into Earth
MARS s
fuel in just eight atmosphe
56 million km re.
minutes.
Jupiter away when at its
EARTH closest to Earth
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 71
MARS AND BEYOND
HOLIDAY WITH
A DIFFERENCE
If you have a few million rand lying around,
you could book a ticket for a future holiday
in space . . .
I
MAGINE an hotel where at bath time
you have to float around in a room
filled with water bubbles because
theres no shower, and where you
have to strap yourself to a bed at-
tached to the roof, wall or floor before
you can go to sleep . . .
Welcome to the world of space
hotels! These are luxury spaceships
expected to orbit Earth within the next
decade or two and will cost holiday-
makers anything from R4 million to
R15 million per night.
While we may have to wait a while for
spaces first hotel, space tourism seems
to be around the corner with compa-
nies promising (not for the first time!)
that theyll be ready to kick off within a
year or two.
There are two kinds of space travel
for tourists: orbital and suborbital.
ORBITAL TRAVEL
An orbital flight travels fast enough to
go beyond Earths orbit. To date, the
only seven space tourists in history, in-
cluding South African Mark Shuttle-
International
Space Station
400 km
Weightlessness
180 km
100 km
15 km
Mount Everest
72 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
worth, have all made orbital trips
by flying to the International Space
Station (ISS) on a Soyuz aircraft and
spending a week up there. This pro-
gramme has now been stopped as all
Soyuz seats are kept for astronauts
as it has become their only way to get
to the ISS.
SUBORBITAL TRAVEL
Orbital flights are technically and
financially challenging for private com-
panies, so to start off they are focusing
on suborbital flights.
And suborbital flights will go to just
above the Krmn line, which is VIRGIN GALACTIC
100 km above Earth and the point
where space officially starts. Passen- COST PER FLIGHT R4 million
gers can experience a few minutes of NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
weightlessness and, of course, see a PER FLIGHT Six
sight which astronauts say changes OPERATIONAL FROM Not yet an
one forever: our beautiful blue and nounced, probably 2017 or 2018
green planet seen from a distance. Sub-
orbital flights will last an hour or two.
There are several players in this mar-
ket we take a look at four of the most
well-known private companies.
ORBITAL
Virgin Galactic belongs to British entre
preneur Richard Branson. Its spacecraft is
KRMN LINE called SpaceShip Two and its launch vehi
cle is not a rocket but a space plane called
White Knight Two. The plane carries the
spacecraft 15,2 km into the sky, from
SUBORBITAL
where the craft uses its onboard rocket to
fly to the Krmn line. More than 700 peo
ple are said to have already booked seats
including celebrities Justin Bieber, Katy
Perry, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Leo
Aeroplanes
nardo diCaprio.
 LEFT: An artists impression of
Galactic Suite, a Spanish space
hotel venture. The developers first
promised the hotel for 2012 but
have since postponed to 2023.
INSET: Going for a bike ride and
showering in the Galactic Suite.

WHY IS SPACE TOURISM

SO EXPENSIVE?
Space rockets are incredibly expensive to
build and can only be used once. Its like
building a Boeing 747 then throwing it
away after only one flight, SpaceXs Elon
Musk once explained.
Space travel should therefore become
more affordable if rockets can be reused,
and this is now starting to happen. Both
SpaceX and Blue Origin recently managed
to return their rockets safely back to
Earth after a flight (the Space Shuttle also
had reusable rockets but it was almost
more expensive to refurbish them after a
flight than to build new ones!).
Does that mean us ordinary folk will
soon be able to go on a space trip? Per-
haps. But youll need to start saving now
and saving a lot!

