Sage-Tips

Could the ISS travel to Mars?

Yes. If you added a slow ion thruster you could slowly raise the orbit, also you can use the moon to help pull you out of the current low earth orbit. Eventually gravity assist passed the moon and on to Mars where you’ll need to enter orbit.

Is it possible to build a spaceship in space?

NASA has contracted several companies to test a satellite-building robot in space. The most expensive part of space exploration is lifting material into space. Instead of building on the ground, and launching material into space — NASA is skipping the hurdle, and building spacecraft in orbit.

Is it easier to travel to Venus or Mars?

It is faster and easier to get to Venus than Mars. Despite Venus’ hellish surface conditions, it may be practical for humans to explore — and someday settle — the second planet from the sun. As long as there have been human imaginations, Venus has inspired them.

Is NASA building a new space shuttle?

Orion is Nasa’s new spaceship for humans, designed to visit destinations such as the Moon and Mars. Here’s our guide to America’s replacement for the space shuttle. When astronauts return to the Moon this decade – under a Nasa plan called Artemis – they’ll travel there in Orion.

Would a blimp work on Mars?

A vacuum airship made of a homogenous material cannot withstand the atmospheric pressure on Earth for any material humans have yet discovered, which can be proven using the critical buckling load of a sphere. A vacuum airship would be a valuable design for a vehicular probe for Mars.

What is the future of the International Space Station (ISS)?

As of January 2018, operations of the US segment were funded until 2025. Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ISS through 2024, but has proposed using elements of the Russian segment to construct a new Russian space station called OPSEK.

Can We Fly the ISS without being an annex to ISS?

The idea is not to remain an annex to ISS, but to fly the hardware on its own and become a free-flying, for-profit destination. There are exterior and interior experiment racks for researchers, and for tourists, there are big windows and doublewide sleeping bags suitable for an orbital honeymoon.

How does the International Space Station maintain its orbit around Earth?

It maintains an orbit with an average altitude of 400 kilometres (250 mi) by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda Service Module or visiting spacecraft. The ISS circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.

Is a positron-powered spaceship the best way to get to Mars?

If it looks promising, and funds are available to successfully develop the technology, a positron-powered spaceship would have a couple advantages over the existing plans for a human mission to Mars, called the Mars Reference Mission. Image left: A diagram of a rocket powered by a positron reactor.