The price of failures in the world space program
Space exploration is quite an expensive affair. Astronomical means are spent on work in this direction. The penetration into space brought humanity to a new level of planetary consciousness. Everyone is well aware that space is a unique research laboratory, where it is possible to create materials with exceptional properties. Without exaggeration, it can be argued that the cosmos is the field of distribution of humanity (posthumanity).
All countries are interested in space exploration for the benefit of their state. But the costs do not always pay off: a large number of errors and miscalculations do not allow to achieve the planned results. No one is immune from catastrophe, but a lost human life cannot be valued.
Since the time of the first man’s flight into space, the main directions have been formed in which scientists, designers, specialists of various fields, and even lawyers work.
Mankind has acquired not only knowledge about the universe, but also received the result of their work. Thanks to photographs taken with the help of satellites, the knowledge of the Earth has been expanded, and the environment is constantly monitored, including the impact of industrial enterprises on it. The satellites made it possible to form telecommunications (television, Internet, telephone) available in every corner of the world. Space technology is used by airplanes, cars, ships and tourists.
The beginning of the 21 century can be considered the date of birth of space tourism. It is planned that a time will soon come when 7 thousands of space tourists will be able to visit space annually (the estimated price of a single person’s flight will be 200 thousand dollars). And the way to space will be opened by already designed reusable ships. Even the project of a space elevator is not now a fantasy. As well as the plans for terrahoming of planets (surface rebuilding), including the creation of the atmosphere, the ozone layer, soil, water bodies.
How much do cosmic failures cost? And which countries have entered the fight for space exploration?
Japan has already launched five spy satellites from its cosmodrome on Tanegashima Island. The government of the country declares to the world community that the satellites collect defense and diplomatic information. On the spacecraft, high-precision equipment is installed, which allows to obtain clear images from orbit. The average satellite operation time is about five years.
A failed attempt in 2003 to put two satellites into orbit that were planned to be used to monitor North Korea cost the Japanese budget $ 78 million. Another Japanese satellite launched in 2003 due to a breakdown in electrical equipment ceased to function in the 2007 year.
With the help of Japanese H2A rockets, not only the satellites of the land of the rising sun, but also the apparatus of other states (for example, South Korean) are being brought into Earth orbit, which, according to Japanese experts, will increase the competitiveness of their technology and will reduce the cost of space exploration through commercial projects . The disadvantage of Tokyo’s space technology is the considerable cost of launching rockets, which is about $ 120 million per launch, which is more than 30% of the cost of launching rockets by other space powers.
In 2011, South Korea launched a launch vehicle that was unsuccessful. After launch, the carrier descended from the calculated orbit and burned down in the Earth’s atmosphere. Losses amounted to $ 85 million. Experts believe that the cause of the failure was errors in the mass calculations of the launch vehicle, which resulted in the lack of sufficient power to reach the near-earth orbit.
In order to reduce the cost of space exploration, South Korea has concluded a number of international cooperation agreements with other interested countries of the world: Japan, Ukraine.
At the dawn of space exploration, events such as a change in the flight path of a satellite were fairly frequent events. In 70, Americans made an attempt to knead an astronomical observatory equipped with the most advanced telescope and satellite-probe in Earth orbit. But the carrier disintegrated in dense layers of the earth's atmosphere. The cost of the project, at that time, was huge - $ 98 million.
In the 1999 year, due to a mathematical error made by Lockheed Martin and NASA, the satellite, which was directed towards Mars, changed its trajectory and flew towards the Sun. The reason was that employees of the two organizations carried out calculations in different number systems. The cost of this failed project was $ 125 million.
In the 2011 year, when NASA attempted to launch a satellite, which was tasked with observing the Earth’s climate, the launch vehicle did not have a separation of the steps during the passage of dense layers of the atmosphere. The rocket together with the satellite fell in the Pacific. $ 124 million was spent on this launch.
The tragic page for all of humanity was the death of seven American astronauts in 1986. On the 73 second after launch, the launch vehicle exploded. It is believed that the cause was a malfunction of the equipment and low temperature. And although the launch cost about $ 5 billion, it’s impossible to measure the cost of lost lives.
In 2003, American astronauts returned to Earth after conducting research. To the general horror of the people watching the descent of the Columbia shuttle, the ship fell apart and burned down along with the researchers. In consequence, when clarifying the cause of the tragedy, it was found that the covering of the shuttle was slightly damaged at the start, which led to the catastrophe. Losses from this launch amounted to more than $ 13 billion.
It must be said that according to NASA experts, every launch of the American shuttle cost the American treasury at least $ 450 million.
The Russian space complex also has many problems in space exploration.
In 1967, due to the failure of the Soyuz-1 parachute system, Soviet cosmonaut V. Komarov was killed when returning to Earth. The reason was the political ambitions of the country's leadership, which demanded a cosmic event for May 1. The flight was not fulfilled, the tests of technology showed the presence of many problems and shortcomings. It can be said that tragedy was inevitable.
In July, the crew of three Soviet cosmonauts was killed on 1971. There was a depressurization of the descent vehicle at an altitude of 150 km. The researchers could survive if they were wearing space suits. But again, by order of the country's top leadership, instead of two astronauts, three were sent on a flight. Three spacesuits did not pass by weight and size, and they were abandoned, which did not give astronauts even a chance of survival.
When developing the docking of the Soyuz-10 spacecraft in 1971 year with the Salyut-1 orbital station, the astronauts could not go to the station due to malfunctions in the docking mechanism. The ship with the crew returned to Earth without completing the mission.
The launch of a Soviet launch vehicle with a lunar rover on board in 1970 ended in failure. The wreckage of the spacecraft is at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Losses amounted to $ 500 million
In the 2011 year, Russia attempted to send a Phobos-Grunt research device to the side of the Mars satellite. The main task of the probe was to deliver soil from Phobos to Earth. Scientists have suggested that the physical and chemical composition of the soil will allow us to learn better about the origin of the satellites of the planets of the solar system and the interaction of small space bodies with the solar wind. Due to problems during the launch of the launch vehicle into the Earth's orbit, the trajectory of the spacecraft failed. Experts failed to correct the situation and after two months Phobos-Grunt fell to the surface of the Earth. The cost of the failed project was $ 170 million.
In August, an attempt was made to take 2011 into the near-earth orbit of the Russian high-energy satellite Express-AM4. The main task of the satellite was to ensure sustainable digital broadcasting, data transmission, telephony, the Internet, video conferencing. Due to problems in the upper stage of the Proton launch vehicle, the satellite, despite the efforts of specialists, did not reach the calculated orbit. The reason was the negligence allowed by the employees of the space industry with the loss of control by Roskosmos. Losses amounted to $ 300 million. A similar situation was in 2009 year. Frequent failures with the launch of communication satellites into orbit markedly reduced the level of the orbital-frequency resource of the Russian communications complex.
Penetration into the secrets of space is a powerful incentive to accelerate scientific and technological progress, strengthen international cooperation in space exploration for the benefit of mankind. Gradually, research is changing the “earthly” orientation towards solving more global problems: energy production, the provision of raw materials, environmental improvement and the restoration of the natural environment. These tasks allow us to predict the development of space technology and technology for the future. Today, measures should be taken to eliminate the human factor and create conditions for joint work in the implementation of space exploration projects. Only under these conditions can mankind become a civilized and developed race within the Solar system.
Materials used:
http://www.vestifinance.ru/articles/15731
http://www.space.com.ua/gateway/news.nsf/NewsAnalitR/7A7E00DBF185738CC225797A003EC760
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