NASA announced Friday that it has placed a mission order for SpaceX to carry astronauts to the worldwide Space Station, after a recent order for Boeing to bring astronauts into space. NASA calls it a significant step toward expanding research opportunities aboard the ISS. The Boeing Company of Houston received its first crew mission order in May.
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Following their success at growing lettuce in space for the very first time (and then eating it), NASA’s global Space Station crew is moving on from salads to a garden.
“What comes with our assignment is a fair amount of responsibility because there will be a legacy of astronauts for years and years to come who will have to live with the decisions that we in the agency are making with Boeing and SpaceX now”, said Bob Behnken of he and his fellow Commercial Crew astronauts.
NASA has officially ordered its first commercial crew mission from private spaceflight company SpaceX. Since its end, NASA has had to rely on Russian spacecrafts to take its astronauts to space.
A standard commercial crew mission to the station will carry up to four NASA or NASA-sponsored crew members and about 220 pounds of pressurized cargo.
Boeing (BA), which was also awarded a contract with NASA a year ago, was given its first assignment in June. “We’re honored to be developing this capability for NASA and our country”, said SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell.
SpaceX’s crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, has advanced through several development and certification phases.
The deal is part of NASA’s effort to transition a few of its low-Earth orbit flights to less expensive commercial operators.
The California company is the second private firm to win a bid for one of four orders to take American astronauts to the worldwide Space Station aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft. But before they do, both companies will have to pass a stringent certification process for both their hardware and their astronauts, Tabatha Thomson, public affairs officer at Nasa, said.
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It remains to be seen which company will launch first.
