SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission reportedly lost control of Earth long before two independent astronauts left the Dragon crew capsule for the first spacewalk in history, according to a Reuters report.
The Polaris Dawn mission was launched on September 10, carrying a four-person crew, led by tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. The billionaire-funded mission, aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, reached an altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) above Earth, and set a new record for Earth-orbit apogee (farthest point reached away from the planet) for the crew. work. On September 12, Polaris Dawn became the first private mission to conduct space travel, with two astronauts, including Isaacman, stepping outside the SpaceX capsule for a historic moment that marked the beginning of a new space flight.
Things may have gone wrong inside the control room of the SpaceX mission. An unnamed source told Reuters that a power outage at the SpaceX facility in California caused a loss of ground control, meaning the mission control team was temporarily unable to command the spacecraft. Polaris Dawn crew members received training before they were launched into space, however, they are not professional astronauts.
“The lack of command and control is a big thing,” the unnamed source told Reuters. “The whole point of having a crew on the ground is to have the ability to respond quickly if something happens.”
Since SpaceX is a private company, this issue has not been reported publicly. Commercial space operators who want to launch or re-enter US borders need a license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure the safety of bystanders or nearby property on the ground, but the FAA is not responsible for the safety of people on board. private spaceship. That’s because a moratorium passed by Congress in 2004 temporarily prevented the FAA from issuing regulations to protect the safety of people in space for launch missions so as not to burden the nascent space industry.
NASA has been hiring SpaceX to transport its astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Dragon spacecraft—actually the same spacecraft that was used to launch the Polaris Dawn mission. SpaceX notified NASA of the loss of Earth control during the private mission, according to another unnamed source who spoke to Reuters. SpaceX has been a trusted partner of NASA for years, launching nine crew members to the orbital space station so far. In November, however, a NASA safety panel warned SpaceX to focus on crew safety on its commercial missions to the ISS as the company consolidates its spaceflight operations.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped billionaire space enthusiast Isaacman to lead NASA as the space agency’s new administrator, in a move that could push the private sector to become more involved in the national space program. I hope that by then, worker safety will be regulated at a legal level to prevent similar incidents from happening. Let’s hold our breath.
Source link