CRITICAL ISSUES FORUM
BENCHMARK 1
SPACE: FORUM FOR COOPERATION OR NEXT FRONTIER FOR WMD PROLIFERATION
The Author: Anastasia Bun’kova
Form 9B
Municipal Secondary School № 41
The Teacher-Advisor: Natalia Tolochko
The Teacher of English
Municipal Secondary School № 41
Novouralsk
Sverdlovsk Region
Russia
2007
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of my work is to build
definitions and other basic, but necessary, background knowledge about space
and how it is being used for both civilian and military applications.
In
the first part of my research I would like to produce definitions and understanding
of space and uses of space, to produce possible motivations that drive people’s
interest in space and its possibilities, both civilian and military.
From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic
ocean for untold thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of
light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects planets,
meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities – Jupiter, king of the
gods; Mars, the god of war; messenger of the gods; Venus, the god of love and
beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. The stargazers
also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars
apparently falling from the sky.
Science flourished during the European Renaissance. Fundamental physical laws governing planetary motion were discovered, and the orbits of the planets around the Sun were calculated. In the 17th century, astronomers pointed a new device called the telescope at the heavens and made starling discoveries.(13)
But the years since 1959 have amounted to a golden age of solar system exploration. Advancements in rocketry after World War II enabled our machines to break the grip of Earth’s gravity and travel to the Moon and to other planets.
The United States has sent automated spacecraft, then human-crewed expeditions, to explore the Moon. Our automated machines have orbited and landed on Venus and Mars, explored the Sun’s environment, observed comets, and asteroids, and made close-range surveys while flying past Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.(14)
There travelers brought a quantum leap in our knowledge and understanding of the solar system. Through the electronic sight and other “senses” of our automated spacecraft, color and complexion have been given to worlds that for centuries appeared to Earth-bound eyes as fuzzy disks or indistinct points of light. And dozens of previously unknown objects have been discovered.
Future historians will likely view these pioneering flights through the solar system as some of the most remarkable achievements of the 20th century. (15)
Why are people interested in space and what possibilities does
cosmos give us? We think that people are interested in space because it gives
us many possibilities.
We can easily divide
all the possibilities that cosmos gives us into two main groups:
Possibilities
military civilian
Civilian
military
The possibilities that
cosmos gives us are the following:
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Civilian possibilities |
Military possibilities |
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Machinery
development |
The possibility of
crisis forecasting through the tracing upon the defense technology displacement
of the states with the aggressive foreign policy |
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New technologies
development |
The early
radio-locating observation systems disposal on the geostationary orbits |
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The appearance and
the exploration of new materials |
The laser weapon
withdraw to the orbit on the missile defense programs |
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Agricultural
development |
Spy-satellites |
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Weather forecasting |
Different
extraterrestrial navigation systems |
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Search of useful
minerals |
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Postal and
telecommunication development |
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Human abilities
investigations |
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Using satellites for
observing the planet |
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But there are certain words that I’m going to use in my work, and
now I would like to pay your attention to these words and what they mean. (The
definitions are taken from Macmillan English Dictionary For Advanced Learners
by Macmillan Publishers Limited 2002)
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THE WORD |
THE PICTURE |
THE DEFINITION |
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Space capsule |
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a small space
vehicle in which astronauts return to Earth from space |
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Space probe |
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a vehicle containing
cameras and other equipment that is sent into space to collect information
and sent it back to Earth |
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Spacecraft |
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a vehicle that can
travel in space
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Space shuttle |
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a vehicle that
travels into space and back to Earth and lands like a planet |
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Space station |
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a laboratory in
space that people can live in for long periods of time |
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Solar system |
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a star and the
planets that go round it, especially the Sun and the group of planets that
includes the Earth |
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Atmosphere |
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the air round the
Earth or round another planet |
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Space |
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the whole of the
universe outside the Earth’s atmosphere |
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The universe |
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space and everything
that exists in it, including the Earth and all other planets |
Another term is “outer space”. The issue of its definition is a question of demarcating the boundary between outer space and the atmosphere. Since 1959, the issue of defining outer space remains an item for deliberations in the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, its Legal Subcommittee and Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. However, no agreement has been reached yet.
One point of view suggests that an explicitly delimited boundary of outer space is essential to the prevention of an arms race in outer space because many types of weapons and military activities are, in accordance with existing treaties and norms, allowed in the atmosphere but prohibited in outer space. (19)
Another point of view suggests that, at present, trying to draw an artificial line between the atmosphere and outer space will not only be in vain, but will also cause a lot of legal problems, since the international community has yet reached a consensus on delimiting the boundary of outer space.
Even those who stand for defining “outer space” have different opinions on how to distinguish the atmosphere from space.
