Tuesday, October 3 2017 14:39

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.