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SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docks with ISS
SpaceX's Crew Dragon has completed the last leg of its historic first journey. The capsule docked with the International Space Station through a "soft capture" at 5:51AM Eastern, with astronauts aboard the ISS opening the hatch shortly after 8AM. There wasn't much to greet the ISS crew this time around, as the test flight only included 400lbs of supplies and the human-shaped Ripley test device. Still, it's an important moment in NASA's Commercial Crew Program -- an American capsule has docked in orbit.
NASA announces astronauts for first Commercial Crew missions
Today, NASA announced the astronaut selection for the first Commercial Crew flights, which will finally restore the ability to launch astronauts from American soil. Boeing's first test flight, which is scheduled for mid-2019, will have Eric Boe, social media-savvy astronaut Chris Ferguson and rookie Nicole Aunapu Mann on board. SpaceX's inaugural Crew Dragon voyage, called Demo-2 and targeting April 2019, will have Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board.
Boeing delays first crewed spacecraft test to mid-2019
On a media phone call this week, John Mulholland, who oversees NASA's commercial crew program at Boeing, revised the dates for the first uncrewed and crewed tests of the Starliner capsule, according to Ars Technica. The uncrewed test will be sometime in late 2018. The crewed test won't take place until mid-2019. It was previously scheduled for the end of this year.
Boeing’s spacecraft faces even longer delays after propellant leak
The road to NASA's Commercial Crew -- restoring human spaceflight capabilities to the US -- has been bumpy, to say the least. And now, it appears that there has been another setback. Ars Technica uncovered a previously undisclosed issue that Boeing's spacecraft, the Starliner, suffered during a test of its launch abort engines.
NASA may extend ISS stays following crew vehicle delays
SpaceX and Boeing are both contracted to develop vehicles to carry US astronauts to and from low Earth orbit, a capability we've lacked since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011. However, these efforts have been plagued by constant delays, which has required NASA to get creative in figuring out how to continue normal space operations without an operational crew vehicle. Robert Lightfoot, the acting administrator of NASA, has suggested a new option: longer stays on the ISS for US astronauts.
SpaceX and Boeing inch closer toward crewed space missions
NASA's Commercial Crew Program is making "significant progress" according to the space agency, which has outlined upcoming missions for both Boeing and SpaceX. The race between the two companies to be the first to provide commercial transportation services in space appears to be neck-and-neck. Boeing has a crewless orbital flight test scheduled for August this year, while SpaceX plans to complete a crewless flight to the International Space Station in the same month. Crewed missions are then slated to take place in November and December, respectively.
The new space race is postponed until 2018
Aboard the International Space Station, an A4-size flag of the United States hangs next to a 1:100 model of a space shuttle. The memento, placed there by the last crew to fly on shuttle Atlantis, is meant to be retrieved by the next batch of astronauts that launches on a US spacecraft. NASA had hoped to reach that goal in 2017 after awarding Boeing and SpaceX billion-dollar contracts under the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). However, the road back to manned missions is paved with thorns and technical challenges. We certainly won't see any astronauts ferried to Low Earth Orbit before the year ends, but both companies believe that 2018 is the year that flag will be returned to Earth.
