Artist’s concept of a SpaceX Crew Dragon on final approach to the International Space Station.
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Restoring human spaceflight launch capabilities for the USA is a major effort being managed by NASA-direct flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station (ISS) will enable United States crews to devote more of their valuable time to research-these projects are involved in formulating the necessary steps for deep space missions, including a U.S. journey mission to Mars. A study published at Scientific Reports by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute – and funded by NASA’s Human Research Program – found it wasn’t yet possible to determine if the cosmic ray radiation affects astronauts.
This is the fourth and final guaranteed order NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts.
While Boeing received the first order, what company flies the first post-certification mission has yet to be determined.
She added that the systems are also meant to provide lifeboat service to the space station’s crew for up to seven months.
SpaceX was able to meet NASA’s standards for the latest award thanks to its Crew Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9 rocket, and related ground systems.
SpaceX will now handle two rotations of astronauts from the International Space Station, NASA announced Friday.
The contracts within CCtCap are made more than two years before the mission launch to give commercial space companies ample time to build, manufacture and even test their capsules.
Boeing already said that their launch will be in 2018 but it looks like SpaceX can potentially launch by 2017 depending on NASA’s certification approval. They had to rely on the Russian space agency, Roscosmos to send their astronauts into space.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Megan McArthur are part of the worldwide crew of NEEMO-21 aquanauts performing research during the 16-day mission, which takes place about 60 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Aquarius habitat – the world’s only undersea science station. NASA has named four astronauts – Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley and Sunita Williams – as the first to fly in commercial crew capsules. Which spacecraft will fly first, is also undecided. NASA said SpaceX is now building four, Crew Dragon spacecraft for the agency, with two for the missions, and the other two intended for qualification testing. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO)’s 21st mission began last week, and the 16-day mission seems to be going swimmingly.
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And he’s sharing the experience on social media, just like he did while he was aboard the International Space Station. For now, they’re joined by NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (who is serving as commander of the mission) and research scientist Marc O’Griofa.
