All space missions on one map

Все космические миссии на одной карте
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The American design studio Pop Chart Lab has made a wall poster that demonstrates the progress of space exploration by man to date.

Download full-size (3000х2077) poster "All space missions on one map" Download full-size poster All space missions on one map

Since the launch of Sputnik-1, which became the first artificial satellite of the Earth, in six months will be 60 years old. Since then, people have repeatedly sent to space a variety of spacecraft, animals and people.

Colorful infographics cover the whole journey from 1959 to 2015 and visually shows on the map more than 100 research probes, descent vehicles and rovers.

At the top of the poster, you can see the path that the spaceships have overcome, and the bottom shows how these vehicles looked. All vehicles are grouped in the directions of flight.

And let most of them never leave the Earth's orbit, the map demonstrates what incredible distances in the solar system managed to overcome the man!

Все космические миссии на одной карте

Cosmic space (space) - relatively empty parts of the universe, which lie outside the boundaries of the atmosphere of heavenly bodies. Contrary to popular belief, space is not an absolutely empty space - there is a very low density of some particles (mainly hydrogen), as well as electromagnetic radiation and interstellar matter.

Etymology

In its original understanding, the Greek term "cosmos" (order, world order) had a philosophical basis, defining a hypothetical closed vacuum around the Earth - the center of the universe. Nevertheless, in Latin languages ​​and its borrowings to the same semantics, the practical term "space" is used (since from the scientific point of view the enveloping vacuum is endless), so in the Russian and its close languages, as a result of the reformulation, a kind of oxymoron "cosmic space".

Borders

There is no clear boundary, the atmosphere is gradually diluted with distance from the earth's surface, and there is still no consensus on what to consider as a factor in the beginning of the cosmos. If the temperature were constant, the pressure would vary exponentially from 100 kPa at sea level to zero. The International Aviation Federation, as the working boundary between the atmosphere and the cosmos, has established a height of 100 km (the Karman line), because at this altitude, to create an aerodynamic lift, it is necessary that the aircraft move with the first space velocity, which is why the meaning of the air flight is lost. Astronomers from the United States and Canada measured the boundary of the effect of atmospheric winds and the onset of the impact of cosmic particles. She was at an altitude of 118 kilometers, although NASA itself considers the space border 122 km. At this altitude, the shuttles switched from normal maneuvering using only rocket engines to aerodynamic ones with a "support" to the atmosphere.

solar system

Space in the solar system is called interplanetary space, which passes into interstellar space at the points of the solstice of the solstice. The vacuum of the cosmos is in fact not absolute - it contains atoms and molecules detected with the help of microwave spectroscopy, the relict radiation that is left of the Big Bang, and cosmic rays containing ionized atomic nuclei and different subatomic particles. Also there is gas, plasma, dust, small meteors and space debris (materials that have remained from human activities in orbit). The absence of air makes outer space (and the surface of the Moon) ideal for astronomical observations at all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Proof of this are photographs taken with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope. In addition, priceless information about the planets, asteroids and comets of the solar system is obtained with the help of spacecraft.

The impact of being in outer space on the human body

According to NASA scientists, contrary to popular beliefs, when a person enters open space without a protective suit, a person does not freeze, explodes and instantly does not lose consciousness, his blood does not boil - instead death will come from lack of oxygen. The danger lies in the very process of decompression - it is this time period that is most dangerous for the body, as in the case of explosive decompression gas bubbles in the blood begin to expand. If there is a refrigerant (for example, nitrogen), then under such conditions it freezes the blood. Under cosmic conditions, there is not enough pressure to maintain the liquid state of the substance (only a gaseous or solid state is possible, with the exception of liquid helium), so water will begin to evaporate quickly from the mucous membranes of the body (tongue, eyes, lungs). Some other problems - decompression sickness, sunburn of unprotected skin areas and damage to subcutaneous tissues - will begin to affect after 10 seconds. At some point a person will lose consciousness because of lack of oxygen. Death may occur in about 1-2 minutes, although this is not known. Nevertheless, if you do not hold your breath in the lungs (an attempt at delay will lead to barotrauma), then 30-60 seconds of being in the open space will not cause any irreversible damage to the human body.

NASA describes the case when a person accidentally ended up in a space close to the vacuum (pressure below 1 Pa) due to air leakage from the spacesuit. The person remained conscious for about 14 seconds - approximately this time is required for oxygen-depleted blood to enter the brain from the lungs. Inside the suit there was no full vacuum, and the test chamber was recompressed in about 15 seconds. Consciousness returned to man, when the pressure rose to an equivalent height of about 4.6 km. Later a man in a vacuum told that he felt and heard the air coming out of him, and his last conscious memory was that he felt the water boiling in his tongue.

