Lead
The news that Chang'e-6 has finally returned to Earth is undoubtedly good news for China's aerospace industry, and the United States is also very excited about the successful return of this mission, because the United States has also obtained valuable data on the landing site of Chang'e-6.
However, at the same time, the mainland's satellites have successfully returned to the earth, but the American astronauts have repeatedly postponed their return to the earth because of the failure of the "interstellar passenger ship" produced by Boeing.
So why did American astronauts end up in space for 21 days because of a malfunction of the Boeing Starliner?
So what impact will this wave of "interstellar airliner" incident have on the mainland's aerospace field?
The "Starliner" Boeing is out of order again.
Since 2011, the U.S. "Space Shenzhou" program has been underway, through which U.S. astronauts can conduct long-term space exploration, and in 2014, NASA signed contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to send astronauts to the International Space Station.
At that time, NASA provided contracts of $4.5 billion and $2.4 billion respectively for Boeing and SpaceX, and Boeing's "Starliner" and SpaceX's "Dragon Spacecraft" became the two major "working horses" in the US space field, but unfortunately, these two spacecraft were not developed by established companies in the US space field.
Although SpaceX was founded in 2002, in just a few years, it successfully launched the "Dragon spacecraft" into space through the self-developed "Falcon 9" rocket, making it one of the emerging space companies.
Although Boeing is one of the most influential space companies in the United States, it has not independently developed manned "spacecraft" products, so the "interstellar airliner" has become Boeing's first manned space product.
In December 2019, Boeing's first Starliner successfully carried four astronauts to the International Space Station, and in November 2021, Boeing's second Starliner successfully carried four astronauts to space, but its return time has been repeatedly delayed.
The flight's return was originally scheduled for December 3, but the Starliner was repeatedly postponed due to a variety of failures, including helium leaks, thruster failures, and abnormal temperatures in space.
During this period, Boeing has also been repairing the spacecraft, but it was not until December 22 that Boeing announced again that the spacecraft would temporarily terminate its return plan and that the astronauts would remain in space, which also left the astronauts stranded in space for up to 21 days due to spacecraft failure.
This has also caused Boeing's failure in the US space field again, making the outside world question Boeing's space technology, and American astronauts are also facing psychological pressure because of the long delay.
"Please China save people"?
The news that the US astronauts have been stranded in space for a long time has attracted attention and expressed concern and concern, and many US netizens have even shouted on social media: "Please China save people."
This also surprised many people, after all, the United States has always been proud of its strong scientific research strength and space technology, why is this happening?
Judging from the information currently available, although the United States has made important progress in the field of spaceflight, there are still many challenges in long-term space missions, including technical problems and the psychological and physical health of personnel.
In space missions, astronauts need to be in microgravity for a long time, which not only puts forward higher requirements for their physical health, but also may have a certain impact on their psychology, and astronauts who stay in space for a long time need to overcome loneliness, weightlessness and other pressures, which is a big test of their psychological endurance.
Although astronauts have received systematic training and preparation before carrying out space missions, their psychological and physical conditions are still facing certain uncertainties in the face of unexpected situations, which also makes the outside world have some worries and concerns about their current situation.
But at the same time, the ground staff also said that they do not need to worry too much about the current situation of the astronauts, they are fully prepared to deal with various emergencies, and will continue to monitor the situation of the astronauts to ensure their safety and health.
In any case, the fact that the American astronauts can return home smoothly and return safely to Earth is a good thing for the entire space field, after all, it not only means that the United States has made new breakthroughs in space technology, but also lays a more solid foundation for future space exploration and cooperation.
Will the United States "ask for help" from China?
In the face of the situation of American astronauts staying in space for a long time, many people have speculated whether the United States will "ask for help" from other countries, and some people even think that the United States will "ask for help" from China, so is this statement true?
Judging from the current situation, the reason why American astronauts stay in space for a long time is mainly because of a variety of failures in the "Starliner" produced by Boeing, and these failures are related to the design and manufacture of the spacecraft itself, not caused by external factors.
As an American aerospace enterprise, Boeing's aerospace technology has always been at the forefront of the aerospace field, but its continuous problems have also caused the outside world to have certain doubts about its technology and quality control, especially in long-term space missions, Boeing's spacecraft has failed many times, which has undoubtedly brought certain challenges to the US space program.
The "starliner" produced by Boeing is precisely to meet the needs of US space missions, but due to its continuous failures, US astronauts cannot return to Earth on time, which undoubtedly brings some trouble to the US space program.
Therefore, whether the United States will "call for help" from other countries depends mainly on whether Boeing can solve these problems in a timely manner, and if Boeing cannot solve these failures, then the United States needs to seek help from other countries to ensure the safety of astronauts.
In the face of this situation, China, as a country with rich space experience and technology, may be able to provide some help, but in the current political atmosphere, there is still some uncertainty whether the United States will "ask for help" from China.
In recent years, Sino-US relations have been in a state of tension, and some US politicians have been creating public opinion hostile to China, and their attitude toward China is also very tough, so even if the United States needs China's help, it will not necessarily take the initiative to seek it, and this will undoubtedly bring more uncertainty to the US space program.
However, in any case, the US space industry is an international cooperation project of great significance, and in the face of various challenges in space exploration, all countries still need to work together to solve problems, rather than using them as political bargaining chips.
epilogue
Undoubtedly, Boeing's successive space problems have had a certain impact on the US space program, and the long-term detention of US astronauts in space has also attracted widespread attention from the outside world.
In the face of such emergencies, countries need to address the challenges together with an open mind, rather than seeing them as a political tool, trusting that through the efforts of all parties, the issue can be properly resolved.