Finally, there is another key term that may require elaboration – “weapons in outer space” or “space weapons”. We think it appropriates to consider both terms as synonyms, taking into account, however, that CD/1679 uses the first term. It should also be noted that “weapons in outer space” must not include re-entry vehicles of ballistic missiles, i.e. missiles moving along ballistic trajectory. In this case the obligation “not to place …. weapons in outer space in any other manner” will not ban weapons on ballistic missiles. (20)
We do not yet have a common view on the definition of “weapons in outer space”. One of the reasons is that since “outer space” is not defined, it is impossible to give a definition of space weapons. There is also no common opinion as to what criteria the definition should be on – the location of a weapon or location of its target. Thus, according to one approach, space weapons are weapons placed in outer space regardless of location of their targets. According to the other, space weapons should also include weapons placed anywhere but targeting outer space objects. Thus, the major difference between the two views is whether to regard weapons placed outside outer space, but which target outer space objects, as “space weapons”. (7)
Within the context of CD/1679 we propose to deal with weapons placed in outer space, i.e. with space-based weapons. These are the weapons that are subject to the ban established by the key obligation of the proposed treaty. At the same time, it should be recalled that protection of outer space objects from the threat or use of force is ensured within this approach not by an additional ban on military systems placed outside outer space, but by a comprehensive obligation “not to resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects”. Taking this into account, the definition of the term “weapons in outer space” could be as follows:
“Any device in outer space based on any physical principle, specially produced or converted to eliminate damage or disrupt normal function of objects in outer space, on the Earth or in its air, as well as to eliminate population, components of biosphere critical to human existence or inflict damage to them”. (20)
The Position of Existence
Every individual body has its own place for existence. The place
that a being possesses is called "position of existence" in
Unification Thought. When a being's position of existence is different from
that of another, and the two beings are in the relationship of subject and
object (that is, in the relationship of exerting dominion and receiving
dominion), give-and-receive action can take place between the two. As a
connected body, a being is simultaneously both in the position of an object and
in the position of a subject. As a result, numerous beings become connected to
form a system of positions. This is what is meant by order, or an orderly
system. Such a system of positions of subject and object is simply a reflection
of the positions of subject and object in the Original Image, which are
projected onto the created world.
There are numerous stars in the universe, which engage in
give-and-receive actions from their different positions, forming; in orderly
system and a vast organic body. The order of the universe is of two kinds,
namely, vertical and horizontal. The vertical order of the universe is as
follows: The moon (a satellite) and the earth (a planet) engage in give-and-receive
action, with the earth as the subject and the moon as the object. Next, the
earth engages in give-and-receive action with the sun (a star), forming a part
of the solar system. Here the earth is the object, and the sun is the subject.
Next, the sun engages in give-and-receive action with the galactic
center, and together with many other stars, forms the galaxy. Here the sun is
the object, and the galactic center is the subject. Furthermore, the galaxy, in
unity with many other galaxies, engages in give-and-receive action with the
center of the universe, forming the universe. In this case, the galaxy is the
object, and the center of the universe is the subject. This line-running from
satellite to planet, star, and galactic center, all the way to the center of
the universe is the vertical order of the universe.
Let us now consider the horizontal order of the universe. If we look
at the nine planets of the solar system, we can see that they form an orderly,
horizontal arrangement of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto. This planetary system, centering on the Sun, is an example
of horizontal order in the universe. The vertical order and the horizontal
order of the universe are illustrated in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. An Example of Vertical and Horizontal Orders in the Universe
(10)
The human family, in its original form, should also have had an
orderly system like that of the universe. In the family, there is vertical
order, which consists of grandchildren, children, parents, grandparents, and so
on; and there is horizontal order, which consists of brothers and sisters centered
on the parents. The vertical order and the horizontal order of the family are
illustrated in Fig. 2.
From the perspective of Unification Thought, the human being is a
microcosm, or a miniature, of the universe. Considered from the aspect of
order, the family is a miniature of the universe, and the universe is an
enlarged form of the family. It is well known that in the universe there are innumerable
planetary systems similar to the solar system. Therefore, we can assert that
the universe is an aggregate of innumerable families of heavenly bodies.
Fig. 2: Vertical Order and Horizontal Order within the Family (10)
In the universe, perfect order is maintained through harmonious
give-and-receive action. In the solar system, centering on the sun, the nine
planets maintain a collective disc shape while moving on their specific
individual orbits around the sun. In the Milky Way, approximately 200 billion
stars maintain, as a whole the shape of a convex lens while remaining in their
respective established orbits. In the universe, there are 200 billion galaxies
which maintain the unity of the universe as a whole while remaining in their
respective established orbits.
Therefore, in the family as well as in society, order was originally supposed to be maintained through harmonious give-and receive action. Because of the human fall, however, the family has lost its original image of existence. To be precise, in families it frequently occurs that the husband and the wife become disunited, and parents and children oppose each other. Society, which is an extension of the family, has also become extremely disorderly.
The second point of my research is to develop an understanding
of the history of people’s knowledge of space.
Man had always tried to get into space but it became possible only
in the 20th century.
