From what's going on with SpaceX, to the future of the Dragon Crew, join me as we explore
Space X the crew Dragon and more!
What Is SpaceX?
If you want the simple answer to that basic question, here you go:
"SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.
The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of
enabling people to live on other planets."
While that may sound very basic, it's actually quite a complex thing.
You see, for all the advances that humanity has made in regards to going into space, the
fact of the matter is that it costs a LOT to do that.
So much so that the United States main space agency, NASA, was hit with major budget cuts
because the attempts they were making to revolutionize space travel just wasn't working.
Enter Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, and a man who truly believes in
trying to make space travel not just the future, but the present.
He founded SpaceX in 2002 to try and make space travel better, cheaper, more accessible,
and beyond, and as the Space X website loves to boast, since 2002, they've had quite a
few successes: "SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for
a series of historic milestones.
It is the only private company capable of returning a spacecraft from low Earth orbit,
which it first accomplished in 2010.
The company made history again in 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial
spacecraft to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station.
SpaceX successfully achieved the historic first reflight of an orbital class rocket
in 2017, and the company now regularly launches flight-proven rockets.
In 2018, SpaceX began launching Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful operational rocket
by a factor of two."
So as you can see, this is more than just a company, it's a place with a mission, and
that mission is to get humanity into space, onto Mars, and more.
And it's been working REALLY hard to try and get a manned flight into space, and it's getting
closer than you might expect!
Two words for you, "Crew Dragon".
Yes, I do acknowledge that this sounds like a hodgepodge of words thrown together so let's
just talk about it via its nickname, "Astronaut Taxi".
Yeah, that sounds like a hodgepodge too, but a little less so because it gives a nice visual
of its purpose.
And in this case, it has a very practical purpose.
You see, when it comes to spacecraft, we're kind along the lines of "it has to be big"
and "it can only be used once" kind of thing.
Or at least, that's what's been going on for years, but with SpaceX, their Crew Dragon
is a reusable flight "taxi" that will take astronauts into space and to places like the
International Space Station!
In fact, it's already done several tests that prove it's a viable machine.
In March 2019, SpaceX's Crew Dragon, the company's spacecraft designed to carry astronauts into
space, completed its first test mission to the International Space Station (ISS for short).
Prior to that, in 2012, the Dragon cargo spacecraft made history when it was the first private
spacecraft to berth with the ISS.
Since then, Dragon has continued carrying cargo to the ISS under commercial agreements
with NASA.
All of these tests are absolutely vital, because each one proves not just reliability, but
reusability as the project evolves.
And a recent test showed that should the worst happen, that the ship is ready for what is
coming.
Mainly, they did a recent test of an "abort" situation.
Meaning that they did a test of what would happen if there was a flight error or damage
to the ship overall.
They did a full-on abort scenario where they would fall back into the ocean, and this unmanned
test worked out beautifully.
The capsule fell back down to Earth, ejected its parachutes, and landed softly in the ocean,
much to the joy of NASA, SpaceX, and others: "Congratulations to SpaceX and the entire
NASA team on this final major flight milestone that we needed to accomplish," NASA Administrator
Jim Bridenstine said during a postlaunch news conference on Sunday.
So where does that put the launch of the manned Crew Dragon?
Well definitively in 2020, but there are still some hurdles to cover.
First and foremost, while this was a successful test of the hardware systems and the emergency
systems, one time success does not mean a successful product.
It's going to be tested two more times to ensure that all systems are 100% functional.
Not to mention, all the data from every single flight has to be analyzed by teams to ensure
that something that may have seemed to go right might not have.
The last thing the astronauts on the test flight need is to find out that something
bad is going on that they didn't know about before they got in.
All that being said, Elon Musk is very excited for what's coming, and he believes that the
manned crew mission could happen in the second "quarter" (which is April-June if you don't
know) of this year.
"We're highly confident that the hardware will be ready in Q1, most likely end of February
but no later than March," Musk said, referring to 2020's first quarter (which consists of
January, February and March).
"And we think it appears probable that the first crewed launch would occur in the second
quarter."
Crew Dragon can carry up to seven astronauts, includes a life support system, an emergency-escape
system, touch-screen displays, windows and other passenger-related equipment.
Another design change is that Crew Dragon docks directly to the ISS while the Dragon
freighter is grabbed by the orbiting lab's large robotic arm and brought into place.
So as you can see, the Crew Dragon is something that is very useful, as it can help speed
things along to the International Space Station, and since it's reusable (with some obvious
things to fix and repair upon splashdown and such), it'll cost a lot less money to get
it back up and running and ready for the next test.
Which again, many are excited about: "It was a really exciting day for us, to see
this really important milestone get accomplished by the SpaceX team and the NASA team," one
of the team said in a video posted on Twitter by NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
"Probably the most exciting part is to see how much of it kind of proceeded as expected."
That's a good thing, because you want things to go as expected so that you show that you
have done the right thing in its construction and building and such and that there are no
things you forgot, which happens more than you think.
And with each test, new ideas can come around to bring even more creative solutions to potential
problems to life.
Even if they are a little weird...