On February 13, 1995, Aviation Week and Space Technology published a letter describing the incident of August 16, 1960, during the lifting of a 19.5-mile open gondola with a nacelle for a record parachute jump (Excelsior Project "). The right hand of the pilot was depressurized, but he decided to continue the climb. The hand, as might be expected, was extremely painful, and it could not be used. However, when the pilot returned to the denser atmosphere, the state of the hand returned to normal.

Boundaries on the way to outer space and the limits of deep space

Atmosphere and near-Earth space

  • The sea level is 101.3 kPa (1 atm, 760 mm Hg atmospheric pressure), the density of the medium is 2.7 · 1019 molecules per cm.
  • 0.5 km - up to this altitude 80% of the world's human population live.
  • 2 km - up to this altitude lives 99% of the world population.
  • 2-3 km - the onset of malaise (mountain sickness) in unacclimatized people.
  • 4.7 km - MFA requires additional oxygen supply for pilots and passengers.
  • 5,0 km - 50% of the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
  • 5.1 km - the most high-lying city of La Rinconada (Peru).
  • 5.3 km - half of the entire mass of the atmosphere lies below this height (slightly below the top of Mount Elbrus).
  • 6 km - the border of the permanent habitat of man (temporary settlements of Sherpas in the Himalayas), the boundary of terrestrial life in the mountains.
  • Up to 6.5 km - the snow line in Tibet and the Andes. In all other places it is located lower, in Antarctica to 0 m above sea level.
  • 6.6 km - the highest located stone building (Mount Ljuljaillaco, South America).
  • 7 km - the limit of man's adaptability to a long stay in the mountains.
  • 8.2 km - the border of death without an oxygen mask: even a healthy and trained person can lose consciousness at any moment and die.
  • 8,848 km - the highest point of the Earth Mount Everest - the natural limit of accessibility by foot.
  • 9 km - the limit of adaptability to short-term breathing of atmospheric air.
  • 12 km - breathing by air is equivalent to being in space (the same time of loss of consciousness ~ 10-20 s); The limit of short-term breathing with pure oxygen without additional pressure; The ceiling of subsonic passenger liners.
  • 15 km - breathing pure oxygen is equivalent to being in space.
  • 16 km - when you are in a high-rise suit in the cabin you need extra pressure. 10% of the mass of the atmosphere remains above the head.
  • 10-18 km - the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere at different latitudes (tropopause). Also, this is the limit of the rise of ordinary clouds, the sparse and dry air extends further.
  • 18,9-19,35 - Armstrong line - the beginning of space for the human body - boiling water at the temperature of the human body. Internal bodily fluids at this altitude do not yet boil, as the body generates enough internal pressure to prevent this effect, but saliva and tears may start to boil with the formation of foam, swelling of the eyes.
  • 19 km - the brightness of the dark purple sky at the zenith is 5% of the brightness of the clear blue sky at sea level (74.3-75 candles vs. 1500 candles per m), the brightest stars and planets can be seen in the daytime.
  • 20 km - the intensity of primary cosmic radiation begins to predominate over the secondary (born in the atmosphere).
  • 20 km - the ceiling of thermal balloons (hot air balloons) (19 811 m).
  • 20-22 km - the upper limit of the biosphere: the limit of the rise in the atmosphere of living spores and bacteria by air currents.
  • 20-25 km - the brightness of the sky in the daytime is 20-40 times less than the brightness at sea level, as in the center of the band of a total solar eclipse and at dusk, when the Sun is below the horizon by 9-10 degrees and the stars are visible up to the 2nd stellar magnitude.
  • 25 km - in the daytime you can navigate through the bright stars.
  • 25-26 km - the maximum height of the established flight of existing jet aircraft (practical ceiling).
  • 15-30 km - the ozone layer at different latitudes.
  • 34,668 km is the official altitude record for a balloon (stratosphere), controlled by two stratoons (Strato-Lab Project, 1961).
  • OK. 35 km - the beginning of space for water or a triple point of water: at this altitude the atmospheric pressure is 611,657 Pa and water boils at 0 ° C, and higher can not be in liquid form.
  • 37.8 km is the record of the altitude of the flight of turbojet airplanes (MiG-25M, dynamic ceiling).
  • 38.48 km (52 ​​000 steps) - the upper limit of the atmosphere in the 11th century: the first scientific definition of the altitude of the atmosphere according to the duration of twilight and the knowledge of the Earth's diameter (Arab scientist Algazen, 965-1039) [14]
  • 39 km - a record of a jump from the stratosphere without a stabilizing parachute (Felix Baumgartner, 2012).
  • 41.42 km is the altitude record of a stratosphere controlled by a single person, as well as a record of the height of the jump with a stabilizing parachute, carried out by the company's vice president, Gugl Alan Eustace, on October 24, 2014. [15]
  • 45 km is the theoretical limit for a ramjet airplane.