The dream of achievement of other worlds is completely not new.
Still in II in. Greek satirist Lukian has written a history about travel to
moon though frankly recognized, that it was” the Truthful history “from the
beginning up to the end consists of one fabrications. Other history about space
travels was written by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler and published in
1634, already after his death. The hero of Kepler falls to moon with the help
of the certain obliging demon.
The earliest solid rocket fuel was a form of gunpowder, and the
earliest recorded mention of gunpowder comes from China late in the third
century before Christ. Bamboo tubes filled with saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal
were tossed into ceremonial fires during religious festivals in hopes the noise
of the explosion would frighten evil spirits.
It's probable that more than a few of these bamboo tubes were
imperfectly sealed and, instead of bursting with an explosion, simply went
skittering out of the fire, propelled by the rapidly burning gunpowder. Some
clever observer whose name is lost to history may have then begun experiments
to deliberately produce the same effect as the bamboo tubes which leaked fire.
Certainly by the year 1045 A.D. - 21 years before William the
Conqueror would land on the shores of England - the use of gunpowder and
rockets formed an integral aspect of Chinese military tactics.
A point of confusion arises tracing the history of rocketry back
before 1045. Chinese documents record the use of "fire arrows," a
term which can mean either rockets or an arrow carrying a flammable substance.
By the beginning of the 13th Century, the Chinese Sung Dynasty,
under pressure from growing Mongolian hordes, found itself forced to rely more
and more on technology to counter the threat. Chinese ordnance experts
introduced and perfected many types of projectiles, including explosive
grenades and cannon.
Rocket fire-arrows were certainly used to repel Mongol invaders at
the battle of Kai-fung-fu in 1232 A.D. (13)
The rockets were huge and apparently quite powerful. According to a
report: "When the rocket was lit, it made a noise that resembled thunder
that could be heard for five leagues - about 15 miles. When it fell to Earth,
the point of impact was devastated for 2,000 feet in all directions." (14)
Apparently these large military rockets carried incendiary material and iron
shrapnel. These rockets may have included the first combustion chamber, for
sources describe the design as incorporating an "iron pot" to contain
and direct the thrust of the gunpowder propellant.
The rocket seems to have arrived in Europe around 1241 A.D.
Contemporary accounts describe rocket-like weapons being used by the Mongols
against Magyar forces at the battle of Sejo which preceded their capture of
Buda (now known as Budapest) December 25, 1241.
Accounts also describe Mongol's use of a noxious smoke screen - possibly
the first instance of chemical warfare.
Rockets appear in Arab literature in 1258 A.D., describing Mongol
invaders' use of them on February 15 to capture the city of Baghdad.
Quick to learn, the Arabs adopted the rocket into their own arms
inventory and, during the Seventh Crusade, used them against the French Army of
King Louis IX in 1268.
It is certain that, not later than the year 1300, rockets had found
their way into European arsenals, reaching Italy by the year 1500, Germany
shortly afterwards, and later, England. A 1647 study of the "Art of Gunnery"
published in London contains a 43-page segment on rockets. The Italians are
credited, by the way, with adopting military rockets for use as fireworks - completing
the circle, so to speak, of the bursting bamboo used at the Chinese festivals
1,700 years earlier.
The French Army traditionally has been among the largest, if not THE largest, army in Europe and was quick to adopt rockets to military operations. Records from 1429 show rockets in use at the siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years War against the English. Dutch military rockets appear by 1650 and the Germans' first military rocket experiments began in 1668. By 1730, a German field artillery colonel, Christoph Fredrich von Geissler, was manufacturing rockets weighing 25 to 54 kilograms (55 to 120 pounds). (14)
As the 18th Century dawned, European military experts began to take a serious interest in rockets - if only because they like the Magyars 500 years earlier, found themselves on the receiving end of rocket warfare. Both the French and the British, during the Eighteenth Century, began wrestling for control of the riches of India. In addition to fighting one another, they also found themselves frequently engaged against the Mogol forces of Tippoo Sultan of Mysore. During the two battles of Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799, rockets were used against the British. One of Tippoo Sultan's rockets is now displayed in the Royal Ordnance Museum at Woolwich Arsenal, near London. Tippoo Sultan's father, Hyder Ally, had incorporated a 1,200 man contingent of rocketeers into his army in the year 1788. Tippoo Sultan increased this force to about 5,000 men, about a seventh of his total Army's strength.(11)
Profiting from their Indian experience, the British, led by Sir William Congrieve (KON-greeve), began development of a series of barrage rockets ranging in weight from 8 to 136 kilograms (18 to 300 pounds). Congrieve-design rockets were used against Napoleon. It is surprising that Napoleon seems to have made no use of rockets in the French Army but it must be remembered Napoleon was an artillery officer and may have simply been too hide-bound a traditionalist to favor new-fangled rockets over more familiar cannons. The scope of the British use of the Congrieve rocket can be ascertained from the 1807 attack on Copenhagen. The Danes were subjected to a barrage of 25,000 rockets which burnt many houses and warehouses. An official rocket brigade was created in the British Army in 1818.
