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00:01The space industry is at a turning point.
00:06NASA's Space Launch System is about to fly.
00:11With it, the new Orion spacecraft, a collaboration between NASA and ESA, will target the Moon.
00:20A landing is scheduled for 2024.
00:25As far as the United States is concerned, low Earth orbit is now the province of corporations,
00:31with Boeing and SpaceX competing to break Russia's stranglehold on manned trips to the International Space Station.
00:43New technology is cutting costs and increasing launch frequency,
00:47with complex satellites being so small they can be deployed in new ways.
00:55Several companies are working towards space tourism.
01:05Virgin Galactic says its promised trips beyond the atmosphere should start happening soon.
01:11The Space Flight
01:39Since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011, space science has shifted focus to research
01:44carried out on the International Space Station, and to robotic missions in deep space.
01:54During this period, all manned flights have been to and from the ISS, with the only viable
01:59spacecraft being the Russian Soyuz.
02:02This has cost both NASA and ESA billions in launch fees.
02:08Russia, Europe and Japan, major partners in the ISS, developed their own cargo craft to
02:14resupply the space station.
02:18But NASA tended for private companies to take on these responsibilities.
02:23Rising star in the launch business, SpaceX, was contracted to develop a cargo craft that
02:28would launch on its Falcon 9 rocket.
02:31One, two, one, zero.
02:35And launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the
02:43International Space Station.
02:47A second aerospace business, Orbital Sciences Corporation, now Orbital ATK, signed a contract
02:58for similar hardware and services.
03:02NASA is developing its own launch system and the Orion spacecraft.
03:07But it's designed for missions far more ambitious than resupplying the ISS.
03:14America's activity in low Earth orbit is being reallocated to the commercial sector, and NASA
03:19is helping with technology transfers.
03:23Agency administrators want two completely different systems, giving the space agency what they call
03:29dissimilar redundancy.
03:36When the space shuttle twice suffered catastrophic failures, NASA was stuck on the ground for years
03:42while exhaustive investigations were made.
03:45The redundancy approach will prevent this paralysis.
03:51In 2014, NASA signed contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to develop and test human-rated spacecraft to
03:59ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
04:03It was a continuation of the dissimilar redundancy approach.
04:10The space agency has set performance criteria for the new craft and crew training, but is taking
04:16a hands-off approach regarding how the companies meet the requirements.
04:20Boeing's spacecraft is called the Starliner.
04:25It has space for seven astronauts and will be capable of being used ten times.
04:32NASA requires any human-rated spacecraft to meet higher standards of safety and reliability
04:38than a cargo craft.
04:40And new capsules must demonstrate, via a series of test flights, that they meet certification.
04:48One crucial part of the new spacecraft is the launch escape system.
04:56It's the equivalent of a fighter pilot's ejector seat.
05:02Both Boeing and SpaceX have opted for a new method of capsule-mounted rockets to push
05:07the craft clear in an emergency, in contrast to the more traditional escape tower above the
05:12agency's new Orion spacecraft.
05:17The trial of Boeing's escape system worked well, with the exception that only two of the
05:22three parachutes deployed.
05:24But the problem is understood.
05:26The Starliner could continue to the next uncrewed launch to orbit.
05:32One of the novel features of Boeing's capsule is its ability to return to dry land, like
05:38Russia's Soyuz craft.
05:40Airbags, stowed behind the heat shield, inflate prior to landing.
05:46Without the need to deploy ships for an ocean recovery, there will be considerable savings.
05:51Though the capsule can fly on the Delta IV, the Falcon 9 and the yet-to-be-flown Vulcan, initial
05:58testing of the spacecraft has been with the Atlas V launcher.
06:03The Atlas ground support infrastructure has been modified to accommodate the Starliner with
06:08the addition of a crew access arm.
06:12The Starliner made its first unmanned test flight in December 2019.
06:17Its destination was the ISS.
06:26The launch was perfect, and four and a half minutes after liftoff, the first stage separated.
