The Orbital Stations of the Future

1. Long-term¹ orbital research stations are very useful to scientists today for weather forecasting, agriculture, geology, sea and air transport, and for protecting the environment.

2. A modern long-term orbital station is a research laboratory in space, where the researches can be done that are quite unconceivable on Earth.

3. Take physics. Because there is no atmosphere in space, physicists can study cosmic rays, carry out experiments that may help discover new nuclear reactions and elementary particles.

4. Then, too, in weightlessness we could get purer materials. When molten metal cools of on the Earth, the density will always be slightly uneven because the surrounding temperature is uneven while gravity upsets the structural balance by distorting the crystallization leaving us with an imperfect end product.

5. In space these problems are avoided, there is no gravity and no atmosphere, so the quality of crystals is sharply improved. The crystals grown in weightlessness are extra pure substances which can be used for semiconductors, lasers, computer engineering and in medicine.

6. There will be space observatories too – the research is already under way. From orbit, one can watch the development of cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, predict when they will strike and give an advance warning². The study of the Earth is a big part of the space programme. Colour and black-and-white photographs of the Earth help geologists.

7. Modern orbital stations are built quite big, some of them weighing up to 20 tons. It is only natural that scientists and experimenters want much bigger stations. It is only natural that scientists and experimenters want much bigger stations. And during the next decade the orbital stations will probably get bigger.

8. A multipurpose station is useful for all kinds of research – astrophysics, technology, medicine, biology etc. But a wide range of equipment we require for such research has obvious disadvantages for the instruments will never all be in use. So, the future emphasis will probably be on specialized stations.

Notes

¹long-term - долгосрочный; рассчитанный или предназначенный на длительный период

²to give warning - сделать предупреждение, предупредить