SpaceX launches U.S., Russia, UAE astronauts to space station

SpaceX launches U.S., Russia, UAE astronauts to space station

Subject : Science and Technology

Section: Space

Context: A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS), carrying two US astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut to begin a six-month science mission.

About the mission

• The coupling was confirmed as the ISS and capsule flew in tandem at 28,164 km/h (17,500 miles per hour) some 240km (250 miles) above Earth across the coast of East Africa, according to a live NASA webcast of the rendezvous.
• The four-member team was assigned to conduct more than 200 experiments and technology demonstrations on board the space station, ranging from research on human cell growth in space to controlling combustible materials in microgravity.
• Some of the research will help pave the way for future long-duration human expeditions to the Moon and beyond under NASA’s Artemis programme, its successor to Apollo, the US space agency said.
• The ISS crew is also responsible for performing maintenance and repairs on board the station, and to prepare for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads.
• Designated Crew 6, the mission marks the sixth long-duration ISS team that SpaceX has flown for NASA since the private rocket venture founded by billionaire Elon Musk began sending American astronauts to orbit in May 2020. Musk is CEO of electric carmaker Tesla and social media platform Twitter.
• The latest crew was led by Stephen Bowen, 59, a former US Navy submarine officer who has logged more than 40 days in orbit as a veteran of three Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks.

International Space Station:

• The ISS is a manmade space station or artificial satellite that is habitable for humans in space.
• It is in the low-earth orbit and there are astronauts living onboard the space station conducting experiments on earth science, biology, biotechnology, astronomy, microgravity, meteorology, physics, etc.
• The International Space Station was the brainchild of former US President Ronald Reagan, who in 1984 proposed building a permanently inhabited spacecraft in cooperation with a few other countries.
• The ISS was developed and built by five space agencies namely, NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), European Space Agency (ESA-Europe), JAXA (Japan) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA-Canada).
• The station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is operated by Russia, while the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) is run by the United States as well as many other nations.

How will the ISS retire?

• According to NASA, the ISS’ re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere will take place in January 2031.
• Mission control will first lower its altitude and then descent into the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA), in an area known as Point Nemo.
  • Point Nemo is a sort of space cemetery, where decommissioned space debris are often brought to rest. It is located at a distance of 2,700 km from any land. The place has been named after a character in Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

What’s next for the ISS?

• According to NASA, once it retires, the ISS will be replaced by “one or more commercially-owned and -operated” space platforms.

Crew Dragon:

• It is a part of the Dragon 2, a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX.
• It is the fifth class of US spacecraft to take human beings into orbit, after the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
• The rocket, named Falcon 9, which carried the spaceship into the orbit, was also built by SpaceX.
• It is done under the Demo-2 Mission of NASA and SpaceX.

Crew-2 Mission

• It is a part of collaboration between NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program.
• It is the second crew rotation of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with international partners.

Commercial Crew Program

• Its main objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.
• The NASA plans to lower its costs by sharing them with commercial partners such as Boeing and SpaceX through Commercial Crew Program.
• It gives the companies incentive to design and build the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS).
• NASA can focus on building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space exploration missions.

What is Artemis-1 mission?

• NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology.
• Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
• It is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.
• With the Artemis programme, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
• NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway (the lunar outpost around the Moon) in lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.
• The gateway is a critical component of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.