Technology

Media: Manned spacecraft Crew Dragon launch from SpaceX may be postponed until November

The second test launch of mannedthe Crew Dragon spacecraft, under which the crew of two NASA astronauts is planned to be sent to the ISS, can be postponed to the end of November 2019, according to TASS news agency, referring to an anonymous source in the rocket and space industry. Recall that according to earlier plans, the launch of the ship is to take place in July with pilots Bob Benken and Doug Hurley on board. The success of this flight will depend on whether Crew Dragon can be certified by NASA aerospace agency for regular missions to the ISS.

According to a TASS source, the launch can be postponed to late autumn, since at the moment the SpaceX manned spacecraft is not completely ready.

"The launch of Crew Dragon is likely to be postponed to November due to comments on the qualifications of the ship for flights with the crew," the agency’s source said.

In addition, as a source heaver, in the Crew moduleDragon plans to replace the parachute system, since it raised questions after the first launch of the International Space Station (ISS), which was carried out in unmanned mode.

By the way, Hi-News.ru already reported that NASA had questions to some of the design features of the spacecraft company SpaceX, and it was, in particular, about the parachute system. Then it was noted that the agency did not convince its effectiveness - the design of the parachute system for the manned version of the Dragon ship differs from the cargo version. The agency’s constructive questions also arose to the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which eventually turned into the transfer of the first Starliner test launch from April to August of this year.

Recall that since 2011 for mannedof flights to the International Space Station, exclusively Russian Soyuz spacecraft are used. After the closure of the space shuttle program in 2010, NASA and its partners have to use the services of the Russian Roskosmos to transport their people into orbit. At the moment, the cost of one place for the NASA astronaut is about 80 million dollars. In the USA, new spacecraft for manned flights were developed by SpaceX and Boeing.

The first test launch to the ISS CrewSpaceX's Dragon took place on March 2nd. Docking to the station on March 3, the device spent 6 days in orbit, after which it returned to Earth, splashing in the Atlantic Ocean.

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