Tag: Commercial Crew

  • Record numbers apply to become a NASA astronaut

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    NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren aboard the International Space Station last year. Credit: NASA A record number of would-be space travelers have applied to join NASA’s corps of astronauts to fly aboard the International Space Station, the Orion crew capsule, or commercial spaceships built by Boeing and SpaceX, the space agency announced Friday. NASA said more…

  • Dragon crew capsule’s propulsive landing system tested

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    SpaceX released a video Thursday showing a propulsive hover test of a prototype of the company’s Dragon crew capsule conducted two months ago, a milestone in the development of the spaceship’s jetpacks that will eventually guide the craft to helicopter-like landings. The five-second firing of the Dragon’s eight SuperDraco rocket thrusters occurred Nov. 24 at…

  • Bridging the past and future on the shoulders of the Atlas rocket

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    Two generations of manned Atlas rockets. Launch of John Glenn (left) and concept of Starliner (right). Credit: NASA and Boeing CAPE CANAVERAL — On top of an Atlas rocket, the place where orbital spaceflight for American astronauts began, will sit Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to launch humans into space starting next year. It was Feb. 20,…

  • Aerojet Rocketdyne wins propulsion contracts worth nearly $1.4 billion

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    An RS-25 engine fires on the test stand in Mississippi in August as part of a series of test burns to check out the engine’s new electronics controller. Credit: NASA NASA and Boeing have awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne widely-anticipated contracts to restart the production of simplified shuttle-era rocket engines for the heavy-lift Space Launch System and…

  • SpaceX receives firm order for its first crew flight

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    Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX Fresh off a major design review, SpaceX’s human-rated Dragon spaceship has received the first of up to six firm mission orders from NASA under the company’s $2.6 billion commercial crew contract. The structure of the commercial crew deals with SpaceX and Boeing give each company at…

  • Boeing identifies CST-100 prime landing sites

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    Artist’s concept of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner landing on airbags. Credit: Boeing The first few flights of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule will likely land on expansive desert plains in New Mexico or Utah, according to a former astronaut charged with developing the spacecraft’s operations scheme. Boeing is still finalizing a list of five candidate…

  • Build-up of crew access tower begins at Atlas 5 pad

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    The first tier of the Atlas 5’s crew access tower was transferred to the launch pad Sept. 9 and hoisted into position Tuesday. Credit: NASA/Dmitrios Gerondidakis A new fixture on the Cape Canaveral skyline began rising Tuesday, with the placement of the first of seven segments for a 200-foot-tall crew access tower at the Atlas…

  • Build-up of crew access tower begins at Atlas 5 pad

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    The first tier of the Atlas 5’s crew access tower was transferred to the launch pad Sept. 9 and hoisted into position Tuesday. Credit: NASA/Dmitrios Gerondidakis A new fixture on the Cape Canaveral skyline began rising Tuesday, with the placement of the first of seven segments for a 200-foot-tall crew access tower at the Atlas…

  • Enter the Starliner: Boeing names its commercial spaceship

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    Boeing’s commercial human-rated spaceship designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station will be named the CST-100 Starliner, extending the company’s naming theme to the final frontier, officials announced Friday. The Boeing-operated crew capsule was known as simply the CST-100 before Friday, and managers said the craft will be ready to…

  • Kelly urges funding for commercial crew program

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is pictured inside the International Space Station’s Unity module in this photo from April 2015. Credit: NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, 143 days into a planned 341-day stay aboard the International Space Station, urged lawmakers Monday to restore full funding to NASA’s commercial crew program…