The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

WFPC: Wide Field and Planetary Camera

Chapter 5

ESA: European Space Agency

MER: Mars Exploration Rover

SMART: Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology

Introduction

The quest to conquer space is packed with stories of triumph and disaster. The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters presents over 50 of the most remarkable first-hand accounts of sub-orbital, orbital and deep space adventure, from the development of the rocket to the present day.

The accounts tell exactly what it was like to be “a man in a can” – in the astronauts’ and the cosmonauts’ own words. Share Alan Shepard’s exhilaration at being the first astronaut in space. Ride with Scott Carpenter as he describes how he had to correct instrument malfunctions which would have prevented his re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The collection is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1, entitled “At Heaven’s Door – Testing the Limits”, covers the development of jet and rocket propulsion from the end of the Second World War to the penetration of the upper atmosphere. These early accounts include Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier with a broken arm, and the test pilots’ own explanations of the dangerous new technology of rocket-propelled craft.

Chapter 2 is called “Rockets Away – Escape from Earth”. It relives the early days of space flight, including the US Mercury program, with the astronauts revealing just how much they had to do. Among their accounts, John Glenn’s first American orbital flight stands out for its memorable description of “Zero G and I feel fine”.

Chapter 3 (“Man in Space – The Glory Days”) spans the period from 1963 until 1974, including the US Gemini and Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz programs. The vivid descriptions here include Alexei Leonov’s fight for his life as the first man to space walk when he found himself unable to get back into the spacecraft without taking the risk of deflating his space suit. Later he and his fellow cosmonaut crash-landed and had to spend the night sheltering from wild wolves.

The triumph of Apollo 11 is followed by the mishap of Apollo 12 and the famous “problem” of Apollo 13. You can only admire the resourcefulness of the ground team who brought them home safely. The chapter concludes with the memorable moment of “Apollo-Soyuz shaking hands” during the final Apollo mission.

Chapter 4 is entitled “Retreat to Earth – Cancellations Galore”. Its accounts record the cancellations and setbacks during the period after 1974, including the Shuttle disasters (1986 and 2003) plus the endless crises aboard the space station Mir in 1997. The US-Russian crew suffered from depression, a near miss, fire, loss of power and a collision. In addition, they had to make a succession of perilous space walks; not all of them went back for more.

Chapter 5, entitled “New Horizons – The Ongoing Quest”, continues the story up to the present day. It brings home the trials and tribulations of scientists involved in the search for life and the origins of the universe. In 2003 several new competitors joined the space race and “the Star Trek propulsion drive” began driving the European Space Agency’s Smart 1 probe to the moon. Despite the human cost over the decades, it is clear the urge to explore space remains undiminished.

As Wernher von Braun, rocket scientist, put it, “I have learned to use the word ‘impossible’ with the greatest caution… Don’t tell me that man doesn’t belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go.”

Chapter 1 At Heaven’s Door – Testing the Limits

Introduction: from the Wright brothers to the X-1

The first successful powered flight took place in the United States. On 17 December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first sustained, controlled flight in a powered aircraft, but by 1915 the US government realised that the United States had fallen behind Europe in terms of military aircraft development and set up the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA). From 1917 NACA produced technical reports on aircraft and engine development and by 1939 it was investigating rotary wing aircraft. In 1941 the Chairman of NACA appointed a Special Committee on Jet Propulsion. Germany had flown turbojets, and her researchers were working intensively on the development of an operational jet-propelled interceptor. In Britain the propulsion scientist Frank Whittle had designed and built a gas-turbine engine and had flown a turbojet-powered aircraft.

By the end of the Second World War the United States had a considerable advantage in terms of long-range strategic bombers. The superiority of the B-29 Superfortress was not challenged in combat until the Korean War (1950–3) but by 1945 Germany had developed jet fighters and rocket-powered interceptors that could fly at 590 miles per hour and climb to 40,000 feet in two and a half minutes. The German jets and rocket planes came into the Second World War too late to have any effect on its outcome, although the new aircraft caused consternation among American aeronautical scientists and military planners. As the rivalry between the former Allies increased, the United States naturally concentrated on developing jet and rocket engines.

Neville Duke was a British test pilot who in 1953 set the record for highest speed in level flight of 727.6 m.p.h. In 1954 he described rocket propulsion:

The other branch of jet propulsion is the rocket. Rockets can be of the solid-fuel variety used mainly for assisting take-off; in which the propellant is in the form of a highly compressed powder. This is ignited and burns rapidly producing very hot gases which are discharged under great pressure at very high velocity. Once the charge is ignited, however, there is no control over the rate of combustion or the amount of thrust, and as a means of flight the bi-liquid fuel rocket is to be preferred. In this case, combustion takes place through the chemical reaction as the liquid propellant and an oxidizer mix in the combustion chamber.

As the rocket carries its own oxygen with it, it is independent of the outside atmosphere and theoretically is therefore not limited in speed or altitude. Its main drawback is its present highly extravagant consumption of fuel, which is up to six times the rate of that of a ram-jet and from ten to twenty times as much as the turbo-jet fuel consumption. For instance, the German A.4, or V.2 as it was known in this country, consumed 9 tons of alcohol and liquid oxygen in 7.1 seconds. During that time, however, the V.2 had accelerated to a speed of over 3,500 m.p.h., and a height of 22 miles from which it continued to climb by its own momentum to an altitude of 68 miles before dropping to earth.

The Germans also worked on a number of rocket-propelled fighters of which the Me163B, powered by an H.W.K. 509 Unit, was the first to see operational service in 1944. The Me 163B had sharply swept wooden wings and a high fin but no horizontal tail. The rocket unit burnt a mixture of concentrated hydrogen peroxide, and hydrazene hydrate mixed with alcohol, which were carried in separate tanks and pumped by a turbine to the combustion chamber. It developed a maximum thrust of 3,300 lb at the cost of a fuel consumption of 1,000 lb per minute, which gave a climb to 40,000 ft within 4 minutes, and a range after reaching that height of 22 miles which could be extended by gliding. Poor aerodynamic qualities restricted the top speed to 550 m.p.h. at 40,000 ft, or a Mach number of approximately 0.84.

To get better endurance, the H.W.K. 509C was developed with a separate auxiliary combustion chamber. For cruising, the pilot switched over from the main combustion chamber, which gave a thrust of 3,740 lb, to the auxiliary which provided 660 lb thrust and therefore had a much lower fuel consumption.

Attempts were also made to combine rockets with turbojets. The B.M.W. 003R, which was fitted into an Me 262, consisted of the B.M.W. 003 turbo-jet with a 180 lb rocket unti fared into the rear of the engine casing. Using