Musk's Dragon spacecraft has been discontinued, but the reserved Dragon spacecraft is still enough for NASA to use, picking up astronauts to and from the world, mainly because the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and manned spacecraft that are carrying out the mission can be recycled and reused.
According to media reports, at 0:00 Beijing time on October 6, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, SpaceX and NASA cooperated with each other to transport four astronauts to International Space Station again.
NASA has not had its own "transportation tool" to and from space since the retirement of the space shuttle . If you want to send astronauts to the International Space Station, you can only buy tickets from the Russian Soyuz manned spacecraft. The whole process lasted for nearly 10 years, from the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 to the official launch of Musk's Dragon spacecraft in 2020.
A "ship ticket" is expensive. It was about $20 million at first, and it even reached $60,000 to $7,000 in the end. Of course, this is not the fundamental reason why the United States no longer takes the Soyuz. NASA is mainly because it does not want to be controlled by others, otherwise some discord will happen and its astronauts will not be able to pick them up in space.
Especially after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the United States ended up with a magical move, bringing the relationship between the United States and Russia to freezing point. A series of sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia have almost spread to the space field.
Regarding this Former head of the Russian Federation Space Administration , Rogozin, once publicly expressed the Russian attitude that if the so-called sanctions measures affect the cooperation between the two countries in the field of space, the International Space Station will be at risk of falling. After all, this behemoth weighing more than 400 tons does not fly over Russian airspace. If it really falls, it is possible in the United States and Europe.
NASA immediately issued a statement after being warned, saying that none of the previous measures would affect cooperation with Russia in the field of space, especially on the International Space Station.
This behemoth was designed and built by 16 countries, but the main core is the United States and Russia. At present, the entire International Space Station is also divided into the United States orbital section and the Russian orbital section. The flight attitude and orbital adjustment of the International Space Station need to be completed by Russia. Simply put, if you want the International Space Station to operate normally, the United States and Russia cannot do without each other, so it can only be cooperation.
Of course, the two parties in cooperation are like a theory of "descendant investment theory" in biology. The smaller the demand for the International Space Station, the more initiative it takes. The United States most hopes that the International Space Station will run, but Russia does not have such strong demands.
One of the more critical points is the emergence of Chinese space station . Some countries can apply for cooperation with China's space station if they have to use space station , but the United States is exceptional. If the International Space Station is retired, there is no way for them to use the space station. After all, they must abide by the treaty they promulgated themselves and do not have any form of cooperation with China Aerospace .
The United States cannot, but other countries can do it. Therefore, it is said that only the United States relies the most on the International Space Station. In addition, the United States' plan to return to the moon to land on Mars will be affected, because many key technologies require the International Space Station's microgravity environment.
Speaking of this return to the moon, the United States is also quite upset. The super rocket that is carrying out the mission has repeatedly postponed its launch, and I don’t know when it will be.
This time, NASA sent 4 astronauts into the International Space Station and carried out normal astronaut rotation according to the plan. However, the 4 astronauts, 2 men and 2 women are not all NASA astronauts, including Japanese astronauts Koichi Wakada and Russia's only female astronaut Kanna.
It is normal to have Japanese astronauts in the Dragon spacecraft, but it is rare to have Russian astronauts.
Of course, this is also a reflection of the recovery of cooperation between NASA and the Russian Federation Space Administration. Astronauts on both sides are just exchanged means of transportation and do not have to pay each other's tickets.
htmlOn September 21, the "Soviet 22" spacecraft that took three astronauts to the International Space Station, had an American astronaut Frank Rubio. This time, the Dragon spacecraft brought a Russian astronaut into the International Space Station was just an exchange.
Of course, similar flight methods of seat exchange are expected by NASA, and it is not harmful to the Russian Federal Space Administration. The cooperation is just right!
International Space Station is considered to be the largest space cooperation project in history. To maintain this project, it requires continuous investment, especially as the International Space Station arrives in its twilight years. Russia hopes to withdraw from the International Space Station as soon as possible, and retirement by 2024 is the best.
But NASA does not think so. They hope to keep the International Space Station running until it is retired in 2031. At present, this is one of the main contradictions. If the goals are inconsistent, there will naturally be differences. In this game, the Russian Federation Space Administration naturally has the initiative.
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