BLUE ORIGIN XCOR AEROSPACE SPACEX

COST PER FLIGHT Not yet announced
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS PER
FLIGHT Six
OPERATIONAL FROM Possibly 2018
PICTURES: GALLO IMAGES/AFP/ROBYN BECK; SPLASH/GREATSTOCK; MAGAZINE FEATURES; GALACTIC SUITE GROUP
COST PER FLIGHT R2,25 million
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS PER
FLIGHT One
OPERATIONAL FROM Still a few years
away

Blue Origin belongs to Jeff Bezos, founder
of Amazon.com. They will use a vertical
rocket and a passenger capsule.The cap-
sule will separate from the rocket to land
back on Earth. Both rocket and capsule
are called New Shepard, after NASA as-
tronaut Alan Shepard (see page 24).
XCOR was founded by people in the Amer-
ican rocket industry who have developed
a rocket plane called Lynx which will take
off on its own power. Although they can
ferry only one passenger at a time, they
plan to offer several flights per day, using
reusable, non-toxic engines.
The company founded by South African-
born Elon Musk has also shown interest in
using its Falcon rocket and Dragon cap-
sule for space tourism, but has not an-
nounced details yet. They currently have
a contract with NASA to ferry cargo
and,from 2017, astronauts to the ISS.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 73

This close-up image, taken with
the Hubble Space Telescope,
shows stars still forming
in the nebula NGC 6357.
The stars look like they
are breaking out and
illuminating a specta-
cular cocoon of gas.

74 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 PICTURE: NASA, ESA AND JESS MAZ APELLNIZ (INSTITUTO DE ASTROFSICA DE

| 75
ANDALUCA, SPAIN). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: DAVIDE DE MARTIN (ESA/HUBBLE)
WORLD
OUT OF THIS

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE

 OUR EYES LRO LCROSS

IN SPACE
2009 2009
Change 2 Atlas V
2010 Atlas V
Long March 3C Change 1
2007
LADEE Long March 3A
2013
Here are a few of the main artificial Minotaur V Lunokhod 2
1973

satellites and spacecraft that roam MOON

Proton-K
Lunokhod 1
or have roamed our planet and space Change 3
2013
1970
Proton-K

A
Long March 3B Apollo 11
FTER the launch of the first 1969
Example guide
artificial satellite into Earths Saturn V
orbit, the Sputnik 1 in 1957, we SPACECRAFT Rosetta
LAUNCH 2004 IBEX
have sent thousands of satel- ROCKET Ariane 5 2008
lites and spacecraft into space. Pegasus XL
Satellites help predict the weather and FAST
natural disasters such as hurricanes as 1996
Pegasus XL
well as beam signals for TV and Global Po-
sitioning Satellites (GPS) that are used to
determine positions on the ground. They
also take photographs of other planets,
the sun, black holes and more. Spacecraft Geotail
PICTURES: SOLAR SYSTEM BY WP PLANETS 2008/CC BY-SA 3.0, NASA/JPL

orbiting Earth and other planets have 1992

similar purposes all aimed at helping us Delta II
understand parts of the universe where
EARTH
humans are not able to venture. Yet.
Hubble
USSR/Russia Probe 1990
Shuttle
USA Lander Discovery

Europe Rover
Japan Telescope
China
India
Kepler
Magellan 2009
1989 Delta II
Shuttle Pioneer 5
Atlantis 1960
IRIS Venus Express
2013 Thor-Able Rosetta
2005
Pegasus XL Soyuz-FG 2004
Ariane 5

VENUS
ACE
1997
Akatsuki
2010
COMET
Delta II H-IIA

SUN SOHO
1995 Messenger
Atlas II-AS 2004
Delta II

Ulysses MERCURY
1990
Shuttle
Discovery

76 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za

 JUPITER OUT OF THIS WORLD
Pioneer 10
1972
Atlas-Centaur

Pioneer 11 Voyager 1
1973 left our so-
Voyager 1 Atlas-Centaur lar system
1977
Titan IIIE Voyager 1
1977
Titan IIIE
Voyager 2
1977
Titan IIIE

Galileo Voyager 2
Juno 1989 New Horizons
2011 Shuttle
SATURN 1977 on its way out
Titan IIIE of our solar
Atlas V Atlantis
system

New Horizons
Cassini- 2006
Huygens Atlas V
1997
Titan IV PLUTO

Voyager 2
left our solar
system

Voyager 2
Mars Global 1977
Surveyor Titan IIIE
Viking 2
1975 1996
Viking 1 Titan IIIE Delta II Mars Pathnder NEPTUNE
1975 1996
Titan IIIE Delta II Voyager 2
1977
Titan IIIE
Mars Odyssey
Mars2 2001
1972 Delta II
Proton K

