Will Boeing's Starliner Catch Up With SpaceX's Dragon?
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| Crew Dragon vs Starliner |
Boeing and SpaceX both won the commercial crew contract. Even if Boeing got more funding than SpaceX, they couldn't successfully demonstrate their crew capsule.
This led to a lot of delays. Will Boeing's Starliner catch up with SpaceX's Dragon?
The lead Boeing lost
Elon Musk's SpaceX has made remarkable progress in its ability to fly its Dragon spacecraft.
The company's first three flight tests were a total success, with Dragon becoming the first spacecraft ever to bring up supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
Unfortunately, SpaceX has been delayed on their crew-carrying spacecraft. NASA's commercial crew contract called for Dragon and Boeing's Starliner to launch in 2017. But after the second-and third-stage rocket booster failures, SpaceX's Dragon will not be able to fly until 2019.
The risk to NASA Boeing on the other hand was given only two years to develop their crew capsule. Even if Boeing could complete their flights, they would not be able to develop new spacecraft after 2015.
What happened?
Starliner
Commercial Crew On December 1, 2011, President Obama announced the contract with Boeing and SpaceX to build a crewed capsule to deliver US astronauts to the International Space Station.
Boeing received $4.2 billion to build the spacecraft. The company had to demonstrate that its crew module (crewed spacecraft) would be safe and reliable for transporting humans.
SpaceX was also awarded a contract of $2.6 billion. SpaceX was allowed to build the Dragon capsule but had to prove that it would be able to carry astronauts into orbit.
The contract included a "capability agreement," which allowed Boeing and SpaceX to share resources and knowledge to develop their respective crewed spacecraft. They shared the cost of the extra cargo (the Orion) needed to launch Orion to space.
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| Crew Dragon |
How long will Boeing take to recover?
There were concerns that humans in space wouldn't be able to survive in the vacuum of space.
There was even some talk of orbital reentry gone wrong, but the answer is no. Reentry is going to be an evolution of the vehicle design and the environment that we are flying in now, Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, said.
So with reentry becoming a safer aspect of space tourism, how long will it take to recover? About 16 minutes after coming back into Earth's atmosphere, a spacecraft must recover its parachutes and its heat shield.
The ship will then float back down to the ground. How much training will it take to land a spacecraft?
Since the crash, SpaceX said they did a "rigorous" six-month and nine-month preparation and training for the landing.
So it is going to be pretty hard for Boeing to test these landings.
Conclusion
Overall, a great deal depends on the teams themselves. However, there are some indicators that could indicate where this industry is heading.
Elon Musk's company seems to have a high potential and focus on reliability. On the other hand, Boeing's Starliner might have an easier time getting approval from the US government.
` The reason Boeing slowed from the start is that they were a commercial Airline company. Space Exploration is just a small portion of their entire business, whereas SpaceX on the other hand went all-in on developing crew capsules.
Also, Boeing is targeting mid-2021 for their second orbital attempt, considering the first one didn't succeed.
SpaceX has already launched 3 successful missions to ISS and is preparing for the 4th mission
That said Boeing has a long way to catch up with SpaceX even if their 2nd attempt was successful.
To know more about Boeing's Starliner, click here
To know more about SpaceX's Dragon, click here
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