Rockets came to the New World during the War of 1812. During the Battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1814, the British 85th Light Infantry used rockets against an American rifle battalion commanded by U.S. Attorney General William Pickney. British Lieutenant George R. Gleig witnessed the Americans' response to the new threat. "Never did men with arms in their hands make better use of their legs," he wrote. (4)
On December 4, 1846, a brigade of rocketeers was authorized to accompany Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott's expedition against Mexico. The Army's first battalion of rocketeers -- consisting of about 150 men and armed with about 50 rockets -- was placed under the command of First Lieutenant George H. Talcott.
The rocket battery was used March 24, 1847, against Mexican forces at the siege of Veracruz.
On April 8 the rocketeers moved inland, being placed in their firing position by Captain Robert E. Lee (later to command the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the War Between the States). About 30 rockets were fired during the battle for Telegraph Hill. Later, the rockets were used in the capture of the fortress of Chapultepec, which forced the surrender of Mexico City.
With typical foresight, as soon as the fighting in Mexico was over, the rocketeer battalion was disbanded and the remaining rockets were placed in storage.
They remained in mothballs for about 13 years - until 1861 when they were hauled out for use in the Civil War. The rockets were found to have deteriorated, however, so new ones were made.
The first recorded use of rockets in the Civil War came on July 3, 1862, when Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry fired rockets at Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Union troops at Harrison's Landing, Va. No record exists of the Northerners' opinion of this premature "Fourth of July" fireworks demonstration.
Later in 1862, an attempt was made by the Union Army's New York Rocket Battalion -- 160 men under the command of British-born Major Thomas W. Lion -- to use rockets against Confederates defending Richmond and Yorktown, Virginia. It wasn't an overwhelming success. When ignited, the rockets skittered wildly across the ground, passing between the legs of a number of mules. One detonated harmlessly under a mule, lifting the animal several feet off the ground and precipitating its immediate desertion to the Confederate Army.
The only other documented use of rockets is at Charleston, S.C., in 1864. Union troops under Maj. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig found rockets "especially practical in driving off Confederate picket boats, especially at night."As an interesting sidelight, the author Burke Davis, in his book "Our Incredible Civil War," tells a tale of a Confederate attempt to fire a ballistic missile at Washington, D.C., from a point outside Richmond, Va. According to the author, Confederate President Jefferson Davis witnessed the event at which a 3.7 meter (12 foot) solid-fueled rocket, carrying a 4.5 kilogram (10 pound) gunpowder warhead in a brass case engraved with the letters C.S.A., was ignited and seen to roar rapidly up and out of sight. No one ever saw the rocket land. It's interesting to speculate whether, almost 100 years before Sputnik, a satellite marked with the initials of the Confederate States of America might have been launched into orbit.
The military appears to have remained under whelmed with the potential of rockets. They were employed in fits and starts in many of the brushfire wars which punctuated the otherwise calm closing days of the late Victorian Era. If the military was lukewarm to rockets, another profession welcomed them with open arms.
Only presently space researches
became practically possible. The plane which is having wings and flying in
atmosphere of the Earth, may use usual engines, for example gas turbines in
which the air inflow is necessary for combustion of fuel. On space
scales the atmosphere reaches not too highly. In space where there is no air,
the engine which is not using air, i.e. the rocket installation is necessary
for a flight vehicle. The propulsion of a rocket is created with a flow of gas.
The great pioneer of a
theoretical astronautics was the Russian scientist K.E.Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)
was. (18) His first activities about space flights have appeared in 1903 but then have
not found the response. The Tsiolkovsky has understood, that firm kinds of fuel
are not suit for space flights and has offered to use rocket engines on liquid
fuel. К. Е.
Tsiolkovsky was born in 1857 in the little town of in the province of Ryazan.
At the age of ten, he fell seriously ill and became almost deaf. He could not
go to school and continued to study at home. When he was a boy of 14, he constructed
a lot of different balloons. At the age of 16 Tsiolkovsky was sent by his
father to Moscow to study. He studied hard and three years later he came back
home and earned his living by teaching mathematics at school. Tsiolkovsky made
a great contribution to the theory of rocket flight. His works helped
scientists to launch sputniks and space rockets into outer space. It's a pity
that К. Е. Tsiolkovsky could not see
Soviet sputniks, rockets and spaceships. He died on September 19, 1935. К. Tsiolkovsky was the first
man who fully understood the | possibilities of rockets. People sometimes ask:
why Tsiolkovsky ;. and not Jules Verne, who wrote of manned flight to the moon
long before Tsiolkovsky? The reason is that the French writer's , fantasy was
the imagination of an artist. Tsiolkovsky was the first I man to give scientific
basis to the exciting stories of space flight. I He gave cosmonautics its
present form and become its founder. Tsiolkovsky's rocket, not Jules Verne's
cannon opened the road into outer space.
