Industry Standards for Commercial Spacecraft

摘要

Orbital flight places extensive demands on a spacecraft and its materials in ways designers must account for in order to achieve success. Just getting into space requires a vehicle that can tolerate the gravity loads of accelerating from a standstill to Mach 25 in a little more than 10 minutes, operate above Earth, where temperatures change by more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit every 45 minutes, and stand up to plasma heating of around 3,000 degrees F. High-frequency vibrations that simulate being inside an automatic paint can shaker for several minutes are another factor. And while all of this happens, the crew of astronauts must be kept healthy and safe.