SpaceX will launch three Falcon 9s this weekend to resume flight.
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Over the weekend, SpaceX
successfully launched three Falcon 9 rockets in quick succession, placing 67
Starlink satellites into orbit three days after receiving permission from the
Federal Aviation Administration to restart launches following an uncommon
in-flight malfunction on July 11.
23 Starlink internet satellites were launched by SpaceX from the Kennedy Space
Center early on Saturday to begin its comeback to flying. Two days later,
another 23 broadband relay stations were launched into orbit by a second
Starlink launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early on Sunday. A
few hours later, the third Falcon 9 was launched from California's Vandenberg
Space Force Base.
It seems like all three flights went off without a hitch.
NASA is depending on Falcon 9s to
launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship to the International Space Station
on August 3. Around August 18, three agency astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut
will be transported to the lab via a SpaceX Crew Dragon trip.
In the next days, a test flight of Crew 9, the second stage intended for use
with the piloted flight, will take place at a SpaceX facility close to
McGregor, Texas, to ensure the company's corrective measure won't have any
unforeseen repercussions.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA's
Commercial Crew Program, stated on Friday that the spacecraft will go through a
second stage hot fire around July 30. "That's really to check out some of
the new modifications that vehicle will have as a result of the anomaly."
"We have been following along step-by-step with that investigation that
the FAA has been doing, SpaceX has been very transparent, we've had our teams
embedded in the investigation and following along all the changes on that
booster."
Although those flights have not yet received official approval from the space
agency to launch, SpaceX's successful return to flight this past weekend will
undoubtedly influence the final decision.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA's
Commercial Crew Program, stated on Friday that the spacecraft will go through a
second stage hot fire around July 30. "That's really to check out some of
the new modifications that vehicle will have as a result of the anomaly."
"We have been following along step-by-step with that investigation that
the FAA has been doing, SpaceX has been very transparent, we've had our teams
embedded in the investigation and following along all the changes on that
booster."
Although those flights have not yet received official approval from the space
agency to launch, SpaceX's successful return to flight this past weekend will
undoubtedly influence the final decision.
According to the business, "the
helium system also remained stable." "Additionally, an RCS oxidizer
isolation valve that was not fully seated previously was cycled several times
during (Saturday's) testing and is now operating normally."
The Starliner's crew, consisting of commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore
and co-pilot Sunita Williams, was initially scheduled to spend roughly eight
days in space when it was launched on June 5 for its first piloted test flight.
Due to work being done to address thruster faults and five helium leaks (four
generated during the capsule's rendezvous with the space station and one
discovered prior to launch), the mission has already lasted nearly two months.
In order to evaluate the test
results and ascertain whether the ship is prepared to return Wilmore and
Williams to Earth safely, NASA is scheduled to conduct a significant evaluation
later this week.
Regarding SpaceX and the Falcon 9,
the corporation attributed the July 11th failure to a crack in an upper stage
sensor line that resulted from metal fatigue and a loose bracket, which in turn
produced a liquid oxygen leak.
The engine's plumbing became extremely cold as a result of the leak, which slowed
the flow of a fluid required to restart the powerplant for a scheduled second
"burn."
Instead, the rocket was unable to achieve the intended orbit due to a
"hard start" in the engine that damaged numerous parts. The stage
survived, but the Starlinks it launched into space burnt up in the atmosphere
after being released in a considerably lower orbit than intended.
Senior manager at SpaceX, Sarah Walker, stated on Friday that the "sense line" would be deleted from downstream rockets since it was unnecessary
The second stage engine only burns once during piloted Crew Dragon missions, she continued, and the leak that caused the Starlink launch to fail would not have occurred during a crewed flight. Either way, the leaky fitting will be taken out.
"I have complete faith in the
group and the coordinated strategy that NASA has integrated into the
reaction," stated Nick Hague, a veteran of a Russian Soyuz launch abort
and co-pilot of Crew 9. "And I'm excited to strap on to the rocket when
the team decides it's time to go."
The day following the Starlink launch mishap, he said, the crew was undergoing
training at SpaceX's Hawthorne, California, headquarters, "and from the
get-go they brought us into the conversation and told us everything that they
knew."
The agency in charge of granting
licenses for American launches, the Federal Aviation Administration, concurred
with the SpaceX failure analysis and declared that "no public safety
issues were involved."
"This public safety determination means the Falcon 9 vehicle may return to
flight operations while the overall investigation remains open, provided all
other license requirements are met," the Federal Aviation Administration
said in a statement.
Walker gave an update on SpaceX's near-term plans for the Falcon 9, as well as
discussing an unforeseen problem involving debris from Crew Dragon trunk parts
that made it to Earth despite the heat of re-entry.
Equipped with solar cells, the trunk
portion powers the Crew Dragon while in orbit and delivers external station
payloads to an unpressurized environment.
Prior to re-entering, the trunk is discarded. The heat-shielded crew capsule
then launches its braking rockets to break out of orbit and land in the exact
spot in the ocean. The trunk keeps going in a low orbit before reentering the
atmosphere uncontrollably.
Early on in the program, engineers came to the conclusion that on re-entry, the
entire trunk would burn up. However, really massive, blackened pieces of trunk
debris have managed to escape entrance and land on multiple occasions.
Returned Crew Dragon astronauts and
newly launched Dragon supply ships carrying cargo have all splashed down in the
Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Walker stated that as of right now, SpaceX intends to relocate all Crew Dragon
splashdowns and cargo to the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast. Now, trunk parts
will be discarded following the deorbit rocket firing, ensuring that they
return to Earth in a location that is similar to that of the crew and cargo
capsules—that is, well offshore.