  • 48 km - the atmosphere does not weaken the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
  • 50 km - the boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere (stratopause).
  • 51,694 km is the last manned altitude record in the pre-cosmic era (Joseph Walker on the X-15 rocket, March 30, 1961)
  • OK. 53 km is the altitude record for a gas unmanned aerostat.
  • 55 km - the atmosphere does not affect the cosmic radiation.
  • 40-80 km - the maximum ionization of air (the transformation of air into plasma) from friction against the body of the descent vehicle when entering the atmosphere with the first cosmic velocity [16].
  • 70 km is the upper boundary of the atmosphere in 1714 according to the calculation of Edmund Halley on the basis of pressure measurements by climbers, Boyle's law and observations of meteors [17].
  • 80 km - the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere (mesopause); Height of noctilucent clouds.
  • 80.45 km (50 miles) is the official height of the space border in the United States.
  • 100 km is the official international border between the atmosphere and the cosmos - the Karman line, which defines the border between aeronautics and space exploration. Aerodynamic surfaces (wings) since this height do not make sense, since the speed of flight to create a lifting force becomes higher than the first cosmic speed and the atmospheric aircraft becomes a space satellite. The density of the medium at this height is 12 trillion molecules per 1 dm? [18]
  • 100 km is the recorded boundary of the atmosphere in 1902: the opening of the reflecting radio wave of the ionized Kennelly-Heaviside layer is 90-120 km [19].
  • 118 km - the transition from the atmospheric wind to the flows of charged particles.
  • 122 km (400,000 ft) - the first notable manifestations of the atmosphere during the return to Earth from orbit: the incoming air begins to unfold the Space Shuttle nose in the course of the movement, the ionization of air from friction and heating of the shell begins.
  • 120-130 km - a satellite in a circular orbit with such a height can make no more than one revolution.
  • 150-180 km - the height of the perigee of the orbit of the first manned spaceflight.
  • 200 km - the lowest possible orbit with short-term stability (up to several days).
  • 302 km is the maximum altitude (apogee) of the first manned space flight (Gagarin Yu.A. on space ship Vostok-1, April 12, 1961)
  • 320 km is the recorded boundary of the atmosphere in 1927: the opening of the reflecting radio wave of the Appleton layer.
  • 350 km - the lowest possible orbit with long-term stability (up to several years).
  • OK. 400 km - orbit height of the International Space Station
  • 500 km - the beginning of the inner proton radiation belt and the end of safe orbits for long-term human flights.
  • 690 km is the average height of the boundary between the thermosphere and the exosphere (Thermopause, exobase). Above the exobase, the mean free path of air molecules becomes larger than the height of a homogeneous atmosphere and if they have a velocity higher than the second cosmic one, they can leave the atmosphere with a probability of more than 50%.
  • 1000-1100 km is the maximum height of auroras, the last visible manifestation of the atmosphere from the Earth's surface (but usually well-noticeable auroras occur at altitudes of 90-400 km).
  • 1372 km is the maximum height reached by a man before the first manned flights to the Moon, the cosmonauts first saw not just the curved horizon, but the sphericity of the Earth (Gemini-11 on September 2, 1966).
  • 2000 km - the atmosphere has no impact on satellites and they can exist in orbit for many millennia.
  • 3000 km is the maximum intensity of the proton flux of the inner radiation belt (up to 0.5-1 Gy / h).
  • 12 756 km - we retired to a distance equal to the diameter of the planet Earth.
  • 17 000 km - external electronic radiation belt.
  • 27,743 km is the shortest distance from the Earth, in which the asteroid 2012 DA14 (30 m in diameter and 40 thousand tons in weight) flew in advance (more than 1 day).
  • 35 786 km - the height of the geostationary orbit, the satellite in such an orbit will always hang over one point of the equator. In the first half of the 20th century, this height was considered the theoretical limit of the existence of the atmosphere. If the whole atmosphere rotated uniformly with the Earth, then from this altitude at the equator the centrifugal force of rotation will exceed the gravitational forces, and the air molecules that go beyond this boundary will scatter in different directions. In fact, the phenomenon of atmospheric dispersion takes place, but it occurs because of the thermal and corpuscular action of the Sun in the entire volume of the exosphere at altitudes from 400 to ~ 100 thousand km (see above).
  • OK. 90 000 km is the distance to the head shock wave formed by the collision of the earth's magnetosphere with the solar wind.
  • OK. 100 000 km is the upper boundary of the Earth's exosphere (geocoron), noticed by the satellites. The last manifestations of the earth's atmosphere are over, the interplanetary space has begun

