Technology

5: Technological Advances 

Space Suits

NASA is celebrating 50 years of Space Suits in 2015! Explore their website (NASA, 2015) to see how the technology of space suits has changed over the years. This one (Dunbar, 2008) has nice clear language and links if you want to find out more.

Watch this video (Brit Lab, 2013) if you want to learn about how modern space suits protect the body from exploding, boiling, freezing and lots of other pleasant things!

Spaceships

compare spaceships

  • NASA (2012) details the history of human spaceflight here
  • A Brief History of Space Exploration from aerospace.org (Aerospace, 2015)
  • Watch this National Geographic video on Space Shuttle History, including the experiments conducted in the shuttle’s ‘spacelab'(National Geographic, n.d.)
  • NASA of course has tons of information on the International Space Station (ISS)

There are lots more videos available to teach you about the history of humans in space:

Video  from Vibewire (2013) clearly describing the history of space exploration.

Life Support & Food

running in space  Astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, (NASA, 2009)

There are so many normal, everyday things that become difficult when living somewhere other than earth. Explore these resources to see what it’s like to eat, drink, wash, go to the toilet, do all the things you have to do just to live in space, this will give you a starting point for thinking about what your citizens of another planet will need.

  • Living in space overview from NASA (Dunbar, 2004) and Windows to the Universe (National Earth Science Teachers Association, n.d.)
  • A whole lot of living in space questions you had never even thought of…answered by astronaut Chris Hadfield (Hadfield, 2014)
  • In Space Everyone Can Hear You Poop (Spaleta, 2015). Shows you how complicated the most simple of bodily functions can be!
  • What about Water in space? (NASA Science, 2000)
  • Check out the History of Food in Space (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, n.d.)…it’s not very appetising but astronauts gotta eat!
  • The complicated process of keeping the air clean on the ISS (NASA Science, 2000).

So far there has been a lot of information about life as an astronaut on the ISS or travelling in space. But what about these requirement for life support and food on another planet?

Mars One has some innovative ideas to deal with this.

Materials

So far space exploration has resulting in the invention of some amazing materials, machines and techniques.

But what about new inventions…what needs to be invented still? Are there things being invented now that could have applications in space and on other planets but haven’t been trialled there yet?

    • livescience.com has details of many new inventions (Live Science, 2015).
    • at space.com they discuss possible application of 3D printers that can opperate in space (Space.com, 2015).
    • www.sciencealert.com has super up to date information about all things science, including new invention and new materials being researched or on the market (Science Alert, 2015)

Check out more of the story and other ideas for materials of the future here (Dezeen, 2014).

Instruments to View, Measure, Record and Explore

There have been amazing projects undertaken and great advances made in technology since the start of space exploration.

Here is a short list of instruments, data and missions that have helped shaped what we know about all things extraterrestrial.

  • Infrared Processing and Analysis Center: these guys do a lot of the nitty gritty processing of data that comes back from missions and telescopes. They are dedicated to science operations, data archives, and community support for astronomy and planetary science missions, with a special emphasis on and exoplanet science (Caltech, 2015)
  • Voyager 1 & 2: these two amazing spacecraft have been exploring our solar system since their launch in 1977 and finally in August 2012, Voyager 1 made the historic entry into interstellar space, the region between stars (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2015). Read all about the missions and see images and data sent back for over 30 years, especially the story of the Golden Record. If you want to learn more about the beautiful story of making the Golden Record, listen here (Radiolab, 2007).
  • NASA Mars Missions: check out all the past, present and future mission plans from NASA. The science and technology sections will help you with research for your project (NASA, 2015).
  • The Rosetta Mission: Rosetta left earth in 2004 and finally released the lander Philae in 2014 to explore and gain new knowledge about the origins of our solar system and, perhaps, life on Earth (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2015)

To see how complicated it all is and what is involved in getting a spacecraft to a comet have a look at this 3D animation! (Canale25, 2014)

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