06:36Next the boost-protect covers and the aeroskirt were jettisoned, and the Centaur upper stage
06:41burned for a further seven minutes, following the course parameters perfectly.
06:45After separation, the capsule was in a sub-orbital trajectory, selected because it allowed a safe
06:56path back to the ground in case of a malfunction during the boost phase.
07:04To achieve the correct orbit, the craft was required to fire its four attitude and orbital
07:10maneuvering thrusters 31 minutes after liftoff.
07:15However, the Starliner's sequence clock was incorrect, and the orbit insertion burn did
07:20not happen.
07:22Ground control was able to salvage parts of the mission, but the craft was not able to reach
07:26the International Space Station.
07:29This setback will delay the Starliner's first mission carrying astronauts.
07:37SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule is a refinement of the cargo craft that first flew in 2010.
07:45From the beginning, the Dragon capsule has had a heat shield enabling it to return safely
07:50to the ground.
07:52No other ISS cargo craft has had this ability.
07:56In addition, the Dragon also has a window.
07:59This should have been a clue to SpaceX's long-term plans for the craft.
08:06In 2014, after the contract for a human-rated craft was signed, SpaceX began work on the Dragon
08:12II.
08:15Like its Boeing equivalent, the Dragon II sits above a service module that can carry unpressurized
08:20cargo and includes a heat exchange unit and a coating of solar cells that does away with
08:26the moving parts involved in extendable solar wings.
08:32The Dragon II can accommodate seven astronauts, though NASA has said it will generally only
08:37send four people at a time.
08:41Control interface is via a touch screen.
08:46Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 39A has been equipped with a crew access arm.
08:51And in March 2019, in a flight known as Demo-1, the unmanned craft made its first spaceflight.
09:00The Dragon carried a dummy astronaut wired with sensors to monitor G-forces and a small delivery
09:07of equipment for the ISS.
09:11The launch and the phasing maneuvers to align its orbit with the ISS were all correctly executed.
09:18The automated docking procedure went smoothly and the Dragon stayed connected to the space
09:23station for five days.
09:28Decoupling from the ISS went as expected, and observers on the ground were delighted with
09:33the capsule's behavior.
09:38Throughout the mission, every aspect of the Dragon II's performance was monitored.
09:45The aircraft's return to Earth was faultless, and the recovered capsule would be reused for
09:56the one remaining uncrewed flight test.
10:00SpaceX planned to use new capsules for manned flights, and then recycle the craft for cargo
10:05use.
10:08Confident planners at SpaceX and NASA were looking toward the first crewed flight.
10:12The final certification test was an in-flight simulation of a booster failure that would
10:20monitor the Dragon's launch escape system.
10:23But before that, the craft's Super Draco engines, used in mission aborts, needed re-testing.
10:32This was considered routine, and had been carried out many times.
10:36A leaked video revealed an explosion that had destroyed the capsule.
10:46The problem was not engine failure, but a faulty valve.
10:51The flight test of the Dragon II's escape system eventually happened early in 2020.
10:57But just as with the Boeing capsule, which was also well behind schedule, the explosion and
11:02the enquiry that followed were another unwelcome delay.
11:21To the point of maximum dynamic pressure, the core stage's engines were cut, and the escape
11:26system triggered automatically.
11:30Shortly after, aerodynamic stresses on the tumbling booster caused it to explode.
11:35I'm hearing a little bright flash there, it looks like that may be Falcon 9 breaking up.
11:41The certification test was a success, and the Dragon II's next flight will carry astronauts.
11:55But there is another spacecraft in development that's worth mentioning.
11:59The Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser.
12:03This is a lifting body craft designed to ride to orbit on an Atlas V, but returned to the ground
12:10via a commercial landing strip.
12:14So far, the Dream Chaser's only flights have been glide tests.
12:21As a cargo ship, the Dream Chaser can return a 1,750 kilogram load to the surface.
