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Hello, friends!
00:00:01
5th June, 2024,
00:00:02
at 10:52 AM,
00:00:04
a Starliner spacecraft
was launched in America.
00:00:14
It was carrying two experienced
astronauts from NASA.
00:00:17
Commander Barry E. Wilmore
and Pilot Sunita Williams,
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they were going on a small trip
to the International Space Station.
00:00:25
The spacecraft they
were travelling in,
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Starliner is a bit special.
00:00:30
It was built by a
private company,
00:00:32
Boeing.
00:00:32
The same company
that makes aeroplanes
00:00:34
and recently, many of
those aeroplanes crashed.
00:00:39
This Starliner spacecraft
00:00:40
is still in the
developing stage.
00:00:42
And this particular mission
00:00:43
was the last step to test the
capabilities of the Boeing Starliner.
00:00:48
That's why this mission
was literally named
00:00:50
Boeing Crew Flight Test.
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The next day, after 27 hours,
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at 1:34 PM,
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this spacecraft begins docking
at the International Space Station.
00:01:04
It was a successful docking.
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And after some time,
both the astronauts happily
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enter the Space Station.
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Look at this video.
00:01:12
Pilot Sunita Williams was
so excited while entering.
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This successful
docking meant that
00:01:18
Boeing became the world's
second private company
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to make and fly a
human orbital spacecraft.
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Before this, only
SpaceX had done this.
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To date, only 3 countries
have been able to do this.
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Russia, the USA, and China.
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But the celebration
for this good news
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could not last long.
00:01:35
This Starliner mission was
supposed to last only 8 days.
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These astronauts had to
return to Earth after 8 days.
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But today, even after 3 months,
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both these astronauts
are stuck in space.
00:01:48
There are many problems
with this spacecraft
00:01:50
because of which it
cannot be used again.
00:01:52
According to NASA,
00:01:53
these astronauts will
remain there for 8 months.
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How did this failure happen?
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How much can we blame Boeing?
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Let's understand this situation
00:02:02
in this video.
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Before starting the video, it is
important to clear one thing here
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that though both of these
astronauts are stuck in space
00:02:17
they are not in
any kind of danger.
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The International Space Station is
more than 350 feet long end to end.
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It can accommodate many people.
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The living and working
space on the ISS,
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is bigger than a
6-bedroom house.
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There's space for 6
people to sleep on the ISS.
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There's enough food, water,
clothes, and oxygen supply system.
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There are two bathrooms,
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a gym, and a 360°
view bay window.
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Although it is
not a luxury hotel,
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it is a good place to stay
comfortably and survive.
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The ISS has its own
oxygen-generating system
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which generates oxygen
through the electrolysis of water.
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It also recycles oxygen.
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When we exhale,
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we release a high
quantity of carbon dioxide,
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as well as oxygen
to some extent.
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So, being able to
extract that oxygen
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recovering it and
using it again,
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it can do that.
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Similarly, there is an excellent
recycling system for water too.
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Urine is recycled
into drinking water.
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Apart from this, the
water recycling system
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can also capture
all traces of moisture
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that is released
as breath or sweat.
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And in terms of food,
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the ISS carries food
reserve for 6 months.
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And in every 5-6 months,
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the crew members on
the ISS keep rotating.
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Right now, the crew members
of Expedition 71 are in the ISS.
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The video you saw earlier
00:03:42
in which Sunita Williams
was excitedly entering the ISS,
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in that video, you can
see other astronauts
00:03:47
they are a part of
the Expedition 71,
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and were already
living in the ISS.
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These 4 astronauts
are from NASA,
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Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt,
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Jeanette Epps,
and Tracy C. Dyson.
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And 3 astronauts from the
Russian Space Agency Roscosmos,
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Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub,
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and Alexander Grebenkin.
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Typically, there are 6-7
people on these expeditions,
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and this number, Expedition 71,
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indicates that this is the
71st team of crew members
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that have gone to
the ISS on rotation.
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These expeditions have
been going on for 24 years.
