“It is incredible that now we’ve opened up a new chapter in the story of the International Space Station, putting the front door on this for future commercial vehicles”, Williams said.
Advertisement
“The adapter represents the first on-orbit element built to the docking measurements that are standardized for all the spacecraft builders across the world”, NASA states.
The two NASA astronauts installed the first of two worldwide docking adapters, or IDAs, which will enable the station to accommodate practically any aircraft and let new arrivals in, including new SpaceX and Boeing vehicles.
“Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human launch capability and increase the time US crews can dedicate to scientific research, which is helping prepare astronauts for deep space missions, including the journey to Mars”, NASA spokesman Mark Garcia said in a statement.
The new system will work with two upcoming private space vehicle projects: Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, with the first test flights expected as early as next year.
It’s an opportunity to gather new ideas from people/industry for future opportunities on the space station. Eventually, NASA hopes that low Earth orbit will become a hub of commercial activity, with enterprises operating in space independently of the ISS. Before it all began, the ground robotics team used the robotic arm of the space station to position the IDA in front of the Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 (PMA-2).
“With that, we have a new port of call”, NASA commentator Rob Navias said as the space station flew over Singapore at 10:40 am (1440 GMT).
Private space firms such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are making forays into commercial flights into the final frontier. The new addition will allow NASA to launch their astronauts through private aerospace manufacturers in the US, instead of through their long-time competitor, Russia.
The spacewalk commenced at 8:05 am ET (12:05 BST) and is planned to continue for six and a half hours whilst Rubens and Williams bolt the adapter into place. Up there for five months, Williams and two of the Russians will return to Earth in a couple weeks.
SpaceX is shooting for a test flight of its souped-up Dragon with two astronauts as early as a year from now.
Last month, the agency said in a blog post that commercial companies are always approaching NASA to use the ISS in new ways never imagined.
Once the IDA is moved into contact with the PMA, Williams and Rubins will hook up tethers. The main goal of today’s spacewalk was to install a vital new piece of machinery: an International Docking Adapter (IDA). Williams will conduct one more spacewalk with Rubins on September 1 to retract a radiator.
Advertisement
Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies, which also work with NASA, declined to comment.
