SPACECRAFT

SPACECRAFT

People had thought of building spacecraft several hundred years ago. They had thought of going to the moon and many other planets. Papers on spacecraft can be found among the papers of famous scientists who lived centuries ago. However, the craft could not be built until after world war II.

It is not easy to build a spacecraft. A spacecraft needs a good rocket that is strong enough to send it to outerspace. Such a motor was not developed until 1944.

A spacecraft also need as many as ten million very sophisticated part. These parts are needed so that the craft can fungtion well when it is flying far away from earth. These parts must have very high precision elements. Each of them must have the right shape and the right size. Such parts could not be until after 1940.

Today, spacecraft are being made all the time. They have to be big enough to carry astronauts inter outer space.

What does a spacecraft look like ? A spacecraft usually consists of three rockets that are joined together. The three rockets are called stages. The first stage takes the spacecraft to a certain speed and then falls away. The second stage takes it to a speed twice as treat as the first, and then it also falls away. The third stage takes the spacecraft to its top speed of more than 38,600 kilometers per hour.

Where is the place for the astronauts ? is it at the top of the spacecraft. In the nose of the third stage is a capsule. In this capsule are the astronauts and the instrument package. This capsule is actually the smallest part of the ship. But all sort of very sophiscated instrument are found in this capsule. This little capsule in the most important part of the ship.