Armenia intends to take active participation in implementation of various space projects
ArmInfo.Armenia with the assistance of the State Corporation for Space Activity Roscosmos intends to take an active part in the implementation of various space programs. This should be largely helped by the long-term (until 2020) program of cooperation with Roskosmos, which provides for the launch of a communications satellite, the modernization of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, the deployment of GLONASS stations in the country and preparations for the launch of the first Armenian astronaut.
One of the priorities of the program is the stationing of stations of the global navigation system GLONASS in Armenia. The first batch of equipment for the new system has already been delivered to the republic. It is curious that in the new global system, nuclear technologies began to be actively used. So, the ultra-precise light atomic clocks, adapted to work on satellites of GPS and GLONASS navigation systems, have already been created and are being tested. They create a platform for the creation of all future ultra-precise space clocks and distance measurement systems. In an atomic clock, two ions are in an electromagnetic "trap" at a distance of several micrometers. Scientists "shoot" on ions from a laser, and the interaction of atoms makes it possible to distinguish two states - conditional zero and one. The fluctuations between these states are a record of time. Such designs allow achieving incredible measurement accuracy - modern atomic clocks start to lag or rush for a second only in billions of years.
According to Andrei Akatov, senior lecturer of the Department of Engineering Radioecology and Radiochemical Technology of the St. Petersburg State Technological Institute, atomic technologies have always been used and are being used in the exploration of outer space. In conversation with corr. ArmInfo he stressed that at one time both the US and the USSR were actively developing nuclear missile engines. But then the technology was "dirty", and it was strictly forbidden to launch spaceships with similar engines from the site of the cosmodrome. Hydrogen was passed through the reactor, which was heated to a temperature of 2800-3000 degrees, escaped from the nozzle and pushed the rocket. Any such launch could lead to environmental pollution. Therefore, a transition was subsequently made to a different direction, in which the reactor produces electricity used for the operation of ionic engines, which in turn push the rocket. Now with the participation of Rosatom and Roskosmos in Russia, a transport and energy module is being built on the basis of a nuclear power engine of a megawatt class, thanks to which it will be possible to launch a space tug to Mars in 2035, the expert said. Unparalleled transport module will make it possible to create a qualitatively new technique of high power-to-weight ratio for studying and developing deep space. The new project assumes the use of ionic electric reactive engines, in which the reactive thrust is created by the ion beam accelerated by the electric field. Such facilities will enable the implementation of many ambitious tasks in the future. In addition to flying to Mars, it is also a detailed study of planets and their satellites, the organization of industrial production in space. It will also be possible to clean up near-Earth space from space debris, to deal with the asteroid hazard, to create automated bases on planets. The key issue of creating a reactor facility for operation in space is the provision of nuclear and radiation safety requirements.
Akatov also pointed to the importance of using nuclear batteries that can be used to produce electricity in space.
"There are special units that are fashionably called radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which are converted directly into electricity by heat from radioactive substances." These generators were used on lighthouses on the Northern Sea Route, where it is impossible to supply electricity. "Unfortunately, due to vandalism (generators were opened in search of copper), which even led to the overexposure of criminals, these devices had to be removed and replaced with solar batteries and windmills. But radioisotope thermoelectrogenerates We found ourselves in space research: Americans use this method in full, for example, the device "New horizons" was launched with such batteries that photographed the "heart" on the planet Pluto, "said Akatov, adding that This kind of technology in space is simply indispensable, especially when developing distant planets. As the expert stated, the use of nuclear technologies is by no means a cheap exercise, and it is rather difficult for single countries to cope with them alone, including Armenia. We need countries that have developed nuclear power. Even the USA, using radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) based on plutonium-238, had to turn down its production at the time, starting its purchases in the USSR. In the Soviet Union there was more plutonium, and the Americans bought it at prices of up to $ 6 million per 1 kg. For example, the same American apparatus "New Horizons" is fueled by nuclear batteries on Russian plutonium.
To note, Russian nuclear engineering engineers have long helped to test equipment that will be used in orbit. Testing is conducted in conditions simulating an open space. In particular, a research complex is being created in which the conditions of outer space will be modeled, and which will be designed to test the scientific equipment of the international orbital observatory Spectrum-UV. This observatory is close in its capabilities to the US space telescope Hubble. From its territory, scientists will study the physical processes in the early universe, the formation of stars, the evolution of galaxies, the processes of falling matter into black holes, the atmosphere of planets and comets. Also, with the participation of Rosatom, a prototype of a new sealed pump for the refueling complex of the Russian Proton-M rocket was created.