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In the year 2000,
when the International
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Space Station
was first launched.
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Since then,
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the ISS hasn't been left empty
for extended periods of time.
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Someone or the
other has lived in it.
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The Expedition 71 will end
on 24th September 2024.
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And these astronauts
present in the ISS,
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will return to Earth.
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And they will be replaced by the
crew members of Expedition 72.
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And they can bring more
food for these two astronauts.
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For now, NASA has
said that Barry and Sunita,
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these two astronauts, are now
parts of Expeditions 71 and 72,
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And they are now
conducting research
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and experiments with
the other astronauts.
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It's not like these
two astronauts
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are stuck in space
and are getting bored
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with nothing else to do.
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Expedition 71 is currently
researching space botany.
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How flowers can
be grown in space.
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On space-caused fluid shifts.
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On algae-based
life support systems,
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as well as
neuro-degenerative diseases
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and therapies are being
researched at the ISS.
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Both Barry Wilmore and Sunita
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Williams are highly
experienced astronauts.
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Barry is 61 years old
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he had already spent 178 days
in space before this mission.
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Sunita Williams is an Indian-origin
astronaut like Kalpana Chawla
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although she was
born in America.
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She is 58 years old
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and before this mission, she
has been in space for 322 days.
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Before this, she was a part of
the Expeditions 14, 15, 32, and 33.
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She was also the
commander of Expedition 33,
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so you can see how
experienced she is.
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So, overall, these two astronauts
should not have any problem,
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because they'll have
food, water, and oxygen.
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Clothes were a
little problematic
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because they were carrying
clothes for only 8 days;
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they weren't
carrying many things.
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But to solve this,
NASA sent a shipment
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of their personal
belongings on 6th August.
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So, this was about
the astronauts.
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But now, let's talk about
the problematic part.
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This Starliner spacecraft.
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Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
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is an orbital spacecraft.
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Its name is Cruise Space
Transportation-100 Starliner.
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Also known as
CST-100 Spaceliner.
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After SpaceX, Boeing is
the only private company that
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has been able to launch an
orbital spacecraft to the ISS.
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Now, what does an
orbital spacecraft mean?
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Orbital spacecraft
is a spacecraft
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that are launched at
such high velocities
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that they can
reach Earth's orbit
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and then orbit around the Earth.
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It requires a speed of more
than 28,000 km per hour.
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On the other hand,
suborbital spacecrafts
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reach the edge of space but
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they cannot reach high
enough to orbit Earth.
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They reach the
orbit for a while,
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experience a little
weightlessness
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and then they come back down.
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The typical velocity of
a suborbital spacecraft
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is less than 7,000 km per hour.
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Clearly, building
an orbital spacecraft
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is much more difficult than
building a sub-orbital spacecraft.
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Especially an orbital spacecraft
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that can facilitate
humans travel.
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Apart from the private
companies SpaceX and Boeing,
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only 3 countries which have been
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able to make a human
orbital spacecraft.
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China, Russia, and the USA.
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And India is trying.
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Our Gaganyaan
mission will aim at this.
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Sending humans to space
in an orbital spacecraft.
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The first orbital test flight
will be in December this year.
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Although, it will be
an uncrewed flight.
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That is, there won't
be humans in it.
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For the first test, they
will seat a humanoid,
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named Vyomitra.
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Basically, they will test the
spacecraft using this doll.
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Because if we start
by sending humans
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and if a problem arises,
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it can be devastating.
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If we come back to NASA,
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they started their commercial
crew program in 2011
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according to which they can
collaborate with private companies.
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Many companies
bid for this program
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including Blue Origin,
Sierra Nevada and in 2014,
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SpaceX and Boeing were
selected for this program.
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The first SpaceX Crew-1 flight
was launched in November 2020,
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and it was a success.
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This was their spacecraft
named Crew Dragon.
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It looks very similar to
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft
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which looks like this.
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The crew module
can seat 7 people.
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There is a window
and a side hatch.
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You can see its interiors too.
