Computers for Space Research (Компьютеры для космических исследований)

Computers for Space Research.

Since the 1950s many important roles in space exploration have been severed by computers. At present scientists, engineers and administrators use computers in every phase of a space project.

Design

Being a sophisticated, custom-made piece of equipment, every spacecraft is designed by large teams of engineers, technicians and managers, who share the computer files, approving one assembly after another until they complete the design. After they build it they create automated tests run by computers simulating the vibration, cold and vacuum the craft will encounter in space When it passes the tests it is ready for launch.  

Navigation

Deep-space missions take many years, a computer on the spacecraft communicating its speed, direction and location back to Earth. White travelling many millions of miles on a complex path the spacecraft may visit several planets. At critical times navigation rockets will be fired to adjust its course. Since radio signals can take minutes to hours to reach the craft, the computer must manage some maneuvers on its own, informing the missions team of its progress along the way.

Diagnostics

When a Mars rover develops a problem you can't end a repair crew 40 million miles to fix it. Having understood this, the engineers included computers and software to check its status and run diagnostic tests. If a wheel gets stuck, for example, the computer will note that its rotation is different from the rover computer check the wheel's motor and plan a strategy to free the stuck wheel.

Robotics

The cost of a robotic mission to another planet is far less than a manned mission, so robotic explorers have become the mainstay of deep space research. On-board computers control a robot's various functions, including power management, communications, movement and analysis. During the course of a missions the robot can better handle changing conditions.

Space surveillance

Space surveillance is another successful space project utilizing computer in monitoring object orbiting Earth. The tedious task of tracking, detecting, identifying and cataloging object orbiting Earth, such as satellites, rockets and orbital debris can only be accomplished with the use of computers.

Space Photography

In the early 1900s, Germans started aerial photography by using rockets fitted with cameras. Today, high quality images of Earth, planets, asteroids, moon, stars, galaxies and even unknown matter in the universe are available through the use of large-scale telescopes and, of course, computers. In 1990 the famous Hubble Space Telescope was launched by NASA. The gigantic telescope beamed thousands of vivid images of the space back to Earth and continues to do so. Every week the Hubble Telescope transfers 120 gigabytes of data which are stored in powerful computers datacenters of NASA. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Hubble's successor, is scheduled for launch in 2014, and is designed to complement advanced computer systems to further unveil the secrets of the universe.

Компьютеры для космических исследований.                                                                                                                                                                          

С 1950-х годов многие важные роли в освоении космоса были разорваны компьютерами. В настоящее время ученые, инженеры и администраторы используют компьютеры на каждом этапе космического проекта.

Дизайн

Будучи сложным, изготовленным на заказ оборудованием, каждый космический корабль проектируется большими командами инженеров, техников и менеджеров, которые разделяют компьютерные файлы, утверждая одну сборку за другой, пока они не завершат проектирование. После того, как они построят его, они создают автоматизированные тесты, выполняемые компьютерами, имитирующими вибрацию, холод и вакуум, с которыми корабль столкнется в космосе, когда он пройдет испытания, он готов к запуску.