Human spaceflight | EPFL Graph Search

Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers. The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who launched as part of the Soviet Union's Vostok program on 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury. Humans traveled to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' Apollo program, and have had a continuous presence in space for on the International Space Sta

Systems engineering and design of a Mars Polar Research Base with a human crew

Anton Ivanov, Claudio Leonardi, Anne-Marlene Rüede, Tatiana Volkova

Mars Polar Ice caps have been known ever since they were first observed by Cassini. Robotic exploration mis- sions, starting with Mariner 9, have confirmed that they are composed of water ice. During later missions, instruments such as Mars Global Surveyor's MOLA have established a detailed topography and have estimated their depth at about 3 km in the thickest part, while detailed internal structure has been investigated by MARSIS from Mars Express and SHARAD from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This analysis proposes to establish a base near North Polar Layered Deposits to investigate Mars' climate, hydrological processes and to test for possible traces of life. The objectives of the mission are to sustain a crew for nine months on the surface of Mars, near the North Pole, and to bring the crew back to Earth safely. During the surface mission, the crew will drill and analyze Polar Layered Deposits in ice samples. Furthermore, because the North Polar region provides an easy access to water ice, this area has the potential of sustaining a long-term human presence. The Mars Polar Research mission shall therefore prepare for long term missions, spanning over multiple crew generations. Indeed, longer duration missions and larger crews should be facilitated by this first mission. This paper describes a mission design for a Mars Polar Research base using systems engineering approach and scenario testing. The goal of the work is to establish a strategy composed of various technologies that have been selected accordingly. The requirements related to crew composition, human physiology and psychology adaptation, quality of com- munication, challenges and prospects of advancing science, as well as optimum habitat design and its usability, are derived and compiled into mass, volume, data and power consumption. A design for the base and mission scenario is also proposed. Given the identified requirements, possible technologies for life support systems, radiation protection, in-situ propellant production, thermal control, air pressure difference compensation and availability of power are discussed and solutions to focus on are recommended. Furthermore, the requirements for a long-term mission preparation are also identified and solutions to include in a first Mars mission with crew are recommended. In conclusion, approximately 110 metric tons and 160 kW are required to enable a Mars Polar mission with a human crew. A two-phase mission is recommended for enabling the testing of key in-situ resource utilization technologies allowing to minimize mass, while ensuring the security of the crew. The use of optimal payload and fairing, a Mars orbit crane system and deployable structures are recommended. Finally, in pre- paration for a long-term presence of humans on Mars, including in-situ testing of key technologies enabling the production of consumables facilitating autonomy from Earth is suggested. The consumables that have been identified as not being able to be tested before a first crew is sent to Mars are food and energy production. These developments may serve as priorities for current Mars settlement programs.

2019

Modeling and deformation of the human body using an anatomically-based approach

Daniel Thalmann

The authors propose a method to simulate human beings based on anatomy concepts. They believe that the closer the model is to reality, the better the results will be. Using this approach, they are developing a human representation. The model is divided into three different layers and is presented in three steps: the rigid body conception from a real skeleton, the muscle design and deformation based on physical concepts, and the skin generation. Integration aspects and results are also presented

1998

Systems engineering and design of a Mars Polar Research Base with a human crew

Anton Ivanov, Claudio Leonardi, Anne-Marlene Rüede, Tatiana Volkova

2019