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It shows a 5-person crew set-up.
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The noteworthy
elements are its thrusters.
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These help the spacecraft fly,
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and move in
different directions.
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These thrusters became
the root of the problem
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due to which these astronauts
are stuck in space right now.
00:08:47
Similar uncertainties and difficult
times can befall us at any time.
00:08:51
Especially now that there are so
many kinds of illnesses and diseases.
00:08:55
To keep ourselves
and our families
00:08:57
secured in the face
of such uncertainties,
00:08:59
we need to have
a health insurance.
00:09:02
Especially now that
the experts claim that
00:09:05
health insurance is
the need of the hour.
00:09:07
In India, medical
inflation has reached 14%.
00:09:10
According to 2021
Finance Commission Report,
00:09:12
70% of the
expenditure on health,
00:09:15
is borne out of pocket,
00:09:16
because of which
60 million Indians,
00:09:18
are pushed into
poverty each year.
00:09:21
Look at the National Insurance
Academy's 2023 report,
00:09:23
unveiled by IRDAI,
00:09:25
it shows that
00:09:26
73% of the Indian population
isn't covered by health insurance.
00:09:30
Since then, IRDAI has been
working towards its vision,
00:09:32
Insurance For All by 2047.
00:09:35
Having health insurance
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00:09:38
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00:09:40
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00:09:44
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00:09:46
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00:09:48
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00:09:51
Star Health is the first health
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00:09:53
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00:09:57
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00:09:59
They claim that 90% of the
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00:10:04
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00:10:06
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00:10:10
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00:10:13
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00:10:17
Here, let's thank Star Health
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00:10:19
and now, let's get
back to the topic.
00:10:21
The first launch date for Starliner
CST was set to 6th May 2024.
00:10:26
The launch of 5th June was
actually planned for 6th May.
00:10:29
But on 6th May, only 2
hours before the launch
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the countdown was stopped
due to a faulty pressure valve.
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The Atlas V rocket
00:10:38
to which this
spacecraft is attached,
00:10:39
had a faulty pressure valve.
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Then on 1st June,
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another attempt was made
00:10:44
but it was cancelled again
just 4 minutes before the launch.
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This time, instead of a human,
00:10:50
a computer abort system
was the one to cancel it.
00:11:01
And then on 5th June,
00:11:03
you'll find it hard to believe
that before this scheduled launch,
00:11:05
Boeing and NASA's engineers,
00:11:08
were trying to
manage a helium leak.
00:11:10
Helium is the main gas which
runs the propulsion system
00:11:13
and fires the
spacecraft's thrusters.
00:11:16
When this spacecraft attaches
to the International Space Station,
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and docks in it,
00:11:20
bringing it to the exact line,
00:11:22
docking, undocking,
00:11:23
these are done by the thrusters.
00:11:25
And to operate these thrusters,
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helium is needed.
00:11:28
NASA and Boeing
engineers said that
00:11:30
there was a helium leak
due to a defective seal.
00:11:33
But this leak was
not a big deal.
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It was manageable
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and wasn't supposed
to cause a big problem.
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This is why the launch
was postponed once again.
00:11:47
But a few hours
after the launch,
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two more leaks were discovered.
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When Starliner reaches
the space station,
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they discover a
fourth helium leak.
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After 4 leaks,
00:11:57
the Commercial Crew Program
Manager of Boeing finally admitted that
00:12:00
they don't know
what is the problem,
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and that they need to first
understand the root cause.
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This is not an isolated error,
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this is a major
systematic problem.
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Apart from this,
another problem arose
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hours before the
docking of the Starliner,
00:12:18
it was found that 5 out of the
28 thrusters on the Starliner
00:12:23
were not working properly.
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Seeing this happen,
Spacecraft Commander Barry
00:12:27
Wilmore had to manually
control the spacecraft.
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Working with the
engineers on the ground,
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he reset the thrusters
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and fired them again.
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4 out of 5 thrusters
start working again.
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And so, the Starliner
successfully docked at the ISS.
