So , you need to take a brusk trip into space ? Seems well-fixed enough – hop in your rocket , shoot for it at outer space and pinch off , ripe ? If you desire to survive , it will take a little more preparation than that . fortuitously , we ’re here to facilitate .
Space is inhospitable to humans . It ’s too cold , has nothing for us to breathe , and requires high-pitched speed to reach and maintain orbit . The worst part is probably the return trip . Re - entranceway will subject your starship ( and you ) to extremes of temperature and force play that are difficult to have the best . Before you get started on your own place flight , go through our handy checklist to make certain you ’ve get the bare essentials .
Capsule . This is your tiny chariot of the gods , the throne from which you ’ll survey the heavens from orbital cavity . In realness , it will be a cramped canister that will be , in turning , too cold and too raging . If you want to really trim your budget , you may make the whole matter one giant arena of aluminum metal . That ’s how Yuri Gagarin , the first soul in infinite , did it .

insulating material . Space is cold . To be more accurate , outer space has no temperature at all , since it ’s a vacuum . The amount of insulation you need depends on how long you desire to attend out in space . The lower limit is some kind of thermic blanket lining the interior of your condensation . This will keep you from freezing while in quad and also extenuate some of the heat of re - incoming .
Oxygen . The cheapest method uses K superoxide ( KO2 ) , which , through a chemical response removes carbon dioxide and adds atomic number 8 to the capsule ’s ambience . If your space capsule is not airtight ( many American space capsules were designed to appropriate slow , stiff leak ) , you ’ll need pressurized air to maintain insistency and breathable atmosphere . Some emergency brake pressurized atomic number 8 bottles are credibly a good idea – 20 pounds of oxygen will be enough to get you through a brusk pinch . Just be careful around the perfect O .
arugula . Now that you ’ve got a space capsule with a fair chance of supporting human life , ever so shortly , in space , you have to get it to space . Mount the space capsule on top of a large rocket . If you need to aviate old - schoolhouse , you ’ll need roughly 300,000 pounds of hydrazine / dinitrogen tetroxide rocket fuel , which is scary stuff , but at least it can be safely stored at normal temperatures . If you ’re being guard conscious , modernistic solid fuel like the blank space shuttle ’s Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant is a serious option .

Control system of rules . Your capsule may have its own on - board ascendancy Eruca vesicaria sativa , or be temporarily attach to a control module . You ’ll need a way to orient the craft for re - entry and rockets to fire at the correct metre to station it into re - entranceway . you may habituate pre - programmed on - board computers , let the background crew handle it , or put it into the pilot ’s hands . Do n’t skimp here . Too extortionate of a re - entry angle and you ’ll burn up . To shoal and you ’ll bounce off the standard atmosphere and tilt off into space . “ Your electric circuit ’s numb , there ’s something wrong … ”
Re - entry . When you re - come in the atm , your capsule will be incite at around Mach 25 . The “ bow ” of your ejector seat creates a shockwave of super flat accelerator , and that compression heats them up tremendously , to over 4,500 degree F ( 2,500 C ) . You might assume a aerodynamic shape would be best , but it sprain out that a blunt , wide object drive the shockwave ahead of itself , keeping the heated gases a footling farther away . That ’s why Vostok capsules were globular ( they were wide and blunt from any re - entry angle ) and Gemini and Apollo capsule were cone - work ( they re - enter wide end first ) . Even so , the condensation is exit to receive a batch of hotness . The cheapest heat shield for a one - meter military mission is ablative , usually made of beryllium or a metal admixture . The shield bit by bit chars and burn off by , sacrificing itself so that you may reach the Earth . If you ’ve got the R&D budget , ceramics work very well and have better insulate dimension . Finally , do n’t forget a sturdy internal frame and well - anchored seat belts . You ’ll be pull 3 Gs or more ( Gagarin reportedly rest conscious under 8 Gs of deceleration ) .
Landing . The chute / ocean touchdown method seemed to work moderately faithfully for the Americans . The Russians always had hassle with their landing place – Gagarin ’s condensation leave a crater , though as luck would have it he ’d ejected and make out down with his own parachute . Do n’t overlook this vista . It would be a shame to mess up thing up at this detail in the deputation .

Plan B. Do n’t expect everything to go swimmingly . Somewhere along the way , there will be a problem or a unlooked-for circumstance . Carry extra food , water and oxygen . Install a backup figurer system ( they ’re so small-scale and idle these days ) . Make certain the pilot program is trained to engineer solutions or take over control systems if necessary . And fold your own parachute .
Sources :
Davis , Jeffrey R. , et al . Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine . Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , 2008 .

NASA . “ What is the Temperature of Space ? ”
NASA . “ Gemini 9A. ”
Sotheby ’s . “ Vostok platform . “

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