With the successful landing of SpaceX's manned Dragon spacecraft in the waters near Florida on March 18th Eastern Time, American astronauts Wilmore and Williams, who had worked overtime in space for over 9 months, finally returned safely to Earth. Although these two American astronauts had smiles on their faces when they left the spacecraft, for NASA, their forced extension of their space journey exposed too many issues that needed to be reflected upon and adjusted.
9-month 'Space Drift' Beginning and End
According to the review on the US "Space" website, Wilmore and Williams flew to the International Space Station on June 5, 2024, aboard the Boeing developed "StarCraft" spacecraft, carrying out the first manned test flight mission of the "StarCraft" for 8 days. For Boeing, the launch of the StarCraft spacecraft has been delayed by 7 years compared to the original plan, and due to equipment failure during its first unmanned test flight, it was unable to dock with the International Space Station. Therefore, this launch is crucial and directly affects the future fate of the spacecraft. After the arrival of the "Interstellar" spacecraft at the International Space Station, two American astronauts reported serious malfunctions such as helium leakage and attitude control engine failure during the spacecraft's arrival. They were even forced to switch to manual control when docking at the International Space Station, which ultimately led to successful docking. Even worse, NASA and Boeing have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the malfunction of the "StarCraft" spacecraft. Boeing Vice President and Commercial Manned Space Program Manager Mark Napi revealed that the engineering team has proposed "over 30 measures" related to propulsion issues and helium leaks, but has yet to come up with a convincing conclusion for NASA.
The original plan was for the "StarCraft" spacecraft to stay at the International Space Station for only 8 days before returning, but due to unresolved risks, NASA was forced to continuously postpone the return time of the "StarCraft" spacecraft. The International Space Station only has two dedicated docking ports that can accommodate manned spacecraft from the United States. At that time, the "StarCraft" spacecraft and the manned "Dragon" spacecraft carried by the Crew-8 mission team, which had already been working on the International Space Station, had already occupied two docking ports. This also means that a spacecraft must first disconnect from the International Space Station before the subsequent new spacecraft can dock.
Originally, NASA still hoped that Boeing could solve the problem of the "StarCraft" spacecraft and allow two astronauts to return to Earth aboard the spacecraft. At the same time, as an emergency measure, NASA It has been decided to postpone the return time of the crew from the Crew 8 mission group until the arrival of the new batch of Crew 9 astronauts aboard the manned "Dragon" spacecraft at the International Space Station (with the crew ultimately returning to Earth by the end of October 2024). But after Boeing admitted that "the hidden dangers of the spacecraft cannot be solved on the International Space Station," on August 24, 2024, NASA Announced the abandonment of the plan to use Boeing spacecraft for manned return, choosing to extend the space mission time of Wilmore and Williams and return together with the Crew 9 mission team on the manned "Dragon" spacecraft.
According to NASA's new plan, on September 7, 2024, the "StarCraft" spacecraft will land unmanned in New Mexico, USA. On September 28, 2024, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft carrying the Crew-9 mission group successfully took off. Due to the fact that the manned "Dragon" spacecraft can only carry four astronauts, Crew-9 The task force has also changed from 4 people to 2 people, leaving two seats to carry Wilmore and Williams when returning to Earth.
But after the Crew 9 mission arrived at the International Space Station, Wilmore and Williams could not immediately board the spacecraft back home. Instead, they needed to live and work with the two astronauts on board for six months, waiting for the manned "Dragon" spacecraft carrying out the Crew 10 mission to arrive in early 2025 before embarking on their journey home. NASA On December 17, 2024, it was announced that the manned "Dragon" spacecraft, originally scheduled to carry out the Crew-10 mission in February 2025, was newly constructed and required more time to complete the integration and testing of related equipment. Therefore, its launch time was postponed by one month and will need to be postponed until at least the end of March 2025 before it can be launched.
The news of Wilmore and Williams' 8-day 'short gap' turning into a long-term stay in space has become a hot topic on social media. After taking office in January 2025, US President Trump criticized the Biden administration for "abandoning" these two astronauts in space and demanded that SpaceX retrieve them from the International Space Station as soon as possible. Subsequently, SpaceX abandoned its plan to launch a brand new spacecraft and instead used a refurbished manned "Dragon" spacecraft to carry the Crew-10 mission group into orbit, advancing the launch time by about half a month.
On March 14, 2025, SpaceX The Falcon 9 carrier rocket successfully ignited, sending the manned Dragon spacecraft carrying the Crew 10 mission into its designated orbit. The spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station in the early morning of the 16th Eastern Time in the United States. On March 18th, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft carrying Wilmore, Williams, and the Crew-9 mission departed from the International Space Station and returned to Earth after 17 hours.
