Space History

Through the twentieth century, the continual exploration of outer space and its imaginary colonization in science and fiction has led to a new understanding of the space-time continuum. While the physical space surrounding planet Earth was conceptualized ever more precisely, the encounter with the immensity of time has provoked less resonance. This article analyzes the temporal dimension of the Age of Space in three steps. First, it juxtaposes various ways of conceptualizing the so-called Space Age as a significant period in human history. Second, it examines orders of time inherent in West-European space thought, in particular the widespread appeal of time dilatation as seen in Eugen Sänger’s popular 1950s photon rocket scenario. Third, it charts the experience of time on board spaceships, as detailed in astronauts’ autobiographies. This article argues that the appeal of the Space Age lay not only in the promise of continued physical expansion but also in the total control over the fourth dimension envisioned for the future.

On October 24, 1960, at the USSR’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, an electrical malfunction led to the deadliest launch accident in space industry history. Shortly before a test launch of the first Soviet R-16 intercontinental rocket, the second stage engines prematurely ignited, detonating the first stage fuel tanks. We hypothesize that the primary contributing factor to the tragedy was a systemic flaw in safety management caused by cultural and political values. Through the use of interviews, literature, and a chronology of the events leading up to the failure, an interpretive analysis identifying contributing factors to the disaster was conducted. This study found that cultural and political influences were primary causes to the loss and also led to a safety management environment that continued to threaten the success and integrity of aerospace development in the USSR and other space-faring countries.

The Project Icarus Study Group’s objective is to design a mainly fusion-propelled interstellar probe. The starting point are the results of the Daedalus study, which was conducted by the British Interplanetary Society during the 1970’s. As the Daedalus study already indicated, interstellar probes will be the result of a large scale, decade-long development program. To sustain a program over such long periods, the commitment of key stakeholders is vital. Although previous publications identified political and societal preconditions to an interstellar exploration program, there is a lack of more specific scientific and political stakeholder scenarios. This paper develops stakeholder scenarios which allow for a more detailed sustainability assessment of future programs. For this purpose, key stakeholder groups and their needs are identified and scientific and political scenarios derived. Political scenarios are based on patterns of past space programs but unprecedented scenarios are considered as well. Although it is very difficult to sustain an interstellar exploration program, there are scenarios in which this seems to be possible, e.g. the discovery of life within the solar system and on an exoplanet, a global technology development program, and dual-use of technologies for defence and security purposes. This is a submission of the Project Icarus Study Group.

Numerous estimates for the date of the first interstellar mission have been made in the existing literature. However, these estimates are not based on existing elaborate scenarios from other domains, which project the next 100-300 years. In this paper, the implications of these projections on the hypothetical development of an interstellar probe are assessed. For this purpose, first, relevant scenarios are selected, where the Gross Domestic Product is chosen as the key indicator for the increase in technological capability. Second, different funding patterns from past space programs are derived in order to estimate the funding distribution over time for an interstellar program. Finally, integrated scenarios are developed and it is analysed how different funding structures shift the estimated earliest date where an interstellar program can be initiated. Depending on the political and economic background, potential dates stretch from within the 21st century to the 24th century and beyond. The earlier the potential program initiation date, the bolder the economic and political projections get from today's viewpoint. This is a submission of the Project Icarus Study Group.

Following Dennis Tito's flight to space aboard the Russian Soyuz capsule in 2001, suborbital has become a new form of commercial activity. Fueled by an eager public and decreasing prices, the industry is rapidly expanding. Because the current space law regime was originally designed for governmental exploration, it is inadequate to handle the range of legal challenges emerging from this private commercial activity. This article therefore suggests that the current legal regime is incapable of sustaining the space tourism industry and that there is an urgent need for a new international convention.

Entre 1680 e 1750, a colonização portuguesa na América adquiriu dimensão continental. Entre as atividades econômicas que impulsionaram o avanço dos caminhos do comércio
e a edificação de ambientes coloniais destacamos a pecuária. Na
Capitania do Ceará a pecuária transformou o ambiente, as paisagens e dinamizou o comércio com a produção de mercadorias
que abasteciam o mercado interno e externo. Discutimos aqui
as bases da relação entre exploração colonial e as dinâmicas da
economia-mundo europeia, o processo de expansão do gado nas
Capitanias do Norte, principalmente no Ceará, e a geografia do
comércio que absorvia a produção da pecuária nas redes continentais e marítimas, de circulação e acumulação. Assim, apontamos que estudos atentos à interface entre história econômica
e história ambiental podem se beneficiar de abordagens que
situem a expansão da pecuária na relação com a totalidade dos
espaços-tempo que estruturam a economia-mundo

