Could someone answer these questions about space flight?

Question

I'm writing a story about astronaughts, space rockets, astronomy, etc. All real things. Not a science fiction. sooo...

A. Who is responsible for ploting the course of a manned space craft?

B. Can an astronaught change the course within the ship. In other words without Houston knowing or it being too late to do anything about it?

C. How many supplies does the average manned space craft have if ever there was an emergency and how long would said supplies last?

D. how many years of school does an astronaught need to have before he can actually be an astronaught?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, I misspelled astronauts. So what.

OK remember people. It's a STORY. FICTION. I'm not going to tell you what the main plot is because that would be stupid. I am trying to keep it as real as possible so thanks, but still, don't be hating.

Answer 1

The important thing is to write about what you know. I'd hesitate to fill in any blanks from this insane forum; I'd hit the books from NASA.

The NASA MIssion Reports are a particularly good compilation. They include background on the crew, mission planning, provisions, and more.

Answer 2

1- Use a spell checker before posting your questions. You will look better (more educated) in front of all the audience here.

A- That's why they are called rocket scientists! The trajectory of a spacecraft is similar to the trajectory of a projectile or bullet. Once fired it's away! Depending on where the spaceship is, where it wants to go and many other factors a point in space, moment in time, direction and force is calculated.

B- Some what but not much. Once that initial push they can maneuver or fine tune the trajectory, but nothing like stop and turn around, or say change from Mars to Venus. There is not that much fuel aboard. In manned crafts the pilot will always have the ultimate control. In un-manned craft the on-board computers can either execute the loaded program or the command center can up-load new navigation instructions. The farther away the longer it will take to make corrections or changes.

C- It is an assumption that if the trip is going to last say two months they will pack enough supplies for two months.

D- Most of them come from a long career in the armed forces, let that be Naval pilot, Air Force etc. most of them (if not all) are college graduates with Doctorate degrees in physics, medicine, engineering etc. Remember they are the best of the best. Really smart and brave guys, and gals.

Answer 3

A. A navigation team on the ground.

B. They can, but if they do it wrong they will be in serious trouble, either reentering at the wrong place or at the wrong angle, or ending up in a high orbit and stranded without enough fuel to get down. And without help from the navigation team on the ground they would almost certainly be wrong. Apollo space craft on the way to the Moon got "pads" which were sets of numbers read out loud over the radio by mission control that the astronauts would copy down in a note pad. These numbers were supposed to be enough for the crew to navigate home if communication were lost. It never had to be tried though. The shuttle probably has an automated system to update the on-board navigation computers from the ground by a separate radio data link, but I don't know.

C. The shuttle can carry supplies to last about 2 weeks.

D. I think the minimum is just 4 years of college, but most people who make it through the selection process have WAY more.

Answer 4

One could as well say that B. would amount to complete suicide with current spacecraft. No crew would ever attempt to change the flight schedule. But there are no safeguards or lock-outs to prevent it. A spacecraft is no different than a plane. The pilot has full control. But while a little joyride in a plane is no big deal, there is no such thing as a survivable joyride in a spacecraft. And then... where would one go, anyway? No mission has enough fuel to deviate by more than a few percent from its ideal mission profile.

Regarding C): as you have seen there are three ways for astronauts to die: on the ground, during launch and during re-entry. This won't change significantly until we get two more ways: crash on the lunar surface and stranded in space. Apollo 13 almost suffered the last fate. In neither case would more supplies change anything that could save the astronaut's lives.

One would hope that for a mission to Mars NASA will consider a parallel architecture: two or three independent spacecraft that can ferry ALL astronauts home in case one of them gets disabled. I don't see any other way to assure a reasonable safety profile.

If you want to be an astronaut, chances are you will have to have a masters or a PhD. Neither are a big deal. If you have the right stuff to fly, a science degree is hardly a measurable achievement for you. But if you can't manage to get something as trivial as a masters in science or engineering, you will have a hard time to qualify for space.