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After all, it is rocket science: if you want to launch into space, you first have to make complicated calculations about possible launch windows, orbital mechanics, gravitational influences and much more, if the capsule is to dock at a space station that is 28,000 kilometers per hour at an altitude of about 400 kilometers is traveling in Earth orbit. If the weather does not cooperate on the launch date, the NASA space agency must change the flight plan, as the capsule may have to circle the earth more often before reaching the ISS.
This is what happened with the Space-X operator’s first regular Crew-1 astronaut transport: for the first time on Saturday night, one astronaut and three astronauts are expected to be with the new capsule. Crew Dragon flies to the international space station. After it became predictable that the slopes of a tropical storm could cause difficulties, NASA postponed the start of the Falcon-9– Early missile Sunday evening 19:27 local time. This is in contrast to the demonstration flight in late May, when the two astronauts had to abort their first take-off attempt due to a storm. The obvious drawback of the second launch window this time around, however, was the fact that the journey to the ISS took not just eight and a half hours as planned, but about 27.5 hours due to a different location of the space station. . The crew capsule named Resilience was supposed to dock at the station on Tuesday morning around 5am Central European Time.
An accident less than two hours before takeoff showed that rocket launches will likely never become routine: according to NASA, a dirty seal caused an unexpected drop in pressure inside the capsule. However, the technicians were able to fix this problem. Even after the start there were minor technical problems, for example with the heat sensors in the fuel system.
The astronauts will return to Earth in the spring
The four space travelers Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins, as well as the Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, will remain on the ISS for about five and a half months to carry out scientific work there. For the first time, seven people now live on the space station. An American cosmonaut and two Russians flew to the ISS in a Soyuz nearly four weeks ago.
Both US President Donald Trump and his elected successor Joe Biden congratulated them on the success of the start. “It is a testament to the power of science and what we can achieve through our innovation, ingenuity and determination,” Biden tweeted. A few minutes after the rocket launch Falcon 9 the first step landed on a platform in the sea. Space-X wants to use them again at the next crew start, probably at the end of March 2021.
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