[ad_1]
<div _ngcontent-c16 = "" innerhtml = "
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation of Elon Musk – SpaceX – has disrupted the launch services market by offering prices lower than anyone thought possible before. But that's not all he's done. The Musk business has gone through a number of technological firsts, convincing several people that the commercial space sector is a viable business proposition rather than a mere playground for billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.
However, as everyone knows, Musk's imagination sometimes overrides him and he embraces ideas out of his reach. An example is its commitment to building space capsules for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station that could be reused again and again, just as SpaceX reuses the first-stage boosters on its Falcon 9 rockets.
Musk did not stop there. In a 2014 statement, he predicted that the Crew Dragon, as the capsule is called, would be able to "propel the landing accurately" – which means it could perform a motorized touchdown at one location predefined instead of the ocean. The unmanned spaceship on which Crew Dragon is based is designed to sink into the sea to cushion their landing, but Musk thought SpaceX could do better than the Space Shuttle when returning from orbit on land.
Boeing, the other company selected by NASA to transport astronauts to the space station, said that she could do the same thing. Boeing, a contributor to my focus group, is still on the verge of bringing his astronaut capsules back to the mainland and reusing them up to ten times. In recent months, however, and with little fanfare, SpaceX has pulled out of both goals. He now says that Crew Dragon, like its cargo capsule, will land in the ocean and can only be used once to transport a crew.
The International Space Station is a unique research facility, but to keep it alive and productive, you have to deliver astronauts and supplies on a regular basis.The NASA
It can still be reused to transport goods in low orbit. Nevertheless, the discreet abandonment of SpaceX compared to what had been key selling points for Crew Dragon is a major setback for SpaceX. This means that Boeing will be the only company to build a reusable space capsule for astronauts, and that its spacecraft, called Starliner, will be the only one to hit the ground. This appears to be a reversal of fortune for Musk, who has already criticized Boeing's concept as retrograde. Now, it is the SpaceX approach that seems less revolutionary.
This is not the first time that Boeing has built a reusable way to put astronauts into orbit. He also built the space shuttle. When NASA decided to turn to commercial companies to transport cargo and crews to the space station, it proposed to competitors to develop reusable capsules for astronauts. But what SpaceX has learned to conduct low-orbit unmanned cargo missions is that it takes a long time to refurbish the spacecraft once they have been submerged in salt water. Maybe up to a year. And it's expensive.
So, once the goal was to build an astronaut capsule capable of landing on land, the reuse plan became impossible to achieve. Boeing will retain its title as the only company to have ever built reusable spacecraft designed to carry astronauts. This will likely reduce the cost of maintaining the International Space Station with scientists capable of conducting only feasible research in a weightless environment.
The space station has been permanently inhabited since 2000, but once the space shuttle retired, the only way to get astronauts was on Russian rockets. NASA's commercial crew transportation program was designed to restore America's ability to transport astronauts into low Earth orbit. Boeing's Starliner will ship on an Atlas V rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance. Atlas V has never failed in more than 70 launches. SpaceX's Crew Dragon will ship on the company's Falcon 9 rocket, which is less stellar.
NASA has turned to commercial companies to focus its own efforts on space flights on space missions on the Moon and Mars. It was assumed that the commercial sources were sufficiently advanced to serve the space station in a safe and cost-effective manner. However, doubts have been raised about SpaceX's plans to power its rockets while astronauts are on board, and other concerns are delaying the certification of commercialized astronaut capsules.
A problem that has arisen recently was the absence of an experienced astronaut at SpaceX. Astronaut Garrett Reisman, who took the shuttle, left the company earlier this year. This leaves Boeing as the only company with an experienced internal astronaut – Chris Ferguson, who trains with NASA crew members to participate in the first Starliner mission. Time will tell what difference it could make for the certification of spacecraft for each company.
">
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation of Elon Musk – SpaceX – has disrupted the launch services market by offering prices lower than anyone thought possible before. But that's not all he's done. The Musk business has gone through a number of technological firsts, convincing several people that the commercial space sector is a viable business proposition rather than a mere playground for billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.
However, as everyone knows, Musk's imagination sometimes overrides him and he embraces ideas out of his reach. An example is its commitment to building space capsules for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station that could be reused again and again, just as SpaceX reuses the first-stage boosters on its Falcon 9 rockets.
Musk did not stop there. In a 2014 statement, he predicted that the Crew Dragon, as the capsule is called, would be able to "propel the landing accurately" – which means it could perform a motorized touchdown at one location predefined instead of the ocean. The unmanned spaceship on which Crew Dragon is based is designed to sink into the sea to cushion their landing, but Musk thought SpaceX could do better than the Space Shuttle when returning from orbit on land.
Boeing, the other company selected by NASA to transport astronauts to the space station, said that she could do the same thing. Boeing, a contributor to my focus group, is still on the verge of bringing his astronaut capsules back to the mainland and reusing them up to ten times. In recent months, however, and with little fanfare, SpaceX has pulled out of both goals. He now says that Crew Dragon, like its cargo capsule, will land in the ocean and can only be used once to transport a crew.
The International Space Station is a unique research facility, but to keep it alive and productive, you have to deliver astronauts and supplies on a regular basis.The NASA
It can still be reused to transport goods in low orbit. Nevertheless, the discreet abandonment of SpaceX compared to what had been key selling points for Crew Dragon is a major setback for SpaceX. This means that Boeing will be the only company to build a reusable space capsule for astronauts, and that its spacecraft, called Starliner, will be the only one to hit the ground. This appears to be a reversal of fortune for Musk, who has already criticized Boeing's concept as retrograde. Now, it is the SpaceX approach that seems less revolutionary.
This is not the first time that Boeing has built a reusable way to put astronauts into orbit. He also built the space shuttle. When NASA decided to turn to commercial companies to transport cargo and crews to the space station, it proposed to competitors to develop reusable capsules for astronauts. But what SpaceX has learned to conduct low-orbit unmanned cargo missions is that it takes a long time to refurbish the spacecraft once they have been submerged in salt water. Maybe up to a year. And it's expensive.
So, once the goal was to build an astronaut capsule capable of landing on land, the reuse plan became impossible to achieve. Boeing will retain its title as the only company to have ever built reusable spacecraft designed to carry astronauts. This will likely reduce the cost of maintaining the International Space Station with scientists capable of conducting only feasible research in a weightless environment.
The space station has been permanently inhabited since 2000, but once the space shuttle retired, the only way to get astronauts was on Russian rockets. NASA's commercial crew transportation program was designed to restore America's ability to transport astronauts into low Earth orbit. Boeing's Starliner will ship on an Atlas V rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance. Atlas V has never failed in more than 70 launches. SpaceX's Crew Dragon will ship on the company's Falcon 9 rocket, which is less stellar.
NASA has turned to commercial companies to focus its own efforts on space flights on space missions on the Moon and Mars. It was assumed that the commercial sources were sufficiently advanced to serve the space station in a safe and cost-effective manner. However, doubts have been raised about SpaceX's plans to power its rockets while astronauts are on board, and other concerns are delaying the certification of commercialized astronaut capsules.
A problem that has arisen recently was the absence of an experienced astronaut at SpaceX. Astronaut Garrett Reisman, who took the shuttle, left the company earlier this year. This leaves Boeing as the only company with an experienced internal astronaut – Chris Ferguson, who trains with NASA crew members to participate in the first Starliner mission. Time will tell what difference it could make for the certification of spacecraft for each company.