Mars Express
URANUS
MARS 2003
Soyuz-FG

Opportunity
Rover
2003
Delta II

Curiosity Dawn
Rover 2007
2011 Delta II
Atlas V
Mars Orbiter
MAVEN Mission
2013
Atlas V
2013 CERES
PSLV-XL

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 77

WEIRD,
WONDERFUL
SPACE
Take a look at these fun and
interesting facts about life
among the stars . . .
DID YOU KNOW?
YOU CANT GAIN WEIGHT IN SPACE
In a weightless environment you can
eat as much as you like without gaining
weight that will show up on a scale,
that is. But when you return to Earth
and get onto the scale, the extra kilos
will show. Thats because our mass
stays with us wherever we are, even in
weightless conditions. But weight only
exists when that mass is under the
influence of a force such as gravity.
YOU STAY YOUNGER FOR
LONGER ON THE SPACE STATION
Based on the theory of relativity, one
ages slower while travelling at a high
speed in space. So an astronaut wont
age quite as fast as he would if he were
to remain on Earth. If you visit the ISS
for a week, youll return a fraction of a
second younger than someone of the
same age who stayed behind on Earth!
STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN WHEN
YOU BLEED OR CRY IN SPACE
Neither your blood nor your tears can
run down. So if you bleed, blood turns
into a red bubble that floats away and
tears cling to your eyes and eyelashes.
78 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
SPACE DICTIONARY
SPACE
This is everything
Krmn line
that is around 100 km above
Earth and above sea level
the atmosphere.
Space officially
begins at 100 km
above sea level.
This marker is
called the Krmn
line.
MICROGRAVITY
Conditions where there is a tiny
bit of gravity but so little that
you cant feel it and objects are
weightless.
PAYLOAD
Anything a rocket carries into
space. Basically its the rockets
cargo.
LAUNCH VEHICLE
The machine that launches
the spacecraft often a
rocket, sometimes a plane.
THERES SOMETHING
CALLED SPACE SICKNESS . . . 4 TIPS TO SEE ISS
Some astronauts get space sickness. WHIZZING PAST
Its not the same as motion sickness,
but they still feel nauseous and some-
times disoriented and confused. It usu-
ally occurs on the first few days in
space then passes as their bodies adapt 1 You can see the International
to weightlessness. Space Station with your naked
eye no telescope needed!
ASTRONAUTS ARE MORE
PRONE TO CANCER 2 The best time to spot it is at
night.
Astronauts have a three percent higher
risk than the general population of de- 3 It looks like an incredibly
veloping cancer as a result of radiation bright star and is sometimes
in space. Its a calculated risk an the brightest object in the sky.
astronaut is grounded once his or her
total time spent on the ISS is so long 4 Go to spotthestation.nasa.
that the three percent risk increases. gov to see when and at what
time the ISS will pass over
SPACECRAFT ENGINES your house!
ARE ACTUALLY SMALL
They dont need huge engines because
there is no air in space to slow them
down. The very powerful engines and
rockets are needed to fight Earths
gravity during liftoff.
FACTS SOURCED MAINLY FROM THE BOOK DO YOUR EARS
POP IN SPACE? BY R. MIKE MULLANE (JOHN WILEY & SONS)