12:28As a crewed vehicle, it is designed to take from two to seven astronauts.
12:41The European Space Agency has shown interest in the craft, with the possibility of launching
12:47European astronauts atop a French Ariane.
12:53The craft will use the bi-propellants methane and hydrogen tetroxide for on-orbit maneuvers,
12:59doing away with the highly toxic hydrazine.
13:07When the Space Shuttle landed, it had to be at a restricted runway where suited ground staff
13:11purged the craft of residual hydrazine.
13:20Originally in the running for a NASA contract for ferrying astronauts to the ISS, it missed
13:25out because Sierra Nevada could not comply with NASA's 2017 deadline for crewed missions.
13:32The favoured contractors, Boeing and SpaceX, both failed to meet that same deadline.
13:39But the Dream Chaser has a contract for cargo missions to the ISS, and an expendable cargo
13:45of a module, known as Shooting Star, is being developed.
13:51The company still plans a human-rated version of the Dream Chaser, but it's unclear when the
13:57craft will fly.
13:58the launch complex 17 was the starting point for many historic Delta-2 missions.
14:05The launch complex 17 was the starting point for many historic Delta-2 missions.
14:13Since the demise of the Space Shuttle, NASA infrastructure from the earliest days of space flight has been eliminated.
14:32Since the heady days of the Space Race, NASA's budget has been steadily trending downward,
14:39and various launch sites have been given over to the private sector.
14:45While NASA has been overseeing the commercial craft that will continue to service the research work carried out on the ISS,
14:51its sharpest focus has been on the new Orion spacecraft and the giant Space Launch System that will boost it to orbit.
15:08After its establishment in 1958, the agency's challenge had been to master space technology and then to reach the Moon.
15:19But since then, the exploration side of NASA's charter has been achieved by robotic missions.
15:29Now, a new plan called Artemis will return to the Moon.
15:33It relies upon the Orion spacecraft and the SLS.
15:38The Space Launch System will be the most powerful rocket yet built.
15:42And although the design features the latest technologies, most of its components are derived from the Space Shuttle.
15:48The Block 1 version, which will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft to orbit the Moon, features a central core that owes much to the Shuttle's external tank.
16:01At the base of the central core are four RS-25 engines.
16:06The Shuttle had three of these engines, and NASA still has 16 left over from the Shuttle program.
16:13Although the engines remain the same, their control systems have been redesigned.
16:19Each one has been exhaustively tested.
16:21And when the original batch have been utilized, an upgraded version, the RS-25D, will be available.
16:31Flanking the central core of the Space Launch System are two solid fuel boosters.
16:36Again, a refinement of Shuttle technology, but with each booster having five instead of four segments.
16:47The new design has been rigorously tested.
16:52The boosters will only burn for the first two minutes of flight, each consuming six tons of propellant every second and providing more than 75% of the rocket's thrust.
17:04Unlike the Shuttle's boosters, these will not be reusable.
17:10The upper stage for the Block 1 configuration of the Space Launch System is called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, the ICPS.
17:19It's a stopgap modification of the Delta cryogenic second stage, used with the Delta III and IV launchers.
17:31In 2014, a Delta IV fitted with this upper stage lifted an Orion spacecraft to its first orbital test.
17:39The Orion, with a dummy service module, was boosted to a height approaching 5,800 kilometers, allowing it a high-speed return to Earth similar to a lunar mission.
17:59The much larger exploration upper stage was to replace the ICPS for the first crewed mission atop a Block 1B launcher.
18:07But design changes have led to delays, and the EUS now won't fly till the fourth Orion mission.
18:14The Orion spacecraft itself will comfortably accommodate four astronauts for 21 days, with the crew breathing air at atmospheric pressure.
18:25The craft is intended for missions beyond Earth orbit.
18:30It's designed to integrate with larger modular structures, such as habitation modules, specialist landing craft, or the planned lunar gateway.
18:41Instrumentation and the control interface are primarily via a touch screen.
