Tag: Commercial Crew

  • Boeing tests crew capsule escape system

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    WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, New Mexico — A Boeing Starliner crew capsule fired off a stand early Monday at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on a mile-high test flight to validate the spacecraft’s emergency escape thrusters. Only two of the ship’s three main parachutes deployed on descent, but Boeing officials do not expect…

  • Boeing, SpaceX readying for crew capsule abort tests

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    Boeing and SpaceX are readying for launch abort tests in the coming weeks to validate the crew escape systems for the new human-rated Starliner and Crew Dragon spaceships, now scheduled to begin ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station in the first half of next year. The abort tests are scheduled to begin as soon…

  • NASA likely to buy Soyuz seats, defer Japanese astronaut flight

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    File photo of a Soyuz spacecraft approaching the International Space Station for docking July 20, 2019. Credit: NASA With lingering uncertainly about when new commercial crew spaceships will be ready to launch humans, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Thursday the space agency will replace a Japanese astronaut with a U.S. space flier on the next…

  • Bridenstine says NASA not holding up commercial crew schedule

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    NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (left) visited SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on Oct. 10. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk and NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken (left to right) joined Bridenstine for a media availability in Hawthorne. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said this week the space agency is not unduly…

  • NASA names new chief of human space operations

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Doug Loverro speaks at the 2014 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight. Credit: ISPCS Douglas Loverro, a veteran manager with broad experience in national security space operations, has been selected by NASA to lead the agency’s human space flight programs. He takes over at a critical moment…

  • NASA chief says SpaceX properly focused on Crew Dragon

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    NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, center, speaks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, right, while viewing an “OctaWeb” for one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX’s California rocket factory Thursday, toured the sprawling facility with founder Elon Musk and told reporters he is optimistic the company will be ready…

  • Boeing reveals target dates for initial Starliner test flights

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    Boeing officials said Wednesday that the company is targeting Dec. 17 for the launch of the first unpiloted orbital test flight of the new Starliner crew capsule from Cape Canaveral on a week-long demonstration mission to the International Space Station, a precursor to a mission with astronauts next year. Meanwhile, engineers in the New Mexico…

  • Hardware arrives in Florida for Crew Dragon in-flight abort test

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Oct. 4 to correct reference to SuperDraco abort engines. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft for the in-flight abort test inside a processing facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASA/SpaceX Images taken inside SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral and released by NASA Thursday show the Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster assigned to an in-flight…

  • Boeing closing in on Starliner pad abort test

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    Boeing engineers in New Mexico are readying a Starliner spacecraft for a critical pad abort test this fall to demonstrate the capsule’s ability to escape an emergency on the launch pad before green-lighting the capsule to carry astronauts. Boeing has not announced a target date for the pad abort test, but final preparations are underway…

  • Spaceport survey finds little damage from Hurricane Dorian

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    The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is pictured during an aerial survey Thursday after Hurricane Dorian passed off Florida’s east coast. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston Launch facilities at Cape Canaveral were spared any significant damage as Hurricane Dorian churned northward off Florida’s east coast earlier this week, and employees at the spaceport resumed…