Russia’s cosmonauts finally woke up from their unrealistic dream to discover that SpaceX's
crew Dragon is way more advanced than their Soyuz capsule.
If we look at it from the standpoint of a layman's view, Russia's Soyuz may look like
the 1984 station wagon, where everything looks so undergrade and structural, and is equipped
with an ancient type of push and start buttons, and you know that will not serve a good sight
to anyone in twenty-first century, whereas spacex crew dragon looks similar to the new
2022 Tesla Model X white EV, equipped with all the touches of sophisticated technology.
Soyuz has become a disappointment to Russia as the capsule couldn’t complete a return
of crew members due to a sudden leak that occurred.
In September, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin
were sent to the International Space Station in what looks like a faulty Soyuz capsule
for a mission that would last for six months.
It was expected that they would arrive back on Earth in March 2023.
Right now, the lives of astronauts onboard the Soyuz capsule are in danger since the
leak emptied a vital fluid used to regulate crew cabin temperatures.
NASA’s astronaut Frank Rubio's life is now in danger, and NASA has thought of rescuing
Rubio using SpaceX’s crew dragon, which will be the messiah that will save the lives
of crew members from perishing.
First, let's discuss why SpaceX's Crew Dragon is advanced and better than Russia’s crippled
Soyuz capsule, and then we will move on to explore the reasons why NASA believes that
SpaceX's Crew Dragon is the perfect means to safely return the stranded astronauts back
on earth.
NASA is looking into a new option, which is SpaceX, if Russia is not capable of launching
another Soyuz ship or if using anther Soyuz would be too dangerous.
NASA spokeswoman Sandra Jones said that "We have asked SpaceX a few questions on their
capability to return additional crew members on Dragon, if necessary, but that is not our
prime focus at this time."
But SpaceX has not responded to this request.
Finding out what caused the leak on the Soyuz rocket could lead NASA to make the right decisions
about the best way to return the crew members.
It may be a meteor-caused puncture, a strike from a piece of space debris, or a hardware
failure on the Soyuz capsule itself—three possible causes of the leak that NASA and
Roscosmos are trying to find out.
Even though it is a capsule, SpaceX's Crew Dragon is different and stands out from any
capsule that has come before it, even Boeing's Starliner, which is also being made under
NASA contract.
The Crew Dragon capsule from SpaceX is a gumdrop-shaped, vehicle with sophisticated technology having
four seats for astronauts.
It has become the center of NASA's efforts to send astronauts into space in low-Earth
orbit.
It is the only vehicle, aside from Russia's Soyuz program, that can take people to and
from the space station.
Again, the Crew Dragon will have very advanced technology, like a touchscreen instead of
a lever for the astronauts to use.
This is something Behnken and Hurley, who were military test pilots before they became
astronauts, did not experience.
Astronaut Victor Glover said that riding in the crew dragon was an experience that only
happens once in a lifetime.
During the same press conference, Victor Glover, the pilot of the Crew Dragon and a first-time
astronaut, said that feeling four Gs, or four times the force per unit of mass caused by
Earth's gravity, was "truly amazing."
"I've seen tons of pictures," Glover said.
"But when I first looked out the window at the Earth, it's hard to describe."
There are no words.
It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime feeling.
Timothy Wagner talks about the added cabin space in the crew dragon, but the Dragon capsules
also have some new seats that rotate into their launch configuration, which allows astronauts
to enter the craft through a side hatch, sit down, and then rotate the seats back so that
their backs are parallel to the ground and they are facing the displays.
The next biggest difference is the screen that shows the displays and controls.
Instead of using panels of buttons and switches like in traditional space vehicle crew cabins,
the controls and displays are combined into a set of large touch screens.
This means that almost all communication between the passenger and the vehicle is done through
the touch-screen GUI instead of wiring up a million different components.
This has its pros and cons, but for one thing, it is a much lighter way to make an interface,
and if changes need to be made in the future, they can be made much more easily since the
control and display layout can now all be changed in software instead of by redesigning
the interface hardware.
Also, the capsule looks much more modern than the Soyuz, which, in typical Russian style,
has a control interface that could be mistaken for something from the Cold War.
This is because Roscosmos usually follows the rule "if it isn't broken, don't fix it,"
which has led to the Soyuz being the most used rocket in the world, with over 1700 launches
in the Soyuz rocket family.
Right now, if you had to choose between taking a Dragon or a Soyuz to the ISS, it would depend
on how important a smooth ride is to you.
Go for the Dragon if you want the most comfortable, modern, easy, and daringly stylish ride to
space, both inside and out.
But from a statistical point of view, a Soyuz is your best bet right now if you want the
most thoroughly tested, and best understood "work horse" of the human space industry.
NASA considering SpaceX Dragon as a backup plan for the crew of a damaged Soyuz capsule
is another hallway that is causing confusion in the space industry.
We all know that the U.S. and Russia are strange bedfellows, but this time around, they have
to work together to rescue stranded astronauts.
On the International Space Station, a leaky Soyuz capsule leaves its passengers without
a direct route home.
Sergey Prokopyev, Dimitri Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio were aboard the Soyuz
spacecraft when it suffered a leak during flight.
It is expected that the crew would return to Earth in March 2023 after leaving in September.
As the U.S. and Russia face off over the invasion of Ukraine, the two rival governments will
be forced to quietly work together on another life-or-death issue, and ensure that these
astronauts do not perish in space.
On December 15, mission control for the International Space Station stopped a spacewalk that was
supposed to happen on the orbiting lab because of a shocking new problem.
A Russian Soyuz space capsule that was stationed at the facility started spewing large amounts
of fluid into space all of a sudden.
The dramatic leak, which came from a hole of only 0.8 millimeters, caused the cooling
fluid in the capsule's radiator to leak out.
Now NASA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency have to figure out how to safely transport
two cosmonauts and one astronaut who were supposed to return home in March in the damaged
capsule.
The capsule was also the station's emergency escape pod for those three people, leaving
them stranded if there was a major problem in the living quarters.
This is one of the most dangerous problems the ISS has had in a long time.
It comes after decades of collaboration between the two countries to run the station, which
costs the United States $1.3 billion per year to operate.
Even though the war in Ukraine is causing tension between the two countries, the U.S.
and Russia are working together to solve the problem.
A decision is expected, which would show how much the two countries have depended on each
other for the past 30 years on the ISS.
The space station was made possible by the end of the Cold War.
Its role as a geopolitical symbol of cooperation between the most powerful nuclear powers in
the world has long outweighed its scientific achievements.
As we emerge into February, Russia will have to send up an empty Soyuz capsule which will
bring the astronauts home.
NASA has also talked to SpaceX about sending the astronauts home in a Dragon space capsule,
which usually holds four astronauts but can fit seven in an emergency.
NASA is thinking of using SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to send some ISS crew members home.
NASA and Roscosmos are looking into why a coolant line on an external radiator of a
Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the space station was torn open.
This involves deciding if SpaceX can enhance the crew capacity of the Dragon currently
docked at the ISS or whether sending an empty capsule for a rescue mission would be a preferable
option.
What safest measure would you suggest to NASA in order to bring its astronauts back to earth?
Did you know SpaceX has officially revealed a new huge update on crew starship interior
system that promises to be a game changer?
just click on the video to know