FLOATING DOWN
THE AISLE
The first space wedding took place on 10
August 2003 when Russian Yuri
Malenchenko married Ekaterina Dmitriev
via a video linkup while he was on the In-
ternational Space Station above New
Zealand. She was at the Houston Space
Center inTexas. At the wedding reception
the new bride had to make do with a card-
board cut-out of her groom.
WHAT A SPACEWALK
FEELS LIKE
PICTURES: NASA JPL-CALTECH UCLA; ANTHONY URBANO; GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES; NASA; UK SPACE AGENCY/ MAX ALEXANDER;
FULL MOON PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN 10-22-2010 FROM MADISON, ALABAMA, USA BY GREGORY H REVERACC BY-SA 3.0; ESA/NASA
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield de-
scribes a spacewalk, Youre holding onto
the side of a spaceship thats moving
around Earth at more than 28 000 km/h
and you see the astonishing beauty of our
planet, the infinite textures and colours.
On the other side, the velvet black bucket
of space, brimming with stars.
OUT OF THIS WORLD
WHAT WEIGHTLESS- LETTERS FOREVER
NESS FEELS LIKE
The last human on the moon, astronaut
Eugene Cernan, wrote his daughterTracys
initials on the dusty surface. As theres no
erosion, wind or rain on the moon, the let-
Weightlessness feels as if youre floating ters will remain there for thousands of
or on a rollercoaster dive.Theres no up or years. But because he left his camera up
down down is wherever your feet are. there, there are no pictures of the initials.
A VERY HIGH TEA INDEED
Tim Peake (left) the first British astronaut on the ISS
had a bone china teacup sent up before his ar-
rival in December 2015 with the hope of trying to
use it in space but it seemed to be more symbol-
ic. His meals were devised by British celebrity
chefHestonBlumenthal(right)andhisfirstspace
meal was a crumb-free (crumbs are not allowed in
space) bacon sandwich with tea out of a pouch.
you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 79
HALL OF FAME
These space exploration pioneers will always have a place in history
NEIL ARMSTRONG (1930-2012)
American astronaut and on 21 July
1969 the first person to walk on the
moon.
GUY BLUFORD (73)
American astronaut and in 1983
the first African-American in space
aboard Space Shuttle Challenger.
MICHAEL COLLINS (85)
American astronaut and pilot of Apollo 11
Command Module that circled the moon
during the first moon walk on 21 July 1969.
80 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
BUZZ ALDRIN (86)
American astronaut and on 21 July
1969 the second person to walk on
the moon.
RICHARD BRANSON (65)
British entrepreneur, founder of Virgin
Galactic which is expected to be the
first private company to send paying
tourists into space.
YURI GAGARIN (1934-1968)
Soviet cosmonaut and first person
in space aboard Vostok 1, which
orbited Earth on 12 April 1961.
MISS BAKER (1957-1984)
One of a duo of monkeys who in 1959
were the first American monkeynauts
to return alive from a space mission
aboard the Jupiter AM-18 rocket.
EILEEN COLLINS (59)
American astronaut, first female pilot
and in 1999 first female commander
aboard Space Shuttle Columbia.
JOHN GLENN (95 IN JULY)
American astronaut and on 20 February
1962 aboard Mercury Friendship became
the first American to orbit Earth.
 MAE JEMISON (59) SERGEI KOROLEV (1907-1966) LAIKA (UNKNOWN-1957)
American astronaut and first African- Lead Soviet rocket engineer during Soviet stray dog who in 1957 became the
American woman in space aboard the Space Race. He oversaw the de- first living being in orbit aboard Sputnik
Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. sign of Sputnik, Vostok and Voskhod. 2. She died during the flight.

ELON MUSK (45)

South African-
born American
entrepreneur,
founder of
SpaceX whose
Dragon spacecraft
in 2012 became
the first commer-
cial spacecraft
to successfully
ALEXEI LEONOV (82) attach to the ISS. SALLY RIDE (1951-2012)
It currently deliv- American astronaut and in 1983 the
Soviet cosmonaut and on 18 March
ers cargo regularly first American woman in space aboard
1965 he was the first person to walk
to the ISS. the Space Shuttle Challenger.
in space. His walk lasted 12 minutes.
PICTURES: NASA; GALLO IMAGES/ GETTY IMAGES/UNDERWOOD ARCHIVES; GALLO IMAGES/REUTERS; NASA/ROBERT MARKOWITZ; SPACEFACTS;
GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES; WIKIPEDIA; INPRA; AP/PICTURENET; GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/ ROB SCOTT; NASA/MIKE FOSSUM

ALAN SHEPARD (1923-1998) MARK SHUTTLEWORTH (42) VALENTINA TERESHKOVA (79)

American astronaut and on 5 May 1961 South African entrepreneur and in 2002 Soviet astronaut and on 16 June
the first American in space aboard the first African in space and second 1963 she was the first woman in
Mercury Freedom. self-funded space tourist. space aboard Vostok 6.

