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As NASA addresses the coronavirus pandemic with the rest of the nation, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine urges and warns space enthusiasts to stay home next month during SpaceX’s historic first launch of astronauts.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other agency leaders made the public statement Thursday (April 23) during a one-hour video conference on the agency’s response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Bridenstine spoke frankly about the upcoming launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2, which will be NASA’s first mission to launch astronauts into space from the ground of the United States. USA Since the agency’s space shuttle program ended in 2011.
“Yes, we are making progress [with Demo-2]”Bridenstine said.” We are very excited about the launch of the commercial crew. “The mission, he added, will restore NASA access to the International Space Station aboard the US spacecraft, which” is an essential function of the mission. ”
But, Bridenstine said, the crowds of space fanatics who usually show up for such a launch should stay home because of coronavirus-related social distancing concerns.
“We are asking people to join us in this launch, but to do so from home. We are asking people not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center.”
Related: Coronavirus pandemic and space flight: full coverage
“We are trying to make sure we have access to the International Space Station without drawing the large number of crowds that we would normally have,” added Bridenstine.
SpaceX is one of two companies (Boeing is the other) with multi-million dollar NASA contracts to launch astronauts to the space station in a commercial spacecraft. Both companies conducted unmanned test flights in 2019, but SpaceX is the first to launch American astronauts into orbit on a rocket built in the US. USA From the soil of the USA USA Since the ferries were removed. The Demo-2 mission will launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the station.
With such a historic spaceflight, Bridenstine said NASA expects the crowds to be even bigger than an average launch if there were no ongoing pandemic. But despite that excitement, Bridenstine emphasized that people should “look from a place other than the Kennedy Space Center.”
The space center will actually be closed to the public during launch, so typical tickets will not be available, Bridenstine said. Local and state authorities will have to take their own measures for spectators who flock to nearby public roads and beaches for a launch, he added.
NASA is also taking precautions with its own workforce.
The agency is in “Stage 4” of its “response framework”. This means that all agency facilities are completely closed and all staff are working remotely, with the exception of mission critical staff whose work protects lives or is critical to maintaining infrastructure. NASA employees even control NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover from their home right now.
In addition to those steps, Bridenstine said, any NASA employee who feels uncomfortable working on the project may request to be reassigned to another position or role that he or she can perform at home without any compensation. However, he added, very few have applied for the reassignment as “this is a very exciting project and the NASA workforce is very excited.”
Persisting at NASA
With these measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, NASA continues to make progress on both scientific missions and spaceflight, as well as technological developments explicitly designed to combat the disease.
While NASA has had to suspend some scientific missions, Bridenstine said, the agency is still doing science with the data collected by probes already in space and is still planning to launch the Mars Perseverance rover in July.
“In fact, we are persevering and we are going to launch this robot to Mars,” Bridenstine said in response to a question from Space.com during Thursday’s briefing.
“We are very proud to meet the schedule,” added David Gallagher, associate director of strategic integration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Putting the robot in storage would be extremely expensive and they want to avoid postponing the mission, he said.
Address coronavirus head-on
In addition to changing mission timelines and working to ensure the safety of its personnel, NASA is also working to develop technologies that are used to treat patients with COVID-19.
NASA engineers approached the board and developed a unique COVID-19 specific ventilator that uses one-seventh of the parts for a multipurpose ventilator that would normally be used in an intensive care unit, Dr. JD, Medical Director and from NASA Health. Polk shared during the briefing. In addition, they are developing a CPAP (or continuous positive airway pressure) bell to treat patients who do not yet need ventilators, added Mike Buttigieg, an engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, who is working on the new Bell.
Both new technologies have been submitted to the FDA for emergency use authorization so they can go faster through tests and reach patients who need it faster, NASA officials said.
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