The space station will have to squeeze: “SpaceX” is already visiting with four people

Since the end of the US space program in 2011, the only way for NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts to reach the International Space Station (ISS) has been the Russian Soyuz system. In May of this year, SpaceX demonstrated with a test flight and the launch of two astronauts that the United States is back in the game: they will no longer have to rely on the services of Roskosmos. Five months after the test’s success, the first routine flight is scheduled for this weekend and now, for the first time in nearly ten years, four astronauts will be delivered to SKS in one go. The maximum capacity of the Soyuz system is three people. What SpaceX learned from the May test flight and what it plans to make the new shift at the space station in the next six months – read the article.

It will become a routine

Undoubtedly, SpaceX’s first crew launch gained much more public and media attention, but it was conditioned on the “independence” of the United States, restoring the ability to transport its astronauts from its own territory ten years later. At the same time, it was a test to show that another milestone in the involvement of private companies in space exploration has been reached: NASA has gained the confidence that private partners can be safely entrusted not just orbiting or SKS, but also the life of astronauts.

A new SKS change usually comes every six months, so it is now expected that the SpaceX “Crew Dragon” spacecraft will operate flights on a relatively predictable schedule in the future. This is exactly what NASA’s “Commercial Crew Program” envisions: attracting private partners to provide a regular “space taxi” to transport astronauts to and from the space station.

Boeing is still working on its Starliner, but due to various technical difficulties, progress is slightly slower than its competitors. The next Starliner test flight is scheduled for 2021, Space.com reports.

Lessons from the beginning of May

On May 31, experts Robert Benken and Douglas Hurley successfully started on the SKS and returned to Earth with the same success in early August. Although the safety of astronauts has never been compromised (as far as possible in an inherently dangerous activity such as space flight), the test flight has served its purpose and highlighted a number of issues that need to be addressed, both technically and procedurally.

First, the heat-resistant shield was enhanced to control the temperature of the capsule by allowing the spacecraft to traverse the atmosphere at gigantic speed and heat up due to friction.

SpaceX engineers, inspecting the capsule after landing, concluded that in some places the heat-resistant shield tiles had suffered more than expected, so the decision was made to make a design change. The advanced heat-resistant shield was tested the night before Sunday began.

On the way to the launch pad. Photo: EPA / Scanpix / LETA

Second, the Crew Dragon parachutes worked a little later than they should have. The SpaceX capsule returns from space just like the capsules during the Apollo missions at the turn of the 60s and 70s, landing in the ocean with the help of parachutes. When Benken and Hurley returned to Earth, the parachutes had to open faster. To address this issue, SpaceX engineers have made improvements to the landing pod systems that collect atmospheric pressure data so that automation can more accurately determine when the pod is at the right height to open the parachutes.

If the two problems mentioned above are related to technique, the next lesson is about procedure. Campus also reported that shortly after landing in the ocean, the SpaceX capsule was surrounded by uninvited guests – curious tourists with their boats and yachts who wanted to see the spacecraft nearby. This is about the safety of both the astronauts and the vacationers themselves – there may be toxic fumes from substances used in the maneuvering systems near the capsule after landing.

The crew dragon capsule was successfully recovered after Benken and Hurley returned to Earth.

To prevent such incidents in the future, NASA will intensify cooperation with the US Coast Guard, attracting more technical and human resources to provide a safety perimeter of approximately 15 kilometers around the landing site.

The SKS will be narrower than usual

Since the end of the Shuttle era, the space station has accommodated three to six people at a time, and six have beds. This is quite a logical number, as a Soyuz ship cannot carry more than three people into orbit at a time (sometimes only two people take to the skies). But the CrewDragon is more spacious. It can comfortably accommodate four people. Three NASA astronauts – Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker – as well as Sochi Noguchi, a representative of the Japanese Space Agency, will take part in the ship’s planned launch this weekend. For the first time in a long time, there will be seven people at the same time in the SKS, because there are already two Russian astronauts and one American.

Although, of course, there will be enough room for seven people, the sleeping space problem needs to be addressed. Eventually, the astronauts on SKS will live until spring, and adequate rest is very important for working productively. Astronauts have their own little “flips” to sleep in, but there are only places for six. Astronaut Michael Hopkins will be without his “bedroom” in the space station for a while and hopes NASA will send the one needed for the next cargo flight, but by then he will most likely spend the night in a connected Crew Dragon capsule. to the space station. railway station.

Hopkins will have a separate “bedroom” at least at the beginning of the mission.

The start will be similar to what we experienced on May 31st, except that it is now expected during the dark hours of the day – just before 8pm on Saturday night local time or just before 3pm on Sunday after Latvian time. Of course, there can be a number of unforeseen upheavals, including the ever-worrying about adverse weather conditions, but the weather forecast now looks optimistic.

What will the astronauts do?

Funny videos on the web, where astronauts throw scrolls and live with water bubbles in microgravity, can give the false impression of life on a space station as entertainment and recreation. Indeed, each astronaut’s schedule and activities are planned down to the nuances and this team will be no exception. In the 20 years since SKS has been inhabited, at least 3,000 different experiments have been conducted, devoting much of their time to studying how the human body responds to long-lived microgravity life to better prepare for longer missions and flights in the future when people will go back to the moon. and the first crews will go to Mars.

Prolonged stay in a space station also affects human immunity, so this crew will study, among other things, whether and how certain dietary changes can strengthen the immune system in microgravity conditions. This study is already underway and will provide the space station with the additional tools needed for the study. Among other things, Viktor Glovers (pictured below left) will take part in the experiment as a participant and deliver the necessary samples for analysis.

Work will continue to enhance the new generation Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suite to prepare xEMU for outdoor and lunar operations. One of the innovations is a system to regulate the temperature in the spacesuit and protect the astronaut from overheating. It is based on a new type of membranes and materials, whose performance and durability will be tested in simulated outdoor scenarios.

It is also known that gardening is not forgotten in the space station: in long-term space flights, where refueling will not be possible in an instant, knowledge of how to grow edible food right on the spacecraft or in a base like the moon will be very important. Lettuce and radishes, for example, are already grown on the space station. This crew will also continue to engage in space gardening at SKS.

Harvest time!

It will also examine how to use materials already available in space, such as lunar rules, to provide life support systems. The crew will take microorganisms with them that “feast” on the rocks and see how they can help transform the regolith into usable raw materials. The site “PopSci” writes that already a part of the gold and copper of the world is obtained with the help of “eaters” of bacteria. Well, we need to study how these microorganisms behave in space. This, of course, is only a small fraction of the experiments to be performed by the Crew-1 crew.

In case the night does not fall asleep on Sunday evening, as always, you can watch the start live.