NASA took another important step Friday in returning U.S. astronaut launches from U.S. soil with the order of a second post-certification mission from commercial provider SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human spaceflight launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research, which is helping prepare astronauts for deep space missions, including the Journey to Mars.
"The order of a second crew rotation
mission from SpaceX, paired with the two ordered from Boeing will help ensure
reliable access to the station on American spacecraft and rockets," said
Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. "These systems
will ensure reliable U.S. crew rotation services to the station, and will
serve as a lifeboat for the space station for up to seven months."
This is the fourth and final guaranteed
order NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability
(CCtCap) contracts. Boeing received its two orders in May
and December
of 2015, and SpaceX received its first order in November
2015. Both companies have started planning for, building and testing the
necessary hardware and assets to carry out their first flight tests, and
ultimately missions for the agency.
At a later time, NASA will identify which
company will fly the first post-certification mission to the space station.
Each provider’s contract includes a minimum of two and a maximum potential of
six missions.
SpaceX met the criteria for this latest
award after it successfully completed interim developmental milestones and
internal design reviews for its Crew Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9 rocket and
associated ground systems.
"We’re making great progress with Crew
Dragon, with qualification of our docking adapter and initial acceptance
testing of the pressure vessel qualification unit completed" said Gwynne
Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief operating officer. “We appreciate the
trust NASA has placed in SpaceX with the order of another crew mission and
look forward to flying astronauts from American soil next year."
SpaceX is building four Crew Dragon
spacecraft at its Hawthorne facility -- two for qualification testing and two
for flight tests next year. The company also is in the process of modifying
Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, from which the
company will launch future crewed missions to the space station.
A standard commercial crew mission to the
station will carry as many as four crew members and about 220 pounds of pressurized
cargo, and remain at the station for as long as 210 days, available as an
emergency lifeboat during that time.
“With the commercial crew vehicles from
Boeing and SpaceX, we will soon add a seventh crew member to space station
missions, which will significantly increase the amount of crew time to
conduct research,” said Julie Robinson, NASA’s International Space Station
chief scientist. “Given the number of investigations waiting for the crew to
be able to complete their research, having more crew members will enable NASA
and our partners to significantly increase the important research being done
every day for the benefit of all humanity.”
Orders under the CCtCap contracts are made
two to three years prior to actual mission dates in order to provide time for
each company to manufacture and assemble the launch vehicle and spacecraft.
Each company also must successfully complete a certification process before
NASA will give the final approval for flight.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manages the
CCtCap contracts and is working with each company to ensure commercial
transportation system designs and post-certification missions will meet the
agency’s safety requirements. Activities that follow the award of missions
include a series of mission-related reviews and approvals leading to launch.
The program also will be involved in all operational phases of missions.
For more information about NASA’s
Commercial Crew Program, visit:
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