Hayadan > The history recorded this week in space

The history recorded this week in space

An important moment in the history of the space age took place on Monday this week! The launch company SpaceX carried out the landing of the first stage of the Falcon-9 satellite launcher for the first time while launching satellites into orbit, with complete success and at the designated landing site in Cape Canaveral

The landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9 launcher from a special angle of view - the bottom of the launcher. Credit SpaceX

Writer: Yoav Landsman, owner of the blog critical mass, the article first appeared on the website andOn the Facebook page "Big Science in Little", is published with the approval of both parties.

For the benefit of those who are not into space affairs, let's start from the beginning: launch vehicles are the only way today to reach orbit around the Earth or to go farther to the Moon, the other planets and any destination other than the Earth. Until recently, all the launch companies were fully or partially owned by the government because they were originally established for security needs based on technology intended for weapons or for launching satellites for military use such as photography satellites - today, there are already privately owned alternatives for launching launches.

In the last two decades there has been an increasing demand for commercial satellites. Space presents entrepreneurs with commercial potential in areas where there is a clear advantage to height, speed, passing over any place on Earth or a combination of all three together. The fields are becoming more and more diverse with the technological development, and today you can find the use of satellites for the transfer of communication of any kind (Internet, TV, radio, telephony and information), mapping for planning cities and large-scale infrastructure, weather forecasting, scanning the ground to identify minerals for mining, locating and rescue, precise navigation, large-scale disaster management, agriculture and even archaeology. For numbers fans, the global space industry market has grown in the last decade from 60 in 2004 to over 200 billion dollars per year in 2014.

The dispatch services give the possibility of dispatching loads of several tons to different routes in exchange for 10-20 thousand dollars per kilogram of cargo (depending on the company and mainly on the requested route). So if the mass of an average satellite was 4 tons, then the launch price was about 60 million dollars before insurance costs.

The market did not remain indifferent, and the development of computing technologies and tiny electronics today makes it possible to design small satellites that weigh less and are therefore cheaper to launch. The launch companies adjust themselves and allow the launch of several small satellites instead of one large satellite, or in addition to it. But still, the launch costs overwhelm small companies that cannot afford such expenses.

SpaceX is the first private company that dared to enter the field with the clear intention of lowering the prices of space launches. Their vision is very far-reaching - to turn humanity into a multi-planetary society by populating Mars. For this, it will be necessary to launch a lot of large payloads into space, and the way to achieve this is to lower the launch prices. The company proved that in fact there is no real justification for the launch costs and that considerable percentages of it can be cut even before deep technological changes. For this purpose they also developed new engines and original avionics systems and in fact all the development and production is theirs with the exception of a few components here and there. They started launching satellites in 2010, and even received a large contract from NASA to launch supplies to the International Space Station using the "Dragon" spacecraft, developed by SpaceX for this purpose. Their entry into the launch market was so successful that the amount of orders made them one of the largest rocket manufacturing companies in the world.

The next step in lowering launch costs is reusing the launcher stages. The launch cost comes from the need to produce a new launcher for each launch, so it's no wonder that the business is insanely expensive. After all, if it was necessary to produce a new plane for every flight between countries, a plane ticket would cost us millions of dollars. According to SpaceX, the production cost of the first stage of the Falcon-9 is about 60 million dollars, so the launch price should at least cover this cost. The fuel cost of the first stage is only $200 (300 times less!), so if it were possible to return the first stage to the launch site, mount a second stage and the satellites on it, and refuel it, it would be possible to reduce the launch price by approximately 100 times the price Current!

Designing a first stage system that returns to land requires an aileron system, gas for steering, and landing legs. In addition, it must contain enough fuel to lift the second stage and its payload most of the way to orbit, and also to slow down the high speed it has gained and to reduce the speed of the fall to the ground, because otherwise it will crash. These factors come at the expense of the mass of cargo that goes up to orbit, but it is quite clear that it is worth the effort.

