THE CRISIS IN SPACE

 

.THE CRISIS IN SPACE.

.Wilmore  And  Williams.

.Starliner Astronauts.

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

From Yuri to Neil to our Rakesh---- we have covered many “MILESTONES” in Manned Space Voyages—but still it is not without the associated risks,  dramas and excitements.

Currently there are two fully operational space stations – the International Space Station (ISS) of USA, and China's Tiangong Space Station (TSS), which have been occupied since October 2000 with Expedition 1 and since June 2022 with Shenzhou 14.

The Russian space station Mir re-entered Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed on March 23, 2001, after 15 years in orbit. The station was deorbited in a controlled manoeuvre and fell into the South Pacific Ocean near Nadi, Fiji. 

ISRO aims to construct a 20-ton space station by 2030, intending to support microgravity experiments. It will be a manned Space Station.

But now whole world is eagerly waiting for safe return of Sunita, and Wilmore. But, that is still 6 months away!

EMPTY CAPSULE RETURNS:-

Boeing’s INFIRM  Starliner space capsule will leave behind its crew on the International Space Station and return to Earth on 07/09/24 on ‘AUTONOMOUS MODE’.

Weather permitting, the  CAPSULE will undock from the space station at 6:04 p.m. Eastern time, NASA announced on Aug. 29. After a six-hour flight, it will land using parachutes and airbags at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Flight controllers at Starliner Mission Control in Houston and at Boeing Mission Control Center in Florida will guide the capsule to land on  Earth.

After landing, the Starliner capsule will be taken back to the Boeing facility at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida.

Starliner has already completed two uncrewed flights. Capsules have landed as planned in December 2019 and in May 2022. The first one did not reach orbit and was unable to dock at the space station in 2019. The second one reached at the space station in Boeing's attempt in 2022. Not reliable past performance!

However, the Capsule is heavily insured, and in case of adverse eventuality while landing—Insurance Companies will bear the LOSS. Normal rate is-- about $80,000/- in premium as a starting point on a $4 million rocket. And don't forget about deductibles.

ASTRONAUTS STAY BACK:

Starliner astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will end up staying on the International Space Station (ISS) for at least eight more months, which is a longer period of time than a typical visit to the orbiting lab spans. However, they're not the first to spend more than six months in space, and NASA has medical studies to help them along during their adventure.

Boeing Starliner astronauts have years of medical studies helping them with longer stay in space.

As of now, Wilmore and Williams are expected to return home in February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside two members of the Crew-9 expedition. That's in contrast to the Starliner duo's original return date, which was slated for earlier this year and would have made their trip, which began in early June, last a mere eight days or so. The move to extend the mission was months in the making — but, arguably, not a fully unexpected conclusion. Starliner's "Crew Flight Test" that the astronauts flew, as the name implies, was developmental. 

HOW TO REMAIN FIT & EAT,DRINK:-

Crews are tasked with about 2.5 hours of exercise daily (including setup time) to keep bones, muscles and circulation strong. They also have regular teleconferences with a psychologist. A designated NASA astronaut on the ground helps with family matters and negotiating workload with agency officials, if needed, as well.

Data outlining the results of these interventions are published in peer-reviewed studies and continually updated. One notable change in exercise routines, for example, was swapping out the weightlifting machine on the ISS to install one that provides more resistance training. 

The newer Advanced Resistive Exercise Device uses pistons instead of cords, doubling the workout strength over the previous generation iRED (Interim Resistance Exercise Device). A Nature study in 2020 showed marked improvements in astronaut health using ARED, as one example.

Astronauts on the space shuttle eat food in much the same way as they do here on Earth. In a low-gravity environment, food and drinks would simply float away if they weren't handled correctly. To combat this problem, food is carefully contained and drinks are packaged as dehydrated powders.

In the International Space Station (ISS), each crewmember needs around a gallon of water each day for drinking, food preparation, and hygiene uses like brushing teeth. The ideal goal in terms of water has been a 98% recovery of the initial water that crews take into space with them at the start of longer missions.

 

THE PROBLEM OF STAR LINER:-

On June 6, 2024, the Starliner capsule that took Williams and Wilmore to the ISS experienced issues with its propulsion system during docking efforts. Since then, NASA has been trying to diagnose and remedy the problem, but the risk of returning the astronauts in the Starliner capsule was eventually evaluated too BIG. Starliner will therefore come back to Earth empty, while its astronauts hitch a ride with Crew-9. Though NASA didn't expect that outcome, the agency did have systems in place to keep the Starliner astronauts well if the mission need to be extended, as is the case now.

Actually—NASA, and BOING—is hiding more, and sharing less to the MEDIA.

Once Russia is out of the race, China lagging somewhat behind and India being a ‘New Entrant’—USA- the Space Emperor,  started taking it easy, and cutting COSTS.

The ISS has successfully hosted several astronauts staying for a year or slightly less, NASA ISS program manager Dana Weigel reminded reporters in response to Space.com's question during last press conference on Aug. 24. The teleconference was focused on updates about the decision to return an empty Starliner to Earth and to redirect Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX Crew-9. 

PAST INCIDENTS OF LONG STAYS:-

The longest-duration flyers on ISS were the Russian Soyuz MS-22/23 spacecraft crewmembers, including NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of Roscosmos, who spent 371 days in space. They also remained on the ISS due to a broken spacecraft: MS-22 sprung a coolant leak and Russia eventually shipped a new Soyuz, MS-23, to get the crew returned. The changes necessitated extending the crew's stay from six months to 12 months.

Russian Mir space station also hosted numerous year-long stays in the 1990s, including Valeri Polyakov's record-setting 437 consecutive days across 1994 and 1995.

There are a few other cases, 200+ to 370(-)days duration-- which I didn’t mention.

SPACEX CREW-9 MISSION. 

As Crew-9 is a normal ISS rotation mission, the two astronauts launching will spend six months in space; two other seats on the Crew Dragon spacecraft will be reserved to return the Starliner astronauts to Earth.

SpaceX Crew-9 is planned to be the ninth operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight and the 15th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Originally scheduled for 18 August 2024, the launch was delayed to 24 September due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner . The Crew-9 mission will mark several milestones for the Crew Dragon spacecraft. It will be the first crewed mission to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 and the first to conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

However—it seems that Sunita, and Butch can’t get in the ‘DRAGON’ with their customary Space Suit on. But, Dragon Module is like a 5 tar AC controlled environment.

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Acknowledgement:- Information received from articles published in the sources listed in references are used, and acknowledged.

Disclaimer:-- No Copyright protected information are used to the best of BLOGGER’S knowledge. And this is not a ‘Commercial Blog’. Shared in social media only for spreading information, & knowledge.

SOURCES:-

1.Articles in :-- space.com—I regularly get ‘NEWS LETTERS’, also from “NASA’

2. NEWS LETTERS:-- space@smartbrief.com

3. https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/nasas-boeing-starliner-mission-landing-criteria-timeline-sunita-williams-not-coming-home-from-space-on-it-444674-2024-09-06

4. https://www.space.com/astronaut-pee-iss-water-recycling-98-percent-milestone

5. Other sources are  ‘HYPERLINKED’ for ease of reference.

IMAGE:-- ARTICLES, AND BBC via GOOGLE. Owners are acknowledged.