Interplanetary space

Все космические миссии на одной карте
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  • 363 104-405 696 km - the height of the Moon's orbit over the Earth.
  • 401,056 km is the absolute height record on which man was (Apollo 13, April 14, 1970).
  • 930 000 km is the radius of the Earth's gravitational sphere and the maximum height of its satellites' existence. Above 930,000 km, the attraction of the Sun begins to predominate, and it will pull up the bodies that have risen above.
  • 1 500 000 km - the distance to one of the L2 libration points, in which the bodies trapped there are in gravitational equilibrium. The space station, deduced to this point, without being an orbital satellite, with minimal fuel costs on trajectory correction would always follow the Earth and would be in its shadow.
  • 21 000 000 km - at this distance the gravitational influence of the Earth on flying objects practically disappears.
  • 40 000 000 km - the minimum distance from the Earth to the nearest big planet Venus.
  • 56 000 000 - 58 000 000 km - the minimum distance to Mars during the Great Opposition.
  • 149 597 870.7 km is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. This distance serves as a measure of distances in the solar system and is called the astronomical unit (ae). Light travels this distance in about 500 seconds (8 minutes and 20 seconds).
  • 590 000 000 km - the minimum distance from the Earth to the nearest large gas planet Jupiter. Further figures indicate the distance from the Sun.
  • 4 500 000 000 km (4.5 billion km) - the radius of the boundary of the near-solar interplanetary space - the radius of the orbit of the farthest large planet Neptune.
  • 8 230 000 000 km - the far edge of the Kuiper Belt - the belt of small ice planets, which includes the dwarf planet Pluto.
  • 20 000 000 000 km - the distance to the farthest for today of the interstellar automatic space vehicle Voyager 1 on January 5, 2016.
  • 35 000 000 000 km (35 billion km) - the limit of the long-range solar wind - the boundary of the heliosphere, the beginning of interstellar space.
  • 65 000 000 000 km - the distance to the vehicle Voyager 1 by 2100.

Interstellar space

Все космические миссии на одной карте
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  • OK. 300,000,000,000 km (300 billion km) is the near boundary of the Hills cloud, which is the inner part of the Oort cloud - a large but very rarefied cluster of ice blocks that slowly fly in their orbits. Occasionally, getting out of this cloud and approaching the Sun, they become comets.
  • 9 460 730 472 580.8 km (about 9.5 trillion km) - light year - the distance that light travels at 299 792 km / s in 1 year. It serves to measure interstellar and intergalactic distances.
  • Up to 15 000 000 000 000 km - the range of probable location of the hypothetical satellite of the Sun of the star Nemesis
  • Up to 20,000,000,000,000 km (20 trillion km, 2 solar years) - the gravitational boundaries of the Solar System (Sphere Hill) - the outer boundary of the Oort Cloud, the maximum range of existence of the Sun's satellites (planets, comets, hypothetical weak-luminous stars).
  • 30 856 776 000 000 km - 1 parsec - more narrowly professional astronomical unit for measuring interstellar distances, equal to 3.2616 light years.
  • OK. 40 000 000 000 000 km (40 trillion km, 4.243 hrs) - the distance to the nearest famous star Proxima Centauri
  • OK. 56,000,000,000,000 km (56 trillion km, 5.96 sb.-the distance to the flying star Barnard, to which the Daedal unmanned research vehicle, which was being developed since the 1970s, is capable of flying and transmitting information within one Human life (about 50 years).
  • 100 000 000 000 000 km (100 trillion km, about 10 light years) - within this radius there are 11 nearest stars.
  • OK. 300 000 000 000 000 km (300 trillion km, 30 light years) - the size of the local interstellar cloud, through which the solar system is now moving (density of the medium of this cloud is 300 atoms per 1 dm?).
  • OK. 3 000 000 000 000 000 km (3 quadrillion km, 300 SD) - the size of the Local gas bubble, which includes the Local interstellar cloud with the solar system (the density of the medium is 50 atoms per 1 dm?).
  • OK. 33 000 000 000 000 000 km (33 sq. Km., 3500 light years) - the thickness of the Galactic Orion Arm, near the inner edge of which is the Local Bubble.
  • OK. 300 000 000 000 000 000 km (300 sq.km.) - the distance from the Sun to the nearest outer edge of the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Outside it extends a black, almost empty and stellar intergalactic space with small spots of several nearby galaxies that are hardly visible without a telescope. The density of the medium of the intergalactic space is less than 1 hydrogen atom per 1 dm ?.
  • OK. 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 km (1 quintillion km, 100 thousand light years) - diameter of our galaxy Milky Way, it has 200-400 billion stars, total mass along with black holes, dark matter and other invisible objects of approx. 3 trillion Suns.

