ORBITAL UNCERTAINTY ESTIMATION SUPPORT FOR AUTONOMOUS SPACE DEBRIS OBSERVATION

The continually increased space debris have posed great impact risks to existing space systems and human space flight. Accurate knowledge of propagation errors of space debris orbit is essential for many types of uses, such as space surveillance network tasking, conjunction analysis etc. Unfortunately, propagation error is not available for a two-line element (TLE). In this paper, a new TLE uncertainty estimation method based on neural network model is proposed. Object properties, space environment and predicted time-span are considered as the input of the network, the propagation errors in the direction of downrange, normal and conormal are as the output of the network. In order to assure the chosen orbit for training is not stable, only debris and rocket bodies are used. The network's effciency is demonstrated with some objects with continuous TLE data. Overall, the method proves accurate, computationally fast, and robust, and is applicable to any object in the satellite catalogue, especially for those newly launched objects.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE FIRST HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA AND THE HUMANITY

In connection with the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight, a brief interdisciplinary analysis concerning the influence of the first human space flight on the development of Russia and the humanity is made. Scientific, technological, organizational and managerial, sociopolitical, socio-cultural, environmental, and futurological aspects are presented. The main conclusions are drawn.

Operational radiation protection for human space flight: the flight surgeon’s perspective

Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space in 1961 almost 60 years ago. Eight years later Neil Armstrong left his footprints on the Moon – the first human on the surface of a celestial body other than Earth. By now long-duration missions of up to 1 year have become a reality for humans in space. Nearly 19 years of continuous human presence at the International Space Station (ISS) have provided a unique insight into human life in space. Humans are reaching out for more – targeting missions to take us outside the protective hull of low earth orbit into deep space. The challenges to human health and well-being remain significant and increase with distance and time from Earth. The lack of gravity, the ubiquitous ionising radiation, remoteness, and confinement are just some examples of the hostile environment of space. More hurdles have to be overcome prior to the human endeavour of reaching out into deep space and radiation is one such primary and inevitable factor that is key to crew health, safety and overall mission success. This presentation will provide an introduction into operational space medicine and radiation protection for humans in space as executed on ISS, in low earth orbit and in preparation for the scenarios ‘beyond’.

Introduction

For the May 1967 issue of Analog, the influential science fiction magazine that began under the name Astounding Stories of Super-Science in 1930, editor (and sometimes author) John W. Campbell, Jr. composed an editorial titled ‘The Safest Form of Transportation.’ Campbell wrote the editorial, he tells us, in the days immediately following the Apollo 1 disaster, an incident that occurred on January 27, 1967, in which a cabin fire broke out in a space module as it sat on the ground during a launch rehearsal test. Three NASA astronauts were trapped inside the module and killed by the fire. Campbell, concerned that this disaster might halt subsequent development of human space flight programs, opens his editorial by brazenly declaring: ‘As of January 30th, 1967 travel by spaceship retains its unblemished record as the safest known form of travel; in hundreds of millions of miles of travel, not one person has been killed or injured.’...

BIOSATELLITES BION 6-11: INVESTIGATIONS WITH PRIMATES

In 1951, the USSR started launching rockets with dogs in preparation of the first human space flight. The US, starting in 1948, launched primates. These launches of rockets with animals pursued primarily the objectives of engineering testing, whereas the actual researches with primates in orbital flights in US and USSR began in 1969 and 1983, respectively. USSR/Russia launched 12 rhesus-macaques onboard 6 biosatellites of the BION series. The main goal of the investigations was to attack the so-called space adaptation syndrome. Implanted and applied electrodes provided unique information about progression of the space motion sickness, motor dysfunction and growth of intracranial pressure in the condition of microgravity. The BION program was conducted in a broad cooperation with international partners.