#长文创作激励计划#
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United States never expected that the painstaking management of the "double spacecraft" program actually suffered a "double overturn", following the failure of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle actually had problems, which will directly lead to the "Dragon" spacecraft subsequent series of missions had to be suspended.
The problem is that there are two astronauts on the ISS who should have returned to Earth long ago, and they have been stranded on the space station, which will naturally consume supplies, and at present, there are 9 people in the ISS, and the Dragon spacecraft was supposed to deliver supplies to the space station in August, but now this plan has been put on hold.
The failure of the Falcon 9 launch will trigger a series of chain reactions, and United States is now in a situation where there are no spacecraft available.
Problems caused by the failure of the launch of the Falcon 9
The Falcon 9 is arguably one of the busiest launch vehicles in the world, with 354 launches since it entered service in June 2010, including 13 manned flights and more than 280 reuses.
Falcon 9 has had two previous accidents, one on June 28, 2015, when it was responsible for transporting the cargo Dragon spacecraft to the space station, only to explode shortly after liftoff, resulting in the Falcon 9 grounding for six months.
Another time was on September 1, 2016, when the Falcon 9 was tested on the ground, and as a result, another explosion occurred, and it had to be grounded for five months.
The accident occurred on July 11, the Falcon 9 carried 20 "Starlink" satellites, planned to put them into orbit, the rocket was launched after the early operation of the early operation, the reusable first stage booster successfully completed the mission, and returned to the ground, but the second stage of the rocket failed to ignite, resulting in 20 "Starlink" satellites could not enter the predetermined orbit.
According to what is currently available, it is likely that there was a leak of liquid oxygen in the second stage of the rocket, which is the oxidizer of the rocket fuel, and if it leaks, the fuel will not be able to burn.
The immediate impact of this accident is that 20 "Starlink" satellites can only operate in space below the predetermined orbit, according to SpaceX, it has already communicated with 10 satellites, and their current position is 135 kilometers above the ground, less than half of the predetermined orbit.
To solve this problem, SpaceX tried to get the satellites back into orbit through the ion thrusters on them, which may be the only thing worth trying at the moment, but the thrust of the ion thrusters is difficult to bring the satellites to the intended altitude.
SpaceX wants to update the satellite's software to enable the ion thrusters to operate at ultra-high speeds, which can only be said to be a "dead horse as a live horse doctor" method, and there is really no other solution.
Other satellites have no way to remedy it, but to fall back into the atmosphere and burn up, which is undoubtedly a loss for SpaceX.
At present, it is the period when SpaceX is carrying out high-speed networking of "Starlink", since the beginning of this year, it has been launched 68 times, and this failed mission is the 69th, almost every two or three days it will be launched, and now there is a problem with the Falcon 9, and the deployment of the "Starlink" satellite can only be stopped.
In addition, SpaceX had planned to use the Falcon 9 to launch a commercial space campaign at the end of July to send a billionaire into space, and in mid-August, it will send a new batch of astronauts to the International Space Station to replace the astronauts who have been there for half a year, and then send the cargo Dragon spacecraft to the space station for a supply mission.
But now, the United States FAA has suspended all these missions to investigate the Falcon 9, and the specific grounding time depends on the progress of the investigation, and from past experience, the Falcon 9 is likely to be grounded for half a year.
This situation has also put NASA in a difficult situation, how can the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station get back?
How do astronauts trapped on the space station get back?
At the beginning of last month, the Boeing Interplanetary manned spacecraft sent two United States astronauts to the International Space Station, and a series of leaks made the world feel incredible, this spacecraft in full condition, can not guarantee that the astronauts can return to Earth safely, two astronauts who were originally planned to stay on the space station for only 8 days, have now been stranded on the space station for more than a month.
The Starliner spacecraft can dock with the space station for 45 days, that is, it can safely dock until July 21, and after the expiration date, the backup system can be activated and the docking can be extended to 90 days, which is the limit.
At present, the United States still hopes to be able to repair the Starliner spacecraft and use this spacecraft to take the astronauts home, and the Boeing engineering team is conducting ground tests on the Starliner spacecraft's thruster technology on the ground, and it is impossible to give the astronauts a time to go home until the test is completed.
According to information released by the United States Space Agency, optimistic estimates are that the two astronauts are expected to return on a Starliner spacecraft at the end of July, but it could also be in mid-August. Two astronauts said on the space station that they hope to be able to use the Starliner spacecraft again, and that failure should not be an option.
Previously, NASA also considered asking SpaceX to use the Dragon spacecraft to send astronauts back if the Starliner spacecraft was really unable to undertake the return mission, which was indeed an option, even if it paid SpaceX some more, but now the grounding of the Falcon 9 has made the feasibility of this plan uncertain.
In a way, the Falcon 9 accident was a "good thing" for Boeing, after all, the poor performance of the Starliner spacecraft has disgraced Boeing, and even if NASA is still trying to defend it, Boeing's reputation has undoubtedly been hit.
If SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is excluded, it will give Boeing a great chance to make up for previous mistakes, but only if the Starliner spacecraft is foolproof to bring the astronauts back, as long as this happens, Boeing can make the doubts somewhat muted.
But this is not easy to do, the problem of interstellar routes is not small, in case of a mistake, it will directly threaten the lives of astronauts, this choice question, has made NASA anxious.
In fact, the Russia Soyuz spacecraft is also on the space station at this time, and it is completely possible to bring the astronauts back, but it is necessary to pay a lot of money to the Russia United States, which is undoubtedly difficult for United States to accept.
Money is only one aspect of the problem, and the most important thing is that with the current relations between Russia and the United States, United States' request is somewhat "slapping itself in the face", and it will also challenge United States' independence in the space field.
Of course, China also has the ability to help United States bring people back, and the Long March carrier rocket and the Shenzhou spacecraft have ready-made backups, but so far, there can be no cooperative relationship between China and the United States, this is United States its own regulations, so United States will not open up to China easily.
Well, for now, we can only hope that the Boeing Starliner spacecraft can successfully complete the mission, and it is likely that this will become the only option for United States in the short term, and if this does not work, it can only let the two astronauts continue to stay on the space station.
Resources:
Global Times: "Falcon 9 grounded, affecting the supply of the International Space Station"
Guangming Network: "Two United States astronauts stranded in space for a month, when can they "go home"? 》