Bigger is Better

Researchers have always wanted better and bigger tools to explore the immensity of the universe. Bigger telescopes, for example, can be used to obtain higher resolution pictures of extremely remote galaxies and stars, to observe and better understand how the early universe was like. And despite the levels of federal funding decreasing and rising inflation, there are technologies which are relatively affordable to create new telescopes and spacecrafts.

One of these telescopes is the James Webb Space Telescope, which by the time it is completed it will probably cost more than 1 billion dollars. It is scheduled to launch in June 2013 with the help of an Ariane 5 rocket, which has a diameter of 5,4 meters, while the completed space telescope will have a diameter of 6.5 meters.

Sending a bigger telescope into space means that it will have greater light-gathering capability, which will put more pressure on the telescope's data handling instruments. Currently existing space telescopes already have this problem of losing small amounts of data packets, meaning that the images they are sending don't actually contain every pixel of data from the original picture. This process is similar to data compression, experienced with computer files. While trying to compress a large-image format to a smaller file by a factor of ten, some information is inevitably lost.

So bigger data transmission speeds are needed to avoid data compression. Currently astronomers are able to send and receive information from the telescopes, at rates as high as 2,5 Gigabits per second, equivalent to transferring a DVD-worth of data in a few seconds, making possible the reduction in weight of the spacecraft and to obtain real time observations possible, advantages unavailable with the compression method due to the time needed to process the information into smaller packages before sending it.

Scientists are also taking into consideration the possibility of automating spacecraft repair, refueling or any other tasks that would need human assistance, thus eliminating the expense of humans in space; one way of doing so is by equipping the spacecraft with instruments with better "machine vision", for automated on-orbit tasks such as docking.

Such technology already exists, it just needs to be incorporated in the future spacecrafts, like RADAR, or LIDAR systems, using 3-D laser technology to help a spacecraft calculate its distance from another object such as an asteroid or another probe, technology which is precise up under 2 centimeters.
These autonomous rendezvous or docking in space will allow spacecrafts to operate more closely one to another.