Facing physical and mental health risks
Due to the older age of Wilmore and Williams, their expected long stay in space has also raised concerns about their physical condition. On March 19th, the Australian Century newspaper reported that they were trapped in space for 286 days -278 days longer than expected. Wilmore and Williams are not the astronauts with the longest stay in space - this record belongs to Russian astronaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days on the "Peace" space station. But Williams and Wilmore hold the record for the longest planned extraspace flight among American astronauts. According to the report, NASA I am very familiar with the risks and hazards of space flight and have established aerospace medicine to partially address these issues. Long term space stays can first have direct effects on the human body, including blood clots and stasis, decreased bone density, indigestion, reduced nutrient absorption, musculoskeletal atrophy (muscle and bone loss), and reduced cardiovascular function due to reduced blood pumping in a weightless environment. Other effects include changes in the eyeball caused by fluid accumulation, and accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid around the skull area. Williams' apparent emaciation in photos taken from the International Space Station has caused widespread concern, but NASA insists that the physical condition of astronauts on the International Space Station is not a problem.
The Century Daily reported that the impact of weightlessness on fluid distribution can be alleviated by using a "compression cuff" (a fabric sleeve that compresses a certain area of the body) to relieve pain and swelling, but this cannot completely offset all negative effects. For musculoskeletal atrophy, treadmills and resistance exercises on the International Space Station can help maintain muscle and cardiovascular function.
The report acknowledges that prolonged exposure of astronauts to cosmic radiation is a "serious problem" that increases the risk of developing certain diseases in their future lives. Therefore, Wilmore and Williams will monitor their physical health for many years to come. After returning to Earth, they also need gentle physical therapy to restore muscle function and strength, as well as cardiovascular rehabilitation training. In the first few weeks after returning to Earth, it is common for astronauts to experience dizziness, decreased muscle function, and visual impairment, and even walking requires some practice
Another noteworthy issue is the psychological challenge faced by Williams and Wilmore, "They stayed in space for such a long time beyond expectations, had to live with others in the narrow International Space Station, lacked privacy, and were separated from their families for a long time, which could lead to psychological problems or mental illnesses
The emergency mechanism urgently needs to be improved
Pang Zhihao, the chief science communication expert of national space exploration technology, stated in an interview with Global Times on the 19th that the incident of NASA retrieving stranded American astronauts from the International Space Station has left many lessons that are worth summarizing and learning from. For example, at the technical level, the Boeing "StarCraft" spacecraft has repeatedly exposed technical defects since its maiden flight in 2019, such as design flaws in the propulsion system. However, Boeing compressed the testing process to reduce costs and ignored safety hazards, ultimately leading to frequent malfunctions.
Pang Zhihao stated that the technical compatibility of different spacecraft is also very important. NASA When using SpaceX's manned "Dragon" spacecraft for rescue, due to incompatible cabin environments, Williams and Wilmore did not have SpaceX's dedicated spacesuits and could only be brought to the International Space Station by the manned "Dragon" spacecraft carrying the Crew 9 mission group. At the same time, the docking interface standards of the US module and the Russian module of the International Space Station are not unified, and US manned spacecraft cannot dock at the International Space Station through the docking interface of the Russian module. This indicates that compatibility issues between different spacecraft and equipment need to be considered in advance in space missions and unified standards need to be developed. Emergency mechanisms need to be improved at the management and decision-making levels. Pang Zhihao believes that due to NASA's passive decision-making in the event handling, they did not develop multiple alternative plans for spacecraft failures, and initially insisted on relying on Boeing spacecraft for return, resulting in prolonged astronaut stay time. This reflects the need to establish a sound emergency mechanism and develop various emergency plans in advance. At the same time, SpaceX undertakes too many tasks, which may lead to neglecting one and affecting the rescue progress. This indicates the need to plan tasks reasonably, allocate tasks based on the actual capabilities and resource status of each company or team, avoid excessive concentration of tasks, and ensure that all tasks are fully guaranteed.
According to Global Times reporters, China has accumulated a lot of experience in this area. During the orbital period of Chinese astronauts, there is one carrier rocket and one manned spacecraft on standby on the ground. If in danger, astronauts can be retrieved in a very short time. At the same time, China's Shenzhou manned spacecraft has the capability of autonomous emergency return. Once a serious malfunction that threatens the lives of astronauts occurs, the Shenzhou spacecraft has the ability to urgently evacuate the space station and return to Earth at any time.
In addition, excessive reliance on a single supplier should be avoided. NASA has signed contracts with both Boeing and SpaceX to diversify risks, which is the correct approach. Pang Zhihao believes that encouraging multiple aerospace companies and institutions to participate in competition and form a diversified industrial pattern can improve overall reliability and flexibility.ef work.
(Editer：admin)
