SpaceX sends men into space

The SpaceX formula proved seductive to clients: in the past three years, the company has launched more rockets than Arianespace. In 2018, SpaceX launched more rockets than Russia. For an operator, launching a satellite on a Falcon 9 costs half as much as on an Ariane 5, according to Phil Smith, an analyst at Bryce Tech.

Having conquered the private launch market, SpaceX has claimed a bigger piece of the pie for public and military launches. Still funded by NASA, SpaceX has become the first private company to launch astronauts into space.

Despite a few years’ delay, its Crew Dragon has got ready before Boeing’s Starliner. Musk also wants to build NASA’s next moon lander.

Industry giants have criticised the company for “arrogance,” but “the real reason was that it threatened their way of doing business and their livelihoods,” Lori Garver, NASA’s former deputy administrator, told AFP.

It’s now Shotwell who lectures her competitors: “You have to learn those hard lessons,” she said in a NASA briefing at the start of May, recalling the multitude of problems that plagued SpaceX’s start.

“I think sometimes the aerospace industry shied away from failure in the development phase.”

The mission, known as Demo-2, consists of the Falcon 9 rocket taking off from launchpad 39A at Florida’s famous Kennedy Space Centre to begin its journey to the International Space Centre.

The rocket carries the Crew Dragon spacecraft with experienced Nasa astronauts on board, Robert Behnken, 48, and Douglas Hurley, 53.

Just after they lift-off, the rocket separates into what is known as first stage and a second stage.

The first stage returns to a SpaceX landing ship which is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, while the second part continues its journey with the Crew Dragon.

Once they’ve made it into orbit, the Crew Dragon separates from the second stage dock with the space station 24 hours later.

Both astronauts will test the Crew Dragon’s environmental control system, the displays and controls, and the manoeuvring thrusters.

The plan is for Demo-2 to be a demonstration for SpaceX to show their capability of ferrying astronauts to the space station and back safely.

This is the final major step for the firm’s astronaut carrier to be certified by Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme for more long-term manned missions into space.

Evolution of the spacesuit

Another aspect of the mission that has got a lot of attention is the spacesuits the astronauts on Crew Dragon are wearing. They differ from other attire worn by astronauts down the years.

They are futuristic flight suits that look like they’re a world away from the bulky orange shuttle flight suits worn when astronauts last launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center nine years ago.

But their primary purpose remains the same – to protect crew members from depressurisation, where air is lost from the capsule. They also provide ensure that astronauts have sufficient oxygen and regulate temperature. A communications link and breathable air are provided via a single “umbilical” cable in the seat that “plugs in” to the suit.

The Starman suits, as they’ve been called, are all in one piece and customised for the astronaut. Their look was conceived by Hollywood costume designer Jose Fernandez, who has worked on Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

But the suits are designed for use inside the SpaceX capsule. They’re not suitable for use on spacewalks. In October 2019, Nasa shared a close-up look at two next-generation suits for the agency’s Artemis programme. Under this effort, Nasa will seek to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, using the agency’s Orion spacecraft.

One of the suits is called the Orion Crew Survival System, and is comparable to the suits used by SpaceX. It recalls the so-called Pumpkin suits used by space shuttle astronauts, but is more lightweight.

The other suit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit is designed to be worn on the surface of the Moon. It is much bulkier than the pressure suits designed to be worn inside spacecraft.

This is because it needs to protect the wearer from temperature extremes outside the walls of the spacecraft, and provide some shielding against micrometeorites and other small particles of space debris. In that respect, it is similar to suits previously used for spacewalking at the International Space Station.

There are two suits used for spacewalking at the ISS. One is the Russian Orlan type, which was first used in December 1977.

The Orlan is a one-piece spacesuit. The “backpack” opens like a fridge door, allowing the spacewalker to climb inside.

Nasa’s Extravehicular Mobility Suit (EMU) was introduced in 1981 and is the other suit used for spacewalks at the ISS.

Unlike the Orlan, the EMU comes in two separate pieces – a bottom and top half. The semi-rigid suit provides around 8.5 hours of life support for its wearer outside in the vacuum of space.

Astronauts travelling to the ISS train with both the EMU and Orlan suits.

The suits worn by Apollo astronauts on the Moon were also called the EMU. It was the result of years of development.

Aerospace giant Boeing also has a contract with Nasa to carry astronauts to the space station in its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. It has also developed a pressure suit to protect astronauts during the key phases of launch and re-entry.

The Boeing Blue suits are about 40% lighter than earlier generations of spacesuits worn by American astronauts – and more flexible.

It contains a series of different internal layers to keep astronauts cool. The suit also has touchscreen-sensitive gloves – so astronauts can work with tablets in the spacecraft. The suit’s soft, hood-like helmet features a wide polycarbonate visor to give Starliner passengers better peripheral vision throughout their ride to and from space. Zips in the torso area will make it easier for astronauts to comfortably transition from sitting to standing.

Spacesuits have come a long way since the first spacewalk by the late cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in March 1965.

Leonov’s suit inflated after he stepped out into the vacuum, so that his hands came out of his gloves. Only by bleeding air out of the suit, which put the cosmonaut at risk of the bends, was he able to get back inside the spacecraft.

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