SpaceX's Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Dragon Crew Prepare to Visit the International Space Station

Two potential successors to NASA's Space Shuttle are scheduled to visit the International Space Station in August, their last big step before transporting humans. A successful flight test for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft would show that these vehicles are finally ready to orbit NASA's astronauts and space tourists

space flight capability. crew. In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX received NASA contracts worth US $ 6.8 billion to transport astronauts to the space station. But both companies have repeatedly postponed their original launch dates.

NASA and the Boeing have suggested that the first crewed flights of the commercial spacecraft would not occur until 2019 at the earliest. "The commercial crew is the only game in town to launch American astronauts to the International Space Station from US soil on US launch systems," says Marcia Smith, founder of Virginia. based on space technology and technology, a news organization and badysis. "If the United States wants to stop using Russian vehicles, NASA will have to make the commercial crew work, whatever the cost and whatever the schedule."

Boeing named his first flight demonstration. SpaceX has named its test Demo-1 Flight Test. The two tests share the same objectives: to show that the spacecraft can go into orbit, carry out an automated docking with the space station and land safely on Earth.

These dry runways, without astronauts on board, also aim to support businesses. claims that their spaceship can operate autonomously. "We will prove that every system that does not interact with a human works as expected on the orbital flight test," says Rebecca Regan, a Boeing representative.

In the future, the crewed missions, the Boeing Starliner and the SpaceX Crew Dragon let the astronauts on board and the ground mission controllers take over during the key phases of the flight. Starliner, in particular, allows manual control after the spacecraft separates from its rocket in orbit and before when it deploys its parachute when returning to Earth.

The Boeing Starliner embarked in space aboard a United Alliance Alliance V rocket, which has achieved nearly 80 successful launches since 2002. The SpaceX Crew Dragon will fly to Edge of Block 5, the latest version of the company's Falcon 9 rocket, which has been launched about 60 times in different forms since 2010.

Each spaceship can accommodate up to seven pbadengers, who will wear temperature controlled-blue suits for Boeing and black-and-white SpaceX-designed to withstand a sudden loss of pressure or a fire in the crew module. The flight controls of both vehicles are composed of touch screens and tablets instead of switches, dials and flight logs of the first days of spaceflight.

Although built for identical missions, spaceships differ in certain design details. For example, Crew Dragon has three windows as opposed to the two windows of Starliner

Each ship also has an abortion system to ensure the safety of astronauts during emergencies that occur when the spaceship waits on the dashboard or in the space. To make sure these systems work as expected, SpaceX is planning a flight test of its abandonment technology, while Boeing will perform a drop test from the pad (SpaceX has completed a version of this test in 2015).

The Earth will also be different for Starliner and Crew Dragon. Both vehicles will rely on the proven approach of the parachute to slow down their descent after reentry into the Earth 's atmosphere. But Starliner aims to land on solid ground with the help of an airbag system to cushion the shock, while Crew Dragon will cool his heels with a water landing in the air. 39; ocean.

This article appears in the August 2018 issue as "Boeing and SpaceX Test the Next American Turn to Space."