After 9 years, the United States conducted another manned space flight

　　The SpaceX manned version of the "Dragon" spacecraft, equipped with the recyclable "Falcon 9" rocket, was successfully launched at the Kennedy Space Center 39A launch pad, which took two of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The astronauts were sent to the International Space Station. This is the first manned space mission in the United States since the space shuttle was retired in 2011.

　　Why has this launch mission caused such great attention? Pang Zhihao, chief scientific communication expert of national space exploration technology, told Sci-Tech Daily reporters: "The success of this launch mission means that the United States will bid farewell to the history of relying on Russia to travel to the International Space Station, and the United States space industry will open a new chapter."

　　Highlights of the manned "Dragon" spacecraft

　　According to Pang Zhihao: "Manned" Dragon "spacecraft has many technological breakthroughs, such as the use of the new Super Draco engine system, touch control screen and more durable thermal protection layer, and many other next-generation spacecraft technologies."

　　Pang Zhihao explained: "If the rocket breaks down during the launch of the" Falcon 9 "manned" Dragon ", the manned spacecraft will not use the escape tower, but will use its own Super Draco engine for launch escape. The advantage of the first scheme is that the escape system is all on the spacecraft and has the full escape capability; in addition, the entire system simplifies the fairing and improves the safety of astronauts; moreover, this escape system can be reused. "

　　"In addition, due to the use of new insulation materials at the bottom of the spacecraft, the spacecraft can withstand multiple high temperatures without serious degradation when reentering the atmosphere, so it can better protect the astronauts and also facilitate multiple uses of the passenger cabin. In addition , This spacecraft does not need any changes when performing lunar or Mars missions. "

　　Pang Zhihao pointed out: "The manned" Dragon "spacecraft can accommodate 7 astronauts, while the" Union "spacecraft can only carry 3 people at a time. More importantly, the manned" Dragon "spacecraft can both automatically dock with the International Space Station, It can also be docked under the manual control of astronauts, with higher control accuracy. "

　　Pang Zhihao emphasized: "One of the highlights of the manned 'Dragon' spacecraft is the abolition of the design of the expandable solar cell wing, and the use of a non-pressurized cabin half-enclosed body-mounted solar panel, which is a major innovation. This can be avoided There is a failure that cannot be opened, and it has a higher utilization rate and better performance than the spread-out solar battery wings. "

　　"In addition, the spacecraft has a sense of space in the future. It has completely changed the common problems of the manned spacecraft's" heavy function, light design, and no aesthetics ". It has made riding the manned" dragon "spacecraft a space enjoyment and fashion."

　　Hope to bid farewell to spend money to buy a seat from now on

　　Pang Zhihao said: "This successful launch not only saves NASA a lot of money, but also means that NASA will bid farewell to the history of spending a lot of money on buying seats from Russia."

　　It is reported that because the maintenance and use of the space shuttle is too expensive, and the "Challenger" and "Columbia" have suffered disasters, the US Space Shuttle was retired in July 2011, and the United States turned to the development of the Space Launch System (SLS) and "Orion". spaceship. Although the "Orion" spacecraft is claimed to be the fastest in history, it is regarded as the main vehicle of the American Mars manned landing program, but so far only unmanned flight has been completed, which has put the United States in the dilemma of the availability of unmanned aircraft in low-Earth orbit , Can only rely on Russian spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

　　According to a recent report by NASA, NASA needs to pay Russia more than $ 90 million to buy a seat for the Soyuz spacecraft. As of July 2019, the United States has paid the Russian side a total of US $ 3.9 billion to use the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. For NASA, this is an expensive expense.

　　In order to get rid of its dependence on Russia, in 2014, NASA launched the "Commercial Manned Space Program", signed US $ 4.2 billion and US $ 2.6 billion contracts with Boeing and SpaceX, respectively, to build a safe, reliable and cost-effective rocket and capsule system The proposals submitted by these two companies are the manned "Dragon" spacecraft and the "Starliner" spacecraft, respectively.

　　NASA Director Charles Bolden announced at the time that it would restart the local manned spaceflight project in 2017, but a series of technical and financial problems and major institutional reorganizations after Donald Trump ’s election as the President of the United States led to the project repeated procrastination. Until 2019, things finally ushered in a major turnaround!

　　Pang Zhihao finally emphasized: "Despite the success of this mission launch, it does not mean that everything will be fine. There are certain risks when the manned" Dragon "spacecraft returns: First, the deployable solar cell wing is a new technology and its performance How is still unknown; secondly, the parachute of the spacecraft may also be at risk of failure. "

　　Our reporter Liu Xia