Extra-terrestrial living and working environments are characterized by significant challenges in logistics, environmental demands, engineering, social and psychological issues, to name a few. Everything is limited: physical volume, air, water, power, and medicine … everything, even people, and therefore all is treated as valuable resource. This situation is complicated by the end product being the result of balancing many competing interests. The relationship between humans, space, and technology is forced, as well as a dynamic process. Although mathematical models for complex systems exist, long-term effects are hard to predict, and even more so to calculate. Even if we had technological solutions for all hazards and threats, there would still be the question of how these subsystems work together, how they are perceived, and if they are accepted by the inhabitants. Habitability design is vital to the success of future space exploration. Research into the dynamic system of 'living together in an isolated and extreme environment for a long time' does not lead to a single common solution. Instead, designers are left trying to translate differing firstperson astronaut accounts into a solution bound by the constraints of physics, schedule, and cost. The early days of human spaceflight were all about discovery. Trying to replace conjecture with experience and fact. For example, the Moon was thought to have meters of soft dust that would swallow landing spacecraft. We have built on the successes and failures, but some achievements have also been forgotten. Today, we use these lessons to create effective designs for 'living together in the isolated and extreme environment (ICE)' of space. Following are descriptions of historical and newer examples of possible solutions that show what can be achieved when the demanding constraints of space inspire creative solutions for combining human needs with technological possibilities.

Von der Weimarer Republik bis in die 1960er Jahre organisierten sich deutsche Raumfahrt-Interessierte in Vereinen, in denen sie an Raketen bastelten und für militärische wie zivile Visionen warben. Viele dieser Visionäre und Ingenieure verschrieben sich dem NS-Regime und entwickelten die Großrakete als Waffe. Den neuen, nunmehr friedlichen Raumfahrt- und Technikvisionen der Nachkriegszeit wurde daher mit Misstrauen begegnet. Während in der Bundesrepublik eine Debatte über die gesellschaftliche Kontrolle des Wissens der Techniker entbrannte, prallte in der DDR in der ‚Raketenfrage‘ die Kritik am Faschismus und seinen Waffensystemen auf die sozialistische Raumfahrt-Utopie.

How Ewen A. Whitaker of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) successfully located the landing site of the Surveyor 3, which was used to set the landing site for the Apollo 12 mission, whose astronauts visited the Surveyor lander.

Recent technological advances and scientific discoveries, particularly in astronomy and space technology, are opening our minds into the deepest realms of the universe, and also they are bringing a new era of space exploration and development. This sense of entering into a new era of space exploration is being boosted by the permanent discovery of new planets -to date, there are 684 confirmed extrasolar planets-outside our solar system. The possibility that astronomers may soon find a habitable extrasolar planet near Earth and the recent advances in space propulsion that could reduce travel times have stimulated the space community to consider the development of an interstellar manned mission. But this scenario of entering into a new era of space development is ultimately contingent on the outcome of the actual world's economic crisis. The current financial crisis, on top of recent national and sovereign debts problems, could have serious consequences for space exploration and development as the national budgets for space activities are to freeze. This paper proposes a multi-decade space program for an interstellar manned mission. It designs a roadmap for the achievement of interstellar flight capability within a timeframe of 40 years, and also considers different scenarios where various technological and economical constraints are taken into account in order to know if such a space endeavour could be viable. It combines macro-level scenarios with a strategic roadmap to provide a framework for condensing all information in one map and timeframe, thus linking decision-making with plausible scenarios. The paper also explores the state of the art of space technologies 20 to 40 years in the future and its potential economic impact. It estimates the funding requirements, possible sources of funds, and the potential returns.

"The idea of the oceans as the new, seventh continent was popular in the mid 1960s.
Starting in 1965 and lasting until 1980, more than 65 of these habitats were built all around the world by industrialized states. This has led to the assumption that both the conquest of the deep sea and that of the space can be seen as an expansion of frontiers in the times of the Cold War and in the postcolonial era. For instance, in 1964, at the New York World Fair, a special exhibition called Futurama showed a model of a possible future civilization on the sea-floor as well as displaying proposals for settlements in the Antarctic as both were considered unsettled continents."