Before we dive into those "weird ideas", be sure to like the video and subscribe to the
channel!
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So, what weird idea does Elon Musk have cooking this time?
Well, during some of the test runs for the Crew Dragon and the Dragon spacecraft itself,
there were issues.
One of the craft went off course and exploded as it descended back to Earth!
Another exploded on the launch pad before it could even launch.
Furthermore, while many of the descents back to Earth have been wildly successful, some
have still gone off course and landed safely but away from the retrieval vessels known
as Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief (yes, it's exactly what it sounds like) when they go to pick
them up.
Or, when they've been sent to get the nosecones of the probes upon initial launch.
What's Elon's solution to trying to catch things falling from orbit?
Nets, really big and strong nets.
"This requires ongoing discussions with NASA, but I think it would be quite cool to use
the boats that we are using to catch the fairing, once that is really well-established, to catch
Dragon as it's coming in from orbit," Musk said.
"And then that would alleviate some of the constraints around a water landing."
On one hand, if done correctly, it could be really cool to see these two boats catching
the pairings, the payloads, and potentially even the returning astronauts as they come
back down to Earth.
But as in all things, that's easier said than done.
Not the least of which is because re-entry is a somewhat predictable science, but there's
always a chance it can go wrong, both NASA AND SpaceX know that.
Still, options are good, and even if this particular one fails, they might come up with
another idea that might be able to help them catch things before they ever hit the ocean.
The possibilities are out there, and as a Mythbuster loved to say, "Failure is always
an option".
In fact, you could argue that this was part of Elon Musk's mantra when he made SpaceX,
to look at the failures of the space industry as a whole and try to make things better.
And with each test, with each mission, with each adjustment, they're getting closer and
closer to the true mission...Mars.
While it's true that Elon and SpaceX have been working hard on the Crew Dragon and other
smaller projects to help NASA and the International Space Station out, the main goal of SpaceX
is to get humanity to Mars in the VERY near future.
In fact, the first missions (depending on setbacks, conditions, etc) could start happening
in the next few years, maybe even before 2022, and 2024 at the latest, only time will tell.
But why Mars?
Because as of right now it's the closest place that we could go to colonize that is actually
feasible to colonize at all.
Sure, the Moon in our sky is closer, but it doesn't have its own natural water source
that we can find.
Whereas Mars has polar ice caps that can be used to make water and beyond.
Plus, while not perfect, Mars has an atmosphere.
It's not ideal as it doesn't protect the planet like Earth's, but it could theoretically be
modified to help future colonists.
But above all else, Mars is seen as the next step in human advancement in terms of exploration
and moving beyond Earth.
Sure, we won't be at Star Wars or Star Trek levels of travel just yet, but this is a step
in the right direction.
What's more, if we're able to colonize Mars, even partially, it could potentially help
the Earth via getting people off the planet and thus preventing overpopulation, which
is a serious threat as it stands right now.
Mars was one of the reasons why Elon Musk made SpaceX in the first place, he saw that
humanity wasn't in love with space as a whole like it used to be during the Space Race (when
the United States and Russia battled to get to the moon first), and he wanted to help
reignite that passion.
He's done so in a big way because SpaceX, NASA, and certain other projects are working
right now to get us to Mars and allow us to colonize it.
And Elon Musk being Elon Musk, he has many different ideas on how to get there, and what
to do when we get there.
That's another reason why these Crew Dragon and Dragon spacecraft missions are so important.
Because what him and NASA learn via these tests will help them improve their longer
range rockets and craft for the Mars missions.
Space X intends to launch a colony with a series of reactors and generators.
Some of them will be meant to specifically power the station we'd live in itself.
While others will be used to test making power based on the elements that are naturally and
readily available on Mars.
Thorium for example is one element they believe they can harness a great amount of power from.
Believe it or not, this is actually a key element of truly colonizing an area.
For it's easy to just go to a new place and bring along everything you think you need
to survive.
But to truly "live" there you need to use the natural elements and resources around
you.
That way you're not just "living" there, you're living there.
Which is another goal of SpaceX as a whole.
They don't just want to "get" humanity to Mars, they're trying to "get humanity to live"
on Mars, Which brings us back to the Crew Dragon missions
and tests.
Because one of the key parts of the Mars mission plan is to send people to Mars to set up the
first colony, but then bring them back.
Elon Musk knows that life on Mars is loads different than life on the Earth, or even
life on the moon should we try to do that too (and yes, there are plans in the works
for that).
So Elon wants to make doubly and triply sure that the short-range craft have no issues
on traveling back to Earth because if there are issues there, then there are likely to
be problems with the craft that'll take the crew to Mars.
This is why NASA and SpaceX are doing all the tests they can, to push the envelope,
to do the rigorous checking, to observe all the data, and more.
Because with each innovation that they make, humanity gets closer and closer to the stars,
and that's something worth fighting for.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of this look into SpaceX, the Crew Dragon testing, the mission to Mars,
and more?
Do you think that SpaceX is going to lead us into the next generation of space travel?
How long do YOU think it'll be before we go and reach Mars?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!