00:12:42
Steve Stich, the Commercial Crew
Program Manager at NASA says that
00:12:45
this failure was
due to a data issue.
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It had nothing to do with
the hardware of the thruster.
00:12:50
But because of
all these problems,
00:12:52
NASA had to face
several questions.
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Could the astronauts rely on the
00:12:56
Starliner spacecraft
to return to Earth?
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Considering the numerous leaks
00:13:01
and thrusters not
working properly.
00:13:04
After June 6, NASA and Boeing
00:13:06
conducted some hot fire
tests to check these thrusters.
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In these tests, they
noticed that these thrusters
00:13:11
were overheating and that is
why they weren't working properly.
00:13:14
They found that
due to direct sunlight
00:13:16
exposure on the capsule's
manual control system
00:13:18
there was substantial
overheating.
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When these thrusters were
tested again without sunlight,
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they were found to
be operating normally.
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But overall, the
engineers weren't sure
00:13:27
whether the overheating problem
would recur when the Starliner returns.
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This is why it was decided that
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the Starliner would return to
Earth without the astronauts
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and for now, those astronauts
would remain in the space station.
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Overall, this is good news that
00:13:42
NASA prioritised safety
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otherwise everyone was reminded
of the 2003 Challenger disaster
00:13:48
when Kalpana Chawla
00:13:49
was returning to Earth
00:13:51
and her spacecraft exploded.
00:13:56
I talked about it in detail in
the video on Kalpana Chawla,
00:13:59
about the exact
mistakes back then.
00:14:01
Here, NASA has decided to
00:14:02
bring Sunita Williams and
Barry Wilmore back to Earth
00:14:05
using SpaceX's Crew
Dragon spacecraft.
00:14:08
In February 2025,
00:14:10
when SpaceX's Crew-9
mission will go to the ISS,
00:14:14
In that mission, instead of 4
astronauts, only 2 will be sent.
00:14:17
So that these two
astronauts can return with it.
00:14:21
But because this can be
possible only in February next year,
00:14:23
so in total, these two astronauts
will spend almost 9 months in space.
00:14:28
NASA's Steve Stich
00:14:29
calls Starliner a very
capable spacecraft.
00:14:33
He believes that it is
not a bad spacecraft.
00:14:35
But the two Starliner
missions of before this,
00:14:38
when it was tested without
a crew, without humans,
00:14:42
one of those tests had failed.
00:14:44
The first Boeing
Starliner mission
00:14:46
was held on 20th December 2019
00:14:47
known as the
Orbital Flight Test.
00:14:49
There weren't any humans in it,
00:14:51
rather, it carried the
doll Rosie the Rocketeer.
00:14:53
Similar to the doll
that would be carried
00:14:55
by the Gaganyaan
in a few months.
00:14:56
The purpose of this mission
was to remain in space for 8 days,
00:15:00
dock at the International
Space Station,
00:15:01
and to return to Earth.
00:15:03
But this mission was
aborted just 2 days later.
00:15:05
Starliner could not dock at
the International Space Station.
00:15:09
And why could it not?
00:15:10
NASA and Boeing formed a
joint review team to investigate this
00:15:13
and this team gave about 80
recommendations to NASA and Boeing
00:15:16
to solve this problem.
00:15:18
Once again, the
reason behind this
00:15:19
was that Starliner's
thrusters could not fire on time
00:15:22
and so it could not
reach the right orbit.
00:15:25
The reason behind
this was found to be
00:15:26
the computer system's
miscalibration of timing.
00:15:29
Steve Stich had then said that
00:15:31
NASA could not provide
sufficient oversight to Boeing,
00:15:34
because of which there
were these software problems.
00:15:37
The second test was
conducted on 19th May, 2022.
00:15:39
Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2
00:15:41
and this time, it
was successful.
00:15:43
Rosie the Rocketeer
actually reached the ISS.
00:15:47
But even in that test,
00:15:48
there were some glitches.
00:15:49
Some thrusters weren't
operating properly.
