Cosmic relations

Roscosmos has nothing to answer to the launch of the first private ship to the ISS, but the Russian girl Katya found kind words for Ilon Mask

“Historical step in restoring the program of manned flights from the United States” - this is how SPACEX, which was fastened to the International Space Station (ISS), evaluate the test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in America. For the first time since 2011, when the shuttle program was closed, a manned ship was sent from the US to space, which can potentially take 7 astronauts on board at once.

SpaceX was founded in 2002 in California Ilon Mask, which last year sent the Falcon Heavy rocket to Mars, which was supposed to bring to the orbit of the Red Planet a Tesla race car with a mannequin in the spacesuit driving. On board the Crew Dragon commercial spacecraft launched to the ISS, there was also a astronaut mannequin in the SpaceX costume (he was named Ripley in honor of the character of Sigurni Weaver from the PhilosaPie "Aliens") and 400 pounds (190 kg) of useful cargoes and equipment for the international crew of the station. The robot, or rather, the ATD is the “anthropomorphic test device” by Ripley - not an extravagant “appendage” to the expedition, it is equipped with many sensors so that the earth has an idea of ​​the loads that a person may experience, if he were in a mannequin site.

The new spaceship, fully created by the private business, was launched last Saturday from the Kennedy Center Cosmodrome at Cape Kanveral, from the same launching pad 39A, from which the Nile Armstrong and Bazz Aldrin rose into space. After 10 minutes, the ship was already brought to orbit, and on Sunday the Dragon was successfully fastened to the ISS (there was a direct broadcast on the NASA website), and the station crew (American Ann McLein, Canadian David Saint-Jacques and Russian Oleg Kononenko) successfully experienced remote control of the ship. And he should be expelled on March 8 in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, from where the start was given.

If everything goes successfully, in June the company will find another important test flight without people. The Falcon 9 missile will lead a capsule into the upper layers of the atmosphere, after which a failure in the rocket and check of the emergency system will be simulated. And then, already in July, a Dragon flight with two astronauts on board is planned. In April, the first test flight of a spacecraft created by Boeing is planned - CTS 100 Starliner without a crew, and if successful in August, with astronauts on board.

America triumphs, experts call it "a return to space." On the eve of the launch, the head of the NASA Jim Brydenstein solemnly announced to reporters: "We are on the verge of launching American astronauts on American missiles from the American land." Braidenstain said that he was “100%sure” that the flights of Dragon and Starliner will take place this year, as planned. But many officials warn that since the program is still in the testing stage, the graphs can be changed.

Astronaut Douglas J. Herli, who should make the first SpaceX test flight with people, called the operation of the new American spacecraft “very exciting”. “I can’t even explain to you how exciting for the test pilot to make the first flight of the vehicle,” Herley told reporters.

And Elon Musk, after a successful launch, said that the flight became the climax of 17 years of "incredibly hard work and victims."

After the Dragon spacecraft separated from the rocket, Musk said that he contacted Herley and Robert L. Benken, another NASA astronaut, who should go to the first SpaceX test with the crew. “I asked what they think about the upcoming flight, the answer was positive.” It is curious that the reader of the microblog Mask from Russia Katya Pavlushchenko (Pavlyushchenko?) Congratulated the entrepreneur on a successful docking and doubted that the Mask would congratulate the Roscosmos and its head Dmitry Rogozin. Musk wrote to the girl in response in Russian: "Thank you for the kind words." Roscosmos congratulated partners, but NASA, not a mask, reminded that "flight safety should be impeccable." Musk calls the joining and landing the most important moments of the Crew Dragon flight, so so far only half is done.

The era of commercial development of space, the need for which American experts spoke for so long, referring to the lack of funds for the construction of the "state rocket" instead of the shuttle, finally came. In 2014, as part of the Commercial Crew program, the Aeronautics and Space Space Studies concluded contracts in the amount of $ 6.8 billion with SpaceX and Boeing for the development of spacecraft that can deliver “per fits” to four astronauts to the station. At the same time, NASA continued to launch probes and robots into the distant space and even delivered the Insight spacecraft to Mars. But the inability to send astronauts on the prestige of the agency on the premises of the astronauts on their own, which was proud of the Soviet Union in the space race of the Cold War, sending astronauts to the moon. Now, when the relations between the two countries have sharply worsened, the “humiliating lag” has become a political issue.

NASA was unpleasant to hear the accusations that the American astronaut could deliberately spoil the ISS casing so that the expedition was returned home ahead of schedule (supposedly in order to cure the recovered astronaut from NASA). Then the commander of the ship Drew Fustel in an interview with ABC News denied the version that the Americans allegedly drilled the hole: “I can definitely say, the crew did not. I am ashamed of those who waste time, telling that we participated in something like that. ”

However, then we said that the Americans were not accused. And the head of the Roscosmos state corporation Dmitry Rogozin jokingly suggested checking whether the Americans were on the moon.

“We set such a task - to fly to check: were they or were not. They say they were, we will check. ”

According to the American media, after 2011 (over 8 years), the price of a “ticket” for one American astronaut on board the Russian “Union” increased from $ 25 to 81.7 million. In total, America spent about $ 100 billion on an international space station. Russia, according to the head of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos, Yuri Koptev, 10 times less. This source of income - the “fare for space” by Americans - will end in the future. Although, as New York Times, referring to sources in NASA, if test flights with the crew on board this year will not take place, Americans can purchase a large number of seats on Russian Ships Soyuz. The work of astronauts aboard the ISS in NASA is still considered a very important part of space research.

Cooperation in space remained almost the last strong thread in the relations of the two countries, despite the sanctions and hostile propaganda. But history teaches that scientific cooperation inevitably becomes a hostage to politics and politicians. Here, given the current state of affairs, the prospects of a new joint project (which in the last century became the “Soyuz-Apollo”) look foggy. Experts believe that in the future commercial “space tourism” will become the area where Russia, the USA and other space powers will compete rather than cooperate. Well, “Fantaser” Elon Musk will continue to prepare expeditions for the colonization of Mars.