When SpaceX brings Starship to the launch pad this year for its third test, the company will begin testing the spacecraft’s ability to deliver super-cooled rocket fuel into space.
NASA is tapping billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket company to fly astronauts to the lunar surface for its Artemis III and IV missions under a $4.2 billion contract. To do this, SpaceX will have to learn how to refuel Starship in low Earth orbit, after the probe has already launched from the planet. This difficult concept is known as “cryogenic propellant transfer,” something that has never been done before in microgravity.
NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century involve its own Orion spacecraft, but also SpaceX’s Starship. In a sort of space relay, Orion will carry the crew to lunar orbit, and Starship will complete the final leg of the journey by meeting the astronauts in space and landing them on the surface. The “baton” could have been passed to a space station not yet built, or directly from one spacecraft to another.
The US space agency has promised that Artemis III will take a woman and a person of color to the moon for the first time. But considering that Starship has attempted spaceflight twice so far, and each time ended within minutes of liftoff with a bang, perhaps it’s no surprise that NASA just announced that its Moon landing mission will be delayed by at least a year until 2026.
SEE ALSO:
Astronauts test SpaceX’s famous “moon lift.”
“They’ve made tremendous progress at Boca Chica with their test flight,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Moon to Mars, referring to SpaceX’s launch pad in South Texas. “But it was very difficult for some propellant transfers and other objectives to make the Earth departure sequence work for us.”
Why does NASA want a propellant depot in space?
NASA and commercial partners are interested in space refueling stations because they could allow space probes to travel longer and farther into the solar system. Future missions could use ice on the Moon to produce propellant by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. If engineers can figure out how to store super-cold fluids in space, whether launched from Earth or produced elsewhere, then this could make long stays on the Moon possible and even support distant missions to Mars.
NASA has invested $370 million in more than a dozen U.S. companies to develop the technology needed to store and transfer rocket fuel into space. The funding includes $53 million for SpaceX to demonstrate propellant transfer, from fuel tanks to the ship, into orbit. The American space agency has chosen to use a private supplier for the lunar launcher to reduce the technical risks and costs of the Artemis program, which aims to use the Moon as a launch pad for a possible mission to Mars. SpaceX was first selected, and Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ rival space company, was awarded the contract for Artemis V, a crewed mission expected no earlier than 2029.
In a sort of space relay, Orion will carry the crew into lunar orbit, and Starship will complete the final leg of the journey by meeting the astronauts in space and landing them on the surface.
Credit: NASA
SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall Starship rocket and spacecraft are designed to carry large payloads and large numbers of people into space over long distances. The spacecraft uses 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen, but the rocket consumes most of that fuel just to escape Earth’s powerful gravity.
Speed of light mashable
How will propellant transfer into orbit work?
To continue its 250,000-mile journey to the moon, the Starship must refill its tanks. The plan is for SpaceX to send a tanker version of Starship into low Earth orbit, forming a resupply depot in space. The passenger version of the Starship would dock with a tanker, refuel and then continue its flight to the remaining moon.
Blue Origin will also rely on in-orbit refueling.
“Transferring propellant to orbit seems complex and scary — it seems like something big and nebulous — but if you really break it down into parts, we’ve accomplished almost all of those complex parts in our current operational program,” said Jessica Jensen, vice president of operations and of SpaceX customer integration.
NASA astronauts test the back door of a prototype Orion spacecraft.
Credit: NASA/Radislav Sinyak
The third orbital test flight of the spacecraft
On the other hand, NASA seems more intimidated by the obstacles ahead. Putting together the choreography for the Orion and Starship dual launch campaign will be a “significant coordination challenge,” Kshatriya said.
SpaceX plans to conduct its first in-orbit tests this February, attempting to transfer 11 tons, or 10 tons, of liquid oxygen between tanks inside Starship. This is the first step toward the ultimate goal of transferring propellant between two separate ships in space.
But one of the things that makes in-orbit refueling seem opaque to outsiders is the mystery over how many launches will be needed to deliver fuel to space tankers. Competitor Blue Origin suggests that SpaceX’s proposal would require 16 consecutive launches. Musk told a Washington Post reporter via X, then known as Twitter, that the number was “highly unlikely” and would likely be between four and eight launches.
In an Artemis conference call with reporters this week, Jensen estimated “about 10,” after NASA Administrator Bill Nelson pressed him for that number.
SpaceX’s confidence in fast charging
No matter how many consecutive launches are needed for this operation, SpaceX officials feel confident based on their performance. While rapid refueling may “sound very intimidating,” SpaceX has demonstrated that it can handle multiple launches in a matter of hours for its Falcon 9 rocket, the rocket that regularly delivers satellites into orbit.
The company has also demonstrated that it can launch from the same launch pad in just a few days.
The Orion spacecraft departs the Moon and returns to Earth during the maiden flight of Artemis I.
Credit: NASA
Additionally, Jensen assured that SpaceX has experience in many of the steps involved in propellant transfer, such as rendezvous maneuvers and docking. Their Dragon spacecraft has docked more than 30 times with the International Space Station, located 250 miles above Earth.
“Everything we’ve learned, from the sensors we use, from the algorithms we use for dating, from the returns, we will take advantage of all of this when the two spaceships dock together,” he said.
2024-01-13 12:51:29
#SpaceX #Refueling #Starships #Space #Wont #Scary #BisnisUpdate.com