SpaceX is actively building rockets for a variety of purposes, for example, for flights to Mars and space tourism. In order to conduct at least one successful flight with people on board, several test launches, special equipment and lengthy preparation are required. But not always everything happens like this, a vivid example is the last launch of SpaceX. We explain what the company risked when it sent a completely civilian crew into space.
On the night of September 19, the first ever fully civilian crew of the Crew Dragon spacecraft safely returned to Earth. He splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. But the flight could not go so smoothly, since the ship had not been tested before in zero gravity conditions, there was not a single professional pilot in the crew, and the spacesuits only looked beautiful, but in fact they were heavy and even dangerous.
Space flights have become fully automated. This is true?
Not really. It is believed that the spacecraft is fully automated and knows exactly what height to climb and how to land perfectly. But reality often distorts the calculations on paper.
For example, in the USA in 1966, during a flight into orbit, a short circuit occurred, so the Gemini VIII device began to rotate around its own axis: because of this, the crew could die.
The ship could be controlled manually, so Captain Neil Armstrong was able to handle the situation. Also, errors occur during the landing of the ship or when it flies to orbit. All these situations confirm that today there is no ideal automatic mechanism that does not require manual control. Even out of space, humans still haven’t invented the perfect autopilot for a car.
During the last civilian flight on the SpaceX ship, there was not a single professional who could, if something happened, prevent a technical error.
Heavy and dangerous spacesuits. What is the threat?
Usually in spacesuits, which are used, for example, to work on the ISS, there is a whole power system. It prevents the pressure suit from enlarging. SpaceX’s spacesuits only have a force shell, so they grow in size and, possibly, create painful sensations during flight.
Also, there are almost no hinges in the design, only on the fingers. This means that the astronaut will not be able to move when the capsule is depressurized. Spacesuits for NASA and Rososmos astronauts have a large number of joints to provide greater mobility.
The helmet in the spacesuit was designed like a motorcycle helmet, it is organized so that it is possible to breathe in and out comfortably while driving at high speed. But in the case of SpaceX, there is no speed or incoming air, so there are problems with ventilation and cooling.
Experts point out that this was done for the sake of design: the suits look nice and modern, but behind this lies a number of inconveniences that may not be worth it.
Launching a new ship is always dangerous. How can you avoid this?
The most obvious risk that any mission to space faces is the ship itself, which is impossible to make perfectly.
In the case of Inspiration 4, this is the newest version of the spacecraft. It has not previously been tested in space, and the same goes for unmanned flights. Before the flight, SpaceX installed a non-docking station on the ship, in a quick-detachable one, to make it easier to change the configuration of the ship for further flights. In addition, this version of Inspiration 4 has not previously been tested in zero gravity. Therefore, the flight results could be anything.
It is impossible to get rid of all the risks before going into space, but early testing and preparation helps to minimize them.
SpaceX’s risks in the future. What can happen on next launches?
Elon Musk’s company spends most of its resources on sending humans to Mars.
Now NASA is building rockets for Martian flights with an SLS rocket and SpaceX with a Starship rocket. If the agency invested more than $ 10 billion on construction, but has never launched or tested a rocket, then Starship began to conduct test flights for more than a year of work and did not even spend one billion on all this.
SpaceX is faster, spends less money and time on a similar project, but the quality of the final product is still hard to judge. Therefore, no one guarantees that the colonizers of Mars from SpaceX will be able to return to Earth alive.
Therefore, the last SpaceX launch might not have gone so well and these are not just fears, but real threats that need to be eliminated before the next launch with people on board. In order to stay ahead of the competition, the company sometimes sacrifices some of the safety rules.
So far, all the risks of SpaceX have been justified, but no one can guarantee that subsequent launches will take place in the same normal mode.
