3 How astronauts get up there

Astronauts first need to get into space – but how? Obviously, a powerful rocket is needed. In the 1960s, the rocket that sent men to the Moon – Saturn V (Five) – was the most powerful machine ever built (Figure 6).

Figure _unit2.4.1 Figure 6 The Saturn V rocket and Apollo 11, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, in 1969.

Show description|Hide description

This image is a colour photograph of the Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre.

Figure 6 The Saturn V rocket and Apollo 11, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, in 1969.

Between 1981 and 2011, NASA then sent astronauts to space using the Space Shuttle Program (Space Transportation System) (Figure 7).

Figure _unit2.4.2 Figure 7 The last flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, 8 July 2011.

Show description|Hide description

This image is a colour photograph of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Figure 7 The last flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, 8 July 2011.

The Space Shuttle was invaluable in building the ISS and the Hubble Space Telescope. It flew for 135 missions and was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Space Shuttles docked with the Russian Space Station, Mir, nine times and visited the ISS 37 times. A total of 355 people representing 16 countries flew on the Shuttle. Unfortunately, Challenger and Columbia had catastrophic accidents, leading to the deaths of 14 astronauts. Take a look at this full list of Space Shuttle missions [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Figure 8 shows the Space Shuttle launch profile as it lifts off and the external fuel tanks separate, returning to Earth. You will consider how recent developments have changed this ‘launch profile’ later in Week 8.

Maximise

Figure _unit2.4.3 Figure 8 Space Shuttle launch profile.

Show description|Hide description

This image is of the space shuttle launch profile showing the various stages from liftoff at the launch site to the separation of the solid fuel booster tank and external fuel tank.

Figure 8 Space Shuttle launch profile.

Since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, the only way to get to the ISS now is on the Soyuz rocket from the Russian Mission Control Centre in Kazakhstan (Figure 9).

Figure _unit2.4.4 Figure 9 Expedition 33 Soyuz launch, 23 October 2012.

Show description|Hide description

This image is a colour photograph of the Expedition 33 Soyuz rocket launch.

Figure 9 Expedition 33 Soyuz launch, 23 October 2012.

How do all these rockets compare by size? You can see from Figure 10 that the Saturn V rocket is still the tallest.

Figure _unit2.4.5 Figure 10 A comparison of the size of rockets to date.

Show description|Hide description

This image is a line up of space rockets from the shortest on the left to the tallest on the right. One of the shortest rockets is the MMC rocket which has a mass of 2.8 tons. The Space Shuttle is one of the middle sized rockets with a mass of 27.5 tons. The tallest rocket is the Saturn V with a mass of 140 tons. One rocket is labelled as reusable (SKRV) and two rockets are labelled as partially reusable (Nova II and the Space Shuttle).

Figure 10 A comparison of the size of rockets to date.