Tag: Commercial Crew
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SpaceX’s first rocket built for humans test-fired in Texas
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was test-fired Aug. 29 at the company’s test site in McGregor, Texas. The booster will launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX The Falcon 9 booster assigned to launch two NASA astronauts on an orbital test flight of…
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Boeing, SpaceX aim for more commercial crew test flights this fall
Technicians at Boeing’s satellite production facility in El Segundo, California, position a CST-100 Starliner inside an environmental test chamber for testing earlier this year. This specific Starliner vehicle will fly on Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, the first Starliner mission with astronauts on-board. Credit: Boeing Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule could take off in October on its…
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Spacewalkers help install new space station docking port
NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Nick Hague (out of view) helped install a new docking port on the International Space Station during a spacewalk Wednesday. Credit: NASA TV NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Drew Morgan completed a 6-hour, 32-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station Wednesday to help connect a newly-arrived docking port to the…
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Watch SpaceX Dragon launch pad escape system testing
A slide wire escape system has been undergoing tests at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in readiness for the first SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. The system could be used by astronauts and ground crews to evacuate the launch pad in an emergency and is…
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SpaceX points to leaky valve as culprit in Crew Dragon test accident
A prototype of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule completed a pad abort test at Cape Canaveral in May 2015. Credit: SpaceX Investigators believe a leak of propellant inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system led to the capsule’s explosion April 20 during a ground test at Cape Canaveral, and a senior SpaceX official said Monday that…
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NASA shakes up moon program management
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION File photo of Bill Gerstenmaier, the former head of NASA’s human spaceflight division. Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers In a major shakeup at NASA Headquarters, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday that Bill Gerstenmaier, the widely respected director of human spaceflight, has been replaced in the midst of an…
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Bigelow announces plans for private astronaut flights to space station
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (foreground) and Doug Hurley (background) train in a Crew Dragon simulator for their flight to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX/NASA Bigelow Space Operations says it will charge $52 million per seat to send private astronauts to the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon ferry ships, and has already paid “substantial…
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NASA unveils plans to commercialize low Earth orbit
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Roscosmos NASA unveiled an ambitious program Friday to commercialize low-Earth orbit, making way for product development and even advertising aboard the International Space Station, month-long visits by company astronauts starting as early as next year and use of a station docking port for…
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NASA says SpaceX readying Crew Dragon capsule for possible piloted test flight by end of year
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION File photo of Kathy Lueders, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz In parallel with an on-going failure investigation, SpaceX is readying downstream Crew Dragon spacecraft for flight in hopes that corrective actions can be implemented in time to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station…
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Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule completes major propulsion test
Boeing teams ran multiple tests on Starliner’s in-space maneuvering system and the spacecraft’s launch abort system on Thursday at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Credit: Boeing Boeing engineers have completed hotfire testing on a flight-like model of the Starliner crew capsule, clearing a major hurdle before a pad abort test and a…