Two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, have made history by traveling to the International Space Station in a privately funded spacecraft, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. It is the first time that astronauts have been launched from US soil in nine years.
The astronauts took off lying on their backs in their seats and facing the trajectory of the journey to reduce the stress of high acceleration on their bodies. Once launched from the Kennedy Space Center, the spacecraft traveled over the Atlantic, rotating to travel in a direction that coincides with the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS).
Although the flight was scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, due to weather conditions, the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule had to be delayed until Saturday, May 30.
Space mission launches and landings are the most critical parts. However, Space X has done a lot of testing. In the event of a failed rocket launch, eight engines would lift the capsule containing the astronauts into the air and away from the rocket , and parachutes would eventually help it land. The Falcon 9 rocket has made 83 successful launches so far.
Dock and return
The ISS has an orbital speed of 7.7 km per second. Earth’s rotation carries launch sites on a straight flight path toward it.
To intercept the ISS, the capsule must match the station’s speed, altitude, and inclination, and it must do so at the correct time so that the two spacecraft are very close to each other. The speed difference between the ISS and the Crew Dragon capsule should be close to zero at the point where the orbits of the two spacecraft intersect.
Once these conditions are met, the Crew Dragon capsule must maneuver toward the ISS docking port , using a series of small control thrusters arranged around the spacecraft. This should be done automatically by computer, however astronauts can control this maneuver manually if necessary.
The maneuvers involve various movements to the right, left, up and down. This is complicated by Newton’s first law of motion : that any object at rest or in motion will remain so unless an external force acts. That means that any maneuver, such as a turn to the right, will continue indefinitely in the absence of air resistance to provide an external force until it is countered by firing thrusters in the opposite direction.
Why not try it yourself? This simulator, provided by Space X, allows you to test and pilot the Dragon capsule to the ISS docking port.
The astronauts will return to Earth when a new ensemble is ready to take their place, or at NASA’s discretion. NASA is already planning the first fully operational flight of the Crew Dragon crew, with four astronauts, though a launch date has yet to be announced.
The new era of space flight
The launch places SpaceX firmly ahead of other commercial companies seeking to provide manned space launches. This includes both Boeing’s Starliner, which was first launched last year but was not created, and Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser, which is planned to be tested loaded during a trip to the ISS next year.
The ability of commercial flights like this one to send astronauts to the ISS is an important step toward further human exploration, including establishing a human presence on the Moon and ultimately on Mars.
However, with companies competing, an open question remains whether security could be compromised at some point to gain a business advantage. There is no suggestion that this has happened so far, but any manned mission that fails due to a failure stemming from economic concerns would have serious legal ramifications.
Similar to modern aircraft legislation, a set of rules and regulations for space safety will need to be established sooner rather than later. For lunar and subsequent trade missions, we must also ensure that no spacecraft contaminates the place it is visiting with germs from Earth.
With more nations and companies developing plans for lunar missions, there are obvious advantages in international cooperation and in the search for profitable launch methods. This is no less important because it does not depend so much on the whim of the governments elected to the leadership, which can completely change from one administration to the next.
For us scientists who seek to expand our knowledge of space, it is a very exciting time.
Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of Birmingham y Ian Whittaker, Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation. Lea el original.