SpaceX is also working on returning the second stage, where there is a greater challenge of returning from orbit and dealing with the heat upon entering the atmosphere.

2015 was supposed to be a special year for SpaceX. A launch almost every month, a first test for the new Falcon-Heaved launcher, which actually consists of three Falcon-9 first stages side by side, and tests to land the first stage safely on a robotic landing pad that was developed for this purpose, with good chances of success during the year.

Then - after 18 successful launches (a streak unmatched by new launchers), on June 28, 2015 the Falcon-9 launcher failed and exploded about 138 seconds after launch as a result of the collapse of a reinforcing rod that held the helium tank installed inside the rocket's second stage oxidizer tank. The rod collapsed at a fifth of the load it was designed for, so the failure is likely due to a defect in the production and quality control of the component. SpaceX entered a six-month suspension of launches for the purpose of investigation, learning lessons and applying them.

In October, a launch was finally announced from Cape Canaveral, Florida, about six months after the failure. You would expect a normal company to make a launch that is as identical as possible to the failed launch to prove that everything is back to normal and you can continue, but SpaceX is not a normal company. The planned launch was bought by the communications company Orbcomm and the payload is 11 satellites designed for low orbit. So far it sounds normal, but in addition it turned out to be an "improved" Falcon-9, with an elongated second stage with an engine that is capable of generating stronger thrust, and is fueled by fuels that are cooled to much lower temperatures than usual, so that more of them can be compressed into the tanks. In total, it is estimated that the performance will be improved by 30%, to allow even in more powerful launches (for example to high orbits), to save enough fuel for the return of the first stage.

On top of all this, the icing on the cake is added: the launch will include another landing attempt, this time on land. Many months ago SpaceX obtained a landing site called Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) in Cape Canaveral, where large concrete landing pads were placed.

The launch was successfully carried out early this morning, 22/12/2015 03:29 Israel time, and everything that happened from that moment (and actually a bit before it) is completely autonomous, without human intervention. The first stage separated about two and a half minutes later at an altitude of about 80 km and a speed of 6,000 km/h. The second stage started the engine and continued to climb and gain speed to enter orbit, while moving away from the first stage.

The first stage continued to gain altitude due to its high speed, and began to rotate using small gas engines to turn the main engines in the direction opposite to its horizontal speed. Around 3:50 minutes after launch, three of the first stage engines were activated again to slow its flight speed and bring it back over the landing site.

At the height peak stage, about 210 km above the water in front of Cape Canaveral, the first stage began with a free fall, which is stabilized in the thin air of the atmosphere by means of four grid fins (Grid Fins) in the upper part. The launcher directs itself precisely towards the landing site, but accelerates downwards due to gravity. At an altitude of approximately 72 km, the three engines were activated again to slow down the speed of the fall. The engines were turned off again at an altitude of about 40 km. About 30 seconds before touching the ground, the engines were turned on for the last time, allowing the spectators to see the stage despite the darkness. The fins guided the launcher over the intended landing site, just above the X in its center. Seconds before touching the ground, the landing legs were deployed, absorbing and restraining the force of the impact on the concrete surface, after which the engines were turned off.

What happened in the following minutes is joyous cheers and excitement from all SpaceX employees and all space enthusiasts in the entire world. And not for nothing. The event is a huge milestone on humanity's path to space. no less than that.

The methods of launching into space remained fixed for decades. Most of the launches are carried out on leftovers from the Cold War. The industry is too traditional and does not like changes even though the market demands change and need change. This is the face of the "New Space", and the technological development in the fields of computing, electronics, and optics cannot tolerate being stepped on instead of other fields. A significant reduction in launch prices will make space accessible even for small companies, and at the same time for people who are not on the list of the richest.

The day is still far away when we can find a promising job on Mars and immigrate there, but you know what? It is not necessarily over the horizon. Even if we can't do it, there's a good chance we'll see others get there. There is something to look forward to, and this is not a common feeling at this time.

to report the with the BBC: http://goo.gl/rmpdlB

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