The first rocket with the engine of
such type was started in 1926 in USA of R.H.Goddardom (1882-1945). In a
consequence above creation of liquid-propellent missiles with certain success
the group of German experts in which structure Brown (1912-1977) worked. (18) During fascist Germany of its activity have got exclusively the military
directivity. So the controlled shell "Fau-2"were used at last phase
of the second world war . "Фау-2"
the direct predecessor of modern American space rockets as after the termination
(ending) of war the majority of German experts in this area have continued the
activity in USA. In Soviet Union of activity in the field of rocket engineering
the well-known designer and the scientist S.P.Korolev 
(1906-1966) has headed. (6)
From a satellite of the Earth before
lunar landing
To the beginning of
1950th years the rockets bearing (carrying) on board scientific instrumentation,
have proved the utility for studying the upper atmosphere and, so to say
"adjacent space". But thus became obvious, that the same problems
would decide an artificial
satellite of the Earth much more effectively. The flight vehicle with the scientific
instrumentation established on it, removed with the help of a rocket into
steady orbit around of the Earth, should behave similarly to natural space
bodies if, certainly it is outside its braking atmosphere.
The original beginning of a space age was marked by start of the first an artificial satellite, carried out in the USSR October, 4, 1957. The diameter of the first satellite was all about half of meter and, except for a radio transmitter, on it there was no scientific equipment, but its start has laid a way for all further researches. After it in Soviet Union some more satellites, and in 1958 the first satellite, "Explorer-1" were started, have put into orbit by the USA. From this satellite the information on radiation belts of the Earth was transferred.
The first space probes started to moon, also were Soviet. In January, 1959 near moon "Moon - 1" has passed. Within the same year two more automatic stations were started. One of them has made rough landing to moon, and another has flown about her(it) and has transmitted to the Earth of a photo of a back side of moon. In 1961 has started first manned spacecraft " East - 1 " on which Jury Alekseevich Gagarin (1934-1968) has made a full revolution around of the Earth. By this time the idea of space researches began to concern with full gravity though even decades back frequently derided it. (2)
In the beginning of 1960th years satellites of the Earth were created, capable to transmit high-performance photos of an earth surface and other various information. Them used and for the purposes of communication (connection). In 1962 satellite "Теlstar" the first active television space retransmitter was started.
The manned
spacecrafts have appeared, capable to bear crew from two-three persons. Implementation
of the program "Apollo" which purpose was landing of the person to a
surface of moon began. The culmination moment of this program became flight of
"Apollo - 11" in July, 1969; then first people - Armstrong (1930) and
Oldrin ( 1930) step into a surface of moon.
An opportunity came in 1995 with a mission
known as Genesis. Proposed by Caltech geochemist
Don Burnett, the idea was to put a
spacecraft in orbit between the sun and Earth to collect particles of solar
wind - electrically charged atoms from the sun’s atmosphere blown outward
through the solar system. Planetary scientists believe the sun’s atmosphere,
and hence solar wind, is probably the only piece of the solar system that has
retained the system’s original chemical composition. Capturing some and
studying it, Burnett believed, would help us understand what the primordial
solar system was made of. The catch would be bringing it home. Genesis could collect
solar particles on fragile, ultrapure wafers of silicon, sapphire, and germanium.
Because a hard landing would shatter them, the Genesis payload would have to
return to Earth in such a way that it could be snatched in midair by a
helicopter - much gentler than splashing down. And because Genesis was not one
of the more newsworthy missions, the whole thing had to be done with as little
fuel and as small a spacecraft as possible. (9)
In the town, where I live, there is one of the most important enterprises in our country. The Ural Electrochemical Integrated Plant (UEIP) is the largest uranium enrichment enterprise in the world. It is a major designer and manufacturer of advanced process control instruments and systems for the nuclear industry. At the present time the UEIP is a versatile enterprise comprising an electrochemical converter engineering plant, an electromechanical plant and an instrumentation plant. Unique products of new technology were developed and manufactured at Electrochemical Converter plant. The «Volna» and «Photon» DC generators for the spacecraft on-board power supply are among them. Their performance compares well with that of the world best devices on this type. They are illustrated in Fig. 3, 4. (8)
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NICKEL - HYDROGEN STORAGE
BATTERY (NHSB) 21HB-7, 18HB-80 |
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Purpose and design The battery is used for a direct conversion
of the electric energy into the chemical energy of nickel hydroxide and
hydrogen reaction, for conservation of the energy in this form for a definite
time and its reverse conversion into the electric energy. Nickel-hydrogen
storage battery is contained in a pressure vessel with a common gas
collector. |
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21HB-7 Technical data:
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Technical data:
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Field of application The batteries are intended for applications
in space vehicles, operating on the geostationary and low near-earth orbits. Basic advantages Compactness. High efficiency, silent
operation, absence of hazardous emissions. Ability to work in any space position
and at great overloads (10 g - axial, 100 g- impact). Development prospects The battery of 2,5-200 Ah capacity and a
number of storage cells reaching 75 pcs. can be manufactured using the
complete parts of NHSB. |
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Fig. 3.
