NASA hasofficially orderedits first crew mission to the International Space Station ( ISS ) from Elon Musk ’s California - based company SpaceX. The launch is scheduled for an as yet unconfirmed particular date in former 2017 , and will vie with Boeing for the first launch from American soil since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 .
SpaceX and Boeing have meet billion of dollars to develop man spacecraft – known asCrew Dragonand theCST-100 Starlinerrespectively – as part of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability ( CCtCap)program . Boeing received its own prescribed society for a crewed launching back inMay this class , but it remains unreadable which spacecraft will have the honor of launching first . These are the first two of four manned crew launch to be order by NASA , although it ’s potential there will be more .
" It ’s really exciting to see SpaceX and Boeing with hardware in flow for their first gang rotary motion missions , " said Kathy Lueders , director of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , in astatement . " It is important to have at least two salubrious and robust potentiality from U.S. companies to render crew and vital scientific experiments from American soil to the space post throughout its lifespan . "
Although Dragon is capable of taking seven crew to orbit , this inaugural mission will see just four spaceman set in motion – maybe the four that were selectedearlier this year . Both Crew Dragon and Starliner will stay docked at the ISS for about 210 24-hour interval , taking spaceman into place and back to Earth , and acting as an exigency escape capsule in the lag .
ikon credit : SpaceX will employ Launch Bad 39A at NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launches . SpaceX.
Crew Dragon and Starliner are both capsules , not too dissimilar to the Apollo spacecraft of the 1960s and seventies . But whereas those historical ballistic capsule landed with the use of parachute , Dragon will tinge down using thrusters for a “ soft landing ” on the ground . Starliner will still use parachutes to put down .
The CCtCap program is an movement by NASA to outsource missions to moo Earth electron orbit to private company , as the agency sets its flock on the loftier destination of gettinghumans to Marswith its Orion capsule and Space Launch System ( SLS ) rocket .
" The authority to go with Dragon ’s first useable crew commission is a significant milestone in the Commercial Crew Program and a heavy source of pridefulness for the entire SpaceX squad , " said Gwynne Shotwell , President of the United States and chief operating officer of SpaceX , in the statement . “ When Crew Dragon takes NASA astronauts to the blank space station in 2017 , they will be riding in one of the safest , most dependable ballistic capsule ever flown . We ’re abide by to be developing this capability for NASA and our nation . ”
Returning manned launch to American grime has been a primal goal of current NASA decision maker Charlie Bolden . At the moment , only Russia ’s Soyuz spacecraft is capable of necessitate human beings to the ISS , something that has cause some unease at NASA in the past . But that will be all set to shift from 2017 . The ISS is carry to stay on operational until at least 2024 , with the possible action of a in camera - go space place being launched at a previous engagement .
While no solid launching escort have been set , this late news is a substantial milestone in exert human race ’s uninterrupted presence in space , whichrecently surpassed15 years of non - stop occupation of the ISS .