DENNIS TITO (75) WERNHER VON BRAUN (1912-1977) ED WHITE (1930-1967)

American engineer and in 2001 the first German-born rocket engineer, oversaw US astronaut and on 3 June 1965 the
self-funded tourist in space, a year development of Saturn V rocket that first American to walk in space. He died
before Mark Shuttleworth. sent Apollo spacecraft to the moon. in the Apollo 1 disaster in 1967.

you.co.za GATEWAY TO SPACE | 81

 WIN AWESOME
SPACE TOYS!
Three lucky readers will each win a hamper
of amazing space goodies worth R1 000
A space flight suit, an electronic Space Shuttle, a space model
kit plus building blocks all this could be yours!
Three lucky readers will each win a hamper containing these
space toys. The hampers are worth R1 000 each and the toys
are not available anywhere else in South Africa, except at the
Gateway to Space Exhibition in Johannesburg (see page 2)!
EACH HAMPER INCLUDES
1 A Gateway to Space flight suit to fit ages 3-10
(We are unable to publish a picture of the flight suit because the
suits were still in production at the time of going to print.)
2 A building blocks set to build your own spacecraft
3 A model to construct an Earth and its orbiting moon
4 An electronic Space Shuttle toy
2 READ MORE
3 ABOUTTHE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield, MacMillan,
2013. Astronauts by Giles Sparrow, Amber Books, 2006. Do Your
Ears Pop In Space? by R Mike Mullane, John Wiley & Sons, 1997. NASAs
First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives edited by Steven J Dick, 2009.
The Astronauts Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More by Charles T Bour-
land and Gregory Vogt, Springer Science+Business Media, 2010. This
New Ocean by William E Burrows, Library Paperback Edition, 1999. Pack-
ing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach,
WW Norton & Company, 2010. Space: The Ultimate Frontier by Michael
Sharpe, TAJ Books, 2007. Space Tourism by Michael Urs, self-published,
2013.
WEBSITES
aiaa.org, airandspace.si.edu, airspacemag.com, astronautix.com, atnf.csiro.
au, bbc.com, boeing.com, britishcouncil.org, curious.astro.cornell.edu, denel-
82 | GATEWAY TO SPACE you.co.za
HOW TO ENTER
THE SMS
SMS the answer to the question below,
followed by your name and email address
to 33150* before 5 pm on 31 August 2016.
THE QUESTION
Who was the first person to set foot
on the moon? The answer is in the
magazine.
*Each SMS costs R1,50. You must be the registered owner of the cellphone used
to enter, or have the owners permission to use it. The winners will be selected in
by random draw. The winners will be informed. Prizes may not be exchanged for
cash and are not transferable. Media24 staff and their families may not enter.
Media24 and the sponsors do not accept responsibility for damages stemming
from participation.
GATEWAY TO
SPACE EXHIBITION
ON PAGE 2 AND AT
GATEWAYTOSPACE
.CO.ZA
otr.co.za, encyclopedia.kids.net.au, esa.int, foodstuff.co.za, howstuffworks.
com, htxt.co.za, independent.co.uk, jb.man.ac.uk, lpi.usra.edu , mashable.
com, nasa.gov, nbcnews.com, newscientist.com, nytimes.com, popularme-
chanics.com, russianspaceweb.com, russos.livejournal.com, skatelescope.
org, smithsonianmag.com, space.com, spacekids.co.uk, spacelaunchreport.
com, spaceflight101.com,time.com, spacesafetymagazine.com, spacex.com,
spie.org, ska.ac.za, telegraph.co.uk, theguardian.com, transition.fcc.gov,
universetoday.com, vox.com, wikipedia.org, wired.com
DVDS AND OTHER VIDEO MATERIAL
Man on the Moon produced by Richard Bradley, BBC, 1994. Moon Shot:
The Inside Story of Americas Race to the Moon directed by Kirk Wolfin-
ger, PBS, 1994. Reputations: Wernher von Braun written and produced
by Andrew Williams, BBC, 1999. The Space Race written and directed
by Christopher Smith, BBC/Channel One Russia/National Geographic
Channel US/NDR, 2005.
BE ENTERTAINED
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