SpaceX has never flown a person into the space in its original crew-capable spacecraft called Crew Dragon. But now SpaceX is presenting its giant, the Starship. The Starship is built in Boca Chica which is a coastal village at the southeastern tip of Texas. The Starship aims at carrying giant crews into deep space. Seeing this happen, NASA’s administration is bristling.
This is occurring because the Crew Dragon which consists of an enclosure for carrying cargo and giant crew into space on top of a Falcon 9 rocket is still undergoing the final works and is well behind schedule. SpaceX awarded a NASA contract in 2014, said it would deliver an operational vehicle that astronauts could fly in by the end of 2017. In March, SpaceX finished one “without crew” mission to the International Space Station using the giant Starship. SpaceX planned to launch a crewed mission at the end of 2019. But when a Starship’s capsule collapsed during the engine testing in April, SpaceX and NASA took down the thought of first crewed mission.
The beginning of whole controversy
On 30th September, Elon Musk told CNN that the Starship would be equipped to carry astronauts into space in the next 3-4 months. But Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, told CNN that he was not satisfied.
Meanwhile, the Commercial Crew is years behind schedule. NASA hopes to see the same level of energy focused on the finances of the American taxpayer.
So, the major question is why is SpaceX building two ships? Why is SpaceX in an unrestricted tiff with the NASA administrators?
Starship is SpaceX’s response to a problem that began soon after NASA withdrew its space shuttle program, with its last flight in July 2011. At that time, NASA didn’t have any other spacecraft ready to ferry people and supplies into low Earth orbit where the International Space Station sits.
SpaceX says the enormous spacecraft, Starship is in its final phase and will be able to carry at least 100 tons or 90 metric tons of supplies into low Earth orbit. Besides transporting smaller loads, it is supposed to be capable of landing on the moon’s surface and return to Earth. SpaceX has also explained that the Starship will one day carry up to 100 people, though that number would mean cramped quarters.