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PHOTON FUEL CELL GENERATOR FOR THE SPACE SYSTEM "BURAN" |
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Alkaline Matrix Type Hydrogen-Oxygen Fuel
Cell Generator (FCG) "BURAN" Spacecraft Board Power Supply System. Function and design Fuel cell generator (FCG) is a device for
direct conversion of the chemical energy of fuel to the electric energy. The
conversion takes place on fuel cell electrodes. Fuel cells (FC) form fuel
cell stack (FCS). |
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The components of the system are:
Advantages
Application Main application of FCG are:
a) FCG performance:
Operation a)
preparation for operation To start the fuel cell generator it is
necessary to supply hydrogen and oxygen to fuel cell inlets, to connect the
electric and heat loads (or heat exchange device). Provisions must be made to
substitute hydrogen and oxygen with argon (nitrogen) in amount of 50 litres
for an operating cycle. Electrolyte and coolant filling in on
operation site is not needed. b)
start-up procedure Start-up of fuel cell generator is performed
automatically with a control processor. Start-up is initiated by
"START" command from computer's control unit; then the following
operations are performed: oxygen and hydrogen supply to generator
inlets; c)
maintenance While in operation supply of hydrogen and
oxygen and product water removal (accumulation) should be provided. All
parameters are controlled automatically. d)
shut-down procedure 1.
Scheduled shut-down Generator is shut-down automatically after
receiving a "STOP" command from computer's control unit; then the
following operations are performed: electric load disconnection; 2.
Emergency shut-down After receiving the emergency signal from
fire and explosion protection system generator is automatically shut-down.
The following operations are performed: electric load disconnection; Electrochemical generator design as a whole
and the parts of it are covered by 19 USSR Inventor's Specifications. Generator parts manufacturing methods and
pre-starting procedures are covered by 27 USSR Inventor's Specification. The List of "KNOW-HOW"
FCG volt-ampere
characteristics
FC working conditions (automatically
controlled):
Guarantee
"PHOTON" development stages
Modification of "PHOTON" generator
is possible with the increase of voltage up to 160 V. |
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How space can be used for military purposes is the third
question of my investigation.
The
issue of preventing the placement of weapons in outer space and, thereby,
preventing an arms race in outer space is Russia's clear priority in international
foreign policy.
Outer space is rapidly gaining importance in life of mankind and in ensuring its further progress. We become increasingly dependent on space technologies. Even now it is not difficult to imagine the dramatic consequences which the disruption of normal operation of spacecrafts would entail for our everyday life, not to mention combats in outer space.
More than 130 States currently participate, to one extent or another, in outer space activities and either have their own outer space programs, or are devising programs to use information from outer space assets, including those in the interests of national defense. (19)
The use of outer space, on one hand, is, objectively, one of the most important ways of solving global problems facing mankind, including power generation, information, rational use of natural resources, preservation of environment, coping with consequences of natural disasters. On the other hand, should the situation take an unfavorable turn, outer space may also become a new sphere of military face-off, a source of new threats to all. (20)
The use of space systems for military purposes now is constantly on the rise. In principle, a notion of military outer space activities has emerged in world practice. In the opinion of the Russian Federation, this is any activity connected with direct use of outer space for military purposes. Naturally, we are talking about activities carried on in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, in the interest of maintaining international peace and security. In the course of such activities in the Russian Federation, both stand-alone spacecrafts and orbital satellite groupings have been developed and put to use. They perform such tasks as detection of ballistic missile launches, opto-electronic and radio-electronic reconnaissance, global communication and information relay, navigation, geodetic and meteorological support. Their normal functioning contributes to maintaining strategic stability and international security by the way of creation of a more transparent and predictable regime of military activities, as well as to monitoring compliance with arms limitation treaties. Although these outer space systems have military predestination, they obviously are not weapons, as they are not designated to strike an enemy in a military combat and do not create a threat of attack in outer space or from outer space.
As a rule, these space systems are used not exclusively in the military area, but also in the civil one. Thus, photo- and opto-electronic reconnaissance systems of the Russian Federation are used for monitoring technogenic accidents and natural disasters, and elaborating recommendations on how to remedy their consequences. Space systems designed to detect launches of ballistic missiles are also used to detect forest wildfires in sparsely populated areas of Siberia and the Far East. Space navigation support satellite grouping helps to assure safe operation of various transportation systems, as well as search and rescue in emergencies. (20)
However, various military outer space systems, depending on their designation, can have not only positive, but also negative influence on strategic stability and international security.
