Earlier, Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to the United States. As you can see, the United States, as the world leader in space technology, also buys rocket engines from Russia, which means that the reliability, safety and relative affordability of Russian rocket engines are indeed high. It is understood that since the 1990s, the United States has bought a lot of rocket engines from Russia, and Russia has provided RD-180 engines for the American Cosmos-5 launch vehicle Russia. The American "Apollo 11" spacecraft has also used this rocket engine. However, because these rocket launch motives were all manufactured using Soviet technology, Russia did not carry out any maintenance and repair of these rocket engines. In the past 20 years, Russia, the United States, the United States has supplied 122 RD-180 engines, of which 98 have been put into service, and the United States currently has 24 RD-180 engines, but Russia will not provide technical maintenance for the remaining 24.
Now Russia says it wants to stop supplying these rocket engines. How much impact does this have on U.S. spaceflight? Those who do not understand U.S. spaceflight may think that with the shutdown of the RD-180 engine, the ability of the United States to launch into space may be affected. But if we think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that this statement of the United States is actually very one-sided. U.S. space technology has always been a leader in the world, and many remarkable achievements have been made in the past few decades. In fact, the United States also knows that relying on Russian engines is not a long-term solution, so it began to develop domestic engines to replace the RD-180 a few years ago, but its replacement has not yet been developed. Even so, shutting down the RD-180 engines may have little impact on U.S. space, as they still have 24 engines that can launch several large rockets that can last 3 to 5 years. Now, the U.S. has made progress on manned moon rockets, space carrier rockets are ready to launch some spacecraft, Musk said, he plans to land on Mars in 2029.
Huge American lunar rockets are ready
Anyone interested in spaceflight is likely to know that the United States plans to send humans back to the moon in 2024 through the Artemis program. But if that's the case, then it has to solve one question first — how can astronauts be guaranteed to be able to complete their mission safely? That includes whether astronauts can return to Earth with enough food, water, and other necessary items? In order to return to the moon, a new generation of rockets, space launch systems and a new generation of Orion spacecraft have been specially developed. However, due to various reasons, the manned moon may be postponed until after 2025. One of the reasons for the delay in sending humans back to the moon was the delay in the development of a space launch system.
Under the plan, the United States would fly Artemis 1 and 2 missions, followed by Artemis 3 missions, and then send humans back to the moon. Among them, Artemis 1 will launch an unmanned Orion spacecraft to fly around the moon; Artemis 2 will launch a manned Orion spacecraft to fly around the moon and return to Earth; Artemis 3 will launch a manned Orion spacecraft to land on the moon. NASA is currently planning the two projects in detail and has developed a series of related programs to ensure their successful implementation. The Almoudmis 1 mission is expected to be completed around 2020. The Artemis 1 mission was pushed this year due to delays in developing a space launch system, raising concerns, inter alia, about whether the United States would be able to return to the moon on time. But now NASA says the new new lunar rocket is ready.
According to data released by NASA, the United States will have 6 Mars probes flying from Earth to Mars in the next 10 years, including a Mars probe funded by NASA, the Orion spacecraft. Kennedy Space Center's iconic vehicle-mounted building The Orion spacecraft has been attached to the top of a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The ship, consisting of SpaceX and the Orion spacecraft, was first launched to the 39B launch center on March 17, 2022 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The "Wet Rehearsal" test is scheduled for April 1, 2022. During the test, scientists pump more than 700,000 gallons of propellant into the arrow boat on the launch pad, rehearse each stage of the launch countdown, and then discharge the propellant. If the test goes well, it will lay the groundwork for the first Artemis 1 mission. Of course, if something goes wrong in the test, this could delay the launch of Artemis 1.
In terms of progress, giant lunar rockets, space launch systems and new spacecraft are ready and waiting, meaning that unless an accident occurs, they may soon launch and orbit the moon. But the Americans don't think so: if they don't conduct lunar experiments, then they can't go to the moon; if the moon landing is successful, they will become one of the most powerful space forces in the world! Was it Russia's blockade of the RD-180 engine that led the United States to send humans back to the moon unaffected?
The space launch system's core stage rocket uses four RS-25 engines, which are the U.S. own engines, previously used in the space shuttle and now used in a new generation of lunar rockets. Of course, the role of the RD-180 engine is still very important, because it can provide sufficient thrust and stable and reliable combustion performance to meet the launch needs. Therefore, with or without the RD-180 engine, there will be no impact on the space launch system, that is, the return of the United States to the moon.
Musk: Mars in 2029
In fact, the United States has more rockets. For example, Space's Falcon 9 rocket. In addition, SpaceX is also developing a large rocket starship, which, according to Musk, consists of a two-stage booster "overweight" and a superior spaceship " Starship "Starship". SpaceX is 120 meters taller than the Saturn V rocket that carried out the Apollo lunar mission, with a payload of up to 300 tons. So, what's going on with being "overweight"? "Overweight" is to increase the thrust of the rocket, so that it can move at a faster speed. Why increase thrust? Because rockets need greater carrying capacity. How to increase? What is this concept? Two such rockets, large and small, would complete the launch of spacecraft large and small to the International Space Station.
The reason SpaceX is working on such a huge rocket is that Musk plans to build 1,000 Starship rockets, launch three Starship rockets a day, and eventually send 1 million people to Mars to build a Martian city on the surface of Mars by 2050. This may seem far-fetched, after all, even though it is difficult for humans to explore Mars through probes and astronauts have not yet been sent to Mars, Mr. Musk still believes that starships can meet the needs of Martian colonization. Asked when he would be able to land on Mars, Musk replied that according to a report dated March 17, 2022, humans will be on Mars in 2029. So, what kind of speed is best suited? This is a very interesting topic. Musk was asked the same question late last year, saying the fastest could be 5 years and the slowest could be 10 years.
Given the current 2050 situation, it may not be realistic to build a Martian city by 2050. However, if there is enough ability and technology to build a Martian city, it is completely fine! This is mainly because the current manned space shuttle can only fly around the Earth and cannot enter space; the moon does not have such conditions. Because the Starship rocket is not yet complete, not even the first flight can be seen, let alone three Starship rockets launched every day. But in the long run, with the advent of more powerful rockets and spacecraft, it may only be a matter of time before humans land and colonize Mars.