00:15:52
The same problem
as this year's launch.
00:15:56
Interestingly, when
NASA awarded the
00:15:58
contracts to Boeing
and SpaceX in 2014,
00:16:01
the worth of
SpaceX's contract was
00:16:03
around $2.6 billion.
00:16:04
And Boeing's contract was worth,
00:16:06
$4.2 billion.
00:16:08
But today, SpaceX has
left Boeing so far behind that
00:16:11
it is soon going to attempt one
of the most riskiest missions.
00:16:15
The world's first private
spacewalk by an astronaut.
00:16:18
A 20-minute spacewalk
00:16:20
in which astronauts will take
a walk outside the spacecraft.
00:16:22
But Boeing's problems
are not limited to space.
00:16:25
Even as an airline company,
00:16:27
Boeing has been subjected to
criticism for the past few years.
00:16:30
This is caused by Boeing's new
737 MAX commercial aeroplane
00:16:33
and its deadly failures.
00:16:36
On 5th January of this year,
00:16:37
a Boeing 737 MAX
of the Alaska Airlines
00:16:41
took off for a normal flight
from Portland, USA to Ontario.
00:16:46
As soon as the plane reached
an altitude of 16,000 feet,
00:16:48
a door of the plane
completely broke apart.
00:16:52
This caused a huge hole
00:16:53
and led to rapid decompression.
00:16:55
People's phones, laptops, and
00:16:57
everything that was
light and not secured,
00:16:59
flew out of the plane.
00:17:01
Thankfully, since the passengers
were wearing seat belts,
00:17:04
no passenger fell
out of the plane.
00:17:07
They survived.
00:17:08
But a few days later,
during the Federal
00:17:10
Aviation Administration's
investigation,
00:17:11
the cause was discovered
to be loose hardware.
00:17:14
The bolts in the door
needed additional tightening.
00:17:18
Alaska Airlines
and United Airlines
00:17:20
grounded all their
737 MAX aeroplanes.
00:17:23
And in their investigations
it was found that
00:17:25
there were loose parts in
many Boeing aeroplanes.
00:17:28
Before this, in 2018,
00:17:30
there was a faulty
sensor in their plane,
00:17:32
due to which Lion Air Flight 610
00:17:35
crashed in Indonesia
shortly after the take-off.
00:17:38
All passengers and crew
members of the flight were killed.
00:17:40
After that, in 2019,
00:17:42
a similar incident happened with
the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
00:17:46
The plane crashed and
all passengers were killed.
00:17:49
It was revealed that the software
installed by Boeing in the plane
00:17:52
was a problematic software,
00:17:53
in some cases, it took away
the control from the pilots.
00:17:57
The plane crashed due
to the glitchy software
00:17:59
and though the pilots tried
their best to control the plane
00:18:01
but they were unsuccessful.
00:18:03
When this happened, all
the Boeing 737 MAX planes
00:18:07
were grounded for 20 months.
00:18:09
Their safety enhancements
were rechecked,
00:18:12
and only after December 2020,
00:18:14
did the plane
re-enter into service.
00:18:16
And now, in 2024, we are
seeing more and more problems.
00:18:20
Think about it.
00:18:21
There have been
many fake conspiracy
00:18:22
theories regarding
these plane crashes,
00:18:24
but in reality, no one except the
company can be blamed for those.
00:18:28
The CEO of Boeing
has stated that
00:18:30
he will step down
from his position,
00:18:33
by the end of this year.
00:18:34
This is an equally
important but separate issue.
00:18:37
The carelessness of
Boeing and their failures.
00:18:40
It has also been reported that
00:18:41
the whistleblower who was
about to testify against the company
00:18:44
d!ed under sudden and
mysterious circumstances.
00:18:46
Anyhow, that can
be a separate video,
00:18:50
but for now, let's
end this video here.
00:18:52
Star Health Insurance's link
is in the description below.
00:18:55
If you liked this video,
00:18:57
you can click here to watch
the video on Kalpana Chawla.
00:19:00
Thank you very much!
