This book offers essential information on China’s human spacecraft technologies, reviewing their evolution from theoretical and engineering perspectives. It discusses topics such as the design of manned spaceships, cargo spacecraft, space laboratories, space stations and manned lunar and Mars detection spacecraft. It also addresses various key technologies, e.g. for manned rendezvous, docking and reentry. The book is chiefly intended for researchers, graduate students and professionals in the fields of aerospace engineering, control, electronics & electrical engineering, and related areas.

Twenty years since the first edition was published in the German language, and just over fifty years since the launch of the Earth’s first ever artificial satellite Sputnik 1, this third edition of the Handbook of Space Technology presents in fully integrated colour a detailed insight into the fascinating world of space for the first time in the English language. Authored by over 70 leading experts from universities, research institutions and the space industry, this comprehensive handbook describes the processes and methodologies behind the development, construction, operation and utilization of space systems, presenting the profound changes that have occurred in recent years in the engineering, materials, processes and even politics associated with space technologies and utilization. The individual chapters are self-contained, enabling the reader to gain a quick and reliable overview of a selected field; an extensive reference and keyword list helps those who wish to deepen their understanding of individual topics. Featuring superb, full colour illustrations and photography throughout, this interdisciplinary reference contains practical, hands-on engineering and planning information that will be invaluable to those on a career path within space technology, or simply for those of us who’d like to know more about this fascinating industry. Main section headings include: Introduction (historical overview, space missions) Fundamentals (orbital mechanics, aerothermodynamics/ reentry, space debris) Launch Vehicles (staged technologies, propulsion systems, launch infrastructure) Space Vehicle Subsystems (structure, energy supply, thermal controls, attitude control, communication) Aspects of Human Flight (man in space, life support systems, rendezvous and docking) Mission Operations (satellite operation, control center, ground station network) Utilization of Space (Earth observation, communication navigation, space astronomy, material sciences, space medicine, robotics) Configuration and Design of a Space Vehicle (mission concept, system concept, environmental simulation, system design, Galileo satellites) Management of Space Missions (project management, quality management, cost management, space law)

Bekey presents an imaginative view of what space could be like in the next several decades if new technologies are developed and bold new innovative applications are undertaken. He discusses a future environment for space activities very different from the predominant conditions of the past and present.

Spacecraft Power Technologies is the first comprehensive text devoted to the technologies critical to the development of spacecraft electrical power systems. The science and engineering of solar, chemical, and nuclear systems are fully examined together with the constraints imposed by the space and thermal environments in which the systems must operate. Details of present technology and the history that led to the current state-of-the-art are presented at a level appropriate for the student as a textbook or the practicing engineer as a reference.

This book introduces readers to the navigation, guidance and control technologies involved in single-spacecraft, double-spacecraft, and multiple-spacecraft tasks in elliptical orbits. It comprehensively covers the key technologies of guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system design for spacecraft in elliptical orbits, including the orbit design, formation configuration design and maintenance, autonomous navigation technology and relative navigation technology, as well as autonomous rendezvous technology. The methods that this book introduces are very close to actual practical engineering applications and presented in an accessible style. The book can serve as reference teaching material for senior undergraduates and postgraduates with space navigation related majors, while also providing essential information and guidance for research personnel and engineering technical personnel engaged in the development of GNC systems for spacecraft.

Advanced Technology for Human Support in Space was written in response to a request from NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications (OLMSA) to evaluate its Advanced Human Support Technology Program. This report reviews the four major areas of the program: advanced life support (ALS), environmental monitoring and control (EMC), extravehicular activities (EVA), and space human factors (SHF). The focus of this program is on long-term technology development applicable to future human long-duration space missions, such as for a hypothetical new mission to the Moon or Mars.

In January 2004 NASA was given a new policy direction known as the Vision for Space Exploration. That plan, now renamed the United States Space Exploration Policy, called for sending human and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. In 2005 NASA outlined how to conduct the first steps in implementing this policy and began the development of a new human-carrying spacecraft known as Orion, the lunar lander known as Altair, and the launch vehicles Ares I and Ares V. Collectively, these are called the Constellation System. In November 2007 NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate the potential for new science opportunities enabled by the Constellation System of rockets and spacecraft. The NRC committee evaluated a total of 17 mission concepts for future space science missions. Of those, the committee determined that 12 would benefit from the Constellation System and five would not. This book presents the committee's findings and recommendations, including cost estimates, a review of the technical feasibility of each mission, and identification of the missions most deserving of future study.