We do not regard systems that are created to perform information support tasks, without a purpose to cause damage to other objects, as a factor of the threat to international security. But this does not apply to those systems, which are generically designed to hit various objects or disrupt their normal functioning and which could be referred to as "space weapons". In general, the term "space weapons" means systems or devices, based on any physical principle, launched into the orbit around the Earth or placed in the outer space by any other way, which are produced or converted to destroy, damage or disrupt normal functioning of objects in outer space, as well as targets on the surface of the Earth or in the air.(19) Space weapons are conceived to impact directly adversary's assets, and by its nature can be both weapons of mass destruction or conventional ones, including those based on new physical principles.
The placement of weapons in outer space could undermine existing arms control agreements, first and foremost those related to nuclear weapons and missiles, and provoke a new spiral of an arms race. Transformation of outer space into a potential arena of military combat could carry serious threats of disrupting strategic stability and international security.
Placement of weapons in outer space could have a major impact on military strategic balance, create an illusion of feasibility of an unpunished first strike and multiply importance of a factor of surprise. Thus, such weapons would be destabilizing by their nature, whatever the category they belong to -offensive or defensive.
Space weapons, should they be created, would de-facto be a new type of strategic arms. Those possessing them would obtain considerable strategic advantages. This would necessarily lead to countermeasures by other States in order to ensure their security. Such measures - both symmetrical and asymmetrical; in outer space and on the ground - may negate all efforts in disarmament in nuclear, missile and other spheres, give a strong boost to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, contribute to emergence of new forms of terrorism which may seem fantastic now.
Placement of weapons in outer space would increase the risks arising from short time for taking decision on its combat use. Hence a considerable growth of danger of taking wrong decisions and uncontrolled developments because of malfunction or false alarm.
In addition to missile defense, space weapons are capable, in parallel and much more effectively, to destroy spacecrafts. A Side possessing space weapons would have the opportunity to eliminate, without obstruction, space systems of another Side, considered to be its adversary, by inflicting substantive, and in certain cases irreparable technological damage. It is worth noting, that even the very impact on a satellite belonging to another State, may be perceived, especially in a crisis situation, as an armed attack - with all the resulting consequences.
The damage may not be confined to the military segment of an outer space grouping. Since the use of outer space assets involves considerable amount of integration of both military and civilian users, as well as a large number of States and international organizations in certain outer space programmes (e.g. outer space meteorology and navigation), the damage to, or disruption of such systems could bring about global implications.(19)
While considering military aspect of an application of outer space weapons against ground and air targets, one should not forget that strikes from outer space could menace objects of critical infrastructure, whose normal functioning have a direct bearing on national security of States.
One cannot also ignore dangers of the impact of outer space weapons on the Earth's biosphere, which can cause harmful implications for humankind. Besides, even in the course of possible space-based weapon testing on low earth orbits a great number of fragments would be left. This can aggravate the already acute problem of "space debris".
Thus, the emergence of weapons in outer space is fraught with arrival of a tangle of serious complications and dangers.
As far as the existing nuclear missile arsenals of Russia and the United States are concerned, strategic defensive systems, including space-based ones, will not have, in a short run, a decisive influence on sustaining stability. However, with the view of the planned further deep reductions in nuclear and missile weapons, these systems could dramatically destabilize the environment. The emergence of means of warfare in outer space and from outer space can drastically change the situation.(22)
Creation of outer space weapons is certainly not our choice. We would like to underline, that today and for the near future the Russian Federation has no plans to create or place in outer space any space weapon system. Besides, Russia consistently adheres to its moratorium on ASAT systems testing. Such dramatic scenarios, similar to those mentioned above, must be avoided. Outer space should stay a sphere of cooperation and mutual understanding rather than confrontation.
Sometimes, albeit seldom, we hear statements that existing international outer space law is sufficient to prevent an arms race in outer space and there is no need in its further development. We find it difficult to accept. There are obvious lacunae. Among unregulated - and therefore non-prohibited - activities in outer space one can, inter alia, mention development, testing and deployment of anti-satellite weapons; development, testing and deployment of space-based missile defense systems and their components; creation and deployment in outer space of means of optical and radio-electronic jamming of space-, air- or ground-based technical assets, and the others.
Filling these gaps, at least partially, is the purpose of the proposal by Russia and China, contained in the working paper CD/I 679, co-sponsored by a group of other States, on elaboration of a Treaty on the Prevention of the Deployment of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects.
It is suggested that this treaty should provide for three basic obligations.
First, "not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying any kinds of weapons, not to install such weapons on celestial bodies, or not to station such weapons in outer space in any other manner". This is a modified language of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, and it is applied not only to weapons of mass destruction, as in the OST, but to all weapons. During discussions which took place after the emergence of our joint document, we were given a good advice, that we are going to follow, to add to this obligation a modified Moon Agreement language on the prohibition of the deployment of objects carrying any kinds of weapons in orbit around the Moon and other celestial bodies or on other orbital trajectories to the Moon and other celestial bodies or around them.
The term "in any other manner" here means that weapons will not be placed in outer space by launching separate elements, each of them not being a weapon, and by their subsequent assembly to form a weapon.
