may 27, for the first time in 9 years, the spacecraft with the astronauts on Board will go into space from the United States, and not from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. What is so special about this launch and why not, NASA postponed the launch, even though the coronavirus pandemic?
the intrigue remained until the last. According to meteorologists, may 27, at Cape Canaveral thunderstorms and lightning.
the National aerospace Agency of the USA (NASA) is doing everything to the start of the spacecraft “dragon” of the company SpaceX Elon musk took place and went smoothly.
it was the first U.S. launch vehicle with astronauts on Board the U.S. since 2011.
in addition to the new project invested more than 3,14 billion.
For 30 years of operation reusable spacecraft (1981 to 2011), two of them exploded together with the crews (Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003).
the Tragedy of “Columbia” has substantially influenced the fate of the program use the us Shuttle to fly in space. Then the damage to the skin, obtained during the vehicle start, eventually led to its destruction during return to Earth and the death of the entire crew.
Experts conducted an investigation and work on the bugs. But in 2011 during the launch of Shuttle discovery from the vehicle again lost a few pieces of insulation foam.
After that, the Americans stopped the program for the use of reusable shuttles. Opportunities to send people in space was only two — with the help of Russia or China. However, the U.S. Congress, by its decision of 2011 has forbidden NASA to cooperate with China for fear of industrial espionage.
In collaboration with Moscow for space programs, Washington has had much more experience. USA and Russia began to cooperate in space in the 1970-ies on the program “Soyuz-Apollo”. In the end, since 2011, American astronauts were delivered to orbit on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Russia is using its space monopoly, began to raise the cost of the “ticket to space” for the United States.
In 2008, NASA posted a 21 million dollars for the opportunity to send its own astronaut into orbit. Place on the “Union”, which is supposed to start in October, has cost NASA more than 90 million dollars.
According to forecasts of the inspector General of NASA, one seat for a flight to the “Dragon” will cost about $ 55 million.
the New ship was assigned to develop two American firms: SpaceX, headed by Elon Musk and aerospace giant Boeing.
Elon Musk first brought his project to the finish line, in this case — to the launch pad.
the First flight of the c the innovative reusable booster Falcon could take place in 2016, but a series of accidents on the test runs of the Deputyelila project.
“It’s a new era, a new word in human flight in space”, — said the representative of NASA Jim Bridenstine.
If the mission “Dragon” is successful, it could solve another problem astronauts. Previously, American space shuttles were transported simultaneously on seven astronauts.
the Russian Soyuz can deliver to the ISS only three people. The “Roscosmos” takes on Board not more than two American astronauts.
This meant that the astronauts were forced to spend more time on planned maintenance of the ISS, and pay less attention to laboratory experiments. Now NASA plans to change this balance.
“the Dragon” will also be seven seats. If the flight is orders of NASA, four seats will be reserved for the astronauts of the Agency.
the Rest of the company Elon musk will be able to sell space agencies of different countries, others business companies and even space tourists — wealthy people who want to see the Earth from space.
the SpaceX Company is planning to organize a commercial space flight. According to preliminary estimates, the visit to orbit will cost wishing approximately 35 thousand dollars per night.
And this is a significant step towards creating a more affordable market for space tourism, says entrepreneur Richard Garriott.
In 2008, he paid $ 30 million over a two-week stay on the ISS. And it’s not just affordability. Previously, to get permission for the flight was almost impossible, said the businessman.
“Almost everyone who went to space in private, have faced this problem. NASA tried to dissuade us to fly or take flight for one reason or another,” said Garriott in an interview with the American edition of Business Insider.
the Contract with SpaceX is already signed by the company Space Adventures, which will get four seats on the first flight of the ship open to space tourists.
On his desire to ride on Board the “Dragon” has said Hollywood actor Tom cruise. In flight, he plans to shoot part of his new movie. NASA confirmed that it was ready to assist crews in the filming of the ISS.
a flight from Cape Canaveral, this time leaving two of the most experienced and age-NASA astronaut Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken.
the Astronauts helped to bring the ship to mind and mastered the touch screen control panel. These screens are very different from the usual push-button devices, which were equipped with shuttles and current modules.
“This is a very modern device from a technological point of view. We are glad that we’re already in the real space ship, not on the simulator,” said Hurley.
And Behnken did not hide that she’s nervous before the start.
Hurley and the Bankeh — not only colleagues at work, they are still best friends in life. The astronauts were witnesses at the weddings of each other, moreover, they are both married to astronautix.
Karen Nyberg, wife of Colonel Hurley, twice flew into space. Now she is retired and helps the astronaut to raise their 10-year-old son.
Megan McArthur, the wife of Behnken, one of the candidates for the flight to the moon planned by NASA in 2024. She participated in the renovation of the space telescope “Hubble” in 2009. Their son is six years old.
NASA does not refuse from plans in 2030-ies to send a man to Mars. Actively developing the lunar program of the Agency.
But while scientists still little is known how can behave a human body during long flights. And the only way to know more about it — to conduct additional experiments on the ISS.
that’s why NASA is committed as soon as possible to increase its presence on the station and allow the crews to spend more time in research and experiments.