18:46The digital control enables weight saving through the absence of wires and switches.
18:53The Orion service module is the European Space Agency's contribution to the craft.
18:58It's derived from the automated transfer vehicle which delivered cargo to the ISS.
19:03The pilot process.
19:04The oxygen and nitrogen cylinders in the service module supply air.
19:09There's a water storage tank.
19:11And wastewater is not dumped, but recycled.
19:14A four-wing solar array generates 11 kilowatts for battery charging and powering the electrical subsystems.
19:21For propulsion and maneuvering, the service module is equipped with a version of the same system used by the space shuttle.
19:30But, like so many aspects of this spacecraft, the system can be easily replaced when alternate models, under consideration, become available.
19:40The third important piece of the Orion craft is the launch abort system, mounted above the capsule.
19:46Three different types of solid fuel rocket are designed to fire at the first hint of a malfunction in the launcher.
19:53One. Ignition.
20:01The system was tested in July 2019 above a Minotaur booster, a highly modified Peacekeeper missile.
20:08One.
20:15Engineers were delighted with its performance.
20:18Launch infrastructure is being upgraded for the SLS, and there's increased activity in preparation for the first test of the big new rocket.
20:30There were celebrations as the core stage left the Michoud Assembly Facility.
20:45But it hasn't gone to Cape Canaveral. Not yet.
20:49It was taken by Bard to the Stennis Test Facility in Mississippi, where the stage will be powered up for a series of tests known as the Green Run Test Campaign.
21:02The date, or even the year, for the first launch has been put back a number of times, although it could be as early as 2020.
21:10NASA's exploration initiative received a jolt in 2019 when U.S. Vice President Pence, the chairman of the National Space Council, called for NASA's exploration initiative to be accelerated.
21:23It is the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return American astronauts to the moon within the next five years.
21:36And now has come the time for us to make the next giant leap and return American astronauts to the moon, establish a permanent base.
21:52There and develop the technologies to take American astronauts to Mars and beyond.
22:06The existing plan had called for a moon landing no earlier than 2028.
22:11The month after the vice president's speech, NASA announced the Artemis program, Artemis being the sister of Apollo.
22:22Late in 2019, companies were called to tender for a lunar lander and for a lunar space station known as the Lunar Gateway.
22:35The timeline calls for Artemis 1, an uncrewed Orion craft, to enter a series of looping orbits of the moon in 2020.
22:43Astronauts are in training for Artemis 2 due to launch in 2022.
22:53The current proposal will see a crew of four sent to a retrograde orbit of the moon in a flight that could last as long as 21 days.
23:04The powerful exploration upper stage will not be ready for this flight and its proposed trajectory has been modified to accommodate the limited capacity of the interim cryogenic upper stage.
23:19During this time, the Artemis plan calls for commercial launch services to make a series of uncrewed flights to position elements of the lunar gateway and lunar lander in orbit around the moon.
23:34A contract has been signed with Maxar Technologies for a power and propulsion element.
23:41Some see this phase of the Artemis program as a weak link because the US Congress has been reluctant to authorize additional funds.
23:50There are no concrete blueprints for a lunar lander yet, and some have suggested that the 2024 deadline is being pushed too enthusiastically.
24:05Artemis 3 will see a male and a female astronaut land near the lunar South Pole, where ice exists within permanently shaded craters.
24:17Long-term goals for NASA's space exploration initiative include the development of technologies that will enable a landing on the surface of Mars.
24:30Finally, a different form of spacecraft will soon be taking passengers.
24:42Virgin Galactic will start taking paying customers to space in 2020.
24:50Everything about the company's spaceships, enterprise and unity is reusable, and Virgin is building two additional spacecraft.
25:02Passengers will experience weightlessness for about six minutes.
25:05Virgin is also entering the satellite business with a launcher service using a 747 called Cosmic Girl, acting as an air launch mothership.
25:20The
25:41And
25:42Transcription by CastingWords
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