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The United States, the former "space hegemon", is likely to become a joke!
American astronauts: Butch and Suni
On June 5, after the United States went to great lengths to send two "aunt and uncle" astronauts into space, what they did not expect was that it was easy to send them, but it became a big problem to return to the earth.
The two unlucky astronauts are 61-year-old Butch (male) and 58-year-old Suni (female), who were about to retire, but were selected by NASA and were "pitted" fiercely.
NASA Administrator - Bill Nelson
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which was originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 14, has been repeatedly postponed due to sudden failures.
The most important thing is that the United States did not prepare too much food for this mission, so the two astronauts are likely to be at risk of starvation.
Cornered, or starved to death?
In fact, this is the first time that the American Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft has carried out a layoff test flight mission, in fact, the American Boeing Company has been committed to the development of the starliner many years ago.
However, in the process of its research and development, it has repeatedly failed, and on December 20, 2019, the unmanned first mission of the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft ended in failure due to a series of technical reasons.
However, Boeing did not abandon its research and development in the field of Starliner spacecraft, and on June 1, 2023, Boeing's planned first manned test mission had to be postponed again for technical reasons.
As a result, this push was pushed to 2024, in fact, in May this year, Boeing was preparing to carry out a manned test flight mission.
However, due to the discovery of a helium leak, the launch was finally successful on June 5 after five consecutive delays.
Perhaps the continuous malfunction problems before the test flight are warning the United States, but Boeing and NASA do not take this as the same thing.
Source: Global Times 2024-06-06 Report on "Boeing's 'Starliner' spacecraft was launched for the first time, and more helium leaks were found".
As a result, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) with multiple thruster failures and helium leaks.
In this way, two elderly American astronauts were trapped in space, and the most important thing is that because the test flight mission is only planned for about a week, the United States has not prepared too many living supplies for them.
It is reported that the food prepared by the United States for the two astronauts can only last for four months, and the fuel can only last for 45 days.
Up to now, more than half a month has passed since the original planned return date of June 14, but the United States has been delaying the final return time.
From the initial postponement to June 26, to July 6, and now the inability to give an exact date, this cannot help but make the outside world suspect that the two American astronauts are likely to be the first astronauts to starve to death.
It is estimated that these two astronauts did not expect that they would have to suffer such a ordeal when they were already "grandparents".
So why is the American Boeing company so eager to make a breakthrough in the field of "starliner" spacecraft?
So much so that under the obvious hidden dangers of the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft, it insisted on carrying out the first manned test flight mission.
In fact, this has a lot to do with the "pressure" of NASA and the long-term control of American aerospace.......
American astronautics, which is highly dependent on Russia
Since the U.S. Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, the U.S. has lost the ability to transport astronauts to and from the space station on its own.
Since then, American astronauts have had to rely on spacecraft from other countries if they want to travel to and from the space station and carry out corresponding space missions.
Due to the "Wolf Clause", it is impossible for China's manned spacecraft to be lent to the United States for use, so the United States has been "depending" on the relief of Russian spacecraft for many years.
The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with Russian and American astronauts on board
But there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if the United States wants to ride Russia's "free ride", it must pay a corresponding price.
According to relevant data, as of July 2019, NASA has purchased 70 seats on the Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft, paying a total of $3.9 billion to Russia.
In this context, NASA signed contracts with the US Space X and Boeing respectively, requiring them to build manned versions of the "Dragon" spacecraft and the "Starliner" manned spacecraft within a specified time.
After years of research and development and several failures, this was the first test flight of the Boeing "Starliner" that opened the eyes of the world.
At the beginning of this mission, many American media also said in a high-profile manner that they were finally going to get rid of their dependence on Russia, but it didn't take long for the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft to malfunction, which can be said to be a slap in the face.
The most critical thing is that after a joint inspection by two senior astronauts and many NASA experts on the ground, the United States is still unable to determine the cause of the failure.
Seeing that the spacecraft that was related to their lives was out of order, the two astronauts probably didn't have the heart to carry out the space mission, and just wanted to repair the spacecraft as soon as possible.
From the information available so far, it is known that the helium valve of the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft was broken, resulting in a helium leak.
Information source: CCTV Finance 2024-06-29 About "Boeing's 'Starliner' spacecraft has frequent failures, when will it return to Earth?" There is still no exact date".
You must know that in May, the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft postponed the launch time of the spacecraft because of this problem, and it is obvious that the United States has not completely solved this problem.
This led to the occurrence of helium leaks after the astronauts were sent into space, and it should be emphasized here that the helium leakage of the spacecraft is not a trivial matter, and for the astronauts it is even more serious than the sky falling.
The main function of helium in the spacecraft is to pressurize and deliver fuel to the spacecraft engine, so if there is a helium leak, it means that the ship's engine will be in a "strike" state.
The most important thing is that if the helium leakage problem has not been solved, and when the helium reserves of the spacecraft are exhausted, then the two American astronauts will really be "powerless to return"!
According to relevant US media reports, the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft had four helium leakage accidents during its arrival at the National Space Station, and the spacecraft's 28 thrusters had five failures.
From this, it is also possible to imagine what kind of thrilling journey these two elderly American astronauts have experienced, and they must not have imagined that they would become similar to the role of "guinea pigs" in the laboratory.
According to the latest news from CCTV Finance on June 29, the United States is still unable to clarify the final return date of the Boeing "Starliner" spacecraft.
In response, NASA and Boeing said they needed to conduct more testing to determine that the problem had indeed been resolved.
Otherwise, if the helium leak occurs again on the return journey, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft and the two astronauts are likely to face a devastating blow.
In fact, as far as the current situation is concerned, the safest way is for the United States to ask China for help and pick up the two astronauts through our manned spacecraft.
Because Russia's Soyuz has also failed, and the American "Dragon" spacecraft has no spare space, only China has the ability to help the United States at the moment.
However, the "Wolf Clause" promulgated by the US government in 2011 explicitly prohibits NASA from any technical exchanges and cooperation with China.
However, even without the "Wolf Clause", the United States is not necessarily willing to bow to the mainland for help.
But it's worth mentioning that time is really running out for the United States!
If NASA and Boeing had never been able to find the exact cause of the helium leak, what choice would the United States have made in the face of astronauts' lives and national dignity? Let's wait and see!
Key Sources:
1. The original article was published in the Global Times on June 6, 2024 on "Boeing's 'Starliner' spacecraft launched for the first manned launch, and more helium leaks were found".
2. The original article was published on Huanqiu.com on June 22, 2024 on "Foreign media: In order to have time to review technical issues, the return time of the Boeing 'Starliner' spacecraft to Earth has been postponed again".
3. The original article was published on CCTV Finance and Economics on June 29, 2024 about "Boeing's 'Starliner' spacecraft has frequent failures, when will it return to Earth?" There is still no exact date".