Spacecraft - Wikipedia
A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed to fly and operate in outer space. [1] Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo.
Spaceships and Rockets - NASA
Oct 17, 2023 · A spacecraft is a vehicle that flies in space. It can carry astronauts, cargo, or instruments to their destination, or it can be the destination. The International Space Station is a spacecraft, just like the smaller vehicles that deliver crew and cargo to it.
Spacecraft | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica
Oct 7, 2024 · Spacecraft is a vehicle designed to operate, with or without a crew, in a controlled flight pattern above Earth’s lower atmosphere. Most spacecraft are not self-propelled; they depend on the initial velocity provided by a launch vehicle, which separates from the spacecraft when its task is done.
Types of Spacecraft, Trajectories, & Navigation - Britannica
Nov 11, 2024 · Spacecraft is a general term for objects launched into space—e.g., Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, experiment capsules, the orbiting modules of some launch vehicles (e.g., the U.S. space shuttle or the Russian Soyuz), and space stations.
Chapter 9: Spacecraft Classification - NASA Science
Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to state the characteristics of various types of robotic spacecraft and be able to identify any of JPL's past, current, or future spacecraft as belonging to one of eight basic categories.
Starship - SpaceX
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket – collectively referred to as Starship – represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Orion Spacecraft - NASA
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. On Artemis missions, Orion will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.
Artemis I - NASA
The crew module is the pressurized part of the Orion spacecraft, sometimes referred to as the capsule, where astronauts will live and work on crewed missions to the Moon and back. It can accommodate four crew members for up to 21 days, and contains advanced life support, avionics, and power systems.
Voyager - NASA Science
The Spacecraft. The twin Voyagers are escaping our solar system in different directions at more than 3 astronomical units (AU) per year; 1 AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun, or about 93 million miles. Explore
Spacecraft - NASA Science
The basic structure of the spacecraft is called the "bus," which carries the various engineering subsystems and scientific instruments. It is like a large ten-sided box, which can be seen in the Voyager diagram.