Intergalactic space

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  • OK. 5 000 000 000 000 000 000 km (about 5 quintillion km) - the size of the subgroup of the Milky Way, which includes our galaxy and its moons, dwarf galaxies, a total of 15 galaxies. The most famous of them are the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud.
  • OK. 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 km (about 30 quintillion miles, about 1 million parsecs) is the size of the Local Group of Galaxies, which includes three major neighbors: the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Triangular Galaxy, and numerous dwarf galaxies (over 50 Galaxies). The Andromeda galaxy and our galaxy are approaching a speed of about 120 km / s and will probably collide with each other in about 4-5 billion years.
  • OK. 2 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 km (2 sextillions km, 200 million light years) - size of the Local supercluster of galaxies (Virgo Supercluster) (about 30 thousand galaxies, mass about a quadrillion of Suns).
  • OK. 4,900,000,000,000,000,000,000 km (4.9 sextillion km, 520 million light years) is the size of an even larger Laniakeya supercluster ("Immense Heaven"), which includes our supercluster of the Virgin and the so-called Great Attractor, attracting Themselves surrounding galaxies and us including at a speed of about 500 km / s. In total there are about 100 thousand galaxies in Leniakee, its mass is about 100 quadrillion suns.
  • OK. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 sextillion km, 1 billion light years) is the length of the Pisces-Kita superclustion complex, also called the galactic filament and the hyper-accumulation of Pisces-Keith in which we live (60 clusters of galaxies, 10 masses of Leniakeia or About a quintillion of suns).
  • Up to 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 km is the distance to the Super-Vedas of Eridani, the largest known to date, about 1 billion sq. years. In the central regions of this vast empty space there are no stars and galaxies, and in general there is almost no ordinary matter (density of 10% of the average density of the universe). The astronaut in the center of the void without a large telescope could not see anything but darkness. In the figure to the right, in the cubic cut-out from the universe, many hundreds of large and small voids are seen, located, like bubbles in foam, between numerous galactic threads.
  • OK. 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (100 sextillions km, 10 billion light years) is the length of the great wall of the Hercules-North Crown, the largest known superstructure in the observable universe today. It is located about 10 billion light-years away from us.
  • OK. 250,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (about 250 sextillion km, over 26 billion light years) is the size of the limits of visibility of matter (galaxies and stars) in the observable universe (over 500 billion galaxies).
  • OK. 870 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 km (870 sextillions km, 92 bln years old) - the size of the limits of visibility of radiation in the observable universe.

The speeds necessary to reach near and far space

In order to enter orbit, the body must reach a certain speed. Space velocities for the Earth:

  • The first space velocity is 7.9 km / s - the speed to enter orbit around the Earth;
  • The second space velocity is 11.1 km / s - the speed for leaving the sphere of gravity of the Earth and reaching the interplanetary space;
  • The third space velocity is 16.67 km / s - the speed for leaving the sphere of gravity of the Sun and reaching the interstellar space;
  • The fourth cosmic speed is about 550 km / s - the speed for leaving the sphere of attraction of the Milky Way galaxy and reaching the intergalactic space.

For comparison, the speed of the Sun's motion relative to the center of the galaxy is about 220 km / s.

If any of the speeds is less than the specified one, the body will not be able to reach the corresponding orbit (the statement is true only for starting with the indicated speed from the surface of the Earth and further movement without traction).

The first who realized that to achieve such speeds when using any chemical fuel requires a multi-stage liquid fuel rocket, was Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.