This implies that a weapon would be considered stationed in outer space if it orbits the Earth at least once or follows a section of such a trajectory before being accelerated out of that orbit, or acquires a stable station anywhere beyond the Earth's orbit. Accordingly, the proposed ban on the placement of weapons in outer space does not apply to ballistic missiles, their re-entry vehicle platforms and RVs themselves, which travel through outer space. (22)
Although the first proposed obligation applies to all kind of weapons, we see the possibility for certain agreed exceptions deriving from common sense, e.g. allowing weapons necessary to ensure personal safety of astronauts after their landing back on the Earth or other celestial body.
Second, "not to resort to the threat or use of force against outer space objects". (20) All Member States of the United Nations are bound by the obligation contained in the UN Charter "to refrain in their international relations from the use or threat of use of force".(20) This obligation fully applies to activities conducted by States in outer space. The thrust of our proposal is to develop the international legal principle of the non-use of force as far as such activities are concerned. We envisage, in particular, to add an explanation that the ban on "the
threat or use of force"(19) includes an obligation not to attack space objects, not to destroy them or not to interfere with their normal operation in any other way.
In principle, this obligation embraces a broad range of possible actions against outer space objects, namely, destruction, damaging, injuring its functioning, disruption of communication channels with ground command and control centers, deliberate change of parameters of its orbit etc. In any case, what is meant is the prohibition of such kind of actions against outer space objects, rather than the means by which such actions can be executed. In other words, it's a ban on activities, not on "hardware", although the former could, naturally, influence the latter.
Third, "not to assist or encourage other States, groups of States, international organizations to participate in activities prohibited by the Treaty."(20) This is, sui generis, an obvious "non-proliferation" norm.
In practical terms, all these three obligations boil down to the prohibition of space-based weapons and the use of force against outer space objects. We are sure that our proposal is realistic, practically feasible and that it corresponds to the interests of all. This is especially true now, when there are no strike weapons in outer space and no decision has been taken to place them there. Disease prevention is always easier than its treatment.
Obviously, we do not seek to prohibit operation in outer space of the mentioned space systems created to perform the tasks of information support. To reflect the idea, the joint document explicitly states that the treaty "shall not be construed as impeding the research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes" or "military uses not prohibited by the Treaty". (20)
We have already drawn attention to the fact that nothing in the Russian-Chinese working paper was "carved in stone".(19) This is not a static form; rather, this is an invitation to dialogue and collective creativity. We express gratitude to all States who contributed to the discussions on the document. We are satisfied with on-going discussions. As a further elaboration on the topic, Russian and Chinese delegations have jointly prepared, and will distribute today, a non-paper on the issue of verification of implementation of the future instrument, as well as a review of existing international law related to weaponization of outer space. These non-papers will be introduced today by our Chinese colleagues. We also plan to prepare one more non-paper - on the issue of terms and definitions of the proposed treaty. We hope that the non-papers will stimulate further, more substantive and profound discussions on the Russian-Chinese working paper. They also represent our contribution to the future work of a CD Ad Hoc committee on PAROS, which, as we hope, will be re-established within the framework of an agreed Program of work of the Conference. In this connection, we reiterate our readiness to support consensus on the CD Program of work based on the A5 proposal.
We would recall that, as a first practical step in this direction, Russia proposes to declare moratorium on placement of weapons in outer space, pending a conclusion of an appropriate agreement by the international community. The Russian Federation would be prepared to immediately assume such an obligation if other leading outer space powers join the moratorium.
CONCLUSION
In my work I have studied the background knowledge about space and
how it is being used for both military and civil applications. So on the base
of my research I can say that space doesn’t belong to anybody but it belongs to
everybody, that it is why it should be used only for peaceful purposes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND OTHER
RESOURCES
1. http:www.vpk-news.ru
2. http:www.russianspaceweb.com
3. http:www.choenilguk.org
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5. http:www.rambler.ru
6. http:www.mosspace.ru
7. http:www.aviation week.com
8.
http:www.ueip.ru
9.
http:www.altrs.narod.ru
10.
http:www.epizodesspace.testpilot.ru
11.
http:www.bank.referatoff.ru
12.
http:www.explosive.ru
- http://www.iki.rssi.ru/solar/eng/astronts.htm
- http://schools.keldysh.ru/sch1952/Pages/Eng1/history.htm
- http://www.aviafond.ru/services1.php?cath=analytic&day=2006-04-12&number=10
16.
- http://www.mosspace.ru/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=75
- http://www.mosspace.ru/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=76
- http://epizodsspace.testpilot.ru/bibl/nov-iz/pochemu.html
19.
STATEMENT by
Ambassador Leonid A.SKOTNIKOV Permanent Representative of the Russian
Federation to the Conference on Disarmament at the Plenary Meeting of the Conference
on Disarmament "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space", Geneva,
26 August, 2004