Mechanical Engineering Reviews
Online ISSN : 2187-9753
ISSN-L : 2187-9753
Past 50 years and next 50 years of space activity
Tetsuo YASAKA
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2014 Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages SE0011

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Abstract
Author's experience in space engineering was first reviewed. The past 50 years activities include launch vehicles, satellites in commercial and educational areas, space debris, deep space exploration, on-orbit servicing and other advanced systems. Although some of the tasks provided outputs to serve actual space systems, most of other tasks originated or proposed failed to go into real programs. Discontinuation of original proposal is very common in actual space programs. Successful programs also often go through a series of alternations due to engineering, economic or political reasons, and the established systems not necessarily represent ideal ones that have been envisioned in the original thinking. Some remarks from this view point are stated to look into future space endeavors, perhaps in next 50 years.
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© 2014 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
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