Spacecraft are vehicles designed for travel in outer space, typically orbiting planets or moving through our solar system.
These examples were automatically collected from various online sources to demonstrate current usage of’spacecraft.’ This page does not reflect the views or endorsement of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Aldrin Cycler
Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 pioneered this concept involving large spaceships that regularly and repeatedly traveled between Earth and Mars orbits, offering regular round-trip transport between both worlds. Aldrin’s system would require creating Orion, a new vehicle designed specifically to transport passengers and cargo between Earth and Mars; additionally he advocated for companion modules which could store much of what would be required by long duration space travel.
A cycler could theoretically be constructed with any integer synodic period; however, for Mars cyclers to work effectively they must feature periodicities of one. This allows spacecraft encountering Earth or Mars to use encounters for orbit correction purposes – decreasing overall propellant mass while increasing mission duration.
This study investigated various classes of cyclers, such as one featuring seven full cycles and requiring less than 1m/s maneuver speed to move through its environment. Based on its analysis and results, this class of cycler represents the ideal choice for human missions to Mars.
Astronaut
An astronaut is trained to travel into space, with many having even visited the moon itself. To become one, one needs extensive knowledge in science, math, engineering and technology as well as wearing special gear called a spacesuit to protect them during space flight.
Spacesuits help astronauts breathe in space, protect them from outer space’s hostile conditions, and keep them securely attached to their spacecraft – something which would otherwise cause them to drift away and drift into deep space. Astronauts must be adept at solving problems they encounter on trips without access to much equipment – or else risk floating away!
The term astronaut comes from two Greek words astro (star) and naut (sailor). However, crews on Russian or Chinese spacecraft are referred to as cosmonauts or taikonauts during spaceflight operations; during the Space Race this differentiation between crew member names was essential in keeping rivalry alive between nations.
Satellite
Satellites are objects that orbit larger astronomical bodies such as Earth. This could include natural satellites like our Moon or artificial spacecraft.
Spacecraft are in orbit around Earth to take pictures that help meteorologists forecast weather and track hurricanes, while others take shots of other planets, stars and even black holes or distant galaxies.
Spacecraft refers to any machine launched into space, from unmanned or manned space probes and experiment capsules to orbiting modules of launch vehicles.
Spacecraft are typically propelled by rocket engines that emit streams of gas or plasma to accelerate. Their design typically makes them resilient to extreme environments and loads that would overwhelm Earth-bound spaceships, such as entering an atmosphere or landing on another planetary body’s surface with intense temperatures. A typical spacecraft typically includes subsystems for attitude determination and control (ADAC, ADC or ACS); command and data handling; power; thermal control and structures depending upon its mission profile.
Space Capsule
Space capsules are components of larger spacecraft designed to transport crew members into orbit and back again. Such capsules may be expendable like Vostok and Shenzhou capsules from Russia or reusable like NASA Orion and Boeing CST-100 Starliner from Boeing.
A capsule’s rounded form and positioning enable it to withstand high-energy reentry by producing a shockwave that dissipates heat instead of melting the vehicle. Furthermore, its trajectory must ensure it enters Earth’s atmosphere safely or at an appropriate angle in order to prevent skip-off or high accelerations that would destroy it.
Reentry capsules must be designed with materials that vaporize during reentry in order to prevent them from heating up too dramatically during reentry, taking the heat away from them. Although it seems counterintuitive, this process is essential to survival in space’s harsh environment and is done either via parachute or sometimes with rocket boosters.