China News Service, May 31 (Meng Xiangjun) Like the lyrics on her top Twitter: "Open your eyes, look up to the skies" (May 30, local time, SpaceX, USA Musk, the company's "master", contributed to the success of the world's first commercial manned sea trial and wrote another legend.

  On the same day, the first successful manned sea trial of the Commercial Manned Aviation Program (CPP) jointly organized by NASA and space exploration technology company SpaceX opened a new era of global commercial manned spaceflight.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) video screenshots.

Fly into space

  "Exciting", "Creating History", "Genius Musk"-netizens who watched the trial flight plan and expressed their feelings on the screen; hundreds of people at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA also watched the rocket launch . Among them are US President Trump and Vice President Pence.

On May 30 local time, the American people watched the rocket lift off.

  According to NASA data, more than 3 million people watched the live broadcast online. And Musk himself, live broadcast on social media.

Musk livestreamed SpaceX's sea trials on social media. The picture is taken from Musk's personal account.

  The launch mission, code-named "Demo-2", is the final sea trial of the manned "Dragon" spacecraft, mainly for testing the spaceflight operation capabilities of astronauts in the manned spaceflight system, carried out by the private company SpaceX led by Musk.

  The related system was also developed by SpaceX and NASA. The trial was mainly carried out by the "Falcon 9" rocket, which sent the "Dragon" spacecraft carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station, stayed for 1 or 4 months, and then returned to Earth. .

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) video screenshots.

  According to reports, "Falcon 9" consists of a two-stage rocket. After launch, the lower part burns for two and a half minutes, and then shuts off. Subsequently, the second section of the structure burned for six minutes, sending the "Dragon" spacecraft into Earth orbit, and the spacecraft was about 201 kilometers above ground.

  After separation from the rocket, the cabin will use its own propeller to complete the rest of the journey to the International Space Station. The first commercial manned sea trial launch mission declared success.

  NASA said that if the sea trial is successful, the agency will "certify" Musk's "Dragon" spacecraft, with the long-term operational capabilities of manned spaceflight to and from the International Space Station.

On May 30 local time, NASA's Commercial Manned Aviation Program (CPP) launched its first manned test flight.

New era

  This sea trial ended NASA's 9-year manned rocket launch, and it was the first time that a private company was manned into space. For the United States, it has epoch-making significance.

  The space shuttle is a great feat for mankind to go into space and start exploration. It is a multi-purpose spacecraft with important civilian and military values, which has realized the transition from one-time use to partly repeated use of space vehicles.

  Since 1972, the United States has invested heavily in research and development and has produced six space shuttles. They are "Enterprise", "Colombia", "Challenger", "Discovery", "Atlantis" and "Endeavour".

  Among them, the "enterprise" is a test machine, never manned, nor launched into the air.

  The "Columbia" and "Challenger" both crashed and exploded, causing tragedy. The two accidents are about 17 years apart. On January 28, 1986, the "Challenger" failed its components during its 10th space mission, and exploded and disintegrated in just over 1 minute after being launched. On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated and crashed over northern Texas, killing all seven astronauts. Two accidents claimed the lives of 14 astronauts.

On July 8, 2011, the US space shuttle "Atlantis" was launched for the last time, marking the end of the era of the US space shuttle.

  On July 8, 2011, the US space shuttle "Atlantis" was launched for the last time, marking the end of the era of the US space shuttle.

  The "Atlantis" serviced in 1985, after more than 32 flights in space and a total range of about 194 million kilometers, on July 21, 2011, successfully completed the last flight. It became the last retired space shuttle in the United States, marking the end of the American space shuttle era.

  Since then, NASA has had to pay tens of millions of dollars to Russia to use the Soyuz spacecraft to send astronauts into space together.

  The Russian satellite network pointed out that this time, the manned trial of the "Dragon" spacecraft was the first time since 2011 that the United States used domestic rockets and spacecraft to send astronauts to the space station from the mainland. This is of great significance to the future US manned spaceflight and the cooperation strategy between NASA and private companies.

On May 30 local time, NASA conducted the first manned trial of the commercial manned aviation program.

Settle an account

  Behind all this, the United States, the world's only superpower, has paid a high price for deep space exploration. The reason why the space shuttle announced its withdrawal from the historical stage is that experts believe it is mainly because the "burning money" is too ruthless, making the United States, which has been suffering from the economic downturn in recent years and no longer "bad money," unsustainable.

  As for the operating cost of the space shuttle, NASA has calculated an account: Since 1972, the US government has "payed" $ 196 billion for the space shuttle project. Allotted to 135 launch flights, each cost about 1.5 billion US dollars, far exceeding the cost of the spacecraft.

  After considering inflation, the cost of the space shuttle project in the United States has even been considered to exceed the total of landing on the moon, making atomic bombs, and excavating the Panama Canal. For an ordinary person, these are almost unimaginable.

Data map: Musk.

  And the emergence of private companies like SpaceX has greatly eased the embarrassment-because Musk claimed that he considered the "money" factor, the largest reduction in the cost of launching a rocket, and NASA is eager for this opportunity. What's more, the technology played by Musk is not inferior, and even has the vanguard meaning of "walking in front of the times".

  However, this manned trial flight was actually twists and turns. In 2014, NASA commissioned Boeing and Space Exploration Technology to build the "Starliner" and the manned version of the "Dragon" spacecraft, respectively. However, the first flight time of the two spacecraft was delayed many times from the originally planned 2017.

On March 3, 2019, SpaceX Manned Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station.

  Until March 2019, the "Dragon" spacecraft completed its first test unmanned flight to the International Space Station. At that time, the spacecraft carried a dummy model. The spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station and sent some supplies.

  As planned, SpaceX should send American astronauts to the International Space Station in July of that year. However, on April 20, 2019, a test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base exploded and the "Dragon" spacecraft was almost destroyed. Affected by this manned launch time was delayed.

  The trial flight was originally scheduled for the afternoon of May 27, 2020 local time. Ten minutes before launch, it was postponed due to bad weather.

American astronauts Douglas Hurley (Doug) and Robert Benken (Bob).

With whom?

  This time, two astronauts from the United States were involved in the mission in the "Dragon" spacecraft: Douglas Hurley (Doug) and Robert Benken (Bob). In addition, there is a dinosaur doll.

  Doug was born in 1966 and is a retired marine. Born in 1970, Bob is a colonel in the Air Force. The two are experienced and both are space shuttle flight veterans. Each has been in space twice.

  Doug spent 28 days and 11 hours in space, and Bob spent 29 days and 12 hours, including 37 hours of space walks. The two were selected to participate in this manned sea trial in 2018. Their spouses are also astronauts.

On May 30 local time, NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley said goodbye to his wife and son.

  The spacecraft that the two were travelling on reached the International Space Station automatically after being planned by scientists and using navigation control. However, to ensure safety and prevent accidents, the two have conducted hundreds of manual flight operation exercises.

  Affected by the new crown epidemic, the two have been isolated since March 2020, and they have been tested for new crown virus at least twice. They are currently in good health.

  What may be meaningful to NASA and the astronauts is that Doug was involved in the last flight of the space shuttle "Atlantis". He has witnessed the end of an era, and now he has also witnessed the birth of an era. (Finish)