NASA Finally Orders SpaceX Dragon To Rescue Starliner Astronouts!

the Starliner project has been the most talked about spacecraft in 2024 not for its success but for its failures since the spacecraft docked to the International Space Station the issues have only gotten worse prompting NASA and Boeing to work tirelessly to resolve them now NASA has just made a very important announcement that might change everything and we will talk about it in this video before we delve any deeper please make sure to subscribe to our channel for future updates NASA held a critical virtual meeting on July 10th to deliberate on the future of the Starliner spacecraft this meeting was called after a series of problems including a helium leak and Thruster issues in June as the space agency chooses the best course of action to guarantee the safe return of their astronauts the stakes are enormous there is a lot of curiosity about NASA's recent decision the space agency has stated that in the event of a crisis the Starliner spacecraft will have a fallback plan that involves spacex's Dragon capsule this statement emphasizes how important SpaceX is to NASA's commercial crew program even now important information about Starliner present State and future goals was revealed during the meeting how to safely return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams from the International Space Station was the main concern NASA has stated that the Dragon capsule will be available for use in an emergency even if the Starliner is the primary vehicle for for their return despite the difficulties NASA remains optimistic about the Starliner potential Engineers are working around the clock to address over 30 issues with the spacecraft's propulsion system most of these problems have been fixed and the rest ought to be completed soon but testing has shown that Starliner thrusters retain more heat than expected making it more difficult to replicate flying conditions on the ground as a result more testing and modifications are needed to make sure the spacecraft is prepared for its return trip NASA and Boeing are concentrating on carrying out additional ground testing at the White Sands test facility in New Mexico in the near future understanding the spacecraft's propulsion system and making sure all problems are fixed before trying the return Mission depend on these experiments Steve Stitch the manager of NASA's commercial crew program has stated that he hopes the Starliner would be prepared for its return by the end of July but there is not much time left so the team needs to work quickly to complete this task The Continuous efforts to resolve the Thruster issues and helium leaks were emphasized by Mark nappy vice president and program manager for commercial crew at Boeing Engineers are testing flanges and seals in the propulsion system to find the source of the problems the crew 9 Mission scheduled for mid- August by SpaceX also has an impact on when Starliner will return due to the Space Station's limited capacity Starliner must undock in order to accommodate the new crew this increases the urgency of finding a quick solution to the spacecraft's problems it's clear that spacex's dragon and Boeing Starliner are becoming more competitive according to NASA's commercial crew program SpaceX has now successfully completed nine flights along with other commercial and cargo operations this impressive track record puts a lot of pressure on Boeing but SpaceX isn't just focused on Dragon they're also making huge strides with Starship the largest rocket ever built Starship has already had four orbital test flights each one helping SpaceX learn and improve the first test flight happened on April 20th 2023 this was the first time they tried to launch Starship into orbit the launch successfully lifted off but multiple engine failures in the super heavy booster led to a loss of control and the rocket was intentionally destroyed about 4 minutes after liftoff despite the failure the test provided valuable data that led to significant design improvements for future flights the second test flight occurred on November 18th 2023 this flight introduced a hot staging separation where the second stage engines ignited while still attached to the booster the booster experienced engine failures due to a liquid oxygen header filter blockage leading to its destruction about 3.5 minutes into the flight the Starship stage reached a higher altitude than the first flight but ultimately exploded about 8 minutes after launch due to Telemetry loss the third flight took place on March 14th 2024 this Mission aimed to refine flight Dynamics and test re-entry capabilities the super heavy booster successfully completed a boost back burn and attempted a water landing while the Starship stage reached a maximum altitude of about 90 Mi before losing communication and being in intentionally destroyed the flight validated several design changes and provided key insights for future improvements the fourth flight was on June 5th 2024 this test achieved partial orbital insertion making it the most successful test to date the super heavy booster completed a successful Landing burn and touched down in the Gulf of Mexico the Starship stage successfully re-entered the atmosphere and performed a controlled Landing in the Indian Ocean despite some damage to its flaps now SpaceX is gearing up for another flight soon the preparations for this upcoming test are in full swing with a focus on integrating lessons learned from the previous flights among the preparations SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the s30 booster in early may this involved firing up the booster's engines while it remained firmly anchored to the ground allowing Engineers to verify that all systems were function in correctly under launch conditions but that's not all the s30 companion booster 12 B12 has recently shown some activity on July 7th the booster transport stand was moved to the mega Bay signaling that something big was about to happen moving the transport stand is a logistical challenge that requires precise coordination indicating that SpaceX is gearing up for another major test or even a launch on July 9th B12 was lifted onto the transport stand and later moved to the launch site road closures suggest that a static fire test with B12 is imminent this test will fire all 33 engines for a few seconds while the booster stays put simulating the launch conditions SpaceX has been keeping everyone updated with tweets and photos showing b12's move and getting everyone excited musk even tweeted saying we should get ready for flight five aiming for a late July launch once the static fire test is done B12 will probably go back to the build site for a checkup to make sure there's no damage and everything is ready for the next steps one thing to watch is the new hot staging ring design in the last flight they had to discard the old one mid-flight but the new design should fix that problem after these checks B12 will go back to the Launchpad to join s30 for stacking and final tests including a wet dress rehearsal this rehearsal involves fueling the rocket and running through the countdown to make sure everything is good to go for the actual launch and that's all for today's update if you enjoyed watching and found it useful please make sure to subscribe to our Channel and hit the like button thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Space Trends

Views: 68,885

Keywords: Spacex rocket launch videos, Spacex falcon 9 launch video, spacex super heavyrocket, Super Heavy booster, Super Heavy booster engine fire, spacex fire test, super heavy engine fire, super heavy launch 2022, super heavy sapacex, SpaceX rocket launch, spacex starship, spacex super heavy, spacex, spacex amazing launch, SpaceX vs NASA

Id: QP3xHlKL9Nk

Length: 7min 49sec (469 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 14 2024