Designers almost daily realize their seemingly fantastic ideas. Space technology is developing rapidly. Some of them also live on earth. If earlier a rocket or a spaceship was just a fantasy, then what will surprise the designers in the future? New robots or the creation of a lunar city, the use of space weapons or a starship crossing the galaxy?
General information
Space technologies have firmly established themselves in many sectors of the national economy during the years of scientific and technological progress (STP). The higher the achievements in the research and exploitation of this area, the more developed the country seems.
Although the industry is still quite young, its formation and improvement is proceeding rapidly. Therefore, in order to explore outer space, states need to unite and make every effort.
The development of infinite space allowed the use of spacetechnology on earth. For example, television and radio broadcasting satellites are used for educational purposes. Earthlings have the opportunity to gain a huge store of knowledge simply by turning on the TV or radio. Therefore, space and education are two interconnected processes: it is impossible to conquer dimensionless space without the necessary knowledge, but it has incredibly effective means for improving and developing science.
Space weapons
Many developed countries have been working for a long time to create weapons that can hit ground objects from orbit. The budget of each country provides for the allocation of funds for space technologies: their creation, research and operation.
American media claim that a satellite that is launched from the ground can become such a weapon. It is based on the missile needed to deliver such a strike. US designers are already working on the blueprints for the facility. After fulfilling the set goal, the spacecraft returns to the base from near-Earth orbit. Such weapons, as conceived by the designers, are reloaded. After preventive measures, it is sent back into space for the next task.
Orbital aircraft development
Scientists of many countries abandoned the idea of its creation, choosing more promising, in their opinion, options. There are projects that provide for the development of a reusable spacecraft, launched into orbit by a rocket-carrier. The orbiter will return without the use of wings, although the transport will remain more traditional.
The most promising is the project from SpaceX called Dragon. The idea is to create a spacecraft that can repeatedly rise into orbit and return to Earth. It turns out that Dragon first docked with the ISS in 2012. The second launch after the repair took place in 2017. According to statistics, Dragon spacecraft have already visited space 15 times.
Lunar city: fiction or reality?
Even in the Soviet Union there were studies of the earth's satellite. 42 years have passed, the authorities have developed a federal space program, thanks to which it is planned to create and launch 5 spacecraft for deep exploration of the moon. Experiments and observations will be carried out from the surface of the satellite and its orbit. It is planned to deliver soil samples and scientists' records to Earth.
The plans of Russian scientists include the creation of a lunar base. There is no atmosphere on the earth satellite, the surface is subjected to meteor attacks, solar flares are radioactive and will lead to the death of astronauts. Therefore, it was decided to equip the lunar city under the ground.
It turns out that Germany planned to create a similar base in the late 30s of the XX century to monitor the launch of ballistic missiles. In 1937, on the site of the modern Chernobyl nuclear power plant, there was the foundation of the military camp "Kyiv-17". It was assumed that its infrastructure would be a spaceport with launch pads. However, the war changed the plans of many states.
Already in 1969 there was the development of a lunar base. The module had to be fixed using various devices, for example, a self-expanding frame, fixed with mounting foam.
Modern scientists have taken as a basis the project of the 70s of the XX century. The lunar settlement included the following items:
- network of fixed scientific stations;
- artificial satellites;
- mobile stations;
- vehicles that combine into a road train;
- cosmodrome;
- units for obtaining oxygen and water from lunar soil.
The day is not far off when the plans of some states to set up a settlement on the Earth's satellite will be implemented.
Varieties of robots
In general, space robots are divided into 4 categories:
- Satellites. Designed to collect information in one hemisphere and transfer it to another.
- Rovers. They are able to land on the surface of a celestial body and explore it. Cases of such a "journey" have been recorded on the Moon, Mars and Venus.
- Probes, measuring instruments. Spacecraft are needed to explore the solar system without having to land on the surface. They have cameras and instruments in their arsenal to measure conditions on celestial bodies.
- Devices for providing assistance to astronauts during space flights.
Technology outlook
Cosmonautics is developing by leaps and bounds. One American project to masterMars will be volunteer astronauts who agree not to return home. It is assumed that they will develop the settlement and begin the colonization of the red planet. The governments of the countries will provide volunteers with everything necessary: a nuclear reactor and units created using innovative technologies. Every 2 years, when the Earth is at a minimum distance from Mars, new volunteers will be sent to the colonialists with a supply of everything necessary.
This project is priceless at its core. If a person can set foot on the surface of the red planet and settle down there, this will advance earthly civilization to a new level. Humanity will have hope for salvation if cataclysms befall the planet. In the modern world, this seems like science fiction, but in the future, space technology will be so advanced that plans to explore